Double Bass Need help with playing Tenor Clef it sounds awful!

[Diana_isabeast]

I've never really played tenor clef before. I'm auditioning for Las Vegas Youth Orchestra and when I go to play G A A# and B it makes a horrible screech! What's causing it and how do I stop? What can I do to make it sound more in tune and not screechy and scratchy? Help!

 

[Andrew McGregor]

Drop the weight of your arm through your left-hand fingers (your shoulder has to relax to do this, which feels paradoxical to start with).

Play with your bow closer to the bridge than you would for a lower note, and really feel for the grip; you get 'falsing', which is that screech, when you didn't quite get proper bow contact with the string.

 

[MartinBorgen]

I assume it's the position on the bass that's the problem, not reading the scores in a different clef.

So.. Hm... How do I change when I go higher on the fingerboard. I know I bow closer to the bridge, but usually screeching means I'm too close - too far from the bridge would sound more like a dead (and prehaps a bit scrachy) sound. Make a test by firmly (really firmly) hodling down the string in that position and try getting a good tone. Don't bother changing note. This would let you discover if it's a bow isssue or a hand issue.

quite possibly, it could be to you not being used to play there, and you're not pushing down the strings fully before you start bowing them.