This series is the best video lesson I have found. Very clear, logical, well constructed, no unnecessary talking, I envy your students! Thank you very much! Now I take my bass and start everything from the beginning :)
Wow! You make things very clear. For years I've been in a constant struggle with fatigue when I play upright bass. Your technique of minimizing the use of my left thumb has made all the difference in the WORLD! Thank you.
Chris, I am a newbie to the bass and to music in general. Taking lessons in Maine and love the instument but as a senior, my arthritic thumb joint on the left hand has been an impediment to relaxing......translates into short playing time and not always fun.....your guidance to get the thumb out of the way was an eye opening and hugely effective. Many thanks.
Chris, I can't thank you enough for this video. Just what I need to work on and this is the best presentation of it on the web. Thank you so much! Rick Salvador
Thank you for your response.I have taken your advice and it works well. Part of the problem also I think is my inability to stabilize the bass when I play standing, as the bass rotates out counterclockwise, and I use my hand to prevent that. Sitting helps, but in both positions I flex my wrist which compounds the problem of squeezing the neck. May I should come to Louisville!
Chris, thanks for your very fine videos. I'm an electric bass player making the move to double bass. The jazz concepts move over just fine, but the mechanics are quite different b/w the two instruments. Your videos on basic left and right hand technique are exactly what I need. I usually resist things like the exercise with the orange b/c they seem contrived to me, but I actually tried catching an orange and it was very helpful in getting a correct, relaxed hand position. After making my ears hurt with bad intonation, I've already heard an improvement today after working with your videos. Keep up the excellent work!
Thanks, Joe. The bass is a New Standard LaScala hybrid, the very first one ever made. I love it to death. Google "New Standard Lascala hybrid", to get to the website where they are advertised. The bass pictured there is the one I am playing in these videos.
I tried to answer the question on Talkbass in the thread about this video series. In short, while I can't exactly do this while standing (I'm a seated player largely for leverage reasons), experimenting with it while sitting helps me keep pressure off the thumb when I have to play standing.
Chris, superb playing and idem instructional approach, thank you!! I'm a TalkBass member too. I'm surprised that no one asked so far, so I gotta do the dirty job: what strings are you using on Bach's cello suite? what a sound man
Hi Chris. First I wanna say that it's the first time I could play with the large muscles without using the thumb. I knew people can do this but I could never understand how. Your explanation made me get it. Thank you! but now in sitting position without using the thumb my bass just slides away from me. I simply can't play like in the video without the bass sliding forward through my legs. I try using minimum tension on the fingerboard but no difference. How do you play with the bass secure on the floor? Again thank you very much for the lesson Sir.
+Diego Sales That's great to hear, Diego. As far as the sitting position, i anchor the bass on the floor with gravity, but on a slick floor sometimes I have to remove the rubber endpin tip (so the metal tip digs into the floor) or use an endpin stop. One easy way to to this is to have a strip of carpet and sit the stool on it. then rest the endpin on the part sticking out from under the stool. This usually works fine.
Really appreciate this lesson. Everything here made sense for someone like me who is new to the instrument. Also your bass has an incredible look and sound - do you mind if I ask the make/model? Thanks!
Thanks for taking the time to watch, guys. Rick - there's also a great series of Bass Tips by John Clayton that a friend just made me aware of. He has one on left hand position that focuses on what I refer to as "fixed position" here, and it's really excellent (what else would you expect from the master himself?), so I thought I'd link it here. Enjoy! Edit: Oops, just found out you can't post links in these comments. Just do a youtube search for "John Clayton Bass Tips". It's #3 in the series.
Renan - those are Thomastik Dominants with a Spirocore Stark E. The set is about 4 years old. Thanks for the compliment on the sound - those strings are fantastic. Chris and marL3L0 - thanks again for watching. I'm hoping to do a new one about every 3 months, hopefully all 15 minutes or less from here on in.
Hi Pedro, At the moment it's on my website. The site will be redesigned soon and I'm not sure what will happen to it then, but for now, it's up there on the "soundfiles" page.
