Double Bass Intonation

[Johnny L]

Why do you recomend The inner game of tennis since we have The inner game of music.? Is there something in the inner game of tennis that is better, fx. about the body?

I don't have anything bad to say about The Inner Game of Music. But I got what I wanted out of the Inner Game of Tennis, and that was the book recommended to me.

 

[bassbaterie]

I think tennis entered the picture (by one route anyway) when Barry Green started a curriculum for bass based on the Inner game of Tennis concepts. This was maybe around 1980? It was before the subsequent "Inner Game" books came out. I did do the program with Barry and it was very cool but it was so long ago I don't remember many of the specifics...just went and ordered a copy of the book so I can get back into it.

 

[kurt muroki]

hi, just thought i'd throw in my 2 cents... Intonation is such an interesting subject to me because I do a lot of studio recording as well as chamber music in NY City... In the studio we have to use tempered tuning a lot (piano tuning) just so that the bass section and the orchestra have something to center on. There is nothing more difficult to get a 75 piece orchestra to be perfectly in tune, but that is what is required in that line of work. We all bring tuners in to the studios and we all tune each of our strings seperately with the tuner. I personally do not like this kind of tuning for concert performances because it does get a bit dry and boring, but when used as a background to a movie or commercial, it lets the orchestra as a whole make larger dynamic changes. An intune bass section can produce a larger sound than an out of tune section (the rule in orchestra is to have the same intonation as the section leader). In chamber music I believe that the bass has to be the root of the chord and should set the intonation of the group. The bass can change the feel of any piece when it is the bottom voice of any chord depending on degrees of intonation. I guess I should finish by saying that in general I feel that intonation should be determined by the music. after all we are musicians, not technicians.

 

[Johnny L]

Intonation is such an interesting subject to me.

Interesting? I'd bet on it. LOL Thanks for the post!

 

[jneuman]

There's something about an upward moving scale, played ever so slightly sharp at the thirds and other "moving notes" that gives it a little extra bite. I've heard this out of various professional musicians, over the years, as well. It refers to that "blandness " spoken about above, I think.

Among basses, the intonation problems were not where I expected them to be - bass sections, that is. Try to get 7 or 9 bass players all on the same B flat in half position, A string. You'd think it would be simplest of all. Not so. The hard passages fly well. That B flat rarely does.

I invented "nut position" for myself to cover that - move half position up to the nut and do the B flatwith the 2nd finger. Almost infallible in a section.

MWM

Matt

You've discovered "back position". This is a technique which isn't talked about much now, but was in common use from the beginning of bass pedagody and at least until the 1920's based on fingering I've seen for some things. I use this technique to find 1/2 and first position so I don't have to look at the neck, which, by the way, looks realy lame when the whole bass section is turning their heads to see where their hand is. It looks amaturish IMO.

Jon