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Double Bass Ideas for productive shifting drills?

M

MisterBeagle

Jul 14, 2007
22
0
Virginia Beach
#1
Hello everyone!

In order to strengthen one of the weaker points in my technique, I'm trying to work on shifting between positions while keeping the notes in tune (hopefully + or- 20 Cents). Does anyone have any useful drills or suggestions when it comes to shifting (mainly between the 1/2 and 7th positions)?
 
#2
Whatever you do, make sure you RELAX. Keep your shoulders "down", release the tension from your arms. Keep your head above your body. Use a full length mirror or video camera to watch yourself.

Try to start getting used to large shifts by "polishing" the strings (just touch the strings lightly with each finger of the left hand - slide all the way up, then all the way down). Don't worry about making a sound at first, just slide you hand up and down with no pressure. Get used to the whole range of motion for each string, and find out what your body has to do to get over the shoulder of the bass when transitioning into thumb position. Balance the bass.

Most bassists don't really think "position" when shifting, we think "notes" instead. When you're practicing a big shift, know what **note** you're starting and ending on, and know how they relate to the open string and harmonics to check your tuning: e.g., when shifting from "A" in first position to "A" in thumb position, you can easily check your tuning against the open "D" string - it should sound like a perfect fifth. Don't kill yourself for landing out of tune, just continually check it and listen for it to get better.

ONe other thing I think is really important about big shifts: try to "catch and release" the notes. The first and last notes are fully stopped against the fingerboard, but the fingers have to "release" and just slide up the string with minimal pressure (like polishing the string) when in transit between those terminal points.

Looking forward to more tips -
S
 
#5
Stan Haskins said:
Most bassists don't really think "position" when shifting, we think "notes" instead. When you're practicing a big shift, know what **note** you're starting and ending on, and know how they relate to the open string and harmonics to check your tuning: e.g., when shifting from "A" in first position to "A" in thumb position, you can easily check your tuning against the open "D" string - it should sound like a perfect fifth. Don't kill yourself for landing out of tune, just continually check it and listen for it to get better.
Click to expand...
My two cents. Think position and note. The note has to be in tune, but shifting into a position well help. You'll have additional points of reference. If you shift from the first finger on A on the G string to the fourth finger on D on the G string, C and C# should be in tune. Note that tuning with open strings and harmonics will not always yield the right pitch. Because the bass is tuned in fourths, the open strings are often flat (relative to the correct pitch within the key). Harmonics are also often flat. For these reasons, I suggest shifting exercises combined with chromatic exercises. Portnoi's book, "Creative Bass Technique," has some good etudes and it's available at:

Link Removed

Click on the link "Technique Books" at the bottom of the page and on the next page it lists Portnoi's book in PDF form which you can download.
 
#6
I think there are two parts to shifting successfully. One is the technique and the other is note finding. Three things help me find my way around. Position to position (geometric arm settings), the distance measured between (with sliding thumb and fingers), and note to note (pre-hearing your target note).

Half and First Positions are "home bases" that I can reach for confidently. So are Third (or Tuning Position) and Fourth/Fifth Positions (with the thumb dropped to the base of the neck at the back). The tricky positions are 2 1/2 and 3 1/2.

Try this drill to establish these middle-of neck positions. Establish a finger in tune on a note and consciously remember how your arm and hand are set or feel. Drop your hand by your side, shut your eyes and put your finger back on the same note. You'll be surprised how close you will be. If you are out then correct yourself and try again until you are accurate. Then repeat, this time scratching the back of your head or touching the top of your scroll. Then try putting a different finger on the note. You will build up a "muscle-memory" for each note and position, for each place on the fingerboard. This works well for neck positions and for early thumb positions.

As you shift keep thumb contact with the back of the neck, then diagonally around the base of the neck in transition positions to flip over onto the top of the string for thumb position. As much as possible keep a finger/fingers in contact with a string as you shift. The two points of contact provide a "tape measure" between notes/positions.

Pre-hearing the note provides an aiming point that ultimately enables you not to worry about how you are going to get there and to relax as you shift. This is especially useful when jumping in and out of thumb position. You really can rely on muscle memory to do most of the work, if you repeat the motions successfully many times.

