Double Bass Eccles 2nd Mvt

[Rob Sleeper]

Hey everyone,
My private teacher has me working on the Eccles sonata. In the 2nd mvt I am having a hard time playing the little 1/16 note measures fast. (GDCBCDB) not counting the pick-up it's bar 9 where it starts forte. Does anybody have suggestions of playing it fast and CLEAN without it sounding like crap?
Thanks so much,
Rob

 

[PaulCannon]

Two things: right hand, left hand.

Sometimes fast notes won't speak because the bow is moving faster than the string can vibrate. Use very little bow on each note.

Your left hand has to instictively know how the piece goes. The only way to get your hands to move fast enough is to practice slowly with a metronome. Start at 60 bpm or slower, and don't go faster until you can play it perfectly at the slow tempo, and then only increase tempo by one or two clicks at a time.

 

[Rob Sleeper]

Thanks, that's really a big help to me

Rob

 

[Ashley Long]

Hey everyone,
My private teacher has me working on the Eccles sonata. In the 2nd mvt I am having a hard time playing the little 1/16 note measures fast. (GDCBCDB) not counting the pick-up it's bar 9 where it starts forte. Does anybody have suggestions of playing it fast and CLEAN without it sounding like crap?
Thanks so much,
Rob

It is instances like this that extended technique can be really useful. If you have big enough hands you could play it using the 4th finger on the D, 2nd finger on the C and 1st finger on the B. (Im asuming however that this phrase is all on the G string). While this is not 'legitimate' technique it does not really matter as long as it sounds good! (for eample try playing Xenakis without using four fingers ) You could play the phrase across the strings. Just experiment with a few things until you find something that works for you!

Hope this helps

Ash