NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Double bass

The double bass (also known as the contrabass, string bass, upright bass, or bass) is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument used in the modern symphony orchestra. It is a standard member of the string section of the symphony orchestra ^[1] and smaller string ensembles ^[2] in Western classical music. In addition, it is used in other genres such as jazz, 1950s-style blues and rock and roll, rockabilly/psychobilly, bluegrass, and tango. In music, the range of a musical instrument is the distance from the lowest to the highest pitch it can play. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (946x490, 3 KB) Range & tuning of a contrabass, self made with Sibelius3 & The Gimp File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Double bass ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making music. ... The Violin family of instruments was developed in Italy in the 17th Century. ... For the Anne Rice novel, see Violin (novel). ... For other uses, see Viola (disambiguation). ... This article is about the stringed musical instrument. ... Various sizes of viol, from Michael Praetorius Syntagma musicum (1618) Early Italian tenor viola da gamba, detail from the painting , by Raphael Sanzio, c. ... A sunburst-colored Fender Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass[1][2]; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ... A cello bow In music, a bow is a device pulled across the strings of a string instrument in order to make them vibrate and emit sound. ... A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ... For other uses, see Orchestra (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Orchestra (disambiguation). ... A musical ensemble is a group of two or more musicians who perform instrumental or vocal music. ... Classical music is a broad, somewhat imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, European art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 to the present day. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... Blues music redirects here. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, and emerged in the early-1950s. ... Psychobilly is a genre of rock music that mixes elements of punk rock, rockabilly, and other genres. ... Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music. ... Tango is a style of music that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay. ...

Double basses are constructed from several types of wood, including maple for the back, spruce for the top, and ebony for the fingerboard. It is uncertain whether the instrument is a descendant of the viola da gamba or from the violin, but it is traditionally considered to be a member of the violin family. While the double bass has features which are similar to those found on other violin family instruments, it also has features which may be derived from the viols. Various sizes of viol, from Michael Praetorius Syntagma musicum (1618) Early Italian tenor viola da gamba, detail from the painting , by Raphael Sanzio, c. ...

Like many other string instruments, the double bass is played either with a bow (arco) or by plucking the strings (pizzicato). In orchestral repertoire and tango music, both bowing and plucking styles are used. In jazz music, the bass is mostly plucked, except for some solos which are performed with the bow. In most other genres, such as blues and rockabilly, the bass is plucked. A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ... Jazz bass is played almost exclusively in pizzicato. ...

History

The double bass is generally regarded as the modern descendant of the viola da gamba family of instruments, a family which originated in Europe in the 15th century, and as such it has been described as a "bass viol."^[3] Before the 20th century many double basses had only three strings, in contrast to the five to six strings typical of instruments in the viola da gamba family or the four strings of instruments in the violin family. Some existing instruments, such as those by Gasparo da Salò, were converted from sixteenth-century six-string contrabass violoni.^[4] Various Viola da gamba The viol or viola da gamba family of musical instruments is related to the vihuela, rebec, etc. ... Gasparo da SalÃ² is the name given to Gasparo di Bertolotti, one of the earliest violin-makers of which we have a historical record. ... The violone (literally large viol in Italian, -one being the augmentative suffix) is a musical instrument of the viol family. ...

The double bass's proportions are dissimilar to those of the violin and cello; for example, it is deeper (the distance from top to back is proportionally much greater than the violin). In addition, while the violin has bulging shoulders, most double basses have shoulders carved with a more acute slope, like members of the viola da gamba family. Many very old double basses have had their shoulders cut or sloped to aid playing with modern techniques. Before these modifications, the design of their shoulders was closer to instruments of the violin family. For the Anne Rice novel, see Violin (novel). ... This article is about the stringed musical instrument. ...

The double bass is the only modern bowed string instrument that is usually tuned in fourths (like viols), rather than fifths (see Tuning, below). The issue of the instrument's exact lineage is still a matter of some debate, and the supposition that the double bass is a direct descendant of the viola da gamba family is an issue that has not been entirely resolved.

In his A New History of the Double Bass, Paul Brun asserts, with many references, that the double bass has origins as the true bass of the violin family. He states that, while the exterior of the double bass may resemble the viola da gamba, the internal construction of the double bass is nearly identical to that of other instruments in the violin family, and is very different from the internal structure of viols.^[5] The Violin family of instruments was developed in Italy in the 17th Century. ...

