simple question, does anyone consistently use a 1/2-to-1 position pivot? otherwise i'm a simandl guy, but i find in the music i play that i'm constantly shifting between these two positions. for anyone that does, where do you keep your thumb? in-between the two positions, or do you keep it at one or the other?
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Double Bass 1/2-to-1 pivot
- Thread starter uethanian
- Start date
Find a Rabbath teacher. Incorrect pivoting can lead to funky hand problems, and the internet is a truly shoddy way of teaching this stuff.
Tons of us who aren't Rabbath disciples use pivots,and please be aware that even Rabbath himself does not advocate the use of a pivot as a universal solution. It is merely a means of accomplishing a musical goal.
Tons of us who aren't Rabbath disciples use pivots,and please be aware that even Rabbath himself does not advocate the use of a pivot as a universal solution. It is merely a means of accomplishing a musical goal.
I like Mark Morton's Simandl+ system ( Invalid Link Removed )
Pivoting isn't confined to Rabbath and I like to combine it with Morton's fingerings.
Pivoting isn't confined to Rabbath and I like to combine it with Morton's fingerings.
+1 to all the things that the above two fellows have said. Another option you might explore is to play notes from G/Ab to B on the D string. Because they're higher up the string they're closer together and easier to move around between, but it is a colour change so it might not apply to all situations all the time.
food for thought, perhaps?
eerbrev
food for thought, perhaps?
eerbrev
Eebrev- right on. I always say that technical solutions are just a tool. When you become a slave to your technique, you likely aren't thinking about the music.
Thankfully we live in an era where options are taught and encouraged, and we can pick what works best for any specific musical challenge.
Thankfully we live in an era where options are taught and encouraged, and we can pick what works best for any specific musical challenge.
Thanks for the tip on the Simandl + System. To an old Simandl purist, it seems to be a very logical extension.
Re the 1/2 to 1st pivot. I've never done it; it feels awkward to me. But funnily, I have always used the 1st to 2nd pivot.
Until today I always thought that I was being such a daring radical
While I'm not really a "proponent" of any particular fingering system, the advice on that page seems very practical and solid to me.
A big +1 to this - that is what I did years ago. I find pivots far more comfortable and useful in the higher positions.
There is more potential for strain in the low positions.
You should be able to shift quickly and smoothly enough for most situations in the low end.
Well said. When I wrote my "Triangulation of Fingering Systems", I used the "Pivoting" in each of the first 6 parts or sections. I taught that the pivot can be used in the 'closed hand position' (1,2,4) and 'open hand (1,2,3,4) with the thumb remaining in place. It really comes in handy in cleaning up some musical phrases where shifting would disturb the musical line. I started it in 4th pos. (Simandl)
Tom Gale
asodb.org
Might I suggest trying to find fingerings up in 2nd and 3rd positions where the pivoting is transformed in to string crossing, for example a passage Bb Db Eb G F# in half and first would require 3 shifts, whereas starting with 4 on the Bb on the E string would eliminate all the shifts and, assuming that the Bb was in tune, should eliminate all the inherent intonation problems with the pivot method.
This is a fingering method I use all more often recently and I'm working on a systematic classification of it. Try it out and see if you like it.
This is a fingering method I use all more often recently and I'm working on a systematic classification of it. Try it out and see if you like it.
