A bass guitar looks like a long guitar with thicker strings, but it's a different instrument. Four strings instead of six. Tuned an octave lower than the bottom four strings of a guitar. And the bass player has a different job: glue the chord progression to the drum beat.
The four strings
Low to high: E, A, D, G. The same letters as the bottom four guitar strings, but one octave deeper. The lowest E on a bass is the same pitch as the lowest E on a piano keyboard. It's a low instrument.
The parts
Headstock + tuners: four tuning pegs, same idea as guitar.
Neck: longer than a guitar's. Most basses are "long scale" (34-inch scale length), which means there's more distance between frets near the nut. Your fretting hand has to stretch farther than on guitar.
Body + pickups: the pickups are bigger than guitar pickups. Most basses have one or two. The lower magnetic field captures those deep notes that guitar pickups can't.
Bridge + output: the bridge has heavy saddles to handle string tension. The cable goes from output to a bass amp (a guitar amp will work but the lows won't sound right).
Your role in the band
A bass player does three things, in order of importance:
- Plays the root note of each chord, locked to the drummer's beat.
- Connects chord changes with walking lines and fills.
- Adds occasional melodic accents.
Most beginners want to skip to step 3. Resist that urge. A bass that nails step 1 is worth listening to. A bass that's busy and out of time is not.
Next: tuning. Same pitch letters as the bottom four guitar strings, but the absolute pitch is different.