Terminology

A person who plays this instrument is called a bassist, double bassist, double bass player, contrabassist, contrabass player, or simply bass player. The instrument's standard English name, double bass is derived from the tuning of one octave lower than the cello. It is not related to physical size. The name may derive from its alleged viol family heritage, in that it is tuned lower than the standard bass viola da gamba. The name also refers to the fact that the sounding pitch of the double bass is an octave below the bass clef.

Other terms for the instrument among classical performers are contrabass (which comes from the instrument's Italian name, contrabbasso), string bass, or simply bass. Jazz musicians often call it the upright bass to distinguish it from the electric bass guitar. Especially when used in folk and bluegrass music, the instrument can also be referred to as an upright bass, standup bass, bass fiddle, or bass violin (or more rarely as doghouse bass or bull fiddle). Other colourful nicknames are found in other languages; in Hungarian, for instance, the double bass is sometimes called nagy bőgő, which roughly translates as "big crier", referring to its large voice. For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... A sunburst-colored Fender Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass[1][2]; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ... Folk song redirects here. ... Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music. ...

Design

In general there are two major approaches to the design outline shape of the double bass, these being the violin form, and the viol da gamba form. A third less common design called the busetto shape (and very rarely the guitar or pear shape) can also be found. The back of the instrument can vary from being a round, carved back similar to that of the violin, or a flat and angled back similar to the viol family. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (302x610, 21 KB) Summary Photo by Matthew Wengerd. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (302x610, 21 KB) Summary Photo by Matthew Wengerd. ...

The double bass features many parts that are similar to members of the violin family including a bridge, f-holes, a tailpiece, a scroll and a sound post. Unlike the rest of the violin family, the double bass still reflects influence and can be considered partly derived from the viol family of instruments, in particular the violone, the bass member of the viol family. A cello with f-holes A guitar with a round hole A sound hole is a hole in the upper sounding board of a string musical instrument. ... The tailpiece is an element found in all musical instruments of the violin family. ... The scroll of a double bass A scroll is the decoratively carved end of the pegbox on certain stringed instruments, mainly members of the violin family. ... In a string instrument, the sound post is a small dowel inside the instrument directly under the treble end of the bridge, spanning the space between the top and back plates and held in place by friction. ... Various sizes of viol, from Michael Praetorius Syntagma musicum (1618) Early Italian tenor viola da gamba, detail from the painting , by Raphael Sanzio, c. ... The violone (literally large viol in Italian, -one being the augmentative suffix) is a musical instrument of the viol family. ...

The double bass also differs from members of the violin family in that the shoulders are (sometimes) sloped, the back is often angled (both to allow easier access to the instrument, particularly in the upper range), and machine tuners are always fitted. Lack of standardization in design means that one double bass can sound and look very different from another. To see some of the variations and construction approaches discussed above visit the websites quoted below. The machine heads on a Squier Stratocaster electric guitar. ...

Construction

The double bass is closest in construction to violins, but has some notable similarities to the violone (literally "large viol"), the largest and lowest member of the viola da gamba family. Unlike the violone, however, the fingerboard of the double bass is unfretted, and the double bass has fewer strings (the violone, like most viols, generally had six strings, although some specimens had five or four). Image File history File linksMetadata Bassdiagram. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Bassdiagram. ... The violone (literally large viol in Italian, -one being the augmentative suffix) is a musical instrument of the viol family. ... The neck of a guitar showing the first four frets. ...

An important distinction between the double bass and other members of the violin family is the construction of the pegbox. While the violin, viola, and cello all use friction pegs for gross tuning adjustments, the double bass has machine heads. This development makes fine tuners unnecessary. At the base of the double bass is a metal spike called the endpin, which rests on the floor. This endpin is generally more robust than that of a cello, because of the greater mass of the instrument. A pegbox is the part of certain stringed musical instruments (violin, viola, cello, double bass) that houses the tuning pegs. ... For the Anne Rice novel, see Violin (novel). ... For other uses, see Viola (disambiguation). ... This article is about the stringed musical instrument. ... Tuning Peg is a small peg that is used to hold a string for a stringed instrument. ... The machine heads on a Squier Stratocaster electric guitar. ... The endpin is the component of a cello or double bass that makes contact with the floor. ...

