Who Is the Most Important Member of Any Band?

You may be surprised what science says.

August 8, 2019

There's a running joke that the bass guitar is the lamest, least important instrument in the band. But according to a new study published by the National Academy of Sciences, our brains can find a song's rhythm more accurately by listening to the low tones played on the bass. That means that because the bassist acts as the backbone to every band, they are more important to a song's structure than the guitarist, the singer and even the drummer!

Psychologist Laurel Trainor led a team of researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada to discover that the human brain can detect whether a song sounds better when played in lower notes than in higher notes. They also noticed that many of the participants would tap along to the lower-pitched songs than the higher ones.

In other words, the bass guitar is like the dough in a pizza. It may not have all of the flavor like the sauce, cheese and toppings do. But without it, it's not a pizza.

A similar study conducted at Northerwestern University showed that bass-heavy music stirs up emotions like confidence and determination. So be sure to crank up the bass boost next time you rock your lifting playlist at the gym!