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Seth Gamba Elkins Pointe Middle School Orchestra, Fulton County

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Seth Gamba Elkins Pointe Middle School Orchestra, Fulton County 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 .
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