Standing position - what am I doing wrong?

earthdan · #1 10-02-2006, 05:26 PM

I've just started learning the double bass and will be having my first lesson soon. I've been learning the basics from a book (Essential Elements for strings) and progressing well. BUT...I've got one fundamental problem...I can't seem to find a practical standing position. The position which the book suggests is fine when you're holding the instrument's upper left bout with your left hand, but as soon as you go to play on the fingerboard, I'm at a loss to know which part of your body is supposed to support the instrument. It can't be the bowing arm/hand, and it can't be the fingering arm hand as that is too restrictive and the instrument wobbles all over the place. The book suggests that the upper right bout should rest against the left side of the stomach. But that really doesn't work for me...the bass just slips right away to the left, and would fall unless I caught it with my left hand. I've tried different heights, no luck. So my solution until now is to have my left foot on tip toe and my left leg bent in order to stop the bass from falling. I will get a stool, but can anyone see something I'm doing which is fundamentally wrong, or am I not doing something I should be? There may be times when a stool isn't available, so I really want to solve this basic issue.

Thanks in advance.

P.S. I'm 5'8'' and my bass is 3/4 size - I don't think that's too unusual is it?!

rftbass · #2 10-02-2006, 05:58 PM

Try this web site
Have mini video of how to
http://www.uvm.edu/~mhopkins/string/
click on pedagogical
click on instrument position
click on page 9

fingers · #3 10-02-2006, 06:32 PM

Boy, this video is not the way I hold a bass at all. Check out Rufus Reid's Evolving Bassist DVD. Good stuff.

Rob Sleeper · #4 10-02-2006, 07:00 PM

Wow that video is way off!

jallenbass · #5 10-02-2006, 07:12 PM

Though it's not the way that I stand with the bass it is one of the generally accepted ways.
I've never been comfortable standing until very recently. I have the bass rather low and somewhat vertical. I use a slightly athletic stance with my knees bent. This puts my left knee behind the lower bout when I need to have the bass in a stable position. I've been playing for 25 years so this might not be the best advice for a beginner.

Jazzman · #6 10-02-2006, 08:17 PM

I know why that video is so messed up - is on UVM's website.

[The University of Vermont is somewhat of a joke around this area.]

jfv · #7 10-03-2006, 02:17 AM

Remember that scene from the original 'Karate Kid', he's in his
apartment looking at a book trying to do some karate kicks...
Remember how silly the movie obviously wanted you to think that
was... well thats what learning bass from a book is like

And, the earliest things you learn are also the most fundamental.
My first teacher really never got me comfortable holding the
instrument either, it took my second teacher to finally address
the real issues.

So, get a teacher, and dont stress too much about it, took me
quite a while to be comfortable.

LOL, wait til you try and hold that bass and bow, that makes it
even worse yet

Have fun,

earthdan · #8 10-03-2006, 02:32 AM

Thanks for all your comments...much appreciated.

drurb · #9 10-03-2006, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfv

...So, get a teacher, and dont stress too much about it, took me quite a while to be comfortable.

Perfect!

christ andronis · #10 10-03-2006, 10:15 AM

I've been playing for about 4 years now after a long absence and I find I'm constantly adjusting my standing position. One day it'll be perfect and the next day I don't feel comfortable at all with the position I'm in. Does anyone else experience this?

damonsmith · #11 10-03-2006, 12:07 PM

My teacher had great advice: try to find photos of bass player with your same body type. Standing with the bass is more negotiable than a lot of other aspects of technique. When you find your angle of the bass and your standing position many things fall into place.

Kimi · #12 10-03-2006, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by earthdan

I'm 5'8'' and my bass is 3/4 size - I don't think that's too unusual is it?!

Hi, I'm also a beginner, 5'7", no teacher (though I got some very good advice from the members of this forum), and my bass is also 3/4, a flatback. In the past two weeks since I bought the bass, I've managed to find two positions on my own in which my hands are free to move around the bass without supporting it, so there is hope! I'm not sure if my body shape is the same as yours (Damon's tip), but here is how I stand:

1) To the back and slightly right of the bass, left leg half a step forward and slightly bent, the right upper bout of the bass on my belly, the back of the bass on my left knee. My body's weight is evenly distributed between my two feet, so I don't have to put my whole weight on my right foot. This means I lean into the bass a little. It also means I don't see the fingerboard. Good for playing with your eyes closed and really listening to your intonation.

