Double Bass The "one" practice exercise

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Haven't heard Hal's CD, but I agree with Sam. Even if the track you are playing along with is tempered, it's a different and very valuable exercise for fine tuning technique. I often put on a metronome to a slow tempo, play an excerpt that I'm working on on the piano, record it, and play along with that. You don't have to have crazy piano chops to play something slowly that you would play on the bass.

In the old days, I would make a new version when I was ready to speed the excerpt up, but these days I just use the Amazing Slow Downer app to speed it up gradually. The loop function is also excellent for working on stuff that you want extra reps on because it will be exposed in actual performance. I find this a great way to choreograph the body motions needed to play the thing in tune at a slow tempo, and the body is pretty good about speeding those motions up by making them smaller as the tempo increases.

 

[meandering]

This is the first I've heard of playalongs for Boardwalkin'. Are these just recordings of a piano playing the exercise? i also used to make piano recordings or exercises, excerpts, etc. (on minidisc!?!).

 

[koricancowboy]

I think its two different things. the drone will make you be aware of intervals obviously, but the play along is for me, a very good way to CONFIRM I'm in tune, also helps me focus on the notes around me, which I guess a drone would do too. I've personally never used a drone so I may add that in.

In addition to intervallic awareness, drone tuning will make you aware of the scale degree’s relation to the tonic. This way you can tune your leading tones in relation to the tonic for example. Closer ascending than descending. Or the third to fourth relationship. Both are powerful tools that have different purposes. IMHO.

 

[Andy Mopley]

All good answers...I suppose the additional (?) benefit of using a play along CD is that is also keep you in tempo, something I think other people here may see as a given, when using a drone...

 

[PaulCannon]

Have you tried the play along cd so you can hear each individual note to check that it’s in tune?

Yes, but it’s been a long time. I much prefer a drone.

I also don’t do exactly what’s written in the book any more. You can’t experiment much with a tape. I like to play different speeds, rhythms, repetitions, etc. I also go through a lot of intermediary positions not shown in the book.

 

[damonsmith]

Have you tried the play along cd so you can hear each individual note to check that it’s in tune?

I am thinking Maestro Cannon is in tune! Still, not a bad idea once and a while. I think drones are good (and better than having every note), but, a good etude is self contained should push you towards good intonation on its own.

 

[Sam Dingle]

Oh I assume so I'm just wondering how they practice it. I've never tried playing to a drone but I shall soon

 

[damonsmith]

I've personally never used a drone so I may add that in.

I hate to give in to apps and tech, but, Drone Tone Tool is pretty great. Both the site and the app. Like the metronome, I prefer drones with scales and very simple etude so I can really focus. I use both in preparation to play more complex etudes and solos. Multi-tasking in relation to practice should be kept to a minimum.

 

[Fretless55]

Thanks for that link Damon. It does look like a pretty useful tool.

 

[Andy Mopley]

I remember that in one of the Bille method books there are a few exercises where the open string is used as "the anchor", so in a way a drone reference too. Come to think of it, I often find myself, when practicing, checking against harmonics along the neck.

 

[PaulCannon]

I hate to give in to apps and tech, but, Drone Tone Tool is pretty great. Both the site and the app.

That’s the right idea, but I hate that awful, warbling vibrato. I use The Tuning CD by Richard Schwartz. It’s a pure, straight organ tone and very easy to tune with.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

That’s the right idea, but I hate that awful, warbling vibrato. I use The Tuning CD by Richard Schwartz. It’s a pure, straight organ tone and very easy to tune with.

Agree. This is why I like the "Link Removed" files. I am always on the lookout for new drones to work with, but prefer lower sounding drones. Will be happy to check out suggestions added here!

 

[jheise]

My one practice exercise is: Gary Karr's Vomit Exercise. Here is why.
My experience with it resonates a lot to the already mentioned drone/tuner/midi(cd)-track stuff above.

