Looking for suggestions on fingerings/strings (and crossings). I'm trying to get some audition excerpts down (just for kicks).
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Double Bass Figaro fingerings: overture, first 6 measures
- Thread starter Basschair
- Start date
42424/ 42014140/ 21212/ 21124104/ 21224210/ (A str.) 12421012/ 4
Open strings can be your friends when treated kindly and gently.
Open strings can be your friends when treated kindly and gently.
neilG said:
Thanks Neil: I agree with the open string approach, though I've got to put on the appropriate strings (that's a whole conversation).
BTW: How's Ventura these days?
First, change the first 5 notes to 21212. Then figure a way to avoid ANY repeated fingers 22 or 11, etc. They will only slow you down and/or blurr the passage. You will probably find a combination of open and closed hand techniques necessary.
Tom Gale
Tom Gale
Why would you start with 21212? If you are planning on going up the A string for the next notes I understand but 21212 makes for an awkward shift over to the D string.
neilG said:
The only problem I have with this fingering is the sixth measure. Shifting from the D to the E then shifting immediately back to the D will make it very easy to be out of tune. Try doing at least two notes to a position. Maybe you have really big hands an this is all one position for you but it is definitely not for me. If you are set on doing this on the A string maybe you could do 12414014 or 41414014.
Cory Palmer said:
'Cause its faster and cleaner. With the 'old' setup, (heavy strings, high action, etc., it was necessary to use the 42424 just to get the string down. No need with today's setup. There is no awkward shift to the D string - 21212 21014, etc.
Tom Gale
Cory Palmer said:
It'll only be out of tune if you play it out of tune, n'est pas?
I went back and played it and I (horrors!) actually do an extension with my 4th finger which is quite long. So it sort of is in one position. I can be more rigid and shift, too. The problem I have with your first fingering is that long shift from 1st finger D to 4th finger C#. You do it again, twice in the 2nd example. Not very compact. Remember, this lick is over before you know it. Well, any fingering will work if you practice it long enough, I guess.
TomGale said:
I don't play "open" hand so I make the occaisonal same-finger shift. And boy, do I do it fast! A violinist or cellist would be puzzled by the comment that a repeated finger need be blurry or slow. It is what you practice it to be, IMNSHO. I have to respectfully disagree with that notion. Too much distance, too few fingers, so little time. Ya gotta make it ALL work. I have short stubby fingers so what I lack in reach I have to make up for with stealth and cunning. And fast shifts.
neilG said:It'll only be out of tune if you play it out of tune, n'est pas?
Well, any fingering will work if you practice it long enough, I guess.
That fingering was just a suggestion for staying on the A string. I don't do that personally. The post where I gave a fingering for the entire 6 measures is the fingering I use for the most part. That is a pretty compact fingering and easy to make clean.
TomGale said:
That still seems like at awkward shift to me. I guess this is the kind of thing where it comes down to what fingering system you are used to. 4 is more comfortable in that first position than 2 for me. It seems to me like you would want to use 1 and 2 with gut strings. I know 4 and 2 is good if you have to hold the string for a long time but for passages where the fingers move fast it seems like it would be easier to get the articulation with 2 and 1. With steel strings it's not as difficult to get the articulation.
Cory Palmer said:
Okay, I see that. That fingering works for me too. The funny thing is that once you learn this lick you still have to make it through the other three hours of the opera. More difficult stuff lurks within.
I guess we should be talking tempi also. Most decent orchestras will take this about half note = 132/138. If your fingerings work at that level, go for it. If not, maybe look around. At the ISB convention 2005, I did a thing and used the Fig. as an example. Look it up on Bill's nice site below.
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This passage (as wonderful as it is) has been the bane of my double bass playing existence (approx 10 years). Out of the eight million times I've ATTEMPTED to play it, I think I got lucky once or twice and it came out somewhat clean sounding (I think I use the Simandl book fingering with a variation or two). I am going to print this thread and try some of these suggestions. This is great.
Bane is the right word. In my youth, I actually tried the Zimmerman fingerings (half note = 152??? - yeah, right) and felt thoroughly defeated. Later, I got smarter and tried other things. EX:
Meas. 6 + 1 note. (A st.) 12 (pivot) 4 (pivot back) 210124.
Sorry Oscar....
Tom Gale
Meas. 6 + 1 note. (A st.) 12 (pivot) 4 (pivot back) 210124.
Sorry Oscar....
Tom Gale
Here's a link to the complete part and the fingering I've used for years.
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Bill Bentgen said:
Nice: thanks!
Hey Bill, could you do me a favor and give a quick run-through on the strings/crossings you used? I could probably figure them for the most part, but figured I'd ask...
