Double Bass 5-String Method Book or Next Best Thing

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sing-modulator

Nov 23, 2014
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#1
Is there a double bass method or rep book that is meant for a bass with a low B string? If not, is there a good cello rep or method book that's usable? I searched talkbass already but didn't find any satisfactory answers..
 
#7
Another way. Replace your E with a low C and lower your A to G. The low G is easy if you just thing of your upper G down an octave. Practice your low C to F# and off you go.
Tom Gale
 
#8
Tom, I would guess that the OP is a novice upright player who has acquired a five-string bass and just wants to learn how to play it properly. I don't see in his post that he wants to learn alternate tunings or anything like that, I may be wrong, of course!:)
 
#9
Not a novice, but still not all that interested in alternate tunings right now. I'm asking about the method book mostly because it would be good to have a structured approach to incorporating the large-interval string crossings that can be done with a 5th string, as well as any scale work.
 
#10
robobass said:
Tom, I would guess that the OP is a novice upright player who has acquired a five-string bass and just wants to learn how to play it properly. I don't see in his post that he wants to learn alternate tunings or anything like that, I may be wrong, of course!:)
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But Tom's just one string away from covertly converting everyone to 5ths... what's the harm in that?

As far as books for 5 strings go, I have the Edouard Nanny Méthode Complète pour la Contrebasse à quatre et cinq cordes (Complete Method for the four and five stringed Double bass) which does introduce the 5th string and also has a section in the back of the book that works on adding it in to study type material. Nanny was an advocate of tuning the bottom string as a C instead of a B (which was very common at the time, although I think most 5 string players now have moved to a B instead) in case that changes things for you.

Billè has a lot of books. The Nuovo Metodo part 1 is likely what was being suggested above, and you can continue from there into his other books. If you identify as "not a novice" then 18 Studi in Tutti i Toni per Contrabbasso D'Orchestra a 4 e 5 Corde (18 Studies in all keys for 4 and 5 stringed Double-bass) might be up your alley. From what I can tell, Billè also uses the bottom string tuned to a C, so again the fingerings suggested might not be helpful if you are using a low B.

Otherwise, working on scales and arpeggios that use the bottom string, up about as far as an F-G to facilitate situations where that might be beneficial for fingering purposes is a great idea, and probably just as helpful when you are trying to get more comfortable with the bottom string. You can also look for and work on orchestral excerpts that use the low notes. Shostakovich 5 comes to mind as there is some really quick stuff down there that is difficult because a low B/C has a tendency to be slow to speak.

As you grow a little more comfortable with it, you will likely find yourself gratuitously moving a lot of Eb's D's, and anything else you can down there for a while, and potentially have a few people roll their eyes at you down the section. Don't worry, if they have an extension/5 string/5ths, they went through a similar "this is AWESOME!" stage, and if they don't, they will some day. You just missed a great opportunity for a low B during Messiah season for example.
 
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#11
MikeCanada said:
As you grow a little more comfortable with it, you will likely find yourself gratuitously moving a lot of Eb's D's, and anything else you can down there for a while, and potentially have a few people roll their eyes at you down the section.
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I would say that there are a whole lot of notes that can be moved "down there" for totally musical reasons, even if its not the habit of the section to do it:)
 
#13
I whole heartedly agree that there are a lot of notes that can be moved down there tastefully that are not written that way. There are some composers and some editors that do not write anything below an E in bass parts even though the same line in the cello does not jump up the octave, and there are others where you can reasonably assume they would have used it if it was available to them.

As far as the Messiah goes, that part comes to mind but I seem to remember there are a few more sprinkled in here and there. I tune my C down to a B for the whole thing, and probably use it a little too frequently when I decide to do that. The last time I tuned down the conductor assumed it was the organist, but considering they were quite conservatively pulling stops, I take credit for rumble.
 
#14
MikeCanada said:
I whole heartedly agree that there are a lot of notes that can be moved down there tastefully that are not written that way. There are some composers and some editors that do not write anything below an E in bass parts even though the same line in the cello does not jump up the octave, and there are others where you can reasonably assume they would have used it if it was available to them.

As far as the Messiah goes, that part comes to mind but I seem to remember there are a few more sprinkled in here and there. I tune my C down to a B for the whole thing, and probably use it a little too frequently when I decide to do that. The last time I tuned down the conductor assumed it was the organist, but considering they were quite conservatively pulling stops, I take credit for rumble.[/QUOTE


Other than the "normal" E,A,D,G tuning, I've found the C,G,D,G tuning to be very useful and easy to learn.
Tom Gale
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#16
MikeCanada said:
You're so close Tom! Put an A on top and your journey to the dark side will be complete.
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Nah. I like the 2 Gs. You are already used to the D and G and the now lower G is easy if you think of the fingering just an octave down. On the new low C, the notes are usually pretty slow moving and easy to learn.
Tom Gale
 
#17
An argument that is often made for switching to 5ths is that you are already familiar with three of the 4 strings, (all 4 I guess if you have played with a high c before) and you are just putting them in a different place. The C# on a low A string in 4ths is still in the same place as it is on the high A string in 5ths for example. With that said, there definitely are "I should know where the notes are but my brain hurts and I really have no idea right now" moments when you first make the switch, but the learning curve wasn't as daunting as I expected it to be. Or maybe I'm just looking back with rose tinted glasses.

I will occasionally tune my A string down to a G when I am teaching students in 4ths, but I find that being in a different tuning is often beneficial because they can't rely solely on their eyes and copy what my hand is doing if we are playing together. It makes the bass ring a little more on the open C, not quite as much as the low D does when both the open D and high A are sympathetically vibrating. I could see it being beneficial for the harmonics encountered in orchestral music that are often on the high G string, and if you are coming from 4ths it gives you two familiar strings instead of just one. I don't know how it would work for solo tuning/repertoire unless you moved the whole bass up a tone to have D, A, E, A, but that isn't a regular concern for most of us.
 
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