Disclaimer: I'm an amateur who picked up double bass at 25 and the bow in his early thirties - and now in his mid forties had to realize that intonation is the main thing that is holding back further progress. I had a lot of luck to study with some heavy-weights but never had the opportunity (like a college student) to immerse myself into practice for consecutive years without worrying about the rest of life ;-)

And sorry, if my long post leads to a hijack of this thread into intonation-land...

I think there are different stages regarding intonation depending on your goals:
- do you want to have good intonation playing with other people in a band context
- are you mainly an accompanist or are you sometimes the solo voice (more in classical ensembles than bands)
- do you want to be able to play classical solo literature 100% in tune on your own (e.g. Bach Suites) or have the music down cold before meeting with your accompaniment the first time (piano player, orchestra)

I think, these are actually different stages and need different efforts to reach. And certainly everybody starts at a different starting point and has a different goal in mind (which might change over the years - it certainly did for me)

Other assumptions:
- you have to practice intonation your whole life anyway
- every day is different (how you wake up, other stuff that is on your mind, different practice schedule during the day, etc.) and that makes a huge difference
- intonation might actually mean different things to different people and both can be right (e.g. you only deal with tempered music but somebody tells you that your thirds are wrong because they're not "just" intonated etc.)
- good intonation (from a certain point on) just means that you're able to fix any issues faster than the listener realizes that you were "off"

My personal conclusions in regard to other messages in this thread. You incorporate all 4 variations (midi/cd-track, drone, tuner, only you and your bass - but all with the bow) in your practice at different times.
1. practicing with midi-tracks etc. brings you in the ballpark and might be good enough as a final goal if you're an accompanist with no further ambitions. Because you only relate your playing to the context of what you're hearing from other's playing.
2. practicing with a drone gets you into solo playing because you develop your intervals in the given context
3. practicing with a tuner makes you stable in the given key you're practicing without relying on a reference. I would consider starting practicing to the tuner without having done a lot of practice with the first two steps beforehand to be unhelpful. And try to get to the point fast that you only look at the tuner when you think your intonation is off. I think that's fine as the final stage when you want to practice your classical solo repertoire that you play with a piano player. It certainly will not suffice (in my opinion) if you play with other string players and other untempered instruments

4. finally: only practice with your bass and the bow and decide on your intonation based on the resonance what you feel your bass emanates (propreoception). Every single note played with the correct bow placement and speed for that note makes your bass vibrate a certain way that you actually feel before your ears tell you their results. Don't forget that the 3 other strings resonate as well and add to the vibrations. This is the feeling to internalize. IMHO, this is the goal that Gary Karr aims for with the vomit exercise: to internalize these feelings.

If I have a good morning (slept well, being able to start practicing as the first thing in the morning, no other big things to worry about, my ears are fresh and not cluttered by noise/music etc.) I can start the day with 4. and a Major scale and feel confident about my intonation. Up through both octaves, every single interval.

If a have a not so good morning or have to practice later in the day, I practice using step 1. or 2. - I want to make sure that I don't fall back into "that did not sound ok enough but I leave it as it is because I am tired and could not muster up enough concentration to really feel/correct it". Step 3. is only used as an intermediary step on some days if I want to try 4. on the next day.

I have a lot of difficulties with other scales that I have not internalized as much as the major scale (and use 1 & 2 to work on them to "get in the ballpark with every note" every time). And this is after ca. 6 months of having done the full 45min Vomit exercise every day. Deciding every day to do 1. or 2. or 3. or 4. and trying to get to the point to only practice 4. - and not starting as a beginner but as someone who thought he knows his way around the bass.

