Double bass bowing technique

 

Bowing techniques for the double bass

Being a musician for more than thirty years and an electric bass player for most of this time, I am continually on the lookout for new sounds. Even new ways to make old sounds. My first Hub was a review of the Upton double bass, my new obsession. Have you ever really stopped and listened to the sonorous tones of the double bass? Those low haunting vibrations; wood, metal, and old world craftsmanship melded into an aural sensation. Sorry, I can't help myself.

There are two ways to coax the double bass into singing it's beautiful song. Pizzicato, or plucking the strings and bowing. The highbrow name for bowing is arco. Use this word to impress your friends! Pizzicato, piz for short comes natural to any string player. Arco is as unnatural as a football bat. My first attempt to bow the bass was the most frustrating thing that I have ever attempted, hands down. After that first lesson I moped away, sad and dejected, determined to use the instrument for fire wood. Fortunately, I have been through other training scenarios in my time and recognized the steep learning curve. Remember the great line from the movie “The outlaw Josey Wales”? Endeavor to persevere!

There are two accepted bow grips. The French and Germany grip. The French grip, taught by my instructor can be visualized by gripping an orange or some similar sphere and transferring that hand shape to the bow. Believe me, it's more difficult than it sounds. I have no experience with the German grip but those who start with it usually stay with it. Think primacy, things learned first learned best; we usually stay with what we are initially taught.

The bow is an interesting piece of equipment. Horse hair is used to set the strings into vibration which produces sound. Horse hair is barbed. Though the barbs are small, they are many. As the bow is pulled toward the player, down bow or pushed away from the player, up bow the barbs attempt to 'latch' onto the strings. Eager to 'get on with it', when my bass arrived I immediately retrieved the bow and found that I could not produce a sound. A new bow has not been conditioned to play and must be rosined. Drawing the bow over the rosin several times makes the bow hair sticky increasing the 'latching' effect. Please note that 'latching' is may own term to describe whats going on at the mechanical level.

Bow weight, or the pressure exerted on the strings along with bow angle, speed, distance from the bridge and other factors are the dynamics that one must learn to produce a pleasing sound. Not to brag, but I have mastered the unpleasant sound! Practice, practice, practice. Practice cannot be over emphasized. Technique, once learned must be mastered and replicated from a 'muscle memory' level. The goal is to instinctively pick up the bow, make the grip, draw the bow, make the sound...this all sounds very Zen like and it is. For some examples check out the video section of this hub.

Before I go let me clear up some confusion. The double bass is called 'double bass' because it's tone is one octave below the written music. The double bass, playing the same written notes as the Cello will sound one octave lower than a Cello. I hope you found something of interest and feel free to contact me with questions about my new frustrating passion!