The soundpost and bass bar are components of the internal construction. The materials most often used are maple (back, neck, ribs), spruce (top), and ebony (fingerboard, tailpiece). The exception to this are less-expensive basses which have laminated (plywood) tops, backs, and ribs. These basses are resistant to changes in heat and humidity, which can cause cracks in spruce tops. Composite material basses, which are used in music schools, are very resistant to humidity and heat, as well to the physical abuse they are apt to encounter in such an environment. Laminate flooring Laminated core transformer A laminate is a material constructed by uniting two or more layers of material together. ... Towers of Hanoi constructed from plywood. ...

All parts are glued together except the soundpost, bridge and tailpiece, which are held in place by string tension. The tuning machines are attached to the sides of the pegbox with wood screws. The key on the tuning machine turns a worm, driving a worm gear that winds the string. Worm and worm gear A worm gear, or worm wheel, is a type of gear that engages with a worm to greatly reduce rotational speed, or to allow higher torque to be transmitted. ... Worm and worm gear A worm gear, or worm wheel, is a type of gear that engages with a worm to greatly reduce rotational speed, or to allow higher torque to be transmitted. ...

Strings

Prior to the mid-20th century, double bass strings were usually made of gut, but since that time, steel strings have largely replaced gut strings, because steel strings hold their pitch better and yield more volume when played with the bow.^[6] Gut strings are also more vulnerable to changes of humidity and temperature, and they break much more easily than steel strings. Gut strings are nowadays mostly used by bassists who perform in baroque ensembles, rockabilly bands, traditional blues bands, and bluegrass bands^{[citation needed]}. Gut strings, because they produce a "thumpy," darker tone when they are played pizzicato, better approximate the sound heard on 1940s and 1950s recordings^{[citation needed]}. Rockabilly and bluegrass bassists also prefer gut because it is much easier to perform the "slapping" upright bass style (in which the strings are percussively slapped and clicked against the fingerboard) with gut strings than with steel strings. (For more information on slapping, see the sections below on Modern playing styles, Double bass in bluegrass music, Double bass in jazz, and Double bass in popular music). Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 450 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (1224 Ã— 1632 pixel, file size: 219 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 450 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (1224 Ã— 1632 pixel, file size: 219 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Catgut is the name applied to cord of great toughness and tenacity prepared from the intestines of sheep/goat, or occasionally from those of the hog, horse, mule, pig, and donkey. ... Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750. ... Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, and emerged in the early-1950s. ... Blues music redirects here. ... Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music. ...

The change from gut to steel has also affected the instrument's playing technique over the last hundred years, because playing with steel strings allows the strings to be set up closer to the fingerboard, and, additionally, steel strings can be played in higher positions on the lower strings and still produce clear tone. The classic 19th century Franz Simandl method does not utilize the low E string in higher positions because with older gut strings set up high over the fingerboard, the tone was not clear in these higher positions. However, with modern steel strings, bassists can play with clear tone in higher positions on the low E and A strings, particularly when modern lighter-gauge, lower-tension steel strings (e.g., Corelli/Savarez strings) are used. Franz Simandl (1840 - 1912) was a double-bassist and pedagogue who is remembered most for his New Method for the Double Bass, 30 Studies, and more advanced collection of studies, Gradus ad Parnassum. ...

Bows

The double bass bow comes in two distinct forms. The "French" or "overhand" bow is similar in shape and implementation to the bow used on the other members of the orchestral string instrument family, while the "German" or "Butler" bow is typically broader and shorter, and is held in a very natural hand shake position. A cello bow In music, a bow is a device pulled across the strings of a string instrument in order to make them vibrate and emit sound. ...

These two bows provide for different ways of moving the arm and distributing force on the strings. The French bow, because of the angle the hand holds the bow, is touted to be more maneuverable. The German bow is claimed to allow the player to apply more arm weight on the strings. The differences between the two, however, are minute for a proficient player trained in using his/her respective bow. Both bows are used by modern players, and the choice between the two is a matter of personal preference.

German bow

The German bow (sometimes called Dragonetti bow) is the older of the two designs. The bowing style was handed down from when the bows of all stringed instruments had to be held in that fashion (middle two fingers between the stick and the hair) to maintain tension of the hair before screw threads were used. Proponents of the use of German bow claim that the German bow is easier to use for such bow strokes as staccato, spiccato, and detaché^{[citation needed]}.

