Where would popular music be without bass? It would certainly be a great deal less primal and groovy, that's for sure. Although often overshadowed by preening show ponies on lead vocals and guitar, the humble bassist is an essential ingredient in the rhythm section.
Lest we forget, it's rhythm that makes people want to get up and shake their asses in the first place. You sure as hell can't dance to an unaccompanied guitar solo. Not without an inadvisable level of chemical assistance, anyway.
Bass Week on MusicRadar celebrates all things bass, where we'll bring you a selection of features, interviews and lessons, all with a heavy emphasis on life at the bottom end of the frequency spectrum.
What’s more, we’ll bring you the results of our all-powerful best bassist and best bassline polls. With tens of thousands of votes already cast, you’d be mad to miss it.
Bookmark this page as we'll be adding great new content throughout the week, and cataloguing it all here. Bass on!
The 30 best basslines of all time
Mike Kerr talks Royal Blood's meteoric rise, his elusive bass rig and How Did We Get So Dark?
10 classic bass tones - and how to get them
How Ned Steinberger redesigned the bass world
The 30 best bassists of all time
How to play fast-paced rock and metal fingerstyle bass
Victor Wooten's top 5 tips for bass players
10 of the best high-end bass guitars at £1,500/$2,000 or more
How to play bass like James Jamerson
Billy Sheehan: my top 6 tips for bassists
13 types of bass player: a spotter's guide
10 of the best mid-range bass guitars from £750/$1,000 to £1,500/$2,000
Bass basics: how to write compelling basslines by working around root notes
Classic interview: Paul McCartney on his favourite basses, key lines and influential players
“This is a bass that I fell in love with at a pawnshop and used to play the first Rage record”: Ernie Ball Music Man and Tim Commerford team up for a pair of limited run signature StingRay basses
“A unique octave bass fuzz with a built-in, 2-voice ring modulator”: The Maestro BB-1 Brassmaster is a super-rare bass octave fuzz from the ‘70s that sounds great on guitar, sells for $2,000+, and Behringer just made a $69 clone of it
