Thread: Upright Bass Update

Ok, so I have been taking lessons on the upright bass for about 3 months now. This is not a lazy man's instrument. It is serious work to play this thing well.

I am playing mainly arco (with a bow), and if you think pressure plays an important role in the straight razor arena, you ain't seen nothing yet. Almost every aspect of the mechanics of this is like a spring being kept in equilibrium. Then there is the reading music part which I should have learned well years ago, but I am doing now.

So in general, I have never had my a$$ so thoroughly kicked by anything. The only thing I can say is that at least I haven't cut myself learning to play upright bass.

Having said all of this, this is an amazingly rewarding experience. The time just flies by during a practice session and I just love the instrument.

My 8 year old daughter is playing violin and my 12 year old daughter is playing cello. We all started together and out of the same method book series so I can help them. Unfortunately the method books we are using are not the best for upright bass, but hey, it's not all about me.

Anyhow, this is what has been keeping me fairly occupied recently.

Alembic

Oh yeah - one more thing - I bought my own upright bass - no more renting. It is a fully carved Romanian bass that is just fantastic. I actually had to take out a loan for how much these things cost. While I was at the store, they had a $300,000 upright bass made in Italy in the 1700's. Sheesh. I will post some pics of the new bass.

Hooray! It only gets better as you go. This might sound obtuse, but study your harmonics, and overtone series. I swear the knowledge of those and how the logarithmic scale plays into finding pitches on the fingerboard played a key role in my being able to intuitively finding the right note. A good exercise is to hear or sing the pitch, then play it. Also, practice with the bow is very important for left hand development, especially with a drone. Can't emphasize that enough. Drone drone drone.

Another strong recommendation is to string up with gut strings. They range from 99$ for the cheap ones from India to Damian Dlugalecki guts for 450$. Doesn't matter. Throw a set on there and bear through a few months of it, you'll be rewarded with an intense appreciation of the instrument that is historically grounded: guts are where it all began! You'll need to occasionally sand them with 1200+ grit paper to get the hairs off, and use some sort of oil from time to time (I like coconut) to keep the gut hydrostatically stable.

Finally, as soon as possible, throw away that steel endpin. You can use a drumstick instead or I have been making exotic hardwood endpins for a few bass players in the city. Wood makes the bass much louder and more responsive, steel is very heavy, too stiff, and emphasizes the upper harmonics in weird ways.

PM me if you have any questions, I am a GEEK about this stuff.

Originally Posted by bassguy

PM me if you have any questions, I am a GEEK about this stuff.

All this time I thought your screen name meant you were a bass fisherman.

Hey David,

Glad you're having fun. I've always thought it would be cool to learn to play upright bass but never took the leap.

I started taking trombone lessons with my son last summer. I've played piano since I was 5 years old, played alto sax in junior high, and bassoon for about 8 years when we lived in Memphis. I've always prided myself in being at least a competent musician - that is until the trombone kicked my a$$. I'm loving it, but OMG it's a hard concept for someone like me to master; I'm accustomed to pushing one key and getting one note, not this crazy one-slide-position-equates-to-multiple-notes thing. My son laughs at me when we play scales by memory because I keep getting confused. I keep trying to "think in piano" and translate to trombone, and it just doesn't work.

As you mentioned, though, it's not about me. It's about my son and learning to do something of value WITH him.

Enjoy!

I like that a lot. It's more important that one plays music at all, than if one plays incredibly well. Doubly true for playing with your family. The simplest things can bring the more joy.

linacman, i feel your pain, i was a low brass player in high school, started out on the tube, then in my senior year, i went back to my original school system(that is another story alltogether) and i had to start playing the baritone, then i was kinda forced to teach myself slide trombone, for we only had one sousaphone at the high school i went to, and my friend was playing it. but i loved it all the same

Thanks for the replies. Music is a serious gift to give your kids. Listening, appreciating and playing. I have yet to meet the adult that wishes his/her parents would not have encouraged them to play an instument into adulthood. No - just the opposite.

And I say so what if it kicks your a$$ for 3 or 4 years. The same 3 or 4 years are going to pass and the only difference is if you are going to learn to play that instrument or not.

