Back to the Bass-sics
Good Morning, today, in this short bit of time that we have
together, I am going to attempt to explain, through my
experience, what are the most important basic steps and
approaches to developing young Bass players and giving them
the foundation needed to succeed. I will be covering a large
gamut of topics and if I missed something, please feel free to
ask me any questions you wish.
Physical Considerations
Performing on the bass can be physically demanding, because
the strings are large and thick. Also, the space between notes
on the fingerboard is large, due to scale length and string
spacing, so players must shift positions frequently. As with all
non-fretted string instruments, performers must learn to place
their fingers precisely to produce the correct pitch. For bassists
with shorter arms or smaller hands, the large spaces between
pitches may present a significant challenge, especially in the
lowest range, where the spaces between notes are largest.
However, the increased use of playing techniques such as
thumb position and modifications to the bass, such as the use
of lighter-gauge strings at lower tension, have eased the
difficulty of playing the instrument.
Bass parts have relatively fewer fast passages, double stops, or
large jumps in range. These parts are usually given to the cello
section because it is a smaller instrument and are typically
tuned together.
Until the 1990s, child-sized double basses were not widely
available, and the large size of the bass meant that children
were not able to start playing the instrument until their hand
size and height would allow them to play a 3/4-size model (the
most commonly available size). Starting in the 1990s, smaller
half, quarter, eighth and even sixteenth-sized instruments
became more widely available, which meant that children
could start at a younger age.
How to select the right size bass for a young
player
As I mentioned above there are numerous different sizes of
double basses available to choose from. They are: 1/16, 1/4,
1/2, 5/8, 3/4 and 7/8ths available.
The size most professionals play is the 3/4’s size. Occasionally
you may come across a 7/8 bass, but 4/4 basses are extremely
rare because they are simply too large for most people to
play. Among these general size categories, string length and
body size varies, depending on the maker.
The size of the student's left hand is an important factor when
selecting a bass. The student's hand should be able to reach the
notes in first position. It may be a stretch, but they should not
need to shift to span a whole step between the 1st and 4th
fingers.
Size of the student's body and the size of the bass should be a
good fit. A student's left hand may fit the instrument well
because of the string length, but the size of the bass may be too
large for the student to play comfortably.
General height guidelines:
1/4 - under 5 feet tall
1/2 - over 5 feet tall
3/4 - this is considered a “full size” bass
, 5’10” and up
7/8 & 4/4 - very large
Adjusting the height of the bass to match the
player’s height.
Double bassists either stand or sit to play their instrument. The
instrument height is set by adjusting the endpin such, that the
player can reach the desired playing zones of the strings with
the bow or plucking hand. Bassists who stand and bow
sometimes set the endpin by aligning the first finger in either
first or half position with eye level, although there is little
standardization in this regard. Players who sit generally use a
stool about the height of the player's pants inseam length. I
myself tend to adjust sitting or standing the same way, and that
is by the nut of the bass. This should line up with the forehead
of the player.
Standing verses sitting and basic techniques for
both.
Traditionally, double bassists stood when playing solo and sat
when they played in the orchestra or opera pit. Now, playing
styles have become specialized to the point where one player
rarely can satisfactorily perform both standing and sitting.
Consequently, now many soloists sit (as with Joel Quarrington,
Jeff Bradetich, Thierry Barbé and others) and orchestras often
employ standing bassists, although not so much in America.
Choosing the right bow and some holding
techniques for each bow: German and French
styles.
There are two distinct forms, which I’m sure that we all know
about-the “French” or “overhand” bow, which is the similar
style grip to the traditional bows of the smaller string family
instruments and the “German or Butler bow, which is usually
broader and shorter. The choice of bow is usually determined
by the available bows that the school has, unless the student
already has their own bow. It really doesn’t matter which bow
you use. I prefer the French bow, however the German bow
might be somewhat easier to learn at first.
There are ways to simplify the French Bow grip that makes it
easier to grasp a hold of right away. You can place the thumb
under the body of the frog rather than the traditional way on
the side of the frog, which removes the most difficult aspect of
the French bow grip. I like to make sure that if they start out
this way, they eventually learn the correct way through the
course of the first year or so, depending on the student’s
willingness to learn.
