-Dr. Morton's Scale Fingerings for the Double Bass
-Dr. Morton's Arpeggio Fingering for the Double Bass
-Dr. Morton's Torturous Exercises for the Double Bass
I'd recommend these 3 books as the basis of anyone's technique. I started out on Simandl. My progress was slow if any before I attended the American School of Double Bass. The Simandl etudes as you creep up the neck to me were rather bland. I have been playing for a little over 2 years now and feel like I am prepared to compete with other players my age. I am a Senior in high school.
Having the idea that you have to shift and you have to do this and you have to that was restriciting. When you put the idea that thumb position, four finger technique, and basic 1-2-4 simandl technique are equal and the basis of all your playing you get a sense of freedom. There has to be taught a system, otherwise you'd have too much freedom and would never have anything set in stone that you could trust. Using four finger technique is very hard on my hand since mine are rather small. Mr. Gale did a very good job on the Four Finger Technique book because he starts 4 finger technique in a place where most players can easily perform it. He then moves in half steps up, and down, to let you know where your limitations are. This is very key otherwise you might hurt your left hand and that's the thing we're totally trying to avoid. The Thumb position book is broken down into 3 basic hand positions that make thumb position something a little more tangible.
My bass teacher, Dr. Bill Scott at Western Kentucky University, has be do some other exercises. These exercises include a Progressive A Major Scale, Clark Thumb Drills (originally written for trumpet in 3 basic hand positions that resembles Mr. Gale's thumb position positions), Portimento Exercises, and things out of the Zimmerman Contemporary Concerpt of Bowing book. I trypically never practice etudes and focus on solo playing and orchestral excerpts. For my warm up I do all of Dr. Scott's exercises, Dr. Morton's scales in a random key for intonation and tonal center, Dr. Morton's arpeggios for the corresponding key, and sometimes a torturous exercise. That alone can take an hour but that in itself adds to the stamina in my hand, the agility in thumb position (clark drills) and neck register (progressive scale). Then I get to practicing the other stuff that I have to get to.
I found that those books connecting not as the word that you have to do but more as guidelines to your overall technique has allowed me to make my own way of playing. Custom tailoring to myself.
I need to look at more stuff involving my bow....most of those things were meant for the left hand.
I hope that helped shed some light on the Mysterious Dr. Morton and Tom Gale. I have heard things saying Dr. Morton makes the entire Columbus Symphony play in 4 finger technique though. Perposterous. I'd recommend the week long camp he does in the summer. I've been there twice and they were both 2 of the best weeks of my life.
I also have the Simandl - 30 etudes that Ken mentioned...
