Upright bass at Vintage Music
Bass provides the deepest sound of all instruments in Appalachian music. Pick & Bow teaches upright bass (also known as double bass in classical music), which comes from the violin family. Its strings are tuned in fourths, E-A-D-G, an octave lower than the lowest four strings on a guitar. Bass rhythm is most widely played by plucking two alternating strings that make up two notes of a chord. Melodies can be played on bass as well.
Upright bass playing by Missy Raines
Although upright bass has great volume, it is large and heavy—making it less convenient to travel with and more expensive to own. It’s not uncommon to find other instruments adapted to provide bass sound in Appalachian music. One example is the jug, which is played by positioning the mouth over the lip of the jug to amplify tuba or trombone-like sounds made with the mouth. You might hear jug bass in “jug band music,” a genre that combines string band, country blues, and classic jazz music and incorporates both string instruments and household objects, such as spoons, washboard, and bones. Washtub bass, which uses a metal wash tub as the resonator, is another common folk bass. Its body is connected to a string attached to a stick. The string is plucked and the stick can be pushed or pulled to change its pitch. Although metal wash tubs are not as common today, a five-gallon bucket or any other large vessel can be used for the body. Cello was also used as a source of bass sound in early bands. More recently, some people even like to use a UBass—an amplified ukulele with bass strings—for their band or in jams.
Jug playing demonstration by Marc Bristol
Washtub bass playing demonstration
Kala UBass playing in a bluegrass jam
JOKE
Q: What is the difference between a guitar and bass player?
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A: A guitar player gets students and a bass player gets gigs!
Listening
REFERENCES
PaleoSun, Inc. Web Development. “Bass.” Blue Ridge Music Trails. Accessed March 8, 2021. https://www.blueridgemusicnc.com/listen-and-learn/instruments/bass.
Charters, Samuel. Liner notes for The Jug Bands (various artists). Smithsonian Folkways FW00RF6, RF 6, 1963, online. https://folkways-media.si.edu/liner_notes/smithsonian_folkways/SFW40157.pdf
Wells, Paul F. “Attic #21: Fiddle and Guitar.” The Old-Time Herald, November 30, 2020. https://www.oldtimeherald.org/2020/11/attic-21-fiddle-and-guitar/.