Seth Gamba Elkins Pointe Middle School Orchestra, Fulton County, Georgia ASTA Conference 2018, Thursday 3/8 9:45am www.gambamusic.com [email protected] or [email protected]

 Sitting/standing o Advantages of Standing . Better initial posture . More expressive playing due to freedom of motion o Common problems with standing . Bow can torque instrument if not properly supported . Students support instrument with thumb if not properly balanced o Advantages of Sitting . Instrument is held securely . Feet don’t get tired o Common problems with sitting . Slouching . Having a stool that is the proper height . Carrying a stool everywhere you go  How to approach instrument sitting & standing o Standing . Height should be set so that eye level is between the nut and the 1st finger  Height is sometimes a compromise between having to reach up with left hand vs. having to reach down with bow arm. . Bass should be balanced – players should be able to support the instrument comfortably with no hands . Bass should be tilted slightly in towards the player . Bass should make a slightly obtuse angle against the players body . The left knee should make contact with the back edge of the lower bout to keep the instrument from twisting due to bow friction . When playing, the bass should be tilted forward to create equilibrium between the forces applied by the bow and the fingers  This gives a little gravity assistance for holding the strings down and creates bow weight o Sitting . Height should be set so that eye level is between the nut and the 1st finger when seated . Student should be able to sit on the front half of the stool seat with right foot comfortably flat on the floor . Left foot should be raised and placed on one of the stool rungs . Bass leans on the left knee/inner thigh and tilts slightly toward players body . Instrument should make a slightly obtuse angle against the players body . Some players hold the bass facing forwards almost as much as a cello. This can work well for larger people. For most students, however, a considerable angle is required to comfortably bow the G string.  German Bow/French Bow o Advantages of French Bow . Similar to other instruments for teaching . Easier to control spiccato o Common problems of French Bow . ‘The Fist’ bowhold . Index finger pointing . Spiccato harder to start o Advantages of German Bow . More natural hand position . Easier to create powerful sound – especially at tip . Spiccato is easier to get started o Common problems of German Bow . Tip drops . 3rd & 4th fingers wrap up inside frog . Fingers lock in straight position under frog . Spiccato can get out of control easily  How to approach bow for German & French o Thumb and finger placement – bent thumb and curved fingers are essential in both bowholds! . French  Thumb on second facet of stick  Tip of pinkie flat on the frog  Index finger curves around stick to support tip  Hand slightly pronated – not as much as on the violin bow . German  Thumb curves over stick (there is some significant variation in German bow thumb placement)  The thumb is primarily responsible for holding the bow on the string.  Tips of 1st & 2nd fingers touch tongue of frog and support stick  Tip of pinkie touches ferrule and controls tilt  3rd finger can group with pinkie or be left to float freely depending on hand and frog shape and size (German frog sizes can be highly variable)  Fingers should never curl up inside the frog!  Controlling the bow on the string o Bow motion should come from shoulder o Wrist should remain flexible to keep the bow straight o Elbow should remain straight, but relaxed – ‘Soft Elbow’ o Beware the “Chicken Wing”  Bow speed & weight for tone production o Lower notes require slower speed o Low strings can require significant weight coupled with very slow bow o Most students use too much bow o Grab and release is very important for making thick strings speak  How much rosin is enough rosin – especially with Pops? o Don’t overdo it! o Bow should have a solid grab on the string, but it should not get stuck or require excessive force to produce the initial sound o Over rosining frequently results in a thin sound due to the fact that students have to use too much bow speed to overcome the stickiness of the rosin

 Setting up the left hand o Shape the hand like a letter C or as if holding a soda can o Fingers are curved and the fingertip presses down the string o Tip of the thumb should go at the top of the curve on the back of the neck o ½ steps go between 1st & 2nd fingers and 2nd & 4th fingers – uneven spacing of fingers o Elbow should be up just enough to keep wrist straight – not too high, not too low. o Hover fingers when not in use  Common intonation tendencies and fixes o Fingers are on tapes, but instrument sounds flat – string is not in solid contact with fingerboard . If standing, fix by leaning bass forward a little more; if sitting, pull from the large back muscles instead of from the thumb to generate enough force to push the string down . Make sure that the left hand fingers are curved over the string and on their tips. Flat fingers are often a cause of poor fingerboard contact . For 4th finger notes, release the weight from the 1st & 2nd finger and roll the hand slightly toward the 4th finger. o 2nd finger is not spread far enough from 1st finger o Low G is almost always flat – usually due to either not having solid contact or failing to account for instrument tilt when moving across the strings  Techniques for fast and accurate shifting o Release the thumb before shifting o Slide fingers along string – make sure the finger you need to land on is on the needed string before starting the shift if possible. o Move thumb with hand o If standing, make sure bass is in balanced position and slightly forward o Start beginners in 2nd position!!! – make them use 4th finger for G in all of the early book songs o Finger replacement exercises  Common posture mistakes o When standing – students let the bass lean back on their thumbs instead of keeping it in a balanced position. o Squeezing too hard to press strings down o ‘Thumbs up’ on the left hand – especially right after a shift o Palm of left hand contacts side of neck – ‘Dead Spider’ o Thumb wraps around neck and student makes a fist around the neck to play notes – especially common on low notes o Fingers bunch up instead of staying spread out – especially common after a down- pitch shift o Dropped elbow – ‘Stinky Armpit Syndrome’  Vibrato o Must have solid hand position already established o Slow & wide o 4th finger . Release 1st & 2nd fingers . Move 3rd finger together with 4th finger . Move thumb behind 3rd & 4th fingers . Slow & wide . Must be ready to reset hand position when finished  Tuning with harmonics o Fast light bow o Start with in tune string o Let the notes ring out together and adjust tuning while you can hear them both o Press ear against side of neck to hear better  Pivot position o Thumb placement in crook of neck o Use thumb as physical marker for note locations  Thumb position o Try not to slouch over the bass o When standing, step back from instrument and let it lean on your shoulder o Left elbow should come slightly up so that the arm clears the upper bout o Do not let the arm rest on the upper bout o First finger knuckle will commonly collapse – this is alright o Keep 2nd & 3rd fingers curved  Favorite supplemental materials for kids at various levels o Bug Soup – Seth Gamba . Duets for beginner through intermediate players o Vulcan’s Forge – Seth Gamba . Trios for intermediate players o Yorke Studies for Double Bass vol. 1 – 1st & ½ position . Start in 1st position section (middle of the book) o Progressive Repertoire for Double Bass – George Vance . Skip over thumb position material until later, a more advanced student can even do a lot of the pieces in book 2 before really needing to learn any of the thumb position pieces in book 1 o Amazing Solos for Double Bass – Schofield o Solos for the Double Bass Player – Zimmerman o  Other Stuff o No bows in F holes o Packing and unpacking o Getting instrument into a car o Carrying the bass up stairs o YouTube Videos . Search for Seth Gamba to find lots of bass-lesson videos on YouTube . Subscribe to my channel! . Leave a comment with requests for videos on specific topics