I'll continue later. My wife wants to use the computer !!!

DP
 
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#7
Later!

I like to think of three sizes of shift. Small, when your hand moves a tone or less, either on the same finger or from finger to finger, eg A (1) - C (4) on G string. Medium or Walking, where your index finger passes your second or fourth fingers, eg A (1) B (4) C sharp (2) D (4). Leap of faith (or bungee jump) eg B flat in 1/2 position to B flat in thumb position.

I apologise for being so long-winded with the above (which you might already know) but the review sets up what follows, a technique of shifting.

Try this idea. Hold the bow stick vertically, point up, between your index finger and thumb at the frog. Release just enough pressure and the stick slips. Nip between finger and thumb to stop it slipping. This release-nip can happen a number of times in the bow length. You can liken it to the way the callipers of car disc brakes work.

Shifting shouldn't feel like you are tearing the ends off your fingers. I release the string just enough to take the brakes off as I start to shift. While I'm shifting I hold the string almost to the fingerboard. I then use this relaxed nipping action to end the shift after dropping in my next finger at a shallow angle. You get calluses from doing this and the calluses help you to shift freely anyway! By the way, the bass neck should be slippery-smooth and never gloss varnished, for ease of movement. If your fingertips are too dry just touch them to your temple - there is a little bit of oil there.

Yes, keep your hand in good shape, ready to play any note in the new position. Beware shifting up 4 - 4 if possible because the 4th finger has very little sideways strength and the fingers lose correct spacings. I try to shift from one finger to another, two notes per position where practical, allowing for bowings and string crossings.

The next part is to get your hand from point A to point B without jerking. I like to use a stabbing motion that rotates the upper arm in the shoulder, like stabbing the kitchen bench with a carving knife. This is quicker, lighter and less cumbersome than dropping or raising the whole arm from the shoulder (like a chicken flapping its wings).

If I leave my elbow at the same height and shift any distance my hand will pull into the fingerboard and jam on the brakes, perhaps prematurely, because the hand moves in an arc around the elbow. If the elbow moves slightly in the direction of the shift before the hand takes off then two things happen. The first is that the arc is flattened out by moving the centre of the circle (the elbow). This helps to take the brakes off, move the hand freely then nip them on again. The second is that the hand plays catch-up then passes the elbow in a springboard effect, enabling you to make a quick darting movement along strings without jerking. Suddenly shifting is relaxed and effortless.

After all the above blah blah I would suggest the following :-
(1) Review your present shifting technique to make sure it is as good and reliable as possible. Adapt any or adopt all of the above if you like. Maybe your ideas are better!
(2) Review your note/position finding techniques. Try the idea of muscle-memory. Invent lots of little challenges to perfect.
(3) Review your concept of beautifully in tune scales, major and minor, and their arpeggios. Hear and practice scales slowly and deliberately as two groups of four notes with a pause between. Practice scales in thirds and other intervals. Try to pre-hear notes and move directly to them with confidence. Practice Gary Karr's "vomit" exercises up and down strings, eg A flat to B flat, A flat to C, etc, up the A flat scale on the G string, using first finger on A flat and choosing 1, 2 or 4 to land on the upper note. Again, invent your own challenges.
(4) Build confidence in your ability to pre-hear notes and move directly to them. Nobody plays perfectly in tune all the time. The best players are very good at quickly correcting themselves. The acoustics of the bass are in our favour. We can correct before the vibrations fully get going.
(5) Look out for two small publications. The first is Abe Luboff's "Sevcik for Bass". He asks you to repeat the theme of a set of variations with a very definite set of instructions about shifting. The second is "Technical Studies for Double Bass" by Jiri
Pichlik, published by Feja, Berlin. It works through all possible fingering patterns when crossing strings while also working up and down strings in half tone steps and is good for building technique, confidence and stamina.

The above advice is very long-winded but I hope it helps!