I think that everybody who listens to music and gives himself the trust and enough time can decide if two notes played are sounding correct together, even for the more dissonant intervals.
Feeling and listening to the bass a lot more than I did in the past made me realize that even for "dissonant" intervals, I can say quite easily if it feels correct from the vibrations of the bass. Checking the correct feeling to the tuner gives the correct pitch more often that relying on my ears. But that might be a personal thing ;-)

 

[jj.833]

To add just a bit to the drone discussion: I found out that when I play with the drone, I tend to rely on the outside sound, as it should be in a band situation. When I play the same excersise without the drone, I must wholy concentrate on my inner hearing. Both situations differ significantly in the way of what my mind does, and both offer important information. So I'm doing both. So simple, yet took me lot of time to find out ;-)

 

[damonsmith]

You can also use the A from a metronome and most basic tuners have a drone. While I do advocate for them, I don't think we should dwell on them too much. We need to be self-contained, that means practicing self-contained.
Were I to do "just one" exercise as the thread suggests (in lieu of not touching the bass at all on busy day, for example), I probably wouldn't use a drone, and it would probably be Ex 5, the very first F major Etude in Simandl book one!
It gets the hand opened and is very hard to play out of tune.
The routine I outline earlier, is more like the one exercise that is my primary exercise of my daily warm up.

 

[David Potts]

I am having the fun of "breaking in" my "new" 1880s French bass that has probably not been played for 50 or more years. It has many differences with my other bass, including body size and shape, neck length and thickness, string heights, etc, etc. As i try to fine tune my sound post setting with small love-taps my current practice is pre-occupied with testing note starts and adjusting hair tension. This is followed followed by testing each 1/2 tone chromatically up and down each string and comparing open string notes with their closed equivalents. The aim is even response , clarity and resonance both up and down and across strings.

During the above adjustment process I am also re-learning basic seating and LH techniques to accommodate the move from 3/4 to 7/8 bass. As I am progressing towards the same kinesthetic confidence I have on my other bass I find myself coming back to scales and arpeggios over two octaves, based and built on carefully hearing any scale as two groups of 4 notes (tetra chords). I think that this is my one exercise that Andy refers to. No drones or tuner,
beyond tuning strings.

 

[CaseyVancouver]

I am having the fun of "breaking in" my "new" 1880s French bass that has probably not been played for 50 or more years. It has many differences with my other bass, including body size and shape, neck length and thickness, string heights, etc, etc. As i try to fine tune my sound post setting with small love-taps my current practice is pre-occupied with testing note starts and adjusting hair tension. This is followed followed by testing each 1/2 tone chromatically up and down each string and comparing open string notes with their closed equivalents. The aim is even response , clarity and resonance both up and down and across strings.

During the above adjustment process I am also re-learning basic seating and LH techniques to accommodate the move from 3/4 to 7/8 bass. As I am progressing towards the same kinesthetic confidence I have on my other bass I find myself coming back to scales and arpeggios over two octaves, based and built on carefully hearing any scale as two groups of 4 notes (tetra chords). I think that this is my one exercise that Andy refers to. No drones or tuner,
beyond tuning strings.

David, sorry to get off topic but ...a 7/8ths French bass from the 1880’s? Not played for 50 years? Must be a story to this. Sounds very interesting!

 

[koricancowboy]

Agree. This is why I like the "Link Removed" files. I am always on the lookout for new drones to work with, but prefer lower sounding drones. Will be happy to check out suggestions added here!

I used that CD for years! I love it still and for those that stream it is available on Spotify. Nonetheless, I have given in to using TE Tuner. I use it in so many ways due to the fact that the metronome, which subdivides to all get out, and the tone generator can be used together. It's also pretty slick in that you can play more than one tone at a time (or two in the case of the cello drones).

I will often drone the tonic triad or the V7 or a diatonic 13 chord built on the tonic. I also do crazy things like drone the 7th or 2nd scale degree to get those persnickety degrees together. There are a bunch of different sounds and you can choose to drone them from as low as C0-C8 if I'm not mistaken. I drone a pure sine or square wave myself. Four bucks and always with me. I even use it to tune up my singing in the car.

I hate to sound like a commercial but the thing also video and audio records, slows down imported mp3s, has the most accurate tuner I've found and does some other weird stuff I haven't even figured out (Frequency and Harmonic energy). I especially love that you can change temperament for older music. That, a Bluetooth speaker, and my iPad and it's all I bring into the practice room anymore. Between that and ForScore, its a far cry from when I was in school! Super powerful.