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Double Bass Technique: Short Orchestral Bassists

S

Snakewood

Dec 19, 2005
264
0
#1
I'm trying to compile some information for a pedagogy essay on various playing methods of the double bass. Myself being a small bass player (5'6") is curious about how other people of my size get around the instrument. If anyone could perhaps add personal experience or better yet inform me about key/well known bassists who were/are small in stature it would help greatly. I'm targeting 5'8" and under. Thanks a ton.
:hyper:
 
#12
I have a friend who is short. I don't know how short, but I'm going to say... 5'2"? She plays a 3/4 german factory bass, German bow. She sits on a relatively tall stool, left foot up, with a very "sideways" stance to the bass. She also uses a very "mobile" technique over the fingerboard combined with a lowered nut on the bass, providing a shorter than normal string length.
 
#13
5'6 isn't small, and weren't you 5'7 the last time you mentioned your height?
I know a few female bass players that are in the 5'2 range and get around the bass just fine.
Dennis Trembly isn't the tallest and he plays a gigantic 5 stringer and is a German bow player. There's always a way to get around your bass regardless of your size.
 
#14
NotACello said:
5'6 isn't small, and weren't you 5'7 the last time you mentioned your height?
I know a few female bass players that are in the 5'2 range and get around the bass just fine.
Dennis Trembly isn't the tallest and he plays a gigantic 5 stringer and is a German bow player. There's always a way to get around your bass regardless of your size.
Click to expand...

5'6"/5'7", regardless they're both generally "down there" for a bassist. lol

;)
 
#15
I don't see height being a big problem in orchastral music. Gary Carr is short but his endpin is a foot and a half off the ground so it's not that bad. Right now I'm 6'2'' and I play a 7/8s bass. When I was in 6th grade I was 5' tall. I played a 3/4 fine. When I was a freshman (9th grade for the stupid) I was 5'6'' and I played a 3/4 fine with no problems. I diidn't have the endpin out that far back then but it isn't to big of a problem.
 
#16
mcnaire2004 said:
I don't see height being a big problem in orchastral music. Gary Carr is short but his endpin is a foot and a half off the ground so it's not that bad. Right now I'm 6'2'' and I play a 7/8s bass. When I was in 6th grade I was 5' tall. I played a 3/4 fine. When I was a freshman (9th grade for the stupid) I was 5'6'' and I played a 3/4 fine with no problems. I diidn't have the endpin out that far back then but it isn't to big of a problem.
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It can be a problem...in my circumstances, it's hard to sit on a 25 inch stool because every single person in the UTSO bass section stands, so the stand height is ridiculously high.
 
#17
Snakewood said:
It can be a problem...in my circumstances, it's hard to sit on a 25 inch stool because every single person in the UTSO bass section stands, so the stand height is ridiculously high.
Click to expand...

Maybe you should experiment with sitting lower, with a shorter spike length, with both feet on the ground or (if that's too low to have the stand for your desk partner) with your feet on paddles, or on guitar footrests? Having the paddles or footrests there means you sit as you would when your feet are on the ground, but everything is raised higher. This works for everyone, no matter what your height.

A drawback, at least for me, is that the angle of the bass is difficult to maintain on a higher stool. I like the angle of the bass to be alot more horizontal an angle than normal, and this means, on a high stool, the spike is out as far as it can go. Luckily I have a very long spike:smug: Still feels the same as sitting with both feet on the floor, which is my preferance, but it looks a bit odd when you stand at the end of a concert and the foot of the neck is over your head!:D
 
#20
Conor MacCarthy said:
Maybe you should experiment with sitting lower, with a shorter spike length, with both feet on the ground or (if that's too low to have the stand for your desk partner) with your feet on paddles, or on guitar footrests? Having the paddles or footrests there means you sit as you would when your feet are on the ground, but everything is raised higher. This works for everyone, no matter what your height.

A drawback, at least for me, is that the angle of the bass is difficult to maintain on a higher stool. I like the angle of the bass to be alot more horizontal an angle than normal, and this means, on a high stool, the spike is out as far as it can go. Luckily I have a very long spike:smug: Still feels the same as sitting with both feet on the floor, which is my preferance, but it looks a bit odd when you stand at the end of a concert and the foot of the neck is over your head!:D
Click to expand...

Lower than 25 inches? That's entering cello territory where you don't require a stool you just need a normal chair.
 

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