The German bow has a taller frog, and is held with the palm angled upwards, as used for the upright members of the viol family. When held in correct manner, the thumb rests on the side of the stick. The index finger balances the bow at the point where the frog meets the stick. The index finger is also used to apply an upward torque to the frog when tilting the bow. The little finger supports the frog from underneath, while the ring finger and middle finger are used to apply the force to move the bow across the strings. Image File history File linksMetadata German_bow2. ... Image File history File linksMetadata German_bow2. ... Domenico Dragonetti with his Gasparo da SalÃ² double bass. ... A cello bow In music, a bow is a device pulled across the strings of a string instrument in order to make them vibrate and emit sound. ... Various sizes of viol, from Michael Praetorius Syntagma musicum (1618) Early Italian tenor viola da gamba, detail from the painting , by Raphael Sanzio, c. ...

French bow

The French bow was not widely popular until its adoption by 19th-century virtuoso Giovanni Bottesini. This style is more similar to the traditional bows of the smaller string family instruments. It is held as if the hand is resting comfortably by the side of the performer with the palm facing toward the bass. The thumb rests on the shaft of the bow, next to the frog while the other fingers drape on the other side of the bow. Various styles dictate the curve of the fingers and thumb, as do the style of piece- a more pronounced curve and lighter hold on the bow is used for virtuosic or more delicate pieces, while a flatter curve and sturdier grip on the bow provides more power for rich orchestral passages. Image File history File linksMetadata French_bow2. ... Image File history File linksMetadata French_bow2. ... Giovanni Bottesini. ...

Bow construction and materials

Pernambuco is regarded by many players as the best stick material, but due to its scarcity and expense, other materials are used in less expensive bows nowadays. Less expensive student bows may be constructed of solid fiberglass, or of less valuable varieties of brazilwood. Brazilwood is a common name for several trees of the family Leguminosae (Pulse family) whose wood yields a red dye called brazilein. ... Bundle of fiberglass Fiberglass (also called fibreglass and glass fibre) is material made from extremely fine fibers of glass. ...

Snakewood and carbon fiber are also used in bows of a variety of different qualities. The frog of the double bass bow is usually made out of ebony, although Snakewood and buffalo horn are used by some luthiers. The wire wrapping is gold or silver in many quality bows, and the hair is usually horsehair. Some of the lowest-quality student bows feature synthetic fiberglass "hair". Double bass bows vary in length, but average around 24" (60 cm). Binomial name Acacia xiphophylla E.Pritz. ... Graphite-reinforced plastic or carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP or CRP), is a strong, light and very expensive composite material or fibre reinforced plastic. ... For other uses, see Ebony (disambiguation). ... Tribes Bovini Boselaphini Strepsicerotini The biological subfamily Bovinae (or bovines) includes a diverse group of about 24 species of medium-sized to large ungulates, including domestic cattle, Bison, the Water Buffalo, the Yak, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. ... GOLD refers to one of the following: GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade). ... This article is about the chemical element. ... Horsehair refers to hair taken from the mane or tail of horses. ...

The double bass bow is strung with either white or black horsehair, or a combination of the two (known as "salt and pepper"), as opposed to the customary white horsehair used on the bows of other string instruments. The slightly rougher black hair is believed by some to "grab" the heavier strings better; similarly, some bassists and luthiers believe that it is easier to produce a smoother sound with the white variety. Red hair is also used by some bassists.^{[citation needed]}

Rosin

String players apply rosin to the hair of their bow so that the hair will "grip" the string and make it vibrate. Double bass rosin is generally softer and stickier than violin rosin to allow the hair to grab the thicker strings better, but players use a wide variety of rosins that vary from quite hard (like violin rosin) to quite soft, depending on the weather, the humidity, and the preference of the player. The amount used generally depends on the type of music being performed as well as the personal preferences of the player. Bassists may apply more rosin in works for large orchestra (e.g., Brahms symphonies) than for delicate chamber works.^{[citation needed]} Some brands of rosin, such as Pop's double bass rosin, are softer and more prone to melting in hot weather. Other brands, such as Carlsson or Nyman Harts double bass rosin, are harder and less prone to melting.^{[citation needed]} A 20 g cake of amber violin bow rosin. ...

