Double Bass Fun excerpt of the week.

[neilG]

From Avner Dorman's "A Time to Mourn and a Time to Dance". Double concerto for two violins and orchestra.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

How are you fingering mm. 214-215?

 

[ole Jason]

Wondering the same as Chris. I'm doing 1-4-1 (with a pivot or small shift) on the G string then 4-1-4-1 on the A & D string but it feels a little janky.

 

[neilG]

Wondering the same as Chris. I'm doing 1-4-1 (with a pivot or small shift) on the G string then 4-1-4-1 on the A & D string but it feels a little janky.

That's what I settled on. All DB fingerings are janky.

 

[Jmilitsc]

I’ve been trying to improve in the “no man’s land” area of the fingerboard, with less shifting in and out of it. This approach does that trick and feels kinda natural to me at least. Haven’t tried w/ a bow yet to see how that impacts it. It’s got a sort of bluesy “shape” to it in my head.

 

[Bruce Calin]

I’ve been trying to improve in the “no man’s land” area of the fingerboard, with less shifting in and out of it. This approach does that trick and feels kinda natural to me at least. Haven’t tried w/ a bow yet to see how that impacts it. It’s got a sort of bluesy “shape” to it in my head.

View attachment 7234264

This was my thought, too. I'll try it later today. I like the concept but that doesn't always work in practice.

 

[neilG]

I’ve been trying to improve in the “no man’s land” area of the fingerboard, with less shifting in and out of it. This approach does that trick and feels kinda natural to me at least. Haven’t tried w/ a bow yet to see how that impacts it. It’s got a sort of bluesy “shape” to it in my head.

View attachment 7234264

Yeah, tried that but the extra string crossing and the 4-4 across the strings slowed me down more than shifting. I think someone behind me did it that way in performance.

 

[the_Ryan]

Yeah, tried that but the extra string crossing and the 4-4 across the strings slowed me down more than shifting. I think someone behind me did it that way in performance.

Those 10th/11th "fret" 4th finger barres are real difficult with my hands and bass, and this is probably too fast of a tempo to hop or push with the same finger for me. Also at faster tempos I've found that sometimes keeping things a little simpler in the right hand and shifting more (within reason, I'm not gonna play Mozart 35 mvt 4 entirely on the D string like a maniac) can lead to a better result.

I think I'd probably use a fingering similar to yours, although I'd probably close the open G to avoid crossing two strings more than is already necessary and close the open D to prevent accidentally accenting it and to kill the sustain immediately.

 

[Co.]

Those 10th/11th "fret" 4th finger barres are real difficult with my hands and bass, and this is probably too fast of a tempo to hop or push with the same finger for me. Also at faster tempos I've found that sometimes keeping things a little simpler in the right hand and shifting more (within reason, I'm not gonna play Mozart 35 mvt 4 entirely on the D string like a maniac) can lead to a better result.

I think I'd probably use a fingering similar to yours, although I'd probably close the open G to avoid crossing two strings more than is already necessary and close the open D to prevent accidentally accenting it and to kill the sustain immediately.

This.
And I'd play each last note of the bar (214 E, 215 E flat) on the D string. Makes a large fast shift with first finger in the left hand, but much easier with the bow.

Not unsimilar to the beginning of this famous bar.