With German bow hold over the treble side of the bass. If you hold it over the bass side for sure you will whack the bridge now and then, causing heart attacks in the cello section. Hold the frog with your pinky, ring finger on stick leaving two fingers and thumb available for classical pizz.
Great video. I never thought about my thumb when I pizz, but I definitely do exactly what you said for both styles. I play German bow. I'm not sure if how I hold it while pizzicatoing is "correct". I balance the stick in between my ring and middle finger. It makes it much easier to play fast pizzicato and switch from pizz to Arco. If I have to do a very fast, or frequent switch, I keep my account hold and extend my 1st finger for the pizz. Thanks for making this video!
Hey great! Thanks for pointing this out. I came to double bass late in life (two years ago actually) after playing electric exclusively finger style off and on for decades. As primarily a jazz bassist, I never played upright in an orchestral setting. I attended a pop/classical performance by our local symphony this weekend, and watched very closely at what the bass section was doing. I was confused by their more violin sounding pizz than Ron Carter's. Now I know what's going on, and what else to learn! Very timely post for me. Thx agn.
About holding the German bow while pizzicato-ing -- why don't you try just letting the bow frog hand from your little finger, like a sort of hook? I used to use both 3rd and 4th fingers to hold the bow, but eventually I found that the pinkie alone does just fine!!! Then you can use TWO fingers for fast pizzes!
Great! In your opinion much the bow technique influences the pizzicato? I have seen a video of Jon Clayton explaining jazz scales with the bow that was really interesting.
Great video Jason! I play mainly jazz and have always wondered about the different approach classical bassists use when playing pizz and hearing it talked about and compared in context has given me a whole new view of the orchestral technique of playing pizzicato! :)
As a listener, I have honestly never liked the dry sound of typical orchestral pizz. I figured violins just weren’t capable of any kind of real resonance but it’s discouraging if the basses are intentionally told to make their pizz sound dead too!
