DOCSLIB.ORG

The Double Bass*

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Double Bass* OpenStax-CNX module: m14624 1 The Double Bass* Catherine Schmidt-Jones This work is produced by OpenStax-CNX and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 Abstract A brief introduction to the largest, lowest-sounding stringed instrument of the orchestra. 1 Introduction The double bass, often called the string bass or upright bass, is the largest, lowest-sounding instrument in the string section of the orchestra. Like its close relatives in that section, the violin, viola, and cello, it is classied as a chordophone. 2 The Instrument Like the other orchestral strings, the double bass has four strings stretched over an unfretted neck and a hollow wooden body. The body of the instrument resonates with and amplies the sound of the strings, which would otherwise be too soft to be heard in a concert situation. To play this large instrument, the bassist must either sit on a tall stool or stand. The bass rests on an adjustable peg on the oor. The four strings of a violin, (or viola or cello) are tuned in fths; in other words, each string is tuned a perfect fth from the previous string. The strings of the double bass are tuned in fourths, to reduce the stretch that the left hand must make to get from one note to the next. Even so, with its large size and long, heavy strings, the double bass is a very physically demanding instrument to play. note: A small but vocal minority of bass players prefers to tune the instrument in fths, CGDA instead of EADG. They feel that any ngering diculties are outweighed by the advantages of this tuning, including being able to play the low C, and subtle dierences in tuning and harmonics that allow them to better blend with the other orchestral strings. *Version 1.3: Sep 28, 2012 9:25 am -0500 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ http://cnx.org/content/m14624/1.3/ OpenStax-CNX module: m14624 2 Bass String Tuning Figure 1: The strings of the bass are usually tuned in fourths, rather than the fths of the other orchestral strings. The double bass is usually played by drawing a bow across the strings, but the strings may also be plucked with the ngers, and this plucking technique, called pizzicato, is the more common technique in some types of music, such as jazz. 3 History Double-bass-like instruments have been around since the early 1500's. The earliest large string instruments were part of the viol family. Violin, viola, and cello are all considered part of the violin family of instruments, since they are shaped, constructed, and played very similarly. Viols were a dierent family of bowed string instruments that were very popular in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Viols came in a variety of sizes; each had a fretted neck and six strings. The body shape of a viol was similar to that of a violin, but the violin has a louder, more insistent sound than the viol. Viols were better suited for playing in smaller, quieter ensembles, so as large orchestras became more popular, the sound of the violin and its family came to be preferred, and viols basically disappeared. Meanwhile, there was quite a bit of variety in the bass instrument of the string section. Instruments came and went that had three, four, ve, or six strings and various tunings. The instrument that was nally settled on was fretless and four-stringed like a violin, but tuned in fourths (more like a viol) and with the steeply sloping shoulders (the top of the body) of the viol family. The sloping shoulders are probably more to allow the player to reach around the instrument to play it than a remnant of the instrument's history, but in fact, the double bass is the only one of the orchestral strings that still does not have a standardized shape. http://cnx.org/content/m14624/1.3/ OpenStax-CNX module: m14624 3 4 Practical Information for Composers and Arrangers Written Range of the Bass Figure 2: The double bass sounds an octave lower than written. Some bassists have a range that extends to a low C, either because their bass has an extension or a fth string, or because they are tuning in fths, but it is not a good idea to assume your bassist will be able to play below the E. In popular musics and jazz, the double bass typically carries the bass line. Given nothing more than the chord progression, a very experienced bassist will be able to construct a typical bass line in the style that he normally plays in, but you should not count on less experienced players to be able to do this. In orchestras and other large ensembles, the bass section also typically plays the bass line, but also may play low melodies and countermelodies or engage in complex interplay with other instruments. The sound of the double bass is resonant but not loud. It is capable of playing solos, but if you give a solo to a double bass, make sure the rest of the arrangement is very quiet so that the solo can be heard. On the other hand, the very resonant pizzicato of the double bass is much more easily heard than that of the smaller strings, and can be used to great eect in a variety of musical styles. Because of the physical demands of playing on large, heavy strings, bassists cannot play with as much agility as the smaller strings. If large, fast leaps or long passages of very fast notes are wanted in the bass, it may be a good idea to divide the part into two more easily playable parts, each to be played by half of the basses. http://cnx.org/content/m14624/1.3/.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • String Section the String Section
    The Classroom Resource faggot String Section The String Section Where did the string section Repertoire that come from? features the string The string section as we know it today really began to take shape at the end of the section 17th century. Before that instruments had mainly played a supporting role to the human voice, or had performed only as soloists or in very small chamber groups. An orchestra made up just of string players is The violin emerged in the mid-16th century and the members of the violin family called a string orchestra. Many composers have (including viola, cello and double-bass) began to dominate the more ancient viol written pieces for string orchestra including family, even though at first they had been thought somewhat unrefined! Composers Elgar, Barber, Strauss and Schoenberg. Some soon began to appreciate the power, brilliance and versatility of this new family of composers have also composed movements instruments. By the end of the 17th century groups of stringed instruments were within large pieces that feature just the string being employed by leading composers and the violin family (or string section) section, or give the strings big section solos. For instance in Mahler Symphony No 5 there is assumed its position as the heart of the orchestra. a very famous slow movement written just for strings and harp, and in Tchaikovsky Symphony No 4 there is a fast and quirky movement where What is the concertmaster? the string section only plucks the strings and IThe concertmaster is the principal first violinist and also the leader of the orchestra.
