The guitar is a popular and influential instrument with many musical genres. In a band, there can be both bass guitar and acoustic guitar.
They play different roles to create a perfect piece of music. So what is the difference between acoustic guitar and bass guitar? Join us to learn about this difference in the shares below!
What’s the difference between acoustic guitar vs bass guitar?
The answer is yes. Bass guitar and Acoustic guitar have a lot of differences. Specifically, these two guitars differ in:
- Number of strings
- The shape of the guitar
- Role in a band
What is an acoustic guitar?
The acoustic guitar is one of the most popular types of guitar. It has a hollow body and has openings to diffuse the sound. Metal is the main material that manufacturers use to make acoustic strings. So they are quite stiff and give the instrument a sharp, resonant sound.
This instrument is very suitable for singing and playing chords. The acoustic guitar is also suitable for many different genres of music. For example, country music, jazz, rock, classical music, etc.
What is a bass guitar?
The manufacturer creates bass guitars based on the type of bass guitar. The bass guitar is structurally quite similar to an electric guitar. The body is solid and fitted with a diffuser.
The highlight of the bass guitar is that it has only 4 strings. Although now the number of wires has gradually increased to 5 strings, 6 strings or more. But the most common type of bass still has 4 strings.
The sound of the bass guitar is mainly bass notes. So they often have special roles in rock or blues and jazz bands.
Difference between bass guitar and acoustic guitar
#1. Number of strings
The most apparent thing between these two guitars is the number of strings.
The acoustic guitar is like other popular guitars; it has 6 strings – the sound from low to high respectively: EADGBE
However, the bass guitar is not like that. It has only 4 strings with the lowest 4 strings EADG. The player tunes its 4 strings similar to how the lowest 4 acoustic guitar strings are tuned.
Bass guitars have a wide range of 3 octaves, lower than acoustics. The sound is mainly bass notes. It is this feature that makes the bass guitar a unique role in the orchestra.
#2. The shape of the guitar
It’s easier to confuse a bass guitar with an electric guitar sentence than an acoustic one. The appearance of bass and acoustic guitar is entirely different.
Acoustic guitars have large, hollow bodies. There are holes in the body to diffuse the sound. However, the body of the bass is dense and has an audio amplifier attached. The bass body shape is also much smaller and thinner than the acoustic one.
The neck of a bass guitar is also smaller and longer than the neck of an acoustic guitar. This is probably due to the neck design that allows bass players to use it more flexibly. The bass neck consists of 22 to 24 compartments. The material of the guitar is mainly wood, metal or plastic.
#3. Some roles in a band
Due to the different structures and number of strings, the sound is different. It is why the bass guitar plays a different role than the acoustic guitar in a band.
Players use the bass guitar to create the backings, supporting the main melody, giving the music more nuance. However, the biggest role of the bass guitar is to keep the rhythm for the whole orchestra.
When performing, two indispensable rhythm instruments are drums and bass guitar. These two instruments combine to form the foundation of the band. They help other instruments work in sync with each other in the right rhythm.
Only the bass guitar makes the spirit of heavy metal, hard rock, metal rock styles really lively and burning with rock players.
Bass guitars cannot have a flexible sound quality with highs and lows like an acoustic guitar. However, that low-pitched guitar plays an essential role in the band. It is a rhythm instrument for the whole orchestra.
Acoustic guitars have a more diverse role than bass in a band. Because the sound from the guitar is diverse and suitable for many genres of music. Acoustic guitar players can solo and have a wider variety of rhythm choices than bass.
Bottom line
- The regular bass guitar has 4 strings, an acoustic guitar has more with 6 strings.
- Acoustic guitars have hollow bodies and are larger than bass bodies. The bass guitar body is solid, slim, and features a diffuser plug.
- The neck of an acoustic guitar is shorter than the neck of a bass.
- The pitch of these two instruments is different. Bass guitars have lower octave bass than acoustic guitars.
- In a band, the bass guitar has a supporting role with the drummer. The acoustic guitar has a main role, and it can play solos.
Conclusion
Acoustic guitar vs bass guitar has many differences: shape, number of strings, sound, and position in the band.
However, they are all integral parts of every band. Each type of guitar has different special abilities. Their combination results in the perfect soundtrack!