• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Double Bass That Symbol for Putting the Bow Down or Up?

#22
Carl Hillman said:
There's more DNA on that part than in a cheap motel room in Detroit.
Click to expand...
Too funny!

Now on a serious note:
This is the actual markup from Yehudi Menuhin’s interpretation of Bach’s Sonata no.2 from Sonata & Partitas.

I’m looking at it, closely, hoping to see my symbol.
It has come to this.

732C3E9F-B26F-4B7A-B182-58D6B04DD7DE.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Carl Hillman, Riff Ranger and Don Hergert
#28
When I had an extension I used the up-down arrows to open/close it, otherwise I have used arco/pizz above changes if indistinct, and brackets for tutti passages with solo bass passages between (Bach, Handel) and half brackets to highlight key changes. Minimal bowings and trying to keep the parts cleaned out of unnecessary over markings. Legible notes come first IMO.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CaseyVancouver
#29
I don't think there is a traditional graphic for this...I just scanned my Finale libraries to see if there was anything likely but no. I so rarely put my bow down in the middle of a piece anyway; maybe when a whole movement is pizz, but otherwise just hang on to it. Maybe you are thinking of mute on / mute off symbols?
 
  • Like
Reactions: CaseyVancouver
#31
Thank you for the responses!
Not looking to flog a dead Unicorn over this.

Reflecting on where I recently saw the symbol discussed it was in a fb bass group earlier this year.
And yes, it was pencil markings from players, not printed in the part.

I think I will just keep marking as I have, perhaps with ‘B dn’ and ‘B up’.

By the way, imho, putting the bow down for pizz sections can be really useful. The idea is you mark the part when to put down and up just as a reminder for those fast pizz/arco sections where it can work out. I like to pizz without a bow in my hand if I can.

Some pro orchestras do not have bassists who use a quiver, and I’m not surprised some have no interest a symbol or even putting the bow down. No quiver means you would put the bow on the stand or a hook. Nobody likes to do that. If a player uses a quiver, one can put the bow in/out of the quiver surprisingly fast. Without whacking the stand or bridge, stealth mode like a ninja with a sword.
 
  • Like
Reactions: elberon, Anne Millington and Riff Ranger
#32
If there is time before and after a pizz passage to do it safely I insert the upper1/3 of the bow through the feet of the bridge. The frog is within easy reach. If the gaps are not big enough I will hang onto the (French) bow. Modern metal stands often have a second shelf that can work for one player but beware the noise. I don't like quivers - they can potentially interfere with the sound a little and look ugly (I can hear you jazz guys reacting from here in Sydney !!)
 
#33
With apologies to my friend David, I first started using the quiver when playing for musicals. It was just too handy in that context. I usually remove it for orchestra playing for mainly aesthetic reasons, although for some of the pops-type stuff I will use it when there is a lot of rhythmic pizz playing.
 
#34
CaseyVancouver said:
By the way, imho, putting the bow down for pizz sections can be really useful. The idea is you mark the part when to put down and up just as a reminder for those fast pizz/arco sections where it can work out. I like to pizz without a bow in my hand if I can.

Some pro orchestras do not have bassists who use a quiver, and I’m not surprised some have no interest a symbol or even putting the bow down. No quiver means you would put the bow on the stand or a hook. Nobody likes to do that. If a player uses a quiver, one can put the bow in/out of the quiver surprisingly fast. Without whacking the stand or bridge, stealth mode like a ninja with a sword.
Click to expand...
Sometimes I prefer to keep the bow in hand. I'm so used to playing with the extra weight, at this point I'm more comfortable playing "orchestral" pizzicato while holding the bow. I would certainly put it down for more involved passages, or anything that needs alternating two or three finger techniques.

I almost never use a quiver, since that extra weight on the tailpiece does mute the instrument to some degree. I normally have an extra tray attached to the music stand for mutes, rosin, pencils, and so forth. I also have a bow clip, which can be attached to my belt. That's useful when there's no music stand involved.
 
#35
jmlee said:
I’ve been rehearsing the musical “Something Rotten” written for 5-string electric and acoustic. There’s markings in the acoustic section that read “bow down”. I’m such an idiot that the first couple of times I thought it meant to bend over. I thought that was an odd suggestion.:roflmao:
Click to expand...
LOL!!! That's a great show! I've played it a couple of times...have fun!!
 
#38
I did get a couple of those little clip-on hooks from Gullihur for hanging a bow on the music stand, which allows me to avoid laying it on the shelf of the stand with resulting clatter, and from which its next location would be under my boot, facilitating my stepping on it. Just a little applied self-knowledge.
 
#39
We should all be aware that when a bow is hung on a hook, clip, music stand or wall,
eventually, one day soon or far from now, it will fall to the floor. Guaranteed.

I always keep the bow clip on the music stand at the lowest possible level for this reason.
Also put fabric on my hardwood floor below my six bows hanging.

Just a thought to save some grief.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back