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I gots me a Double Bass


AdamWoodBass
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Hey guys,

So I got given an upright, really nice looking thing and feels nice and sturdy... thats about all I know about it! Thing is I've been wanting to learn upright for about 10 years but never had the cash to justify buying one and out of the blue I get given one! Any recommendations for technique? Do you know of any instructional vids that are worth watching or should I just go find a teacher?

Cheers

Adam

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All Id say is,
most of the lessons I've has from GOOD DB players has been...simply
"have you forgotten those open strings!!!??? what notes are they??!!!
and" how you can get around quicker if you use em????"
"open strings are your friends....." ect ect
coming from an electric bass background it make so much sense, I'm babbling but to the novice on DB(like me)
oh dont forget to gaffer your fingerdinks if you're" rockabilly rockin"
ouch!! :)

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[quote name='witterth' post='660731' date='Nov 21 2009, 02:03 AM']oh dont forget to gaffer your fingerdinks if you're" rockabilly rockin"
ouch!! :)[/quote]

Can't say as I'd go along with that, you really need to toughen your fingers not protect them. Slap technique is my friend: believe it or not a good slap style can be less physical effort than 'conventional' pizz (quotes because all the early jazz/ragtime/blues players would have slapped to get heard, it's the use of amps that enabled bassists to move away from that technique, it ain't rockabilly at all), and it can be a way of giving your hand a rest, transferring much of the work to the arm.

Depending on the gig I'll slap probably 50-80% of the time: I never tape and I don't get blisters. My fingers are tough, but not coarse leathery pads. I often get people wanting to see my fingers and expressing surprise that they're not more calloused - there's more technique involved than brute force and a grin-and-bear-it attitude. Blimey, if it hurt I wouldn't do it!

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[quote name='derrenleepoole' post='662138' date='Nov 22 2009, 09:22 PM']Noticed you're in Saint Helen's which ain't too far from Blackburn, where in resides the fabulous upright player and teacher Steve Berry (Loose Tubes). Steve is a monster player and his lessons are really indepth and practical. I can give you a contact number if required.[/quote]

+1 for Steve. He's a very approachable bloke, met him in the 90's and what a bass player.... and what a monster of a DB, if he still has it, the best sounding DB I've ever heard.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey guys, so I've sorted my self out with some lessons with a guy called Dave Spencer (Liverpool based player). He's a great player and a good mate, gonna do a trade off with him where I teach him electric and he teaches me upright! I think I've pretty much got my pizz technique down, just need to work a bit more on my intonation but we're getting there! Haven't started learning arco yet but it is very much so on the to do list. Hopefully I'll be confident enough to do a gig on it soon.

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Geoff me old mucker! Hows sunny Manc? I thought it was high time I got into upright playing as there seems to be quite a bit of work out there. It's a real pain though learning what is essentially a new instrument! I keep listening to Avishai Cohen and thinking "I wish I could play that!" :)

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