Bass

Voice type and part in the texture

The bass is the lowest of the singing voice types. A singer of this type is also called a bass, or basso. In the four-part mixed choir (SATB) the bass sings the lowest part, often divided into two groups, Bass I and Bass II. In the sheet music archive they are labelled, for example, “Baß I” and “Baß II”.

How low, how high?

There is no fixed figure. One account gives F2 to F4 and adds that some parts also demand E2, D2 or C2; another gives E2 to E4, a third E2 to C4. At the bottom the limit is therefore E or F, at the top between C4 and F4.

Listen to the three bars: the lowest note is in every case an E or F, and the distance to the highest note lies between an octave plus a minor sixth (E2 to C4) and two octaves. The final note of the bass in “Der Mond ist aufgegangen” is an F, a note at the lower limit that the sources give.

Bass in the sheet music archive

In the four pieces you see two uses: the bass as the lowest voice of a choral setting and as a solo voice over a piano.

Bass in choral writing

• Der Mond ist aufgegangen Johann Abraham Peter Schulz (1747–1800) · four-part setting · 1 page

  The bottom line of the lower staff is labelled “BASSO.”, the upper one “TENORE.”. Both are in the bass clef and share the staff; the downward stems belong to the bass. The final note in bar 12 is an F2 in the space below the staff, with a fermata beneath it.

• O How Amiable Are Thy Dwellings Thomas Weelkes · choir arrangement SATB, five parts · 4 pages

  The bottom one of five staves is named “Bass”, bass clef, three ♭, time signature C. In bars 1 to 4 the bass rests while the other voices are already in. In bar 5 it enters with a dotted half note on B♭, which sits on the second line from the bottom.

Bass as a solo voice

• Air (Raphael) F. J. Haydn (1732–1809), Hob. XXI:2 according to the sheet · bass and piano · 6 pages

  Under the title it says “Bass und Klavier” (bass and piano). Two ♯, three-four time. The piano plays the first ten bars alone; in bar 11 the vocal line begins in the bass clef above the piano part.

• Selige Welt Franz Schubert (1797–1828), D. 743 according to the sheet · voice and piano · 4 pages

  The vocal line is labelled “Singstimme (Bassstimme)” (vocal part, bass voice). Four ♭, time signature C, tempo marking “Nicht zu schnell, kräftig.” (not too fast, vigorously). The vocal part is in the bass clef and enters after the first bars of the piano; the piano begins with ff.

How it differs from other meanings

“Bass” has several meanings. Here it means the voice type and the bass part in a texture. The same word also refers to the double bass as an instrument, for the low registers and ranges of instruments, and for the lowest organ or orchestral parts taken together.

Common mistakes

• Equating bass and double bass: The instrument can play the bass part of a piece, but it is not a voice type.
• Memorising one fixed range: The sources differ; give it only as an approximate figure.
• Taking the tenor line in the shared staff for the bass: The label and the stem direction show who sings which line.