Double Bass Best Book for Upper Register Workout?

[Jason Sypher]

Thoughts, recommendations?

 

[Jordan M]

My teacher just got me started on a Petracchi exercise, it's decent, although I don't know if there's any more of them.

 

[Tom Gale]

Thoughts, recommendations?

How high up do you have in mind?

TG

 

[SplitNick]

I may be too traditional, but I like a lot of the material in the Simandl volume 2. There are some good exercises in Bradetich's Double Bass:The Ultimate Challenge.

One thing I like to do is take jazz heads from the Realbook and develop functional fingerings for them in the upper tessitura.

 

[BostonPop01]

scales!

 

[Tom Gale]

scales? OK and what else??

Tom Gale

 

[MDEbass]

Rabbath book 3. All you scales, arpeggios, etc plus exercises and etudes that utilize the entire length of the fingerboard, which includes a lot of higher register work.

 

[futurebass77]

Rabbath book 3. All you scales, arpeggios, etc plus exercises and etudes that utilize the entire length of the fingerboard, which includes a lot of higher register work.

+1

I also like Boardwalkin' by Hal Robinson and George Vance

 

[dirty_harold]

eugene levinson - school of agility

 

[SplitNick]

+1 on the Eugene Levinbson. There are some good fingerings in the Levinson book.

 

[Phil Rowan]

I really dig Petracchi's "Simplified Higher Technique" book a lot.

 

[Jake]

+1 on the Bradetich exercises and the Petracchi book. I've never seen Hal Robinson's books, but have heard they're really helpful.

 

[MDEbass]

+1 on Hal Robinson's Boardwalkin. It's main purpose is to learn fingerboard geography, especially across strings using Rabbath's positions all over the fingerboard, so you get a good workout everywhere on the fingerboard.

 

[JohnStamos]

Eugene Levinson + 5 million

That book is awesome!

 

[chicagodoubler]

The Bottesini book 2 is full of beautiful melodic etudes. Very few people seem to use it, but in my opinion it's one of the most enjoyable etude books ever written.

 

[bejoyous]

I've never used many study books. Most of the time I would pick a piece (or it was picked for me) and in the process of learning the piece, plenty of challenges would come up and I'd figure out a little excercise of my own to overcome whatever the obstacle was. Once it was learned, the technique is transferable to other pieces.

 

[Provbass1]

I like scales, arpeggios, with different bowings and fingerings to end of FB. Also double stopped 3rds and 5ths. George Vance Vade Mecum has string crossing excerise which can be used with Doublestops.
Petracchi book is great, especially Selmi etude(use non-Italian fingering, though)
Also playing Simandl I 8va , altering fingerings of course

 

[Cory Palmer]

George Vance's Vade Mecum and Boardwalkin' are great books to lead in to Rabbath book 3. Rabbath book 3 is great for developing flexibility with fingerings.

Petracchi's book is also great. This is great for developing a structured hand.

Petracchi and Rabbath compliment each other well.

As far as Levinson's book goes you should be careful with it if you're not used to using 3rd finger in lower positions.

 

[Bill Bentgen]

The last two Montag books are about as thorough as you can get. He takes you up from the thumb on the octave G a half step at a time until your 3rd finger is on the Eb that a lot of basses don't have. Each half position has major, harmonic minor, and melodic minor scales in that position along with arpeggios, scale exercises, arpeggio exercises, etudes, and any relevant orchestral or solo repetoire that can be played in that position.

These books aren't so much a method book as they are a lifelong career! I've played through 5 of the positions and will probably have to go back in time to get the rest.

 

[simandlhandle]

Petracchi, like everyone agrees.
Simandl II, too.
Hein van de Gien New method,
Michael Moore (upper register book?),
and Rufus Reid Evolving Upward is a good start.