The bass guitar ( also called electric bass, or simply bass ; ) is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb, by plucking, slapping, popping, tapping, thumping, or picking.

In the 1930s, musician and inventor Paul Tutmarc from Seattle, Washington, developed the first electric string bass in its modern form, a fretted instrument designed to be held and played horizontally.

Following Fender's lead, Gibson released the first short scale violin-shaped electric bass with extendable end pin in 1953, allowing it to be played upright or horizontally.

The prima balalaika is played with the fingers, the secunda and alto either with the fingers or a plectrum, depending on the music being played, and the bass and contrabass ( equipped with extension legs that rest on the floor ) are played with leather plectrums.

Wills formed several bands and played radio stations around the South and West until he formed the Texas Playboys in 1934 with Wills on fiddle, Tommy Duncan on piano and vocals, rhythm guitarist June Whalin, tenor banjoist Johnnie Lee Wills, and Kermit Whalin, who played steel guitar and bass.

Brown added twin fiddles, tenor banjo and slap bass, pointing the music in the direction of swing, which they played on local radio and at dancehalls.

Love briefly played bass in Bjelland's group Babes In Toyland in 1987 before being ejected from the band.

John Adams, known by baseball fans as " The Drummer ", has played a bass drum at nearly every home game since 1973.

Like many other string instruments, the double bass is played either with a bow ( arco ) or by plucking the strings ( pizzicato ).

Prior to the mid-20th century, double bass strings were usually made of gut, but since that time, steel strings have largely replaced gut strings, because steel strings hold their pitch better and yield more volume when played with the bow.

Dragonetti frequently played on a three string double bass tuned G-D-A from top to bottom.

Because of improvements to the double bass with steel strings and better set-ups, the bass is now played at a more advanced level than ever before and more and more composers have written works for the double bass.

Karr was given Koussevitzky's famous solo double bass by Olga Koussevitsky and played it in concerts around the world for 40 years before, in turn, giving the instrument to the International Society of Bassists for talented soloists to use in concert.

Beginning around 1890, the early New Orleans jazz ensemble ( which played a mixture of marches, ragtime, and Dixieland ) was initially a marching band with a tuba or sousaphone ( or occasionally bass saxophone ) supplying the bass line.

Bassists played " walking " bass lines — scale-based lines that outlined the harmony.

In the experimental post 1960s eras, which saw the development of free jazz and jazz-rock fusion, some of the influential bassists included Charles Mingus ( 1922 – 1979 ), who was also a composer and bandleader whose music fused hard bop with black gospel music, free jazz and classical music ; free jazz and post-bop bassist Charlie Haden ( born 1937 ) is best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman and for his role in the 1970s-era Liberation Music Orchestra, an experimental group ; Eddie Gomez and George Mraz, who played with Bill Evans and Oscar Peterson, respectively, and are both acknowledged to have furthered expectations of pizzicato fluency and melodic phrasing, fusion virtuoso Stanley Clarke ( born 1951 ) is notable for his dexterity on both the upright bass and the electric bass, and Terry Plumeri, noted for his horn-like arco fluency and vocal tone.

This huge hulk played the guitar and he would take it along on our walks and play for us as we sat alone in the woods or by the stream.

The one occasion where the band was introduced as " The Alan Parsons Project " in a live performance was at Night of the Proms 1990 ( at the time of the group's break-up ), featuring all Project regulars except Woolfson who was present but behind the scenes, while Parsons stayed at the mixer except during the last song, where he played acoustic guitar.

* The " Selmer-Maccaferri guitar " is usually played by those who follow the style of Django Reinhardt.

The last type of guitar is commonly called an " acoustic-electric " or " electro-acoustic " guitar, as it can be played either " unplugged " as an acoustic or plugged in as an electric.

Until the 1960s, the predominant forms of music played on the flat-top, steel-string guitar remained relatively stable and included acoustic blues, country, bluegrass, folk, and several genres of rock.

This was started by Roy Noble, who built the guitar played by Clarence White from 1968 to 1972, and was followed by Bill Collings, Marty Lanham, Dana Bourgeois, Randy Lucas, Lynn Dudenbostel and Wayne Henderson, a few of the luthiers building guitars today inspired by vintage Martins, the pre – World War II models in particular.

After the war, he played piano and guitar ( his first guitar was built by friend and author Sydney Hopkins, who wrote Mister God, This Is Anna ), and in 1949 joined Chris Barber's Jazz Band where he met blues harmonica player Cyril Davies.

" According to North Carolina musician Walter Davis, Jefferson played on the streets in Johnson City, Tennessee, during the early 1920s at which time Davis and fellow entertainer Clarence Greene learned the art of blues guitar.