Thank you an exercise in clear and relaxed teaching. I am trying to relax in playing, but find I have wrist pain around the bass of the thumb. It seems like I squeeze the neck, a problem you and most other instructors address. Are there more specific exercises to eliminate this bad debilitation habit? Thank you again. Eugene
eugene ciccone The best exercise I know of (as I said in the video) is to practice without using the thumb at all, which helps the hand and arm learn to play without needing the thumb to press or squeeze. When you put the thumb back after doing this for awhile, make sure it is extended in such a way that it can only stop something that is pressing on it from going further but can't press back. Don't know how to explain it in words but it's easy to explain in person.
Hi Chris, I'm a bass student in Foggia Conservatory, South Italy. I've been watching to your videos on youtube since weeks, they're very helpful! I like a lot the sound of your bass, can you tell me about that instrument? All the best, cheers!
At around 16:33 in the video you demonstrate vibrato. When playing a piece of music, if vibrato isn't mentioned on the score, when do you use this method? Are there certain notes that should be played with vibrato? Do you use it at the beginning or end of a bar in a musical score?
Vibrato is rarely mentioned in musical directions. I would liken it to a vocal inflection that an actor might use when bringing a script to life: it's almost never written in the script, but the actor is free to use it when the character of the script suggests it. Vibrato is a very huge and very personal subject that varies greatly from player to player. My best advice would be to find a player or players who uses vibrato in a way that you find pleasing and effective, and model yourself after them.
Hey chris. These are great tutorials, very detailed and didactic. Im wondering, is there any way to hear the full "you dont know what love is" recording on the beginning?
Besides the very good learning material, Chris plays the prelude of the Cello Suite II of J.S.Bach at the beginning. This exciting performance is interesting of its own. I know this prelude by arco, but never heard it as pizz., where it is more difficult to show the musical intention (if I play this as pizz., one hears mainly a string of sixteenth notes). As far as I recognize it, Chris accelerates when grouping together notes, typically when going down and up after resting on a target note. Accelerating and decelerating like this is not done in jazz but makes here a lot of sense. In measure 11 Chris even stretches the D (which is not in the text) to finish a group and to begin a new one. I can listen to this interpretation over and over again.
Klaus - thanks for the nice review! The whole subject of rubato interpretation is a very personal one, and no view is "right" or "wrong". For the cello suites (especially the slower movements), I tend to hear them as very lyrical pieces rather than simply the dances they are named after. The performances from cellists I enjoy most tend to approach them in this way, and I try to learn from them. I can also enjoy the more strict rhythmic interpretations from players that approach them that way, but in the end find myself drawn to the "ebb and flow" players a little more.
Best upright bass lesson ever. I just recently played the upright and this really open my mind. How you explained the difference between free and fixed position is very well done. The use of the pads and tips is great information. Anyway, I love the tone of your bass. How is the string height set up on your nut and end of the fingerboard. Does it help to achieve the tone you have?
Thank you! The strings are Thomastik Dominants on the G-D-A and a Thomastik Spirocore stark on the E. Not sure about the nut, but at the end of the fingerboard the string heights range from 7mm on the G to 10mm on the E. I think the stiffness and height of the strings play a huge role in the tone of the bass; the price the player pays for this sound is that each note requires a lot of force to make it speak. There is more info about my basses on my website on the "gear" page.
It's the prelude from J.S. Bach's 2nd cello suite. I can't post a link in comments, but Google "Petrucci Music Library" and then use the search engine to find it. The cello suites are some of the best technique exercises I know of.
Great lesson, Chris. When using arm weight instead of thumb, how do you manage the problem that the neck wants to pull back with you? I can't seem to grasp this.
Thanks, Michael. your question is one that many people have asked over the years. My answer is that I play seated with the bass fixed against my body so that when i pull back on the back, it can't move away from the pressure I exert. But there are many ways to do it. Check out my video entitled "Double Bass Posture Variations" to watch 10 different bass players describe how they hold the bass and minimize the use of the left thumb while playing.
hi there! great lessons! i'm already playing electric bass, rock and funk music mostly, but i 'd like to start playing the double bass and more jazzy things... what instrument do you suggest me to buy for a good start. . ? thanks!
I have posted some advice on this over at Talkbass.com a while back in a discussion, but I don't think i can post links in comments here. I plan to do a couple of thumb position videos some time around the beginning of the new year.
You can't post links here, but go to Talkbass.com in the double bass forums under "Basses", then search for the "Beginner's guide to buying and starting out on double bass". It's a Wiki link, and has a ton of great information. Good luck!