    [Show full text]
  • Orchestra 101
    ORCHESTRA 101 THE WORD ITSELF Symphony is the Greek word for “sounding together”. Philharmonic is from the Greek word for “music-loving”. The only difference between the two words is that symphony orchestra can also be used as a generic term, while philharmonic orchestra only occurs as part of a proper name. THE HISTORY The first instrumental groups that could be called orchestras were assembled for Italian opera in the early 1600s, but throughout the Baroque period (ca. 1600–1750) the makeup of orchestras, whether for opera or for purely instrumental music, varied widely. In any particular city, or for any particular occasion, the size and constitution of the orchestra usually depended on the forces — and the money — available. Baroque composers often didn't even specify which instruments, or how many, would be required to perform their pieces. By the mid-eighteenth century, orchestral instrumentation had become standardized to a great extent, partly as a result of the example set by the famous orchestra of Mannheim, Germany. The Mannheim Orchestra, reputed to be the best in all of Europe, normally consisted of strings — first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses — and two each of flutes, oboes, bassoons, French horns, and trumpets, along with two timpani. This formation, which was enlarged later in the century by the addition of clarinets, became the foundation for the modern orchestra.* THE PLAYERS A full-sized modern orchestra consists of more than one hundred musicians usually playing anywhere from eighteen to twenty-five different kinds of instruments. The instruments are divided into four overall “sections”: the strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.
    [Show full text]
  • EARLY LISTENER's GUIDE Strings
    EARLY LISTENER’S GUIDE Strings 1 Table of Contents Welcome Letter, Guide Information…………………………………………………………………3 Strings Concert Program…………………………………………………………………………………..5 About the Composers and Conductors………………………………………………………………6 Snapshot for Students and Teachers………………………………………………………………….8 String One: Connecting Pieces………………………………………………………………………….9 String Two: The Art of Listening…………………………………..…………………………………12 String Three: Bowing and Bowing………………………………………….………………………..17 String Four: Strings…In A Different Part of America!..……………………………………….22 String Five: Strings…In A Different Place!…………………………………………………………27 String Six: All Kinds of A-B-A…………………………………………………………………………31 String Seven: How Do I Look?……………………………………………………………………….35 String Eight: Finding Strings……………………………………………………………………………39 Special Thanks……………………………………………………………………………………………..42 2 Welcome to the BGE Midweek Classroom Broadcasts! On behalf of the BSO Associate Conductor, Nicholas Hersh, Assistant Conductor Jonathan Taylor Rush, the members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the BSO Education Department, we are delighted to welcome you to our 2020-2021 Midweek Classroom Broadcasts. With the BSO’s Midweek Concert series as the longest running education initiative at the BSO (running since February 16, 1924), and the first regular educational concert series of any orchestra in the country, we are thrilled to have you join us for these concerts online. About This Guide On the next pages you will find the Early Listener’s Guide for the Strings Concert Program, written by a highly skilled group of Maryland educators with specialism in Music, Drama, Science, English/Language Arts, and Visual Arts, led by award-winning curriculum writer and editor, Richard McCready. At the start of the guide is a “Snapshot” of your concert experience. This will give you a sense of what to expect in the broadcast, along with some thoughts about the various curricular connections, and music we suggest you listen to in the classroom, or at home.
