The History of the String Bass

The string bass is the lowest tuned instrument in an orchestra.

The string bass is also known as the double bass or upright bass. It originated in Italy during the late 16th century as a member of the viola family. The number of strings, scale length and tuning of the forerunners of the modern string bass were largely determined by the size and design of each instrument, as well as the desires of individual performers. The various sizes and shapes of the string bass as it is known today were refined in Germany in the late 17th century.

Early Refinements

The string bass became well established in the mid-1600s with the invention of wound-gut strings. Gut allowed for a much smaller string diameter than had been previously known, which eventually led to a more standardized scale length and easier playability. The strings also produced a greater amount of volume from a smaller resonating chamber, and the size of the unwieldy instrument was reduced to something similar to the modern bass.

Fretted Versus Fretless

Frets made of gut were typically wrapped and tied around the fingerboard of the string bass for nearly a century after its creation. The use of frets began to fall out of favor in approximately 1800, and the bass would remain largely fretless until the early part of the 20th century. Bass guitars of today are available in both fretted and fretless varieties.

Instrument Sizes and Styles

The string bass usually has either a flat back, as is found in the viola family, or a curved back more suggestive of an oversized violin. The former style is the more popular of the two due to cost considerations, as the steps required to fashion a curved back increase production rates. String basses are built to suit the size and ability of players. They range from the full-sized, or 4/4, bass to 1/16th-sized student models. The most popular bass is the 3/4-size, which has a body length of approximately 45 inches.

Strings and Tunings

The string bass originally had only three strings, which was largely the standard from the early 1600s until the first part of the 20th century. Early string basses were often tuned according to musician preferences, but by the 1920s most musicians had adopted the standard bass tuning of A-E-D-G. Classical players usually follow an F#-B-E-A tuning. The modern string bass is almost exclusively four-stringed. Some three and even two-string models are occasionally used by professional musicians, but they are the exception rather than the rule.

Woods and Materials

The string bass was usually fashioned from spruce and maple from the time of its creation until the early 20th century. Modern basses feature a variety of woods which may include pine, cedar, poplar and beech. Aluminum basses came into vogue during the 1930s, and the latest generation of instruments may sometimes feature graphite or carbon composites.

References

• Double Bass Guide: About the Double Bass
• The University of Texas String Project: The Instruments of the String Family