ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Piccolo bass

Alright kiddo, let's learn about the piccolo bass!

So, you know how there's regular bass guitars, right? They have four strings and they're really big and deep sounding. Well, a piccolo bass is smaller and has fewer strings - usually only three or four - but it's higher pitched and sounds more like a guitar than a bass.

The piccolo bass is kind of like the little brother of the bass guitar. It's meant to be played like a bass, with your fingers or a pick, but it has a different sound that can add some variety to a band's music.

Sometimes, musicians use a piccolo bass when they want a bass sound, but they don't want it to be so booming and heavy. Other times, they might use it to play some higher notes that a regular bass guitar can't reach.

It might look a little different than a normal bass guitar too - it could be shorter, with a smaller body or a different shape. But no matter what it looks like, it's still meant to make music and be played just like any other instrument.