Double Bass Legato Arpeggios

[CT DB]

I wonder if anyone has any helpful techniques or tips to make playing legato arpeggios over three or four strings sound cleaner?

 

[mahlerbass]

One of the most important things I keep in mind when I practice these is this: when the bow is at the next string, it is farther down/up the hair compared to bowing it on just one string. while looking at the bow hair, move the bow down/up the strings, and you'll see what I mean.

So it kind of feels like I need to exaggerate the "feeling" of weight transfer, compared to that of a long bow on one string.

In the actual process of playing these, I think you might want to slow it down, and bow the arpeggio "hooked", like you would do for those "dotted eighth w/ sixteenth note" passages. By doing that, I think you could discover the bow speed/weight ratio that you need, relative to where the notes end up on the bow.

You could also try "breaking up" the arpeggio, e.g. playing the first two notes legato, then then next two, etc. Just make sure you don't retake bow if you try this.

 

[CT DB]

In the actual process of playing these, I think you might want to slow it down, and bow the arpeggio "hooked", like you would do for those "dotted eighth w/ sixteenth note" passages. By doing that, I think you could discover the bow speed/weight ratio that you need, relative to where the notes end up on the bow.

If I understand you correctly, you are saying to slightly slow down the bow on the first string, then apply more pressure on the next string when you start the next note. Then improve this until the sound is continuous.

Thanks for your post. I was feeling, when practicing, that there was no other way to start the second string moving cleanly without applying a bit more pressure, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't headed down the wrong path.

 

[mahlerbass]

Yes, assuming that you begin on a low note on one of the lower strings, playing the arpeggio ascending.

I think the most important thing to know is that you should focus on the sound above all else. I guess what I was trying to explain before was that bowing an ideal legato apreggio, the bow movement wont exactly be smooth, because you must "break up" the smooth and gradual bow weight/speed transition that comes from bowing long tones, or even scales.

Its kinda like Francois Rabbath's theory that each note on each string has an ideal amount of bow pressure/speed, and placement.

 

[mcnaire2004]

Slow slow practice. Make watch your bow on shifts and practice in front of a mirror to keep your bow straight. Make sure hit every note in clean and intune. I know it sounds stupid and boring but slow practice at anything you do around 40bpms will do wonders.

 

[CT DB]

Thanks for all the suggestions. While it is quite difficult, I am making improvements to my technique. In particular, this concept:

One of the most important things I keep in mind when I practice these is this: when the bow is at the next string, it is farther down/up the hair compared to bowing it on just one string. while looking at the bow hair, move the bow down/up the strings, and you'll see what I mean.

...is becoming more and more clear as I progress. I admit that I didn't quite appreciate the importance of that concept, but it seems to be quite essential to feel that skip in the bow.

Thanks again for the help!