Double Bass Bowing posture

[Slaphound]

Having the end pin all the way while standing sounds really low to me. You mentioned before you and the bass were both at angle and met in the middle, but you were still bending. To me that means you actually want to raise up the bass even higher, so that your body can remain straight.

A rule of thumb i had learned from is that a good starting point to measure is when the bass is standing straight up, you want the nut of the bass to be around eye level or even higher toward the top of your head. With the end pin in, where does the nut of the bass line up to on your body?

Here are some pics. I'm only 5'6" or 7" See what you guys think. I mean. I'm VERY comfortable playing here but It does require a little bit of bending over some to get the bow to place well.

 

[garrett2]

he sounded pretty good with the bass that low!

 

[Lee Moses]

@Slaphound, thanks for the pictures and the info about your height. Honestly, if you are primarily a pizz player, that looks like a pretty good height. If you were looking to become primarily an arco player, I might think about raising the endpin. You could still do that and figure out a way to slope the instrument--you could use an anchor strap or a Laborie endpin or something like that. Have you asked your teacher about this particular issue?

 

[the_Ryan]

View attachment 5187110 View attachment 5187143 View attachment 5187144 View attachment 5187143 View attachment 5187110 View attachment 5187145 View attachment 5187146
Here are some pics. I'm only 5'6" or 7" See what you guys think. I mean. I'm VERY comfortable playing here but It does require a little bit of bending over some to get the bow to place well.View attachment 5187110View attachment 5187110

My personal opinion is that the bass could be a little higher, the only place you should be bending from to place the bow is hinging from your hips: bending to the side like that will hurt after a while and will definitely mess up your back over time. Honestly, I think you could get away with raising the bass just a notch or two, when you’re standing upright the bow is pretty close to what I would consider default, maybe a couple inches too close to the FB; the heel doesn’t need to be all the way up to your armpit (as you mentioned you tried in a previous post) to place the bow correctly.

For me what also helps with the bow is to also lean the bass back a little so that the nut is still roughly around eyebrow level (essentially you’re raising the bass for your bow but keeping the nut at the same height), but that will put some pressure on your right thumb: some people are okay with it, some people really aren’t.

 

[Wasnex]

bending to the side like that will hurt after a while and will definitely mess up your back over time.

Perhaps part of the problem is short arms. The torso is rotating so both hands can get to their targets.

@Slaphound IMHO to some degree you will choose your own compromise. Your justification may be a consideration of which way hurts the most. You will probably want to avoid that option.

 

[Slaphound]

@Slaphound, thanks for the pictures and the info about your height. Honestly, if you are primarily a pizz player, that looks like a pretty good height. If you were looking to become primarily an arco player, I might think about raising the endpin. You could still do that and figure out a way to slope the instrument--you could use an anchor strap or a Laborie endpin or something like that. Have you asked your teacher about this particular issue?

I went over posture and bass height at my first lesson. I had it higher. Maybe 4 notches up. Then he asked me to bring it down and it was fine. It was when I got home that I couldn’t seem to get comfy. After jacking it up and not liking that is when I started from the bottom up. And I think that this is working well for me. Now when I go back, we will have to go over it. Again. I’ve got another couple of exercises left in 1/2 position before I go back. Simandl book.