    [Show full text]
  • History of the Violin
    History of the Violin Batchelder violin (USA) The earliest stringed instruments were mostly plucked (the Greek lyre). Bowed instruments may have originated in the equestrian cultures of Central Asia, an example being the Kobyz (Kazakh: қобыз) or kyl-kobyz is an ancient Turkic, Kazakh string instrument or Mongolian instrument Morin huur: Turkic and Mongolian horsemen from Inner Asia were probably the world’s earliest fiddlers. Their two-stringed upright fiddles were strung with horsehair strings, played with horsehair bows, and often feature a carved horse’s head at the end of the neck. The violins, violas, and cellos we play today, and whose bows are still strung with horsehair, are a legacy of the nomads. It is believed that these instruments eventually spread to China, India, the Byzantine Empire and the Middle East, where they developed into instruments such as the erhu in China, the rebab in the Middle East, the lyra in the Byzantine Empire and the esraj in India. The violin in its present form emerged in early 16th-Century Northern Italy, where the port towns of Venice and Genoa maintained extensive ties to central Asia through the trade routes of the silk road. The modern European violin evolved from various bowed stringed instruments from the Middle East and the Byzantine Empire. It is most likely that the first makers of violins borrowed from three types of current instruments: the rebec, in use since the 10th century (itself derived from the Byzantine lyra and the Arabic rebab), the Renaissance fiddle, and the lira da braccio (derived from the Byzantine lira).
    [Show full text]
  • Double Bass Intonation: a Systematic Approach to Solo And
    DOUBLE BASS INTONATION: A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO SOLO AND ENSEMBLE PLAYING BY JOHN MICHAEL PRIESTER Submitted to the faculty of the Jacobs School of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree, Doctor of Music, Indiana University May 2015 Accepted by the faculty of the Jacobs School of Music Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Music. Doctoral Committee ________________________________________ Lawrence Hurst, Research Director _______________________________________ Bruce Bransby, Chairperson _______________________________________ Marianne C. Kielian-Gilbert _______________________________________ Stanley Ritchie 30 March 2015 ii Copyright ©2014 John Michael Priester iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To my committee, Prof. Bruce Bransby, Prof. Lawrence Hurst, Prof. Marianne Kielian- Gilbert, Prof. Stanley Ritch, and Prof. Kurt Muroki, my deepest thanks for your mentorship and patience. Even knowing what a long, hard road this paper was to be, you let me walk it. To Prof. Hurst and Prof. Bransby, in particular, thank you for the years of wisdom, which has made me the player and teacher I am today. To my parents, thank you for all of the years of support, even if seemed like they wouldn’t end. And to my wife, Briana, for every discovery shared, every frustration soothed, and every day I was allowed to cover the dining room table with research materials, thank you. iv DOUBLE BASS INTONATION: A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO SOLO AND ENSEMBLE PLAYING Abstract This study uses an interdisciplinary approach to analyze double bass intonation as it occurs in a solo (i.e., without playing with any additional instruments) and ensemble contexts, develops a systematic approach to double bass intonation (subsequently referred to as “the system”), and applies that system to double bass literature to theoretically test its applicability.
    [Show full text]
  • Wooden Musical Instruments - Different Forms of Knowledge Marco Pérez, Emanuele Marconi
    Wooden Musical Instruments - Different Forms of Knowledge Marco Pérez, Emanuele Marconi To cite this version: Marco Pérez, Emanuele Marconi. Wooden Musical Instruments - Different Forms of Knowledge: Book of End of WoodMusICK COST Action FP1302. Marco A. Pérez; Emanuele Marconi. 2018, 979-10-94642-35-1. hal-02086598 HAL Id: hal-02086598 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02086598 Submitted on 1 Apr 2019 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Musical instrument are fundamental tools of human expression of Knowledge Forms — Diferent Instruments Musical Wooden that reveal and reflect historical, technological, social and cultural aspects of times and people. These three-dimensional, polyma- teric objects—at times considered artworks, other times technical objects—are the most powerful way to communicate emotions and to connect people and communities with the surrounding world. The participants in WoodMusICK (WOODen MUSical Instrument Conservation and Knowledge) COST Action FP1302 have aimed to combine forces and to foster research on wooden musical instruments in order to preserve, develop and disseminate knowledge on musical instruments in Europe through inter- and transdisciplinary research. This four-year program, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), has involved a multidisciplinary and multi-national research group composed of curators, conservators/restorers, wood, material and mechanical scientists, chemists, acousticians, organologists and instrument makers.
