Double Bass Newbie question

[Enzo]

Hi

when no bowing is indicated, are there any general rules relating to up or down bowing? Is this at the player's discretion or at the conductor's or the section leader?

Generally, a down bow would denote a strong beat, right?

Thanks, if topic already covered, happy to see thread...couldn't find.

 

[Ben Mitchell]

Generally its up to the section leader, and it usually just indicates continued up and down bows as they come. A down bow suddenly in the middle of music is a retake unless otherwise specified.

Ben

 

[David Potts]

Generally speaking there are some conventions in orchestral playing, often based on the visual effect of all bows moving tidily in one direction versus the visual chaos that might otherwise result. Other reasons are to keep you playing in the powerful part (the lower half) of the bow, to avoid running out of bow and to fit in with the other strings when shaping the music into phrases. The bass bowings often mimic the cello bowings because we double their lines so often.

If you are playing a solo you have much more latitude with bowings.

There are some other simple conventions. An upbeat to a full bar is often played with an up bow in the lower half of the bow whether or not you wish to place any stress on the downbeat. Bars with even numbers of notes more often start with down bows in the lower half of the bow. There are other tricks with linking notes under one bow in, say, bars with odd numbers of notes to ensure that you are in the right part of the bow and going in the right direction at important moments. These ideas you will quickly get used to. Part of the section principal's role is to quickly decide on bowings that you must just as quickly copy into your own part!!

Best wishes,

DP

 

[Bill Bentgen]

The best treatise on bowing I've seen in my 49 years of playing is the Simandl 30 etudes. If you study them in sequence, you get a clear picture of when to hook bowings, when to take seperate bows with a recovery, etc.

Bottom line, do what the section leader does.