Pitch

The lowest note of a double bass is an E1 (on standard four-string basses) at approximately 41 Hz or a B0 (when five strings are used) at approximately 31 Hz. This is slightly above the lowest sound the average human ear can perceive as a distinctive pitch, at 20 Hz. The highest notes are almost down at the bridge. Five string instruments either use the additional string tuned to a low B below the E string, or to a C above the G string. Image File history File links Bass_clef. ... Image File history File links Bass_clef. ...

In many double bass concertos harmonic tones are used. The use of natural harmonics (a technique often used by Giovanni Bottesini) and sometimes even artificial harmonics, where the thumb stops the note and the octave or other harmonic is activated by lightly touching the string at the relative node point, extend the double bass' range considerably. In acoustics and telecommunication, the harmonic of a wave is a component frequency of the signal that is an integral multiple of the fundamental frequency. ... Giovanni Bottesini. ...

The double bass parts from most orchestral music rarely exceed three octaves. However, a virtuoso solo player could cover five or six octaves in solo bass repertoire, using natural and artificial harmonics.

Since the range of the double bass lies largely below the standard bass clef, it is notated an octave higher (hence sounding an octave lower than written). This transposition applies even when reading the tenor and treble clef, which are used to avoid excessive ledger lines when notating the instrument's upper range. A clef (French for key) is a symbol used in musical notation that assigns notes to lines and spaces on the musical staff. ... A clef (French for key) is a symbol used in musical notation that assigns notes to lines and spaces on the musical staff. ... A clef (French for key) is a symbol used in musical notation that assigns notes to lines and spaces on the musical staff. ...

Tuning

The double bass is generally tuned in fourths, in contrast to the other members of the orchestral string family, which are tuned in fifths. This avoids too long a finger stretch (known as an "extension"). Modern double basses are usually tuned (low to high) E-A-D-G such that the open highest string, G, is a perfect eleventh (a perfect octave and a perfect fourth) below middle C. The Violin family of instruments was developed in Italy in the 17th Century. ...

A variety of tunings and numbers of strings were used on a variety of confusingly-named instruments through the sixteenth to the early twentieth centuries, by which time the four-stringed tuning mentioned above became almost universal.

Much of the classical repertoire has notes that fall below the range of a standard double bass. Notes below low E appear regularly in double bass parts in the Baroque and Classical eras, when the double bass was typically doubling the cello part an octave below. In the Romantic era and the 20th-century, composers such as Mahler, Beethoven, and Prokofiev also requested notes below the low E. This article is about Western art music from 1000 AD to the present. ... Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750. ... The Classical period in Western music occurred from about 1750 to 1830, despite considerable overlap at both ends with preceding and following periods, as is true for all musical eras. ... The expression romantic music and the homophone phrase Romantic music have two essentially different meanings. ... Mahler refers to: Alma Maria Mahler-Werfel, or Alma Maria Schindler-Mahler Anna Mahler Arthur Mahler, Austrian archeologist Bruce Mahler, actor David Mahler, composer Eduard Mahler, Austrian astronomer; born in Hungary Gustav Mahler, Bohemian-Austrian composer and conductor Halfdan T. Mahler, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) from... Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptized December 17, 1770 – March 26, 1827) was a German composer of Classical music, the predominant musical figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras. ... Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Серге́й Серге́евич Проко́фьев) (April 271, 1891 – March 5, 1953) was one of the Soviet Unions greatest composers. ...

There are two common methods for making these notes available to the player. Major European orchestras generally use basses with a fifth string, tuned to B three octaves and a semitone below middle C.^[7] For the numerical computation software, see GNU Octave. ... A semitone (also known in the USA as a half step) is a musical interval. ... In Western music, the expression middle C refers to the note C or Do located exactly between the two staves of the grand staff, quoted as C4 in note-octave notation (also known as scientific pitch notation). ...

