Double Bass Is it possible/conceivable

[Andy Mopley]

that a professional orchestral double bass player may still have "pitch" problems? That is not always playing the notes as they "should"

Thanks for reading!

 

[404usernamenotfound]

that a professional orchestral double bass player may still have "pitch" problems? That is not always playing the notes as they "should"

Thanks for reading!

Pobody's nerfect.

 

[SplitNick]

I want to be Pobody.

 

[baste_artist]

As he said, nobody is perfect, but I think there are definitely ways to practice that target the problem. I'm still a beginner, but I really want to have good intonation, so I practice along to a piano programmed by a midi sequencer. I set it up so it plays a scale or arpeggio, first very slow, then speed it up over time. I think with enough time you can get close to perfect! You could also do it with any phrase that might be difficult to play in tune otherwise, and woodshed it to death!

 

[404usernamenotfound]

As he said, nobody is perfect, but I think there are definitely ways to practice that target the problem. I'm still a beginner, but I really want to have good intonation, so I practice along to a piano programmed by a midi sequencer. I set it up so it plays a scale or arpeggio, first very slow, then speed it up over time. I think with enough time you can get close to perfect! You could also do it with any phrase that might be difficult to play in tune otherwise, and woodshed it to death!

There are certainly ways to get as close to perfect as possible, but even the highest caliber of musician makes the occasional mistake. There are passages and even entire works even some of the best musicians in the country woodshed to death, and are still concerned about come performance time. It's a never ending battle, truly, but the struggle produces awesome results.

 

[Dbass926]

Is your question whether a professional you heard who seemed to play out of tune was actually in the wrong? People of all levels can have pitch problems, whether due to a lack of preparation, a lack of practice after beginning to play professionally, or a sense of pitch that reflects the flexibility one develops playing in orchestra.

This is not to mention that hearing someone who routinely plays in an orchestral setting may have trouble tuning to the fixed intervals of a piano. There are lots of things that could make a professional play out of tune, and far fewer that would make them play in tune.

 

[Jon Stefaniak]

The answer is yes.

 

[ekspain]

A lot of pros, after a number of years playing in the orchestra, for example, don't practice as much and begin to decline, in many ways.

I always say, if you're not improving, you're probably getting worse!

 

[David Potts]

I agree with ekspain. The worst audition I ever did was 10 years after the second last.

I liken intonation to the sharpening of a pencil point. Unless you continually check your fine tuning (and your shifting technique and note finding) you gradually dull a little and your "pencil lines" become thicker, ie you accept a spread as being OK.

In isolation you can be as intune as possible by what ever means, be it solfege, drone or tuner, however the real tests of intonation are how you cope with fitting in with a piano and with other players. The piano because you adjust to it and other players because you are inter- reliant. The better your colleagues the easier for you, but see how destroying it is to play with much weaker players that suck you down to their level.

IMO all we can do is have the strength to know what is very good intonation and have the flexibilty to adjust quickly when we have to. As much as we would like to imitate machines with our accuracy please remember that we are humans who are first and foremost trying to express human emotions.

I would rather hear a player or ensemble really connecting with the emotional side of playing expressively but sometimes fumbling technically than a "Swiss watch" that is deadly accurate but cold and mechanical. Of course a great orchestra can tick all the boxes and is a joy to play in or listen to.

"Perfection is within my reach but slightly out of my grasp" (author unknown).

Cheers all,
DP

 

[Tom Lane]

Man, I've transcribed a lot of Ray Brown and usually his sense of pitch was inhuman, but once, I caught him off-pitch on two or three notes in a row. He was probably distracted by something. If Ray can mess up, we can all have our off moments. That said, I find intonation a bit like riding a bike, once I really have it correct for a piece, it either doesn't go, or comes back very fast. And I hate hearing out of tune players, including myself when I suck.