11 Facts About Jazz bass

Jazz bass is the use of the double bass or electric bass to improvise accompaniment basslines and solos in a jazz or jazz fusion style.

An unamplified double bass is generally the quietest instrument in a jazz band, many players of the 1920s and 1930s used the slap style, slapping and pulling the strings to make a rhythmic slap sound against the fingerboard.

The Jazz bass guitar produces a different sound than the double Jazz bass, because its strings are usually stopped with the aid of metal frets.

In jazz, since the 1950s, the double bass is usually played with amplification and it is mostly played with the fingers, pizzicato style, except during some solos, where players may use the bow.

The stick Jazz bass is widely used in salsa, because its volume and tone are especially suited to that style of music, even in studio recording.

Electric bass is a relative newcomer to the world of jazz.

Until the 1950s, the double bass was used to anchor jazz ensembles from small combos to huge big bands.

The electric Jazz bass was introduced in the early 1950s when Roy Johnson first used the instrument in Lionel Hampton's big band.

One of the options for Jazz bass guitarists is whether to use an instrument with frets on the fingerboard or not.

The fretless Jazz bass allows players to use the expressive devices of glissando, vibrato and microtonal intonations such as quarter tones and just intonation.

The first production fretless Jazz bass was the Ampeg AUB-1 introduced in 1966, and Fender introduced a fretless Precision Bass in 1970.