Is the vocalist the most important element in a band? Or will it be the guitarist, the drummer, or the percussionist? Or is it the blows? It could be the keyboard player … Really?
Well, this way, we’re not leaving here. Let’s end the suspense. The truth is that, according to an article published in Proceedings of the US National Academy of Sciences, the most important element in a band is really… (frills, errr, too low note!) the bass player!
In that article, the scientists argue that the bass player is the one who keeps a band together and explain why: «A behavioral motor task revealed that beat timing was more influenced by bass flow. The effect of superiority of a bass sound to time coding explains the widespread musical practice of driving the beat through bass instruments.».
Let’s try to change this for kids: people find it easier to feel the beat of a song when it comes from the bass line. And yes, the truth is that less-trained ears don’t always hear the bass lines, yet the pulse of the four strings is crucial to the rhythm of any song. And when it shows… it is a whole new world that opens up in our auditory pavilions.
Perhaps the concept is better understood when we listen to this song by Breeders.