    [Show full text]
  • String Technique (Orchestral Examples)
    String Technique (Orchestral Examples) Introduction For a general introduction to writing for strings and for basic examples, look under String Techniques in the String Writing (Quartets) section above. This document offers a few further examples of string techniques in the context of orchestral writing. There are many further examples in the extract from Walter Piston’s book on Orchestration (below this file on Moodle). Pizzicato The classic use of pizzicato for accompaniments is as a bass line. Here the violas, cellos and double basses play in octave unison whilst the woodwind play the tune and the violins add a busy semiquaver figuration. Example 1: Schubert Unfinished Symphony, 1st Movement In this movement the pizzicato is used not as an accompaniment but more as an added colour – like adding a percussion instrument. Beethoven adds unison pizzicato chords as interjections between the short phrases of the melody. Example 2: Beethoven Violin Concerto, 2nd Movement, Bar 20 Later in the same movement, Beethoven uses the entire string section to provide a pizzicato accompaniment to the solo violin (could work with a wind instrument playing the melody too). Initially the violins play chords, which the violas and cellos cascade falling fifths and octaves that reinforce the harmony. In the fourth bar of the extract all the strings play homophonic chords before returning to the previous texture. Example 3: Beethoven Violin Concerto, 2nd Movement Example 4: Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4, 3rd Movement Tchaikovsky is one of several composers to use string pizzicato much more extensively. The strings pizzicato all the way through the third movement of his fourth symphony.
    [Show full text]
  • Orchestration
    ORCHESTRATION BY CECIL FORSYTH M.ATEdin. MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON & STAINER AND BELL, LIMITED S8 BERNERS STREET, LONDON 1914 PREFACE. In this book an attempt is made first, to describe our modern orches- tral instruments, where they sprang from, how they developed, and what they are to-day; next, to trace the types of music which have been reflected in these constructional changes and, in especial, the types most familiar since Beethoven's time. Without some knowledge on these points the student is working in the dark. He is like a Lascar turned loose in a dynamo-house. It is true that one may show him the button, and, if he presses it, he will get a terrific blaze of light. But what is behind the button ? How were the wires laid ? Why is one type of engine better than another for its own purpose? How is the shop to be run in the most economical way 1 All these questions call for answers, and, on the musical side of the analogy, the answers are not difficult to find. For the facts that underlie instrumentation are few and simple: a skin or a metal plate to be beaten; a column of air in a brass or wooden tube with some sort of mouthpiece or embouchure; a string or two—four is a good number—to be bowed, plucked, or struck. These are the essentials and, if the student grasps them, he will soon be brought to see that change comes but slowly and rarely, and that, when it comes, it is more apparent than real.
    [Show full text]
  • A Survey and Bibliography of Chamber Music Appropriate for Student String Ensembles with Three Or More Violins Galen Kaup
    Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2008 A Survey and Bibliography of Chamber Music Appropriate for Student String Ensembles with Three or More Violins Galen Kaup Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MUSIC A SURVEY AND BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CHAMBER MUSIC APPROPRIATE FOR STUDENT STRING ENSEMBLES WITH THREE OR MORE VIOLINS By Galen Kaup A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music Degree Awarded: November, 2008 The members of the Committee approve the Treatise of Galen Kaup defended on October 22, 2008. __________________________ Eliot Chapo Professor Directing Treatise __________________________ Alexander Jimenez Committee Member __________________________ Michael Buchler Outside Committee Member The Office of Graduate studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT v CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 2. A HISTORY OF STRING CHAMBER ENSEMBLES WHICH 4 INCLUDE THREE OR MORE VIOLINS CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF WORKS 6 CHAPTER 3. AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CHAMBER MUSIC 8 APPROPRIATE FOR STUDENT STRING ENSEMBLES WITH THREE OR MORE VIOLINS METHODOLOGY 8 KEY TO PITCH NOTATION 9 VIOLIN TRIOS 9 Fux, Johann Josef. Sonata in F Major for Three Violins. 9 Quantz, Johann Joachim. Sonata for Three Flutes (Violins or other 10 Instruments) without Bass. Hook, James. Six Trios Op. 83 for Three Transverse Flutes or Three 11 Violins or Transverse Flute, Violin, and Viola. Dvořák, Antonín. Gavotte for Three Violins. 12 Hermann, Friedrich.
