Double Bass Question on arco technique on a three note/three string chord.

[ee-san]

I'm doing OK with double stops in this etude but I don't know how to execute the passage in this clip. Any thoughts on the second and fourth eighth notes in the first three bars below?

 

[LouisF]

Harmonic A with the 4th finger; then you are in place for 1rst finger C on the G string, 4th find A of the D string; open low A..... maybe...?

 

[Sean Riddle]

Where is this etude from and what is it focusing on? Louis's suggestion totally works. As for playing the triple stops I think the best way to go about it is to quickly sound the open A and then play both the upper notes as a double stop. Basically you're gonna have to treat the low A as a grace note into that double stop. This looks really cool and tough!

 

[ee-san]

Thanks, Louis and Sean. The clip is from etude number 20 in Storch-Hrabe (Zimmerman, editor). Key is two sharps. There are several foci (focuses?) with emphasis on string crossing and some grace notes. It would seem easier to attack the open A first with an up-bow but the clip calls for down-bow. Neither up-bow nor down-bow would be automatic for me but I guess they can be worked out. Additional thoughts are welcome.

 

[LouisF]

My fingering would change to 2ND finger C# above, but I would "break" the chord as Sean says, in a down bow. I think you will see this in Baroque music like the Bach suites. The only time I would an up bow on the low A and then a down bow on the C#/A MIGHT (emph might) be in a slower tempo, like a Bach Sarabande. It doesn't seem called for here.

 

[coldtrain]

Yeah, don't think of that low A as separate, just roll the bow across the strings in the down stroke. The open A should ring while you stop the other notes, giving a full 3-note chord for a moment. I would play the E and A in that chord down in 1st position, then shift up to the harmonic A on the D string for the up bow, then stop the A2 in the same place and C# on the G string and roll from open A to these notes in the down bow to make the second chord.

It might be easier to grab that A harmonic with your second finger in the beginning, but really, we should be able to grab it with any finger.

Hope this helps.

 

[Neil Pye]

Rather than roll across, I would probably play the "grace note" as the bottom TWO notes of the chord, then roll across to the top two, so the middle A is played throughout. If that makes sense.....

 

[Anne Millington]

Rather than roll across, I would probably play the "grace note" as the bottom TWO notes of the chord, then roll across to the top two, so the middle A is played throughout. If that makes sense.....

Yes, this is what I would do, in most cases: two and two. Sort of a "Ta Da!" effect.

 

[neilG]

...... I think the best way to go about it is to quickly sound the open A and then play both the upper notes as a double stop. ......

I also play the bass viol, and we're taught not to play the top two notes together if they are a 4th apart because it rings out like a second inversion chord. Even in this etude it sounds awkward to me to play it that way. I would roll the chord all the way through the top note.

 

[damonsmith]

Since no one will EVER pay you to play Storch-Hrabe, just use all the solutions and don't worry about them being all that musical, each solution could potentially solve a future musical issue!
You have to pay someone (meaning a bass teacher) to listen to you play etudes!