DP
 
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#8
There are alot of people who are probably not qualified to give bass lessons over the internet. I am one of those people. But I know that I am right when I say:

If you hear the note before you play it you will be more likely to play it in tune.
 
#9
For the best and most in-tune shift one should build up as much tension as you can in your left hand and arm(try flexing all your muscles to get the right feeling), and a split second before the next note release it and fire up to the note. This is by far the most accurate of all shifts.
 
#11
TomGale said:
Link Removed

Go here and try the "Four Bass Reference Points". It works really well.

Tom Gale:bassist:
Click to expand...

Thanks, Tom. That is interesting and a lot more productive than you pushing your books.
Of course you can get that information a number of ways from a number of sources.
I think the key is that music at hand should dictate the technique and not the other way around.
 
#12
Here's a review of the section of the unnamed book, part of which you now have. It was done for the ISB by Hans Sturm;

"He introduces the “harmonic position,” what Rabbath calls third position, by placing the first finger at the harmonic of the fifth above the open string. He indicates the position by placing the letter ‘h’ prior to a fingering notation. Next he describes the “pinch position,” one half step higher. That is to say that the first finger on the G string would now be placed on Eb and indicated with the letter ‘p.’ The last of three he calls the“corkscrew position,” yet another whole step higher. And again the first finger on the pitch E on the G string would be preceded with the letter ‘c.’ Finally he introduces the ‘open hand’ position, that spans the interval of a minor third and it appears that it may be used at any point on the neck.
The idea is intriguing; codifying a series of chromatic positions to help
with intonation over the break of the instrument from the lower positions into thumb positions using the thumb as a reference. Mr. Gale has obviously thought very carefully about this potential problem area of the instrument and crafted a logical solution. His use of folk melodies is an effective way of introducing new fingering challenges within a familiar context."
 
#17
I find that when shifting (especially back up from the higher positions to the lower ones) the most challenging part is negotiating my body position. For example, when I play in thumb position, I'm leaning well forward to reach. If from there I need to make a quick shift back to play, say, a D or an E on the G-string, I need to stand up straight again and move the bass slightly.

Often, for me, getting my body into position to play the note is harder than getting my hand to the right place. And going from high notes to low notes is harder than going from low to high.

Also, consider this another vote for not worrying about positions and shifting instead to a note. But I've been playing for 15 or 16 years and I can't ever remember which position is which, but I know instinctively when I see a note on the page every single location of that note on the bass (as I said above, that's sometimes different from getting the mechanics of the shift right every time).
 
#18
I agree with the body position problem. I'm a short-ass (5' 7") playing on large 7/8 fairly high shouldered basses and would always choose a stool before standing for your reasons above.

An alternative taught to me years ago is to stand as though you were sitting, almost behind the bass with the end pin right in. Lean the vertical bass back a few degrees and rest the back where it is lower under your right ribs. Take your weight on your right leg then rest your left leg out on its heel behind the back with the inside edge of your shoe (or toe) hooked under the other side . Stick your bottom out slightly and you have created a stand which leaves both hands free.

This works for 3/4 basses, larger basses with dropped shoulders or tall players as a short term solution. It is useful for demonstrating to students, playing short pieces, trying out a bass in a shop, etc, when you don't have a stool.

I have seen both Gary Karr and Tom Martin stand beside the vertical bass, leaning it forward slightly into their fingers and stopping it spinning with their left knee but I could never make it work for me. Perhaps someone out there knows how?

On my basses I choose to sit differently for orchestral playing (which is almost always using neck positions) and high playing. I am looking to finish my playing career on a smaller bass with lower shoulders, to have fun going over a wider range of repertoire again.

DP
 
#19
I use the "stand like you're sitting" approach when I don't actually sit. It's much easier on the back than the "beside the vertical" standing position. Still, I find sitting on a low stool with the bass at an angle (tucked under left arm pit, sort of) eliminates the body shifting issue.

Also I have a copy of Abe Luboff's "Sevcik for Bass". It's a great exercise book for bowing and shifting. I can make copies if people want (and pay for copies and mailing). I think it's out of print, so I don't think that's violating copyright. Or else maybe scan it??

Louis
 

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