Double Bass Bottesini Bm - Cadenza - Arpeggio

[SirFunk]

Can anyone offer up a solution for the big nasty arpeggio - 4 octave Dm (if speaking written key). It makes sense except for the Fnatural harmonics. Going up the D string it would be F#, where do you get the Fnaturals from?

I've also heard that another edition (which i can't find) has some scale instead of the arpeggio, does anyone know what that would be?

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Square Bear]

go up the d string, just play the f's stopped. the slatford edition (yorke?) has a scale instead of the arpeggio. i was just looking at that about 5 minutes ago actually.

 

[SirFunk]

I may be mistaken but i think there are F's that would be off the end of the fingerboard. I don't have the music in-front of me but i think it's something like this:

(By 2nd octave I mean the octave where the ratio is 1/2, 3rd: 1/4 and so on)

(Open) D, (Open) D, F, A,
(2st octave Harmonic) D, F, A, (3nd octave Harmonic) D
(2st octave Harmonic) D, F, A,
(3nd octave Harmonic) D, A
(4rd octave harmonic) D, F, A

Now, I don't have my bass in-front of me, but i think the fingerboard runs out at the 3nd Octave A and there is another D, F, A above that. This is what I'm getting stuck on.

Now, at that speed/range i could probably play an F# harmonic and nobody would be the wiser, but you would think it would be notated as such if that were the solution.

 

[Square Bear]

I may be mistaken but i think there are F's that would be off the end of the fingerboard. I don't have the music in-front of me but i think it's something like this:

(By 2nd octave I mean the octave where the ratio is 1/2, 3rd: 1/4 and so on)

(Open) D, (Open) D, F, A,
(2st octave Harmonic) D, F, A, (3nd octave Harmonic) D
(2st octave Harmonic) D, F, A,
(3nd octave Harmonic) D, A
(4rd octave harmonic) D, F, A

Now, I don't have my bass in-front of me, but i think the fingerboard runs out at the 3nd Octave A and there is another D, F, A above that. This is what I'm getting stuck on.

Now, at that speed/range i could probably play an F# harmonic and nobody would be the wiser, but you would think it would be notated as such if that were the solution.

my bad, the top octave is on the g string. the d, f, and a are all harmonics on the g string in that register. that should make your life easier. put down your bass and crack open a beer.

 

[SirFunk]

Ok, thanks for the help. I think i spent a good 30 minutes fishing around for the F and A harmonics up there on the g string. I probably need to fiddle around methodically with a tuner (unless someone knows a good chart for finding harmonics?)

 

[Square Bear]

if you have not played much of this sort of thing before, the right thing for you to do now is probably spend a couple hours fishing around for f's and a's. eventually, you will want to get your hand in a shape where you can predict which harmonic will occur with which finger though... it's just like the rest of the bass - hand shape is the only thing that can really guide you.

 

[User4843936]

The one thing to bear in mind when you play that very top f harmonic on the g string is that it is very out of tune - you'll need to push it down/to the side/push down slightly with your thumb an octave below on the same string to push the pitch up a little. good luck...and there's always the yorke edition cadenza if all else fails!

 

[eerbrev]

Ok, thanks for the help. I think i spent a good 30 minutes fishing around for the F and A harmonics up there on the g string. I probably need to fiddle around methodically with a tuner (unless someone knows a good chart for finding harmonics?)

I used chalk on my strings to denote each one, and got into the habit of using the same finger for a harmonic. the chalk fades away, but is a nice visual cue at first, and the "position "playing" up there helps muscle memory.

That's what I found helped anyways.

and +1 on that F harmonic being flat. A 'cute' little pull to the side can fix that.

regards,

Eerbrev

 

[Square Bear]

The one thing to bear in mind when you play that very top f harmonic on the g string is that it is very out of tune - you'll need to push it down/to the side/push down slightly with your thumb an octave below on the same string to push the pitch up a little. good luck...and there's always the yorke edition cadenza if all else fails!

this reminds me of a spot in britten's war requiem where the solo bass part has a double stop C harmonic (7th on the D string) and an E harmonic on the A string. very exposed, you're the only one playing at first. it sounds SO out of tune against the E (which to make matters worse, will tend to be a little sharp) if you don't pull the D string quite a bit.