We unite the double bass community by elevating events, fostering discussion, sharing knowledge, and supporting double bass creators.
Contrabass Conversations, produced by the team at Double Bass HQ, is a weekly double bass show hosted by Jason Heath that can be found at www.contrabassconversations.com.
Contrabass Conversations features double bass interviews, performances, news, and resources for bassists worldwide and has been in production since 2007.
Thank you for the great video. Do you know of a stand that you can play with the bass sitting in the stand? I am a beginner with some physical limitations, and this would solve a lot of problems if something like this exists.
This is very helpful. I'm a cellist wanting to learn bass, and I just got my bass yesterday. I have both French and German bows to try. I have severe nerve pain in my right arm when playing cello. Interestingly, I didn't experience this when playing with either style bass bow the last 2 days. However, because of my history of nerve/wrist pain when playing cello, is one bow or the other generally considered more ergonomic?
… You are complaining all the time about not having anything to hum back home and here I am following the video waiting for You to play the etude (almost sonata) in ninth position… and You skipped it… You B… ! I enjoyed the apex of my bass learning playing that tune ! ... I still hum it today : D
Hello thanks to share I try to switch bass guitare to double bass. I can see it’s not easy. I love so much double bass. Because Jazz is my favorite style of music. I imagine lot of Time is necessary for practice correctly. In septembre I go to music school for a teacher. Thank you so much for your RU-vid vidéo Phil
Hey, casual nerdy Fender Connoisseur here, a 1952 Fender PBass would be a slab body so not quite what you have. Essentially a '52 would be a fat telecaster lol. The one you have is very likely a 57-59 just from the Gold guard/Sunburst/Maple board combo alone. I'd definitely get it checked out to see the true year, it's a killer bass for sure!
Great video! I noticed that during the two octave scales you played a natural harmonic on the high Gs. Do upright players typically go for the "12th fret harmonic" rather than fingering it normally?
The spider exercise was executed as a double bassist would play it. On the electric bass we use this exercise one fret per finger to maintain a decent reach and gain little finger independence while keeping our fingers from flying. It is essential if you wish to have good technique on the instrument.
This is exactly what I am looking for. I took a few lessons in music school but it has been several years and I am coming back to Double bass. Thank you for this content!
I started on double bass then added electric bass later, and just applied what I knew from upright without ever having any lessons on electric. Everything feels easier, there's less effort and energy expenditure so you can play and concentrate for longer if needed (and it's easier to carry around, with less risk of damage!)
Cool electric basses! I bet you'll get a bunch of nerd comments on them, like this -. That P-Bass isn't 1952, more like 1957-59. The Dan Armstrong is heavy as heck but be aware it has a unique pickup design, vertically stacked coils; the "tone control" actually is a blend control for the 2 coils. Two very nice old basses.
I self transitioned to upright bass, thanks to a few very good online teachers 😉 I marked positions of 3rd 5th and 7th 'frets'. I recently bought a french bow. I'm glad I'm good enough to play in a music school jazz band (I'm 52 by the way 😊).
What affordable bow do you recommend? By affordable, I mean a bow that costs less than a car payment or a house payment. I know bow making is a true skill, but I am not a professional musician. I am just a long time musician learning a new skill. Also, French or German? I have played violin, so I am comfortable holding a violin bow. Is German bow easier for bass?
My thinking is that the placement is a huge chunk of why Nadine sounds so good. I have an inexpensive Audix F90 condenser in roughly the same place, and it sounds great thru an amp. Yeah you need to EQ for the room, but with a sensitive mic so close to a resonant chamber such as an upright bass that is unavoidable.
Fantastic video as always! very informative and triggering questions and experiments in everyone, which is the most important thing! bravo! now I just want to try to play standing with the ergo bass, hahahahahaha!
That low C in Heldenleben was thunderous. Almost sounded like a heavy metal bass guitar type tone. Amazing playing; thanks for sharing this and discussing these excerpts.
