In At The Deep End

Please say hello to my weapon of choice for my latest gig.

The sharp-eyed and mathematically astute amongst you will have spotted that this is a guitar with only four strings on it, and yes, it is confession time: I have crossed over to the Dark Side and for one show only, I have become....(whisper it) ...a bassist.

Indeed, due to our regular singer being away at the V Festival last weekend, we had a shuffle around within the band and went out as a three-piece rather than our usual four, a shuffle which necessitated me switching instruments and...ahem...taking care of the bottom end, as it were...Stop sniggering at the back..

There are many similarities between the bass guitar and its more petite sibling - they are tuned similarly (albeit with two less strings on the bass) and hence notes are in the same place on the fretboard and so forth, and it's relatively easy for a guitarist to transfer to bass and bluff his or her way through the basics...(bassiscs?) but really there is so much more to the arcane world of the bass that I must admit to only dipping my toes in the very shallowest parts of the deep end.

For those of us more familiar with Rock music, the bass is often underplayed, holding down simple root note patterns, but imagine Funk without the busy, driving basslines, imagine Reggae without the fat, lolloping groove. Bass playing really is another language, and for one day I was a tourist getting by on a few stumbling "Bonjours" and "Dos cervezas por favors." I shall glad to get back to my familar home territory this week, but for one night only it was a pleasure to paddle in the vast and unchartered waters of Bassland....I'm just relieved no-one was recording the show....