Thanks, Lowell. I'm not sure what year it was made, but it's a New Standard LaScala hybrid, the first one ever made. I bought it in 2005. It was likely made between 2000 and 2005.
For me,(I play classical music) it is important to play with the tips of the fingers also because otherwise my thump gets straight and I get cramp in my thump when playing quick stuff. And otherwise I touch the G-string when playing the G on the D-string, wich blocks the nice resonance of the G-string.. Are these problems common? Very nice Video by the way :)
Thanks for your comments! I actually try to straighten my thumb in "hitch-hiking" position on purpose so as to use it as a lever and to not squeeze with it, but I suppose everyone's body can react differently to these concepts. I think i would have to see you play in person to be able to say anything helpful. As for the resonance issue, since jazz players so often deal with amplification of one kind or another, muting the strings you don't want to be resonating at any given time becomes a sort of built in technique of its own. Still, the best reason to choose which part of the finger to play on (IMO) is the sound desired. Anything else should be secondary. :)
Just a question, what do you think about playing with gut strings? I have three fivestrings doublebasses. One I am using dayly in the Symphony orchestra and it's with steel strings. The other one is tuned 415 hz with gut strings and frets till the fourth position to play barocque music and the third one I would like to use now not anymore for solo classic repertoire but for jazz. Do you think It could be a good choice also to play it with gut? I am used to that type of strings from barocque playing and I love Paul Chambers sound. Tell me please what do you think about. Thanks in advance and congratulations for your amazing videos! Many greetings from an italian living and playing in Germany! Alberto
Hi Alberto, and thanks for weighing in. My take on gut strings is that they aren't at all the sound and feel I'm looking for, so i don't use them. But other people prefer them, love them, and play beautifully on them. When it comes to strings, I always advise people to trust their ears and intuition. Try everything, and keeps what works for you. It would be a pretty boring world if we were all the same! The "gut sound" is its own animal, and if you like it, you should try it. I personally find gut strings very high maintenance, unstable, and hard to amplify, but I can promise you that if the gut sound and feel was my true sonic love, i would gladly put up with all of these things so i could play with that sound.
Wow. Thank you! I have 2 questions: What is the name of the Bach piece that you're playing in the beginning, and what brand/gauge of strings do you use? Your series has TONNS of real and useful information. Thanks again.
Thanks, Steve. :) The intro piece is the Prelude to Bach's second cello suite, and I use Thomastik strings: a Spirocore stark E string with Dominants on the A-D-G.
Hello Chris, I am very beginner upright bassist (few days now, but i have few years of experience with bass guitar) and I am struggling with my left hand technique. After few arpeggios I can feel tiresome and pain in my left thumb, which is a bad sign. When I try to press strings more from arm and shoulder my bass starts to rotate to left and I have to oppose this movement with my left thumb. Have you any piece of tip/advice for this situation? How to apply pressure to strings from shoulder without turning the instrument to the left? I can only play in standing position, because lack of higher stool.
Michael - this is the exact reason that I sit when playing. There are various ways to sit or stand at the bass, as Jason Heath's blog here ( doublebassblog.org/2008/05/standing-versus-sitting-for-the-double-bassist.html ) describes. My body wants to sit in order to be able to generate leverage without turning the bass. Each person will need to experiment to find their own way, but I'd recommend at least trying playing seated for a short while, even if only to feel what playing without using the left hand thumb feels like.
Chris Fitzgerald Thank you for fast response. I will look into blog entry you linked and (I hope) learn something new. If you recommend sitting I will try to menage some stool, that will allow me to play bass comfortably. Cheers
Michał Herman If you are a beginner, it might be wise to take a few lessons in person so you can get off on the right foot and not develop too many unhealthy habits. In the meantime, as you experiment, here's an article i wrote for Bass Gear Magazine a while back that talks about posture issues that both standing and sitting players will all eventually need to consider: btpub.boyd-printing.com/publication/?i=204655&p=60 (pages 110-11 of the linked issue)
Chris Fitzgerald Chris, you are great teacher, thank you very much for the tip. I have getting few lessons in plans, but urgent feel to try the instrument is to strong to allow bass just stand and not to try playing ;-)
I been working hard on this. If I stand up and remove my thumb, the bass falls over. Is that normal? I mean does the thumb have to be there when standing up?