The band played regularly on a Tulsa, Oklahoma radio station, and added Leon McAuliffe on steel guitar, pianist Al Stricklin, drummer Smokey Dacus, and a horn section that expanded the band's sound.

Asaf Savaş Akat, a famous economist in Turkey, played saxophone, and guitarist Ender Enön made his own guitar because it was difficult to find a real one on the market in those years.

The guitar is usually played with much use of fast ( un-muted ) tremolo picking.

Williams later played lead guitar on " Who Do You Love?

** Chord ( guitar ) an aggregate of musical pitches played simultaneously on a guitar

He later took up the mandolin, became interested in country music, and played guitar with Arlo Guthrie.

A clavinet played through an instrument amplifier with guitar effect pedals is often associated with funky, disco-infused 1970s rock.

In 1976 Oscar Peterson played ( with Joe Pass on acoustic guitar ) songs from Porgy And Bess on the clavichord.

Stories have been told about the very young Chet who, when a friend or relative would come to visit, and if that person played a guitar, would crowd in and put his ear so very close to the instrument that it became difficult for that person to play.

There he played fiddle and guitar with singer Bill Carlisle and comic Archie Campbell as well as becoming a member of the station's Dixieland Swingsters, a small swing instrumental combo.

He is also well known for his song " Yankee Doodle Dixie ", in which he played " Yankee Doodle " and " Dixie " simultaneously, on the same guitar.

In the following year her father undertook to give a course in Hebrew theology to Johns Hopkins students, and this brought to the Szold house a group of bright young Jews who had come to Baltimore to study, and who enjoyed being fed and mothered by Mamma and entertained by Henrietta and Rachel, who played and sang for them in the upstairs sitting room on Sunday evenings.

Unlike the Israelite worship assembly, which was only able to look on during Temple worship as the Levitical Priest sang, played, and offered animal sacrifices, in the New Testament, all Christians are commanded to sing praises to God.

In his teens, he played drums and sang back-up with a local band called The Teen Tones, which later went on to tour with such acts as Bobby Darin and Gene Vincent.

Arnaz, Jr. played the drums and, supported by the SNL band, Desi sang both " Babalu " and another favorite from his dance band days, " Cuban Pete "; the arrangements were similar to the ones used on I Love Lucy.

Danny sang while his friend Louis played the guitar ; the pair eked out a living like this for a while.

He remained at Bologna in the care of a pork butcher while his father played the horn in the orchestras of the theatres at which his wife sang.

Her father played the ukulele and guitar and sang professionally in nightclubs with a group called Step ' n ' Fetchit.

Geddy, along with his band mates played and sang along with Max Webster on the song " Battle Scar " from the Universal Juveniles ( 1980 ) album.

" In Old French, san graal or san gréal means " Holy Grail " and sang réal means " royal blood "; later writers played on this pun.

During its short duration, Sandy Nelson, Torrence's neighbor, played drums, and future Beach Boy Bruce Johnston, occasionally sang and played piano.

Visualizing herself as a singer since her high school years, Hatfield sang in school choirs and briefly played in a cover band called The Squids, which played ( though not exclusively ) Rush songs.

The band, with which she sang and played bass guitar ( as well as some guitar and piano ), was signed to North Carolina's Mammoth Records and received a fair amount of airplay on college radio through the early 1990s.

He was also the Host of the 230th July 4, 2006 of the PBS July 4 " A Capitol Fourth " Celebrations in Washington, D. C. in which he sang, danced, and played tuned drums.

In late 2010 Lemmy and Motorhead appeared in a commercial for Kronenbourg beer in which he played harmonica and sang along to a slower version of Ace of Spades.

" Longtime fan Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins played guitar and sang back-up on the track " Turn My Way ", and in 2001 toured with the band on dates in the UK, US, and Japan for a short period of time.

Following the conferral of her degree, Smith delivered the commencement address and sang / played two songs accompanied by long-time band member Lenny Kaye.

While at Grinnell College, Noyce sang, played the oboe and acted.

Hell played bass, sang lead vocals and wrote the lyrics for the album.

In 1994, they contributed a cover of the Richard Thompson song, Shoot Out the Lights, to a tribute album to Thompson called Beat the Retreat, which featured David Hidalgo of Los Lobos on electric guitar ; on the same album, Doe sang harmony and played bass and Bonebrake played drums on Bob Mould's cover of Turning of the Tide, and Bonebrake played drums on the title track, which was performed by the British folk artist June Tabor.

Lindsey Buckingham also played guitar and sang back-up on some of the tracks recorded for that album.

He also played guitar and sang with obscure rock and roll bands, including one called The Missing Links.