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Double Bass Middle Finger Placement in German Bow Hold

#21
Thanks one and all – a serendipitous thread as I recently procured a German-[DEL]grip[/DEL] cup bow.

All my bass sifus here have all used French grip, but I have large hands and couldn't get a French bow that had a large enough frog to not cramp my hand up (and I don't bow enough to warrant spending the dosh for one that may or may not ease the cramping). Certainly there's the possibility that none of the three instructors were able to get me to hold the French bow properly (most likely my fault, not theirs), but I'm looking forward to more bowing with the German bow, which being enthused to practice bowing more is half the battle.

It's late here, I'm rambling (incoherently perhaps). To sleep and when I wake I'll attempt the techniques in this thread on the morrow.

Thanks again for the great thread yee all.

FF
 
#22
iona bass said:
This stuff is difficult to explain with words, ...
Click to expand...

But remarkably easy to communicate when in the same room. Being able to physically observe your teacher as they play, having them be able to physically adjust you, to provide commentary when you hit that sound so that you can start relating what is going on viscerally to what's coming out of the instrument.

Joe was able to watch my fingernails on my bow hand and see them blanch when I was putting too much pressure into the grip (to seat the bow on the string) and not enough through arm and shoulder. You don't get that from typing to people or watching videos.
 
#23
Ed Fuqua said:
But remarkably easy to communicate when in the same room. Being able to physically observe your teacher as they play, having them be able to physically adjust you, to provide commentary when you hit that sound so that you can start relating what is going on viscerally to what's coming out of the instrument.

Joe was able to watch my fingernails on my bow hand and see them blanch when I was putting too much pressure into the grip (to seat the bow on the string) and not enough through arm and shoulder. You don't get that from typing to people or watching videos.
Click to expand...

Word!
Thanks,
 
#25
Mike, thank you for mentioning Robert Oppelt's article. I was able to track him down and am working with him to get that article back online. I will, of course, let everyone know when it's up and where it is.

Admin folks, if you would like to host the article on talkbass.com somewhere, let me know (PM is fine) and I'll let you know when it's ready. Right now, I have the text and the pictures and just have to put them together and have Robert OK that I've done it correctly.

-S-
 
#27
Three things, Mike.

The first is that I've taken the advice from this thread and have altered my German grip.

The second is that I'm learning to bow French from my teacher, who only bows French, and have made enough progress that I'm playing about 50% of the time French.

The third is that my wife and I run the music for an annual town event here called RHS (Ridgewood High School) Jamboree that, among other things, raises about $100,000 in scholarship money every year, and I've been in the thick of that for the last six week so my practice time, and my playing time with the concert band I usually play double bass for, have both greatly diminished. That will change in another couple of weeks when the work and performances are behind me.

The discussion here was very helpful - I will try, although probably not for another two weeks, to take a fresh picture of my German bow grip and post it here.

Thank you very much for asking.

Edit - I just realized you may be asking about the article and not merely inquiring about how my German bowing is going. The above still applies - I will work on that in another two weeks as well, and for that, I thank you for the reminder.

-S-
 
#28
A little of column A, a little of column B.

Column A: It is great that you found this thread helpful. I look forward to some follow up discussion, (something that I don't think happens enough here*) and any more questions you may have. It is also good that your French bow technique is improving as well. having both at your disposal can be very valuable regardless to your chosen direction with the instrument. Being able to start a student down the right path with a good foundation on one or the other is fantastic, and I really think we all should know more about "the other bow" than most of us do.

The RHS Jamboree sounds pretty fantastic. That amount of scholarship money is very impressive.

As for column B, yes, I am interested in the article as well. Although I could be "remembering" more than was there, the article had a very large variety of possible bow holds, a little bit of the history that went along with them, and some pros and cons as well. I think that is an extremely valuable resource, and seeing as it has already once disappeared from the internet, it would be great to see it again.

*Before we gets upset about me saying "we don't follow up here" I know that we do when it is asked for. "Resurrecting" threads that haven't been active for a while isn't a popular notion, and it would be great to hear some follow up discussion as well. Especially when it comes to advice type threads, "did you find the suggestions made here helpful? How so?" would go a long way.
 
#29
I recommend Fred Zimmmerman's book on double bass. He tells you to tilt the bow away from the bridge when the next note is higher, and tilt towards the bridge when the next note is lower. It helps to improve the quality of the bowed sound your are creating.
 
#30
A question and an update.

Have a link to the Zimmerman book?

I still haven't posted the article but I do have it and will try to work on it very soon, just been busy.

After lots of trying to get French bowing going, I've decided to take a break from it and am a much happier bass player for now - my German bowing is improving and my playing is improving, and I will try French again when life calms down a bit, maybe in the summer.

-S-
 

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