Yes, this is normal, and it is one of the reasons i play seated. But the goal when standing should be to minimize the gripping motion between the left thumb and fingers. When seated, it can be all but eliminated, but when standing, it can still be minimized.Does this make sense?
+John F. Hebert I wish I could! I sit like this because I have never really found a way to do this myself, and also because I have ruined my knees doing martial arts and playing seated allows me to play without knee of back pain. My friends and mentors Rufus Reid and Lynn Seaton accomplish their standing balance with the help of an angled endpin. It works for them, but I could never get it to work for me. John Goldsby (another friend and unwitting mentor) manages to play standing in a relaxed way without the angled pin. I will ask him about this and see if I can incorporate his answer into some material for the series in some way. Thanks for the suggestion.
I think the best explanation I have seen for a beginner, thank you
Great video! I immediately play without left hand pain after following your instruction. Thank you, Chris!
Thanks for posting, it's a pleasure hearing a REAL teacher..
I’m still watching, this is awesome
This series is the best video lesson I have found. Very clear, logical, well constructed, no unnecessary talking, I envy your students! Thank you very much! Now I take my bass and start everything from the beginning :)
Thank you! Feel free to ask questions either here on at Tallkbass.com in the thread about the series.
Wow! You make things very clear. For years I've been in a constant struggle with fatigue when I play upright bass. Your technique of minimizing the use of my left thumb has made all the difference in the WORLD! Thank you.
+David Littlefield that's exactly what I love to hear! Thanks for weighing in.
This is brilliant teaching. Period. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience!
best double bass teacher on youtube
Love your video instructionals ....crystal clear delivery.
Chris, I am a newbie to the bass and to music in general. Taking lessons in Maine and love the instument but as a senior, my arthritic thumb joint on the left hand has been an impediment to relaxing......translates into short playing time and not always fun.....your guidance to get the thumb out of the way was an eye opening and hugely effective. Many thanks.
Glad to help! This has been key to my hand health over the years.
Chris, I can't thank you enough for this video. Just what I need to work on and this is the best presentation of it on the web. Thank you so much!
Rick Salvador
What an amazing teacher. Thank you very much Chris!
Thanks for tuning in!
Thanks a lot for making this video; it was great to watch, you covered many important aspects and in a very concise way.
Great video Chris. You are very informative I love watching and hope you keep making them. Thanks
Thanks a lot, great job Chris. I can´t to pay a teacher. I learned a lot of technique watching your videos.
Julio - that's great! That's one of the reasons the series was created. Thanks for the feedback.
Thanks Chris. I am going to try out your idea on the thumb placement, to see if I can play with less tension in my wrist.
Thank you so much, Chris, you're lessons are very well done.
Thank you for your response.I have taken your advice and it works well. Part of the problem also I think is my inability to stabilize the bass when I play standing, as the bass rotates out counterclockwise, and I use my hand to prevent that. Sitting helps, but in both positions I flex my wrist which compounds the problem of squeezing the neck. May I should come to Louisville!
Chris, thanks for your very fine videos. I'm an electric bass player making the move to double bass. The jazz concepts move over just fine, but the mechanics are quite different b/w the two instruments. Your videos on basic left and right hand technique are exactly what I need. I usually resist things like the exercise with the orange b/c they seem contrived to me, but I actually tried catching an orange and it was very helpful in getting a correct, relaxed hand position. After making my ears hurt with bad intonation, I've already heard an improvement today after working with your videos. Keep up the excellent work!
+David Vermette This is the best kind of feedback to hear. Thanks for weighing in, and keep at it - it only gets easier.
Awesome! thank you. I feel like I have been validated as being one who often plays on the pads.
Gracias por tus cuidados videos, son un placer. I also like very much you bass, very much...
Very, very good, thanks a lot!
Thank you for posting great video! Best explanation for left hand technique I've heard
Thank you! Be sure to check out the rest of the series.
It's the prelude to the 2nd suite. Gorgeous music.
Great video, helps a lot.
Chris! Happy new year brother. Sounds good
Hey Marcus! Hope you are well.
Thanks, Joe. The bass is a New Standard LaScala hybrid, the very first one ever made. I love it to death. Google "New Standard Lascala hybrid", to get to the website where they are advertised. The bass pictured there is the one I am playing in these videos.
