Broken Chords
Ok. I’m going to revise something that I said in my last post, and you can all learn this with me. What we’re doing on bass made a lot more sense to me after seeing this.
In my previous post, Scales, Chords & Arpeggios, I said the following:
Chord: For most instruments, a chord is a group of 3 or more notes that are played together. They blend together to create a more complex sound. Chords can be played on bass, but because bass tends to control a low register of sound, this isn’t done as much as other instruments like guitar or piano. Many people describe the sound of chords played on the lower frets of the bass as muddy.
- Two notes played together on bass is not called a chord. Its called a double-stop.
- Chords are made up of specific notes (described below) and can be played in any order.
Arpeggio: Arpeggios are basically chords in which the notes are played one at a time and in order. This order can be first-to-last or can be reversed. Arpeggios are often just called chords by other musicians because they have the same notes.
Strange Bass Gallery
So, I added a small gallery of interesting and unusual basses that I’ve come across on the internet. I’m sure that this will only grow as I’m exposed to more incomprehensible, low-frequency horror. Yes, Stig Pedersen is in it, as is Jean Baudin. A link to the gallery is at the top-right of this blog. Its called:
I only wish that I could have made it a blog/article page like this main one so I could have more discrete control of the entries and not have to update the entire page when adding content.
Rocket Bass
Stig Pedersen makes his own basses. They’re all weird. Here’s a picture of another of his creations, scoured from somewhere on the internet. There’s a fun thread about strange basses on the Talkbass forums.
[edit 10.18.2011] My Strange Bass Gallery has images of more of Stig’s basses, as well as other interesting ones from around the internet.
Bass Ackwards
This is a picture of a weird bass I came across on the internet.
Its like they made it backwards and turned the head into the body and the body into the head; then they did some voodoo head-shrinking magic on the new body-head. And it only has two strings. I imagine that its probably not too much fun to balance, but it sure leaves an impression. 😉
http://www.hansvanrock.com/bass-pictures/5453_file_8766_3-11/
[edit 5/4/2011] Learned this on the Talkbass forums: That weird bass belongs to Stig Pedersen from Danish rock band D-A-D. Stig designs his own basses with only 2 or 3 strings because he only uses the E and the A strings when he plays!
[edit 10.18.2011] My Strange Bass Gallery has images of more of Stig’s basses, as well as other interesting ones from around the internet.
Ugly Bass Face 