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Double Bass Fingering at the neck

T

TomGale

Jul 31, 2005
365
3
89
Disclosures
American School of Double Bass
#1
With all this activity on fingering, I thought I'd toss in another article. When I was doing the "Practical Studies", I kept redoing the neck fingering problems - how to jump right to a upper Eb or F or F# with accuracy and confidence. So, the result was an article - also a presention at another ISB convention. To check it out, go to Bob's site, click on books, articles, etc., and go down to the F's and click on the 'Four Fingerings', etc. Takes the fear out of "flying high!"

http://www.gollihurmusic.com/links.cfm

Tom Gale
ASODB.com:bassist:
 
#2
Another thought occured to me. When I was giving this as part of an ISB presentation, a teacher asked me, "When using the extended cork screw, does the thumb remain in the curvature of the neck?"
I thought about it and answered that if the hand felt comfortable - then yes. If it didn't, just hit the spot for a split second to establish the position and release the thumb. I thought I had better mention that.
TG
 
#3
Good Lord! Two thoughts in a week!! I want to mention in the Practical Studies, I used only the first three hand positions - the harmonic (h), the pinch (p) and the cork screw (cs) - not the extended cs. That came later.
Tom Gale
 
#4
Tom, those exercises are really great, are they directly from your book 1? can book 1 be used for "advanced" players who aren't as well versed in the four finger technique? or is it more of a beginners book to play the bass? thx!
 
#5
Calvin Marks said:
Tom, those exercises are really great, are they directly from your book 1? can book 1 be used for "advanced" players who aren't as well versed in the four finger technique? or is it more of a beginners book to play the bass? thx!
Click to expand...

The neck things are from the Practical Studies for DB - almost all regular 1,2,4 - 2nd to 3rd year player. The Technical Foundation Studies, Vol. 1 is the one that introduces the open hand or 4 finger technique - more advanced. You can check the web site for descriptions. Thanks!
Tom Gale ASODB.com
 
#6
Hi Tom, I wanted to grab a couple of other books from the ASODB website at the same time...Is there any way to pay by credit card online? It will most likely take a bit of time for a cheque to arrive in Ohio from Toronto, Canada.
 
#7
Mark knows more about that end but I think he's up in B.C. playing and teaching there at the festival. Email the site next week. There probably is a way.
Tom Gale
 
#8
Calvin Marks said:
Hi Tom, I wanted to grab a couple of other books from the ASODB website at the same time...Is there any way to pay by credit card online? It will most likely take a bit of time for a cheque to arrive in Ohio from Toronto, Canada.
Click to expand...

Come to think of it, Lemus takes credit cards and also handles all the books.
Tom
 
#11
Calvin Marks said:
Thanks Tom! I'm going to send in my order ASAP! What book do you recommend to refine the pivot technique in the lower octaves? Rabbath makes sense but the method books are a little bit daunting and overly confusing.
Click to expand...

If you can't make sense of Rabbath, you won't have much luck making sense of pivoting. You can always use pivots instead of shifts on simple Simandl exercises.
The video on doublebassblog.com tells a lot.
 
#12
damonsmith said:
If you can't make sense of Rabbath, you won't have much luck making sense of pivoting. You can always use pivots instead of shifts on simple Simandl exercises.
The video on doublebassblog.com tells a lot.
Click to expand...

I understand Rabbath, it's just the books are bloated, I mean 3 books? They're huge and really expensive. I was wondering if there is a more condensed or summarized version.
 
#14
damonsmith said:
I think the 2nd one introduces pivoting. They are nice to have around. I don't go full on with Rabbath, but I do play out of the books.
This is about as condensed as it gets:
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Just check that out and try it on any etude you have there.
Click to expand...

It's just for the 3rd book you need a magnifying glass to make out all the scales, they're so oddly written, in 1 one-octaves etc.
 

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