I am trying to teach my self german bow. I am trying to find a teacher but to no avail so far. It feels fairly natural and comfertable to me except when bowing the E string. To get a proper tone my bow points away from the bass so much it almost touches the body. It feels very awkwerd so I think I must be doing something wrong. Is this a common problem? any suggestions?
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Double Bass haveing trouble bowing the E string german style
- Thread starter Vacume
- Start date
Part of it is about body position relative to the bass. When you play pizz you stand more to the side of the bass if that's what you're used to. When you bow you need to get a bit more behind the bass (not all the way, but a bit) in order to get the right angle. And remember that whether you're bowing French or German, the bowing movement is about being fluid in the shoulder...and not keeping your elbow locked but keeping your arm in a fairly fixed (but not rigid) position. You're bowing a bass, not sawing wood.
Try to go on YouTube and look up videos with people using German Bows. Look for good classical players in reputable orchestras and you'll see good posture and arm and wrist movement. And play around with where you're standing relative to the bass (beside it, the angle at which it's tilted toward you and/or back, etc.) Play around with it...and remember that bowing correctly DOES feel awkward at first...and you keep doing it until it becomes muscle memory. I play French and when I first started with it my hand used to cramp and my movement was all wrong. Stick with it...but learn it the right way so that you don't have to unlearn bad technique later.
Try to go on YouTube and look up videos with people using German Bows. Look for good classical players in reputable orchestras and you'll see good posture and arm and wrist movement. And play around with where you're standing relative to the bass (beside it, the angle at which it's tilted toward you and/or back, etc.) Play around with it...and remember that bowing correctly DOES feel awkward at first...and you keep doing it until it becomes muscle memory. I play French and when I first started with it my hand used to cramp and my movement was all wrong. Stick with it...but learn it the right way so that you don't have to unlearn bad technique later.
Do you have "The Evolving Bassist" book? Rufus has a great couple pages on stance. Assuming the problem is your stance relative to your bass...