Double bass bows vary in length, ranging from 60 cm (24") to
75 cm (30"). Pernambuco, also known as Brazilwood, is
regarded as an excellent quality stick material, but due to its
scarcity and expense, other materials are increasingly being
used. Less expensive student bows may be constructed of solid
fiberglass, or of less valuable varieties of brazilwood.
Snakewood and carbon fiber are also used in bows of a variety
of different qualities. The frog of the double bass bow is usually
made out of ebony, although snakewood and buffalo horn are
used by some luthiers. The wire wrapping is gold or silver in
many quality bows, and the hair is usually horsehair.
The importance of good bow hair
Most schools that I teach tend to have a large number of
students using the bows and basses, with all having a different
understanding of care for their instruments. Even though I
explain to them that they must not touch the bow with their
hands, these students invariably do so and at their young ages
they all seem to have dirty little hands at that. So needless to
say you need some kind of hand sanitizer near by. The bows
need to be re-haired once a year and no more than once every
two years to maintain some ability to make a sound. When the
bow has lost half its hair it doesn’t have the facility to pull the
string with any power or tone. I personally change my bow
hair every six months or so due to the rosin build up and some
loss of hair.
Bow Grip
Bow grip is a very complex challenge for all string players to
learn and there is no real easy way around it
Hand shake preparation
German front bow hold
German back bow hold
German Bow Hold:
• There are many different ways to hold the German bow.
Consult your bass teacher or a bassist friend for the grip
they recommend. The following instructions explain only
one German bow hold.
• To prepare for the German bow hold, as the handshake image
illustrates, hold the bow pointing downward as if you
were about to shake someone’s hand, with the frog gently
resting in the palm of your hand.
• As the German front bow hold image illustrates, turn the bow
sideways. The tip of the bent thumb should lightly touch
the tip of your index finger (forefinger). The middle finger
should rest against the index finger.
• The little finger (your fourth finger or pinky finger) should
rest underneath the frog touching the outside of the
ferrule (the silver part on your bow).
French front bow hold
French back bow hold
Alternative French hold
French Bow Hold:
• The French bow hold is similar to the bow hold used by
cellists. Relax your hand and let the fingers drop into
place.
• The tip of the thumb touches the frog contact point.
• Fingers gently curve over the top of the bow stick.
 Do not let the fourth finger (little finger) rest on top of the
bow stick as it does in the violin and viola bow hold. Let the
fourth finger curve and extend over the top of the bow stick
along with the other fingers.
 As the French front bow hold and alternate French bow hold
images demonstrate, it is a matter of personal preference
how far the fingers extend beyond the stick. Some bassists
let their fingers extend beyond the stick, others do not.
There are multiple ways of holding the bass bow. Consult
your bass teacher or a bassist friend for their bow hold
recommendations, and experiment until you find the bow
hold you like best.
 The entire bow grip should almost be a mirror image of the
left hand grip, with the first finger farther apart from the
other fingers.
 The first finger, I like to refer to as the power or torque
finger. When playing near the tip, this is the finger that
keeps the bow in contact with the string, creating a balanced
dynamic throughout the bow length. The thumb and the first
finger, plus the bow at the tip form a triangle shape, with the
thumb pushing up and the first finger pushing down, the tip
of the bow receives the energy to balance the volume of
sound.
Bowing techniques --“Strokin” by Hal Robinson
This is a great book that covers all the different styles of
bowing techniques from easy to very advanced.
Left hand shape and techniques
Depending on the location of the hand on the bass, the distance
between the first finger and the fourth finger vary. The lower
positions require the greatest distance between the fingers,
where as the upper require the smallest. In order to achieve
the proper distance between the fingers in the lower position it
is important to point the 1st finger upwards, more towards
your face, with minimal curvature, with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th
fingers curved as much as possible. If the first finger is straight
on the bass, the fourth finger will not be able to hold a curved
shape, due to the shortened length. The fingers that play the
actual notes in the lower positions, in this three-fingered
technique—are the 1st, 2nd and 4th fingers, with the 3rd finger
supporting the 4th as though they are one. This should form
the distance of a whole step and no more no less. If you lift the
3rd finger off the bass you should see three equally spaced
fingers.
The thumb always needs to be behind the second finger,
exactly opposite, unless you are playing one note for a long
time.
When playing in the instrument's upper range (above the G
below middle C), the player shifts their hand out from behind
the neck and flattens it out, using the side of the thumb to press
down the string. The elbow also moves slightly upwards. This
technique—also used on the cello—is called thumb position.