In a PM, bassguy recommended to practice to a drone tune to improve your intonation and train your ear to hear intervals. This is just a recording of a precise frequency. There would be 1 drone recording for each tonic following the circle of 5ths. This is something I had never tried before, so I went online and found a set of recordings that you can buy and download. You can get them here:

Cello Drones cd by Marcia Sloane

I was practicing études in the key of D Maj last night and played them over top of the D drone. Incredible. Your ear can actually hear any little fluctuation in intonation, and for an unfretted instrument it is mandatory that your intonation be excellent. But you could do the same thing for a slide or valve instrument as well.

I don't know how I missed this all these years but this is really the cat's a$$. You can play scales, arpeggios or just improvise in a key right over top of the drone and it works like magic. I brought my 12 year old daughter into my practice area, played the drone and played D Maj scale notes and asked her if they were in tune or not - she nailed every one of them. Best $10 I have spent so far on this.

Thanks bassguy - I really appreciate the tip.

Alembic

Originally Posted by bassguy

Hooray! It only gets better as you go. This might sound obtuse, but study your harmonics, and overtone series. I swear the knowledge of those and how the logarithmic scale plays into finding pitches on the fingerboard played a key role in my being able to intuitively finding the right note. A good exercise is to hear or sing the pitch, then play it. Also, practice with the bow is very important for left hand development, especially with a drone. Can't emphasize that enough. Drone drone drone.

Another strong recommendation is to string up with gut strings. They range from 99$ for the cheap ones from India to Damian Dlugalecki guts for 450$. Doesn't matter. Throw a set on there and bear through a few months of it, you'll be rewarded with an intense appreciation of the instrument that is historically grounded: guts are where it all began! You'll need to occasionally sand them with 1200+ grit paper to get the hairs off, and use some sort of oil from time to time (I like coconut) to keep the gut hydrostatically stable.

Finally, as soon as possible, throw away that steel endpin. You can use a drumstick instead or I have been making exotic hardwood endpins for a few bass players in the city. Wood makes the bass much louder and more responsive, steel is very heavy, too stiff, and emphasizes the upper harmonics in weird ways.

PM me if you have any questions, I am a GEEK about this stuff.

Originally Posted by Alembic

In a PM, bassguy recommended to practice to a drone tune to improve your intonation and train your ear to hear intervals. This is just a recording of a precise frequency. There would be 1 drone recording for each tonic following the circle of 5ths. This is something I had never tried before, so I went online and found a set of recordings that you can buy and download. You can get them here:

Cello Drones cd by Marcia Sloane

I was practicing études in the key of D Maj last night and played them over top of the D drone. Incredible. Your ear can actually hear any little fluctuation in intonation, and for an unfretted instrument it is mandatory that your intonation be excellent. But you could do the same thing for a slide or valve instrument as well.

I don't know how I missed this all these years but this is really the cat's a$$. You can play scales, arpeggios or just improvise in a key right over top of the drone and it works like magic. I brought my 12 year old daughter into my practice area, played the drone and played D Maj scale notes and asked her if they were in tune or not - she nailed every one of them. Best $10 I have spent so far on this.

Thanks bassguy - I really appreciate the tip.

Alembic

Wow, I have no idea what y'all are talking about.... My limited experience with instruments are only that they and the people holding them were sometimes in my way when we came back out from the locker-room to warm up for the second half....

No ill intent, my eyes just gloss over and I get that deer in the headlights look when I read that stuff. (kinda like the look I get when talking about nuances of straight razor shaving) Keep it up and realize that I am envious of people with such skill and patience! It is truly an art form and a God given talent (of which I was not blessed to receive). David, with all that dexterity going into thy fingers, your cases might keep getting more awesome! (closest thing to a Bass I could find)

David,

I just downloaded the Cello Drones on my iPhone - can't wait to get home tonight to give it a try. Thanks for letting me know about this! I'll let you know how it goes. I didn't mention that last Saturday we went to the music store to have some minor work done on my son's trombone. We left with a brand new flute for my 8 year old daughter. She starts lessons tomorrow. It's a dangerous thing letting me walk into a music store (or anyplace that might have a razor)