2) To the right side of the bass, facing the right side of the bass, upper right bout on my belly, lower right bout on the inside of my left knee. The "half-step forward" concept applied again. This puts your left hand at somewhat of an awkward angle to the fingerboard until you get used to it (and do resist the temptation to squeeze the neck!), but you can see all of the fingerboard clearly, which can be a distraction.

I also have the endpin at the 4th notch, so a bit higher than the standard advice of having the nut at eye-brow level.

Finally, I find that moving during playing eliminates all tension and it's also good for the groove.

Hope this helps!

Miki

hdiddy · #13 10-03-2006, 01:45 PM

Certainly, playing pizz with a stance like in the UVM video is probably very hard. IMO, I can only justify playing arco with the bass in that position. How are you supposed to get the bow to run perpendicular to the strings when the bass is leaning practically sideways at 45 degrees?

Yeah, to reiterate one more time: GET A TEACHER!

damonsmith · #14 10-03-2006, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hdiddy

Certainly, playing pizz with a stance like in the UVM video is probably very hard. IMO, I can only justify playing arco with the bass in that position. How are you supposed to get the bow to run perpendicular to the strings when the bass is leaning practically sideways at 45 degrees?

Yeah, to reiterate one more time: GET A TEACHER!

Agreed. I use an angle about like that for thumb position. To "GET A TEACHER" I'd add get Simandl book one, and study out of that.

**Adrian Cho** · #15 10-03-2006, 03:47 PM

Yes the Rufus Reid DVD does have a good example of this. For the most part you should be able to balance the bass with the back part of the right hand bout roughly at the front of your body on the opposite side of where your left kidney would be. Something like that. You shouldn't have to rely on your hands to balance the bass. It is however very much an act of balancing it.

ToR-Tu-Ra · #16 10-03-2006, 04:10 PM

Great advice so far. I'm with Damon on this one. Everyone's body's different. One thing my teacher told me: Don't try to fight gravity, you'll eventually loose. Try to make gravity work on your side all the time while playing.

Tritonis · #17 10-10-2006, 09:14 PM

Like it's been said, everyone has a different way to hold their bass. Like a lot of other bass techniques, there is no set way on how to do it, it changes from person to person. I personally like my bass a little higher and having it lean onto me a bit, but not as much so as it shows in the video. I have the back corner balanced right on the left corner of my groin, if that makes any sense at all. Works well for me. Basically, whichever way gives you the most balance and is the most comfortable is the way you should go.

Jake · #18 10-11-2006, 02:53 AM

Not to bug any stool using bass players, I studied with a great one and know many other great bass players that sit, but I think it's good that you're standing. Just read what Paul Warburton says about what sitting does to your body over time. I just started standing again after about 4 years of sitting and have found that I am a lot more comfortable and that I can get a better sound.

Bruce Lindfield · #19 10-11-2006, 04:29 AM

Funny - I never had a problem with this when I started - although I couldn't explain it in words to another person - I believe this was down to going to Jazz club every Friday night for many years and seeing loads of great DB players at a distance of a few feet and seing how they do it!!

PB+J · #20 10-12-2006, 07:54 PM

I always felt slightly awkward with the bass--I tried standing and sitting, various heights, and got through many gigs but nothg felt as good as when i got an Egg Pin. That thing has been great--my whole stance just feels "right," and it's helped immensely with bowing. It just makes it easier for the weight of the arm to do the work. I'm not sure why this is, but it work for me. I bought the in used form Dr Rod of talkbass--he said it just never worked for him. They can have my egg pin when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers

I suppose what stance works for you depends on your height but also the shape and size of the bass and your body size--the length of your arms relative to your body, depth of the chest, all that stuff. All I know is I tried a bent endpin, and really liked that, then bought an EggPin used, and LOVED it. Someday I'll probably get one of those Laborie endpins installed.

Partly it was watching the Rufus DVD, and the Rabbath DVD. Both of them stand well behind the bass, and I kept trying out imitating that stance. For me it lets me get more weight into the right hand and it frees the left hand from doing anything other than fingering the notes. Lots of people don't need an eggpin to get the same effect--it just felt liberating to me