Double Bass Tip of (German) bow

[Andy Mopley]

on occasions will hit the lower corner of the C bout, away from me. Thankfully, no damage thus far.

What is the most likely cause, (I am suspecting over-angling of the bow), it it something that is common and what are the potential remedies?

Thanks for reading!

 

[DoubleBassBass]

I suspect like me you have violin corners rather than a Gamba shaped bass? Its not ideal as a German bow player because the extra depth of the German bow frog means you are much closer to snagging the corners than with an thinner French bow - held overhand of course. Essentially with the underhand german bow hold you are a whole extra hand depth closer to the instrument with less space to move in and easier to snag the corners.

For the most part German bow players gravitate towards the native Link Removed as a result - usually a wider 'C' and I think a slimmer waist . But there are plenty of players who mix and match myself being one of them. It all depends on the dimensions of the bass - some cornered basses I have tried feel that they are positively going to restrict bowing - Invalid Link Removed

 

[Tom Lane]

My bass has an embarrassing number of "bow bites". What cured me was watching myself in the mirror, keeping the bow level to the floor, and lots of practicing string crossings. I too, bow German with a violin corner bass.

 

[Michael Eisenman]

Check out posts 10+ of this thread. Regardless of whether you do the cardboard thing, check out my diagrams showing the point of David's post.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

Like Tom says get a mirror.

 

[Andy Mopley]

I suspect like me you have violin corners rather than a Gamba shaped bass?

I believe so, it is more like this shape

http://www.haydockmusic.co.uk/media...eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/s/i/sinfonica.jpg

And yes, Tom & Jeff, the mirror is a good idea and I do have one in my practice space. The question is that watching yourself consciously makes you bow correctly. It is when the mirror is no longer there that error creeps in! I guess with practice (and viewing) things may get corrected.

As for the cardboard, diagram / suggestion, thanks, I really appreciate it, but I am afraid I couldn't make much sense of it - will try again in the morning, with a clearer head.

Thanks again everyone.

 

[Hector Wolff]

Andy,

While you are looking in that mirror, you might also want to take a careful look at where the end of your finger board is in relation to the top of the "C" bouts AND take a look at where your arm and bow naturally fall on the strings. If you bass is too low for your arm length, your natural contact point may be too high, this is especially hard to see if your fingerboard is long.

Also, though my bowing was fine in controlled practice in front of a mirror, for a while I had a tendency for my bowing contact point to rise toward the end of the fingerboard, without my realizing it during actual playing of pieces or performance. Check where your rosin is being deposited on the strings.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

Ultimately the mirror is not about what correct technique looks like but what it feels like. When I see something in the mirror that's not right I note what it felt like vs what it looks like, then correct and note what the corrected position feels like. The mirror doesn't do any good if I can't figure out a way of making the corrections stick without it.

 

[Tom Lane]

Jeff is right, of course. Practicing in front of the mirror helps you easily verify that your bow is parallel to the floor. When you're doing that note where the limits are in terms of your movements on the E and G strings. I'm not near my bass now, but I believe I have to lift the frog towards my shoulder for the E string and drop it towards the bridge for the G string, without jabbing the tip of your bow into the lower bout on the G side nor running your hand into the side of the bass on the E side. This is further complicated by moving the bow between the end of the fingerboard and towards the bridge when you're bowing the 3rd octave. Ultimately, though, I think a couple/few months in front of the mirror did the trick for me. My teacher told me not to look at the bow except in the mirror, but I confess that I did to help note where the limits were and then practiced not looking. I've found practicing in the dark very helpful for the bow, learning the fingerboard, intonation, and learning to listen to yourself in real-time. I rarely mess it up any more.