I tried to answer the question on Talkbass in the thread about this video series. In short, while I can't exactly do this while standing (I'm a seated player largely for leverage reasons), experimenting with it while sitting helps me keep pressure off the thumb when I have to play standing.
Great lesson!
Chris, superb playing and idem instructional approach, thank you!! I'm a TalkBass member too.
I'm surprised that no one asked so far, so I gotta do the dirty job: what strings are you using on Bach's cello suite? what a sound man
Awesome video!
outstanding!
Hi Chris. First I wanna say that it's the first time I could play with the large muscles without using the thumb. I knew people can do this but I could never understand how. Your explanation made me get it. Thank you! but now in sitting position without using the thumb my bass just slides away from me. I simply can't play like in the video without the bass sliding forward through my legs. I try using minimum tension on the fingerboard but no difference. How do you play with the bass secure on the floor? Again thank you very much for the lesson Sir.
+Diego Sales That's great to hear, Diego. As far as the sitting position, i anchor the bass on the floor with gravity, but on a slick floor sometimes I have to remove the rubber endpin tip (so the metal tip digs into the floor) or use an endpin stop. One easy way to to this is to have a strip of carpet and sit the stool on it. then rest the endpin on the part sticking out from under the stool. This usually works fine.
+Chris Fitzgerald Awesome. Now I know how you do. Thank you!. About Skype, no problem. Have a great weekend. Peace!
Really appreciate this lesson. Everything here made sense for someone like me who is new to the instrument. Also your bass has an incredible look and sound - do you mind if I ask the make/model? Thanks!
Great video man!
Thank you!
Really helpful. Thanks!
Thanks for taking the time to watch, guys. Rick - there's also a great series of Bass Tips by John Clayton that a friend just made me aware of. He has one on left hand position that focuses on what I refer to as "fixed position" here, and it's really excellent (what else would you expect from the master himself?), so I thought I'd link it here. Enjoy!
Edit: Oops, just found out you can't post links in these comments. Just do a youtube search for "John Clayton Bass Tips". It's #3 in the series.
Renan - those are Thomastik Dominants with a Spirocore Stark E. The set is about 4 years old. Thanks for the compliment on the sound - those strings are fantastic. Chris and marL3L0 - thanks again for watching. I'm hoping to do a new one about every 3 months, hopefully all 15 minutes or less from here on in.
Hi Pedro,
At the moment it's on my website. The site will be redesigned soon and I'm not sure what will happen to it then, but for now, it's up there on the "soundfiles" page.
Thank you an exercise in clear and relaxed teaching.
I am trying to relax in playing, but find I have wrist pain around the bass of the thumb. It seems like I squeeze the neck, a problem you and most other instructors address.
Are there more specific exercises to eliminate this bad debilitation habit?
Thank you again. Eugene
eugene ciccone The best exercise I know of (as I said in the video) is to practice without using the thumb at all, which helps the hand and arm learn to play without needing the thumb to press or squeeze. When you put the thumb back after doing this for awhile, make sure it is extended in such a way that it can only stop something that is pressing on it from going further but can't press back. Don't know how to explain it in words but it's easy to explain in person.
Hi Chris,
I'm a bass student in Foggia Conservatory, South Italy. I've been watching to your videos on youtube since weeks, they're very helpful! I like a lot the sound of your bass, can you tell me about that instrument?
All the best, cheers!
At around 16:33 in the video you demonstrate vibrato. When playing a piece of music, if vibrato isn't mentioned on the score, when do you use this method? Are there certain notes that should be played with vibrato? Do you use it at the beginning or end of a bar in a musical score?
Vibrato is rarely mentioned in musical directions. I would liken it to a vocal inflection that an actor might use when bringing a script to life: it's almost never written in the script, but the actor is free to use it when the character of the script suggests it.
Vibrato is a very huge and very personal subject that varies greatly from player to player. My best advice would be to find a player or players who uses vibrato in a way that you find pleasing and effective, and model yourself after them.
Hey chris. These are great tutorials, very detailed and didactic. Im wondering, is there any way to hear the full "you dont know what love is" recording on the beginning?
Besides the very good learning material, Chris plays the prelude of the Cello Suite II of J.S.Bach at the beginning. This exciting performance is interesting of its own. I know this prelude by arco, but never heard it as pizz., where it is more difficult to show the musical intention (if I play this as pizz., one hears mainly a string of sixteenth notes). As far as I recognize it, Chris accelerates when grouping together notes, typically when going down and up after resting on a target note. Accelerating and decelerating like this is not done in jazz but makes here a lot of sense. In measure 11 Chris even stretches the D (which is not in the text) to finish a group and to begin a new one.
