A piccolo bass is a bass instrument that belongs to the guitar family or the violin family. The jazz genre is home to both of these instruments. They were created in order to obtain instruments with a lower range, more facility, and a different tonal color. Piccolo bass can refer to any instrument that is between the bass and tenor members of a family in terms of size or tuning.
Piccolo bass refers to a bass guitar that is tuned one octave higher than the standard tuning. The most common number of strings is four, but models with up to eight are not uncommon. E1, A1, D2, and G2 are the standard tunings for a four-string bass. E2, A2, D3, and G3 are the tunings for piccolo basses with four strings.
Uptuning a bass guitar is accomplished reducing the length of the guitar’s neck. A musician can also convert a regular bass to a piccolo bass replacing the strings with thinner ones, which is probably the most common method. This works because thicker strings vibrate slower, resulting in lower pitches, whereas thin strings vibrate faster, resulting in higher pitches. With the proper string set, any standard bass can theoretically be converted to a piccolo bass.
Despite the fact that a piccolo bass guitar does not sound like a bass, musicians prefer it because of its unique tonal color. The bass is mellow, but it lacks the muddiness of a traditional bass. Guitarists can use techniques like slapping that aren’t possible on regular guitars because of the spacing of the strings on a bass. As a result, rather than simply supporting a work’s bass line, they can play the bass as a primary, virtuosic lead instrument.
The term “piccolo bass” is used less frequently to describe a cello-like instrument that is slightly larger. The instrument’s range is one octave higher than that of a standard double bass. Ron Carter, best known for his work as a jazz cellist, is usually credited with the invention of the instrument. His version was tuned A1, D2, G2, and C3, or a fourth above the standard bass. When compared to the cello, these instruments have a mellower, richer sound that isn’t as dark as the double bass.
Although many people credit Ron Carter with inventing the piccolo bass, similar instruments were created during the 16th century development of the violin family. These instruments were not standardized and were built as sizing and tone experiments. They were used as classical instruments, but not in the development of jazz in the twentieth century.