Double Bass German bow, pinky away from frog?

[Lazaro777]

Curious if solo pieces sound better if the pinky departs from the frog? If so, what is the reasoning?




This bass professor mentiones to “claw” the bow with the pinky.



Granted the later video was for a different target audience.

 

[Mark_T]

I guess you should think about what the function of that finger is. In my hold, the pinky helps control the into-the-string forces that derive from arm weight. But there are other parts of my hand that help out in that role, so the pinky isn't always essential. My guess is that Dominik can get away with it there because he's playing fairly loud and into the string, but also wants to keep his hand maximally loose, and maybe removing a point of contact allows the bow to resonate a little more freely, too. But I'm just guessing.

 

[neilG]

The German bow just plays itself, no need to hang on too tight. Wagner does put his pinky back on the bow when he needs more control.

 

[Wasnex]

There is a lot of variation in German bow holds. IMHO, the trick is to figure out what works for you.

I started on German, but I figured out French works for me .

 

[Mark_T]

Yeah, and my understanding is that Jason Heath is mostly a French bow player. He's providing a valuable service to the community, but those videos seem to be aimed more at folks who're getting a lot of information off the internet rather (see the video preview) than serious students who're working with a teacher or have the ability to problem-solve on their own. Useful up to a point and collects a lot of wisdom, but only gets you so far.

 

[AGCurry]

My teacher insists that I keep the pinky on the frog. She says it's to control how much hair touches the bow. I have doubts, because it seems that the whole hand does that ... but I try to do as she says.

 

[the_Ryan]

My teacher insists that I keep the pinky on the frog. She says it's to control how much hair touches the bow. I have doubts, because it seems that the whole hand does that ... but I try to do as she says.

The amount of hair can be adjusted by either moving the stick and keeping the hair in the same place (which is a wrist rotation) or moving the hair and keeping the stick in the same location (which is done with the ring finger and pinky). In some cases one is more preferable than the other, although most of the time changing the amount of hair involves using a combination of the two.

Curious if solo pieces sound better if the pinky departs from the frog? If so, what is the reasoning?




This bass professor mentiones to “claw” the bow with the pinky.



Granted the later video was for a different target audience.

The pinky's main function is to assist in manipulating the hair angle (as described above) and also to take weight out of the string when playing quietly. The thumb and/or first finger are how arm weight is transferred into the string, and the pinky is how it's taken out. It's fairly common to see German bow players with their pinkies out though, and with any bow technique there's always the elements of anatomy, comfort, and sound, plus with German bow there are plenty of regional differences specific to the bow hold. I think even setting aside regional variations and the wide influence of certain pedagogues (like Paul Ellison in the US, Dorin Marc in Germany, and Ludwig Streicher in Vienna, just to name a few) there's a wide variation of German bow holds because one of the things many schools of thought have in common is that the default bow hold should involve minimal distortion to the hand's natural shape, and since our hands are all different everyone's bow hold is going to look different, even with the same principals being applied.

 

[Co.]

Bow control is generally greatest, when you can feel, what the bow wants to do by itself. This can be greatly diminished, when the pinky is too tight and can also stiffen the wrist. Don't let the pinky work against the thumb and index finger.
Also, if you are playing with a lot of weight at the tip, there has to be a lot of pronation, which will almost always pull the pinky away from the frog. Insisting in having it at the frog at that point will decrease effective weight and stiffen the motion.

 

[LaFaro01]

I never yet found/heard a better explanation and advice for german bow hold than these of David Allen Moore...there is an (n my eyes really excellent) course about german bow technique on Discover Double Bass, but even in this free lesson you'll find some essential informations including the function of the pinky..

 

[Huy Nguyen]

I never yet found/heard a better explanation and advice for german bow hold than these of David Allen Moore...there is an (n my eyes really excellent) course about german bow technique on Discover Double Bass, but even in this free lesson you'll find some essential informations including the function of the pinky..

I bought this course and did a good chunk of it. He takes the mystery out of it and its really really good.

I decided to switch to French grip and the principles in DAM's german course still apply but now I'm looking for a french grip equivalent (which I'd probably have to purchase another DDB course for lol).