While playing in thumb position, the 4th finger is dropped out
and replaced with the 3rd finger, as it is too weak to produce a
reliable tone (this is also true for cellists), although some
extreme chords or extended techniques, especially in
contemporary music, may necessitate its use.
Important markers for best intonation
It is important to be aware of the helpful markers on the bass,
but before mentioning these markers one needs to realize that
the height of the bass should never vary. When you adjust the
height of the bass, you are actually affecting the muscle
memory, which affects our ability to play in tune.
The most obvious markers are on the backside of the neck at
the top of the fingerboard near the tuning pegs/nut and at the
middle of the fingerboard where the neck connects to the body.
This location is what determines whether your bass has an Eb
neck or a D neck. Exactly adjacent to the curve on the backside
of the neck will reveal a D or an Eb on the G string. Once you
know this position you can access two notes on either side of
that particular note (five total), on all four strings (4X5), which
allows you access to 20 different notes.
When you use the marker nearest the tuning pegs, placing the
hand on the first note available on each string you are now in
half position. With out shifting you now have access to 12 more
notes, 3 fingers X 4. This leaves about twelve additional notes
that need to be addressed through shifting.
Addition of white markers to help with finger
placement
When I am working with young students I like to add white
markers along the side of the neck. Using generic white out,
liquid form, I add a dot, on the side of the neck facing the player,
where the first half step would be—F on the E string. Then I
add a dot where the G, A and the B are. The last dot I add is at
the octave from the open G string. Except for the first dot the
distance between the next three dots is a whole step. You can
always add more dots if you need to and contrarily you can
remove dots as you get a better understanding of the location
the notes.
Shifting techniques
When shifting, it is important to maintain a consistent hand
shape to ensure a relative pitch. Shifting techniques should be
practiced often. The best methods are as follows: 1st finger on A
on the G string, the metronome set to quarter note=60, shift up
one half step and then back again to the starting pitch. Make
sure to use one bow stroke per note. Once this has been
achieved then go from starting pitch A to a whole step higher
to B and then back again. This process should be practiced as
high as the student can take it or at best to the octave A. The
higher you go the faster and farther your hand must go, thus
the more challenging it gets. There are 9 different finger
combinations that can be used: 1-1,1-2,1-4; 2-1, 2-2, 2-4; 41,4-2,4-4. When reaching the G at the halfway point, we drop
out the 4th finger and begin using the 3rd finger as we ascend
through thumb position.
Vibrato
Vibrato is also an advanced technique that I don’t teach to my
younger students. Before learning vibrato, one must be able to
play relatively in tune. There are many different concepts for
playing vibrato, however, but what works for me is an
awareness that the rocking motion must come from the elbow
and not the hand. The whole arm will turn as one from the
elbow. The finger, completely rounded will roll from front to
back and then back to the center. It is extremely important to
stack the fingers that aren’t playing the actual pitch on top of
the main finger, forming a kind of pointed shape, to allow it the
freedom and strength to ebb and flow forward and backwards.
It is also important to play vibrato notes everywhere on the
bas, since every position seems to use slightly different
muscles. I’m working on a vibrato exercise that covers the
whole register of the bass, using a lot of tri-tones and across
the string playing while moving progressively up the neck.
Important tools for the trade: good strings, rosin,
metronome, rags, stool, rock-stop, tuner, mirror, scale books
with fingerings for at least two octaves. It is also important to
be aware of some useful books that teach you how to play in
some of the easier locations on the bass first, rather than the
low register where it is hardest to press down. My favorite
series of books is “Progressive Repertoire for the Double Bass
Vol. 1,2 and 3” by George Vance
In closing I would like to mention that I do have my own scale
book that I use with my students if you are interested, I do sell
it for a nominal fee, mostly the cost of my time and the copying.
I also own a ½ sized bass that I rent out if you or any of your
students are interested. I am always looking for more quality
students and coaching assignments. If you are interested in any
of my materials or services or if you have any questions that I
might not have answered, please send me an email at
[email protected].
I would now like to open the floor up to any questions that you
might have.
Thank so much for your time, it was a pure pleasure for me
address you today and now get down with the lowest for of
music----The Bass!
French double-bass player and composer Renaud Garcia-Fons pictured
during a performance.