    [Show full text]
  • Teaching Turtle Island Quartet Music: Selected String Orchestra Pieces for High School and College Musicians Sally Hernandez
    Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2013 Teaching Turtle Island Quartet Music: Selected String Orchestra Pieces for High School and College Musicians Sally Hernandez Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MUSIC TEACHING TURTLE ISLAND QUARTET MUSIC: SELECTED STRING ORCHESTRA PIECES FOR HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE MUSICIANS By SALLY HERNANDEZ A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2013 Sally Hernandez defended this treatise on October 30, 2013. The members of the supervisory committee were: Pamela Ryan Professor Directing Treatise John Geringer University Representative Bruce Holzman Committee Member Melanie Punter Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the treatise has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii To José Hernández, my dance partner in life iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author would like to express gratitude to the members of the Turtle Island Quartet, past and present, for creating such wonderful and daring music and for taking time out of their busy schedules to assist with this paper. The author is grateful to Nick Geist for his technical expertise with the musical excerpts and music librarian, Misti Shaw, for her help with diacritical markings and footnotes. Thank you to those who gave me continual love and support, my family and friends, especially my mother, sister, and husband. I am appreciative of my friends, Kristin Geist and Rebecca Rhoads, for enduring encouragement and to the members of the “ABD Club” who helped ensure my future ineligibility into the club.
    [Show full text]
  • A STUDY of UNSUK CHIN's VIOLIN CONCERTO By
    A STUDY OF UNSUK CHIN’S VIOLIN CONCERTO by Youngsin Seo Submitted to the faculty of the Jacobs School of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree, Doctor of Music Indiana University December 2016 Accepted by the faculty of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Music Doctoral Committee ______________________________________ Marianne C. Kielian-Gilbert, Research Director ______________________________________ Mark Kaplan, Chair ______________________________________ Emilio Colon ______________________________________ Kevork Mardirossian December 1, 2016 ii Copyright © 2016 Youngsin Seo iii To my dear parents Jae Ku Seo and Junghee Yoo iv Acknowledgements My sincere appreciation goes to my research director, Marianne C. Kielian- Gilbert, for her insightful guidance, patience, and encouragement in every step of this project. Also, I would like to extend my profound thanks to my violin teacher, Mark Kaplan, and all my former and current doctoral committee members: Ik-Hwan Bae, Emilio Colon, and Kevork Mardirossian. I give my heartfelt and deepest gratitude to my parents, who have shown me unlimited love and support. I would like to express my thankfulness to my sister and her family, and also to all my friends for their encouragement and prayers. Special thanks goes to Virginia Whealton for her effort and wise work on editing this final project. Permission to reproduce the score of Unsuk Chin’s Violin Concerto was kindly granted by Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers, Ltd. Last but most of all, I give all the glory to my God, who has given me great strength and led me in every moment of my life.
    [Show full text]
  • The Transcription for Two Double Basses Of
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2006 The transcription for two double basses of selections from Pièces de violes, Quatrème livre, Deuxiême partie: Suitte d'un Goût Etranger by Marin Marais Yong Hao Pan Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Music Commons Recommended Citation Pan, Yong Hao, "The transcription for two double basses of selections from Pièces de violes, Quatrème livre, Deuxiême partie: Suitte d'un Goût Etranger by Marin Marais" (2006). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 243. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/243 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. THE TRANSCRIPTION FOR TWO DOUBLE BASSES OF SELECTIONS FROM PIÈCES DE VIOLES, QUATRIÈME LIVRE, DEUXIÊME PARTIE: SUITTE D’UN GOÛT ETRANGER BY MARIN MARAIS A Monograph Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in The School of Music by Yong Hao Pan B.M., The Juilliard School, 1999 M.M., The Juilliard School, 2001 December 2006 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to my double bass professor, Yung-chiao Wei, who has provided her utmost encouragement during my doctoral studies at LSU. I also wish to thank other members of my committee who gave their support and advice on this monograph: Professor Dennis Parker, Dr.
    [Show full text]