I can listen to this interpretation over and over again.
Klaus - thanks for the nice review! The whole subject of rubato interpretation is a very personal one, and no view is "right" or "wrong". For the cello suites (especially the slower movements), I tend to hear them as very lyrical pieces rather than simply the dances they are named after. The performances from cellists I enjoy most tend to approach them in this way, and I try to learn from them. I can also enjoy the more strict rhythmic interpretations from players that approach them that way, but in the end find myself drawn to the "ebb and flow" players a little more.
this really helped !!! big up
Best upright bass lesson ever. I just recently played the upright and this really open my mind. How you explained the difference between free and fixed position is very well done. The use of the pads and tips is great information. Anyway, I love the tone of your bass. How is the string height set up on your nut and end of the fingerboard. Does it help to achieve the tone you have?
Thank you! The strings are Thomastik Dominants on the G-D-A and a Thomastik Spirocore stark on the E. Not sure about the nut, but at the end of the fingerboard the string heights range from 7mm on the G to 10mm on the E. I think the stiffness and height of the strings play a huge role in the tone of the bass; the price the player pays for this sound is that each note requires a lot of force to make it speak. There is more info about my basses on my website on the "gear" page.
It's the prelude from J.S. Bach's 2nd cello suite. I can't post a link in comments, but Google "Petrucci Music Library" and then use the search engine to find it. The cello suites are some of the best technique exercises I know of.
Which cello suite is this? I've played the Prelude to the first one, but this was beautiful, and i would like to hone my lefthand skills on this!
Great lesson, Chris. When using arm weight instead of thumb, how do you manage the problem that the neck wants to pull back with you? I can't seem to grasp this.
Thanks, Michael. your question is one that many people have asked over the years. My answer is that I play seated with the bass fixed against my body so that when i pull back on the back, it can't move away from the pressure I exert. But there are many ways to do it. Check out my video entitled "Double Bass Posture Variations" to watch 10 different bass players describe how they hold the bass and minimize the use of the left thumb while playing.
hi there! great lessons! i'm already playing electric bass, rock and funk music mostly, but i 'd like to start playing the double bass and more jazzy things... what instrument do you suggest me to buy for a good start. . ? thanks!
Do you have any videos or advice on playing more in tune in the thumb position and transfer between thumb and below the octave?
I have posted some advice on this over at Talkbass.com a while back in a discussion, but I don't think i can post links in comments here. I plan to do a couple of thumb position videos some time around the beginning of the new year.
You can't post links here, but go to Talkbass.com in the double bass forums under "Basses", then search for the "Beginner's guide to buying and starting out on double bass". It's a Wiki link, and has a ton of great information. Good luck!
Thanks, I was doing it wrong, now can work on correct technique.
I was pushing between thump and other fingers :(
Thanks.
Nice sounding bass, notwithstanding your great technique. What is the bass name and vintage?
Thanks, Lowell. I'm not sure what year it was made, but it's a New Standard LaScala hybrid, the first one ever made. I bought it in 2005. It was likely made between 2000 and 2005.
For me,(I play classical music) it is important to play with the tips of the fingers also because otherwise my thump gets straight and I get cramp in my thump when playing quick stuff. And otherwise I touch the G-string when playing the G on the D-string, wich blocks the nice resonance of the G-string.. Are these problems common? Very nice Video by the way :)
Thanks for your comments! I actually try to straighten my thumb in "hitch-hiking" position on purpose so as to use it as a lever and to not squeeze with it, but I suppose everyone's body can react differently to these concepts. I think i would have to see you play in person to be able to say anything helpful. As for the resonance issue, since jazz players so often deal with amplification of one kind or another, muting the strings you don't want to be resonating at any given time becomes a sort of built in technique of its own. Still, the best reason to choose which part of the finger to play on (IMO) is the sound desired. Anything else should be secondary. :)
Just a question, what do you think about playing with gut strings?
I have three fivestrings doublebasses. One I am using dayly in the Symphony orchestra and it's with steel strings.
The other one is tuned 415 hz with gut strings and frets till the fourth position to play barocque music and the third one I would like to use now not anymore for solo classic repertoire but for jazz.
