page_title: Heavy metal bass
section_title: Roles and playing styles
hierarchical_section_title: Heavy metal bass / Roles and playing styles
caption_attribution_description: Ian Hill - founding member and bassist for the British heavy metal band Judas Priest.
context_page_description: Heavy metal bass is the use of the bass guitar in the rock music genres of heavy metal and hard rock. The bassist is part of the rhythm section in a heavy metal band, along with the drummer, rhythm guitarist and, in some bands, a keyboard player. The prominent role of the bass is key to the metal sound, and the interplay of bass and distorted electric guitar is a central element of metal. The bass guitar provides the low-end sound crucial to making the music "heavy". The bass plays a "... more important role in heavy metal than in any other genre of rock."
  Metal bassists play many different types of basslines, depending on the subgenre they are playing in and their personal playing style. Metal bass lines vary in complexity, from holding down a low pedal point as a foundation for the band's sound to doubling complex riffs and licks along with the lead guitar and/or rhythm guitars. Some bands feature the bass as a lead instrument, an approach popularized by Metallica's Cliff Burton with his emphasis on bass guitar solos and use of chords while playing bass in the early 1980s.
context_section_description: Most metal bassists play by plucking the strings with their fingers or by picking with a plectrum, often known as a pick. Using a pick can enable bassists to play rapid repeated notes and fast basslines, although some bassists, such as Steve Harris and Steve DiGiorgio, play such basslines without the use of a plectrum. While the types of bass lines vary in different metal subgenres, the bassist usually fulfills a similar role: anchoring the harmonic framework with bass notes that emphasize the roots of the chords and, along with the drums and rhythm guitar, establishing the beat. The bass is also used a solo instrument in some metal styles. While four-string basses (tuned E, A, D, G from lowest string to highest string) are the most common, since the 1990s, some metal bassists have used five-string basses for added lower range—a low "B".  Five string basses are used in nu metal, as well as death metal, progressive metal and other heavy metal subgenres, to complement the downtuned guitars use by the guitarists. The five string bass is not an essential part to these genres, as some bands in these genres use standard tuned guitars or downtuned four string basses. Some bassists, such as John Myung from the progressive metal band Dream Theater, utilize a six string bass, which usually adds an additional high "C" above the "G" string of a five string bass. Most metal bassists play with fretted instruments, which have metal frets on the fingerboard. However, there are a few bassists such as Steve DiGiorgio and Jeroen Paul Thesseling who use fretless basses.
  Most of the time, metal bass players play basslines which consist of a single note played at a time; that is, without playing multiple notes at the same time to form chords, the way a rhythm guitarist would on an electric guitar. There are, however, a few metal bassists who play chords. Robert Trujillo of Metallica is known for playing "massive chords"  and "chord-based harmonics"  on the bass. Lemmy of Motörhead often played power chords in his bass lines. When asked about whether he had begun as a rhythm guitarist, he stated:
  No, I play a lot of notes, but I also play a lot of chords. And I play a lot of open strings. I just don't play like a bass player. There are complaints about me from time to time. It's not like having a bass player; it's like having a deep guitarist.
caption: Bass guitarist Ian Hill from the heavy metal band Judas Priest. A red pick can be seen in his plucking hand.
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