My father used to always say "The more you know, the more you know you don't know" Thanks for once again enlightening me to how little I know! I used to think I knew what I needed to know about how to shift. Silly me! Thanks once again for your wonderful series.
Hi, Steve - thanks so much for this wonderful comment, and thanks for watching. You're so welcome. Yes, I know what you mean. I figured out what I didn't know just by putting this series together. It's hard when you realize that I don't even know what questions to ask. Hope you're well. DW
OMG! Virtually the best thought out and organized video on shifting out there!! I am not double bass player but because you presented various types of shifting in a such clear way, I find the content of this video super applicable to all bowed string instruments.
Thank you as always, Wiggly. I have one stand for the bass I'm not playing, given to me by Dr. Kate Jones. I actually would love a second one. I leave the second bass on it's side on the floor next to the other one. That way I can just pick it up and play any time I want.
Just stumbled on your page. Wow. What a fantastically detailed series of videos. I have respect for all the bass pedagogy on RU-vid, but this all feels like a new level of depth.
That is awesome, thank you so much! I noticed you highlighted how masters like Gary Karr and Edgar Meyer, who use a very upright standing stance, use their forearm to stabilize the instrument when they go in thumb position. Could you expand on that, and more generally on different standing stances? I've played standing having my bass leaning on slightly on me for a few years, but lately, because of back pain, I have been working towards reducing the load on my spine, and I found that Gary Karr's (and Michael Klinghoffer's) approach definitely helps towards that goal, but I found hard to keep the bass stable, especially when I explore the higher register. Thanks in advance, your channel is a gem!!
Thank you for this, Joe. It sounds like you're going through a fun rediscovery of position. Sorry about the back pain - I hope that resolves. Every time I tweak my position, I have to give myself about 3 weeks before I judge it as useful or useless. Because it takes that long for my body to adjust and learn what's going on. When I stand, I play with the Laborie endpin, and if you're exploring options, I'd definitely put that in with your other choices. In the shifting video, and in the upcoming "vomits" episodes, I did that from a sitting position with a Laborie endpin. I like the way it throws the balance of the bass forward. The sitting position stabilizes the bass nicely, but it forces me to bring my body to the bass, so I use my back a lot leaning forward and backward. When I stand, I'm able to bring the bass to my body by changing my hip position, which is much more comfortable on my back in the long run. I use my shoulder a lot to stabilize the bass when I do my shifting. In the video, I highlighted Gary's elbow to demonstrate how the elbow needs to behave in descending shifts - how it stays neutral around the saddle position. This is different from Edgar's technique, where he uses his forearm on the bass to "pinch" the bass between his arm and his fingers. That's how he stabilizes the bass in the saddle position. Gary doesn't do that. Once both of them get in thumb position, their arms are around the bass. It's the transition zone that's problematic. I hope this helps and gives you some ideas. Let me know if that makes sense. Best of luck in your explorations, and be patient. Be well, and thank you!
Hey Sam - They both have different sounds, so they can both be used in different contexts. I mostly use the "new" finger shift - it's just what I use in most situations. It's more neutral to my ear, and is generally more secure under my hand. Depending on how you use the bow, the old finger shift can be very "slidy". I recommend trying them both out and using the sound that you prefer for each situation. Good luck!
