Do any jazz bassists play German bow, in the rare instances of arco jazz playing? I'm sure there are, it just seems that whenever I see a jazz bassist playing arco, he's playing French bow... I used to play French when I used to play mostly classical, then switched to German after experimenting with it and really liking the grip and feel...
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Double Bass German bow?
- Thread starter dbass87
- Start date
Ross Kratter
Supporting Member
- Dec 31, 2010
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- Artist, RS Berkeley, La Bella Strings, Phil Jones Bass Amplification, Remic, Jerry Harvey Audio
I do, and I know that Ray Brown did, and Mike Richmond does, as does my teacher, John DeWitt, who is David Amram's bassist.
Dave Holland plays German? the only time I've seen him use a bow it was French, must have been an old video.
I play German as well as 3 of my favorite jazz players---George Mraz, Miroslav Vitous, and Michael Moore
- Jan 25, 2006
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It has always seemed to me that German > French as far as jazz players go. This certainly isn't an observation with any scientific validity though
Slam Stewart played German style bow.
YouTube - Slam Stewart Trio "Oh Me, Oh My, Oh Gosh" (1947)
YouTube - 1985 - BENNY GOODMAN - SLAM STEWART - FLAT FOOT FLOOGIE.mpg
In both clips, a young lady stares longingly at Slam's Stick...
YouTube - Slam Stewart Trio "Oh Me, Oh My, Oh Gosh" (1947)
YouTube - 1985 - BENNY GOODMAN - SLAM STEWART - FLAT FOOT FLOOGIE.mpg
In both clips, a young lady stares longingly at Slam's Stick...
those Slam clips are both great. FWIW, although I am nowhere near the league of the others mentioned, German for me when I use a bow.
I've seen old videos of him with Miles using french, but when I saw him at the banff centre in 1999 he was using German.
My bass teacher in college said that German bow is a good choice for Jazz players because it needs less upkeep on the technique. He said that if you don't practice french all the time your hand will cramp up easily but with German you have more natural leverage on the string so you don't have to keep the small muscles in your fingers toned as much.
I agree with that, it seems that the way in which you have to tuck your thumb a certain way on the French bow, and putting your hand perpendicular to the string, make for a more precise hand placement and movement. The German bow just seems like a more "natural" feel overall, you just raise your arm up from your side and you've basically got the position.
Richard Davis
I play French, because I started on cello. Every time I think that one bow is "better" than the other, I see a bassist who forces me to reverse my opinion.
What about a difference in being able to grab the bow quickly? Some folks have suggested that German makes it easier to switch between pizz and arco.
I play French, because I started on cello. Every time I think that one bow is "better" than the other, I see a bassist who forces me to reverse my opinion.
What about a difference in being able to grab the bow quickly? Some folks have suggested that German makes it easier to switch between pizz and arco.
Richard Davis
I play French, because I started on cello. Every time I think that one bow is "better" than the other, I see a bassist who forces me to reverse my opinion.
What about a difference in being able to grab the bow quickly? Some folks have suggested that German makes it easier to switch between pizz and arco.
Yeah, there's really great players on both.
One thing about German bow is IMO, that it's easier to hold while you are playing jazz style pizz. You let the bow hang from your ring and pinky finger and it frees up your index and middle. I do some tunes where I switch back and forth and there isn't enough time to grab it out of the quiver so I just hold it while doing pizz.
Yeah it does seem a bit more awkward switching with French bow, although I've done it in the past without too much difficulty, it's just what you're used to. But the German has the advantage since it has a bigger space between the frog, and you can just swivel or swing the bow down when you're going to pizz, letting it hang from you ring and pinky fingers like you said. With French, since the space between the frog is smaller, you pretty much have to wrap your fingers around the bow while playing pizz, and it's harder to just switch to that position than the downward swing that you can do with the German.