Do you think It could be a good choice also to play it with gut?
I am used to that type of strings from barocque playing and I love Paul Chambers sound.
Tell me please what do you think about.
Thanks in advance and congratulations for your amazing videos!
Many greetings from an italian living and playing in Germany!
Alberto
Hi Alberto, and thanks for weighing in. My take on gut strings is that they aren't at all the sound and feel I'm looking for, so i don't use them. But other people prefer them, love them, and play beautifully on them. When it comes to strings, I always advise people to trust their ears and intuition. Try everything, and keeps what works for you. It would be a pretty boring world if we were all the same!
The "gut sound" is its own animal, and if you like it, you should try it. I personally find gut strings very high maintenance, unstable, and hard to amplify, but I can promise you that if the gut sound and feel was my true sonic love, i would gladly put up with all of these things so i could play with that sound.
Thanks!
Wow. Thank you! I have 2 questions: What is the name of the Bach piece that you're playing in the beginning, and what brand/gauge of strings do you use? Your series has TONNS of real and useful information. Thanks again.
Thanks, Steve. :) The intro piece is the Prelude to Bach's second cello suite, and I use Thomastik strings: a Spirocore stark E string with Dominants on the A-D-G.
Hello Chris,
I am very beginner upright bassist (few days now, but i have few years of experience with bass guitar) and I am struggling with my left hand technique.
After few arpeggios I can feel tiresome and pain in my left thumb, which is a bad sign. When I try to press strings more from arm and shoulder my bass starts to rotate to left and I have to oppose this movement with my left thumb.
Have you any piece of tip/advice for this situation? How to apply pressure to strings from shoulder without turning the instrument to the left?
I can only play in standing position, because lack of higher stool.
Michael - this is the exact reason that I sit when playing. There are various ways to sit or stand at the bass, as Jason Heath's blog here ( doublebassblog.org/2008/05/standing-versus-sitting-for-the-double-bassist.html ) describes. My body wants to sit in order to be able to generate leverage without turning the bass. Each person will need to experiment to find their own way, but I'd recommend at least trying playing seated for a short while, even if only to feel what playing without using the left hand thumb feels like.
Chris Fitzgerald Thank you for fast response. I will look into blog entry you linked and (I hope) learn something new.
If you recommend sitting I will try to menage some stool, that will allow me to play bass comfortably.
Cheers
Michał Herman If you are a beginner, it might be wise to take a few lessons in person so you can get off on the right foot and not develop too many unhealthy habits. In the meantime, as you experiment, here's an article i wrote for Bass Gear Magazine a while back that talks about posture issues that both standing and sitting players will all eventually need to consider: btpub.boyd-printing.com/publication/?i=204655&p=60 (pages 110-11 of the linked issue)
Chris Fitzgerald Chris, you are great teacher, thank you very much for the tip.
I have getting few lessons in plans, but urgent feel to try the instrument is to strong to allow bass just stand and not to try playing ;-)
where can i find that music?
I been working hard on this. If I stand up and remove my thumb, the bass falls over. Is that normal? I mean does the thumb have to be there when standing up?
Yes, this is normal, and it is one of the reasons i play seated. But the goal when standing should be to minimize the gripping motion between the left thumb and fingers. When seated, it can be all but eliminated, but when standing, it can still be minimized.Does this make sense?
@@chrisfitzgerald8356 Yes thanks. I will keep trying
I see you sit and hold, can you do a video about playing without the thumb but while standing up?
+John F. Hebert I wish I could! I sit like this because I have never really found a way to do this myself, and also because I have ruined my knees doing martial arts and playing seated allows me to play without knee of back pain. My friends and mentors Rufus Reid and Lynn Seaton accomplish their standing balance with the help of an angled endpin. It works for them, but I could never get it to work for me. John Goldsby (another friend and unwitting mentor) manages to play standing in a relaxed way without the angled pin. I will ask him about this and see if I can incorporate his answer into some material for the series in some way. Thanks for the suggestion.
What music are you looking for?
And btw, do you offer Skype lessons?
+Diego Sales Unfortunately, i don't at this time, as my schedule at the university keeps me too busy. Sorry!
the one you are playing
Nope, never did. The closest I've ever come to Lemur is having bought strings from them a while back.
just the tip