Double Bass Increasing Speed?

[Ineedahobbie]

Hi there TalkBass!
I'm a 14 year old upright and electric player, and I'm having a bit of a problem. I can walk at very burning tempos (300+Bpm) and have no problem, however soloing at those kinds of tempos is real tough. I know this is tough for anyone, but ultimate goal is to be able to solo easily on Giant Steps at Coltrane tempo or higher. Any tips on gaining speed on upright?

Keep swinging!

 

[Les Fret]

-use two fingers
-play more perpendiculair to the strings
-practice
-did I mention practice?

 

[Ineedahobbie]

haha I get the message. I actually have hit the practice bug lately. I do at least and hour a day of practice, if not two or three.

 

[Marcus Johnson]

Same as any other instrument. Play whatever exercise you're working on at a tempo you can play it cleanly. When it's clean, increase the tempo. Lather rinse repeat 'til death.

 

[amusicbass123]

Well there's a lot of ways to solo over fast tempos but I'm gonna assume you're talking about playing 8th notes.


I guess there's two main parts, there's the raw technical aspect, like how and where your fingers pull the strings, and then there's the actual music you're trying to play with your increased speed. They go hand and hand.

So the process is:

Step 1 : Time : Usually when you're straining yourself to play fast you're hearing the tempo faster than it really is. There are billion ways to strengthen your internal clock and I won't get into them, but that's no. 1 for sure.

Step 2 : Notes : You have to hear fast to play fast, having a firm harmonic understanding of what you're trying to play fast is critical. Hear the phrase note to note and then try hearing it as an arc.

Step 3 : Purely technical stuff : Use 2 fingers for sure, I play at the end of the fingerboard because I get the fattest sound with most speed there, YMMV. Practice starting with the 1st finger then starting with the 2nd finger, try to always alternate, even on string crossings. Play a Bb or F bebop scale 2 octaves, keeping the sound as even as you can, then bump the tempo up as you make progress. Another thing people like to do is use the Zimmerman bowing book for pizz exercise, which is great for getting fast, clean string crossings together.

Hope this helps!

 

[Les Fret]

instead of the always alternating two finger approach mentioned above you can also rake the string. That is using the same finger for downward string crossings. Just as good as alternating and in some cases easier, so faster.

 

[macdeezy]

pass it off to the drummer

 

[damonsmith]

I think it really has to do with the left hand, and getting it to move freely. That means not squeezing the strings with your hand - using your arm and should to hold down the string.
The more relaxed and free your left hand is, the easier it is to play fast.

 

[Curley Shadow]

One fundamental which I see beginners violating a lot: Keep fingers down, shortest distance between two points allows for faster playing, however, don't make the mistake of equating speed with musicality, speed for speed's sake is not music