Double Bass Tips for Re-starting Bass after 10+ Years Away?

[ClsscLib]

Health problems made me stop playing bass over ten years ago. I was a decent orchestral player when I stopped playing, and I’ve been playing piano seriously (if not well) since then.

Now I’m about to take up the bass seriously again, with the goal of being able to make a contribution in a decent amateur orchestra. (I will resume lessons with my excellent former teacher in December.)

Any tips for how to go about my re-entry, especially w/r/t regaining technique, fluency, and endurance?

 

[jallenbass]

Start with long tones on open strings and some relaxed, random left-hand notes.
Keep the sessions short—just a few minutes at a time, spaced throughout the day. As your comfort and endurance grow, begin adding in some simple etudes. Once those feel solid, ease back into the routine you were following before your hiatus.

 

[Don Hergert]

Since your know your teacher, and for the direction you're wanting to go, I'd suggest talking with your teacher to get his or her advice for pre-lesson practice... There might be specific exercises and/or specific techniques that your teacher would prefer you to be warming up with at this time. There may even be certain things your teacher would prefer you not to do until your lessons start up again.

Glad to see you're moving back to double bass, best of luck with this!

 

[Lee Moses]

I spent 15 years away before making my return. My main advice . . . be patient. At least for me, it took a long time to get back to where I was, technically speaking. Spend time on focused practice, working on the most basic of fundamentals: getting a good tone, eliminating extraneous noises, intonation, ridding your body of tension while playing.

Welcome back!

 

[Patrick BCL]

I restarted two years ago, after a lot more than 10 years away. I worked through the Simandl method book, making sure to do at least a few minutes every day. It took me about 3 months to get back to my old level

 

[Paps]

Short sessions to start with, lessons and joining an orchestra.
I stopped for 20 years, got lessons again and I am much better now than I ever was.
Take your time and enjoy, and like Rabbath says, let the Bass be a bride leaving you hungry and eager to ravish again next day!

 

[Jmilitsc]

First - welcome back to the low end!

All great advice above. I also spent 15 yrs or so away from playing too, and was motivated to get back into playing after my wife asked me to put a bass part on a recording for a tune of hers. It was difficult to play simple things, so i decided i had to start playing for real again.

My re-entry was first on electric, going to blues jams and whatnot. Was surprised by how nervous i was, but after just a few I was comfortable-ish. From there, joined a band, then started adding upright to that band. So I’d already built up a bit by the time I got back into upright.

All this to say: Expect some blisters, fatigue, frustrations, and such but really my tip is to fully enjoy the reentry and get with other players even if you don’t feel ready. Have a blast.

Ha, it reminds me that after a few months of upright, i said to myself, “you know i always wanted to use a bow in a jazz setting, why not join an amateur orchestra?” LOL, so i found one, no auditions, was the only double bassist at the time, and learned a TON. It’s been 13 years of hanging on for dear life now, loving it.

OP, Where are you? We need more bassists in our group!

 

[Pietsch]

Play music you love. Tune your open strings carefully with a digital tuner, and/or to a piano. Play along with recordings of your favorite music. Enjoy!

 

[Sam Reese]

Have fun and listen to your body.

 

[SVT4001]

I am about a week and a half into my return to upright playing. I was out for about eight years. First, work commitments and school tied to a career change made me have to withdraw from playing upright and a shoulder injury sealed the deal. I am mostly recovered from the injury and trying to ease my way back into playing. I hope to audition for a community orchestra this fall. Wish me luck!

In "tips to share" I have been having great luck using ChatGPT to diagnose issues with my bowing. You have to be mindful with how you create prompts, and always be suspect of any info AI gives you, but I recommend it highly as another thing to help get you going! FWIW, nothing is better than having a teacher, but I am having trouble finding one reasonably near me that is accepting students...

 

[LouisF]

What sort of prompts to you give the Chat? Do you have visuals? I'm curious how this works. Thanks

 

[SVT4001]

Hi LouisF.
I typed in all of the prompts, it did not do an audio or video analysis of my playing. I provided basic information like how old I am, a brief overview of my history (studied privately, played at community orchestra level returning from an eight year break from playing, etc), the three sets of strings I was comparing (Spiro weich, Evah weich, and Flex 92 weich), and the problem I was experiencing (very limited range of dynamics from Flex 92). I also added that I had used all of these strings except for Evah's in the past.
In addition to other suggestions, ChatGPT quickly suggested that I was very likely bowing in the wrong place (try closer to the bridge for FFF and closer to the fingerboard for ppp) and that I should adjust weight and or speed. I went back to my bass and was able to immediately fix some problems getting the string to speak clearly and quickly and solved the issue with dynamics. In retrospect, I should have been able to figure those things out myself, but here we are.
I was able to solve several issues using it! I'm happy to elaborate further if anyone is interested.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Artificial Intelligence does not "know" anything. It reacts to prompts to answer questions using information it has scraped from the interwebs. Sometimes it gives you information that is right, other times wrong, sometimes good, other times bad. It also straight up "hallucinates". It can be a great aid if you know a bit about a subject, but a complete terror if used ignorantly. Remember that it is a tool. I particularly liked this explanation I heard at a seminar: "If you are not a doctor, AI will not allow you to perform surgery...but if you ARE a surgeon, AI might be able to help you improve outcomes."

 

[SVT4001]

I am planning to audition for a local community orchestra in the fall. The group lists audition requirements on their web site. I typed in each of the excerpts listed for bass and asked for help with bowings. I'm still very early in that endeavor.
I also used it to help figure out appropriate material to help progressively build my confidence and musicianship.

It's also helpful to approach AI use as an iterative process. Ask a well stated question, ask for refinements, correct it when it is wrong, etc.

 

[LouisF]

Thanks. Very interesting. I've used ChatGPT for some summaries and outlines (and to make a visual "pitch deck" for a screenplay). I guess eventually AI will be in every part of our lives whether we like it or not. Thanks again.