The recurring 16th note lick in the first movement has become a subject of discussion in my section. Start up bow or down bow?
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Double Bass Schumann 4
- Thread starter salcott
- Start date
Well, the wise guy/obvious answer is just do whatever the section leader does, then go home and enjoy the rest of the evening....
I'd be inclined to bow it starting on down bow, then up-bow staccato the next two notes, then play the second beat of the lick separately starting on the resulting down bow. Then again, I'm not leading the section....
With the sf on the downbeat, I'd be inclined to start downbow. I like the suggestion to get the next two notes in a single upbow.
I’m not familiar with this piece, but depending on the tempo it might be too fast for a hooked bowing (or at least, too fast to differentiate a hook from a slur).
I’m also not at my bass right now, but I might actually prefer starting up-bow: when starting up, yes the sforzando will be a little further out in the bow than would be most comfortable, but if you’re playing the slurred notes on adjacent strings and not on one string the point of contact will be mostly the same between the slurred notes and the separate notes when starting up because with that string crossing starting up you lose less bow than if you start down. If you start down, the separate notes after the slur will be further out in the bow than the slurred notes, so you’d end up having to compromise either the slur (by playing the sforzando too close to the frog EDIT: the reason this could be a problem is that playing the sf too close to the frog might put too much juice on the sf and make it too harsh, which would probably be stylistically inappropriate) or the separate notes (too far out in the bow).
Taking a look at the part, I think in most situations starting up (compared to starting down and playing the separate notes as they come or hooking the first two separate notes) will work better with the material leading into or following this lick, especially in mm. 246 and 248 or the end of the movement where the separate notes are 1/32 notes instead of 1/16 notes.
I’m also not at my bass right now, but I might actually prefer starting up-bow: when starting up, yes the sforzando will be a little further out in the bow than would be most comfortable, but if you’re playing the slurred notes on adjacent strings and not on one string the point of contact will be mostly the same between the slurred notes and the separate notes when starting up because with that string crossing starting up you lose less bow than if you start down. If you start down, the separate notes after the slur will be further out in the bow than the slurred notes, so you’d end up having to compromise either the slur (by playing the sforzando too close to the frog EDIT: the reason this could be a problem is that playing the sf too close to the frog might put too much juice on the sf and make it too harsh, which would probably be stylistically inappropriate) or the separate notes (too far out in the bow).
Taking a look at the part, I think in most situations starting up (compared to starting down and playing the separate notes as they come or hooking the first two separate notes) will work better with the material leading into or following this lick, especially in mm. 246 and 248 or the end of the movement where the separate notes are 1/32 notes instead of 1/16 notes.
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