In the United States, Canada and United Kingdom, most professional orchestral players use four-string double basses with a "C extension" which extends the lowest string down as far as low C, an octave below the lowest note on the cello (more rarely, this string may be tuned to a low B). The extension is an extra section of fingerboard mounted up over the head of the bass. There are several varieties of extensions. In the simplest version, there are no mechanical aids attached to the fingerboard extension. To play the extension notes, the player reaches back over the pegs to press the string to the fingerboard. The simplest type of mechanical aid is the use of wooden "fingers" that can be closed to press the string down and fret the C#, D, Eb, or E notes. This system is particularly useful for basslines that have a repeating pedal point such as a low D, because once the note is locked in place with the mechanical "finger", the lowest string then sounds a different note when it is played "open" (e.g., a low D). Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1280x960, 560 KB) Summary An image showing a low C extension on a Double bass. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1280x960, 560 KB) Summary An image showing a low C extension on a Double bass. ... In tonal music, a pedal point (also pedal tone, organ point, or just pedal) is a sustained tone, typically in the bass, during which at least one foreign, i. ...

The most complicated mechanical aid for use with extensions are mechanical lever systems nicknamed "machines". These lever systems, which superficially resemble the mechanisms of reed instruments such as the bassoon, include levers mounted beside the regular fingerboard (near the nut, on the "E" string side) which remotely activate metal "fingers" on the extension fingerboard. The most expensive metal lever systems also give the player the ability to "lock" down notes on the extension fingerboard, as with the wooden "finger" system. One criticism of these devices is that they may lead to unwanted metallic clicking noises.

A small number of bass players tune their strings in fifths, like a cello but an octave lower (C-G-D-A low to high). This tuning was used by the jazz player Red Mitchell and is increasingly used by classical players, notably the Canadian bassist Joel Quarrington. Tuning in fifths can also make the instrument louder, because the strings have more common overtones, causing the strings to vibrate sympathetically.^[8] Fifths tuning is a non-standard tuning for the double bass, used primarily in classical and jazz music. ... Keith Moore Mitchell (September 20, 1927, New York City - November 8, 1992, Salem, Oregon), better known as Red Mitchell, was an American jazz bassist, composer, lyricist, and poet. ... Joel Quarrington (born January 15, 1955), is a Canadian double bass player and soloist. ... This article is about resonance in physics. ...

In classical solo playing the double bass is usually tuned a whole tone higher (F♯-B-E-A). This higher tuning is called "solo tuning," whereas the regular tuning is known as "orchestral tuning." String tension differs so much between solo and orchestral tuning that a different set of strings is often employed that has a lighter gauge. Strings are always labelled for either solo or orchestral tuning, and published solo music is arranged for either solo or orchestral tuning. Some popular solos and concerti, such as the Koussevitsky Concerto are available in both solo and orchestral tuning arrangements. Dr. Sergei Aleksandrovich Koussevitzky (Russian: Ð¡ÐµÑ€Ð³ÐµÐ¹ ÐÐ»ÐµÐºÑÐ°Ð½Ð´Ñ€Ð¾Ð²Ð¸Ñ‡ ÐšÑƒÑÐµÐ²Ð¸Ñ†ÐºÐ¸Ð¹) (July 26, 1874 â€“ June 4, 1951), was a Russian-born conductor, composer, and double-bassist known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949. ...

A variant and much less-commonly used form of solo tuning used in some Eastern European countries is (A-D-G-C), which uses three of the strings from orchestral tuning (A-D-G) and then adds a high "C" string. Some bassists with five string basses use a high "C" string as the fifth string, instead of a low "B" string. Adding the high "C" string facilitates the performance of solo repertoire with a high tessitura (range).

Playing and performance problems

Double bassists have the option to either stand or sit while playing the instrument. When standing, the double bass' height is set (by adjusting the endpin) so that the player may easily place the right hand close to the bridge, either with the bow (arco) or plucking (pizzicato). While personal opinions vary, often the endpin is set by aligning the first finger in either first or half position with the player's eye level. While sitting, a stool (which is measured by the player's seam length) is used. Traditionally, standing has been preferred by soloists although many now choose to play sitting down.

When playing in the upper register of the instrument (above the G below middle C), the player shifts his hand out from behind the neck and flattens it out, using the side of his thumb as a finger. This technique is called thumb position and is also a technique used on the cello. While playing in thumb position, the use of the fourth finger is replaced by the third finger, as the fourth finger becomes too short to produce a reliable tone.

Despite the size of the instrument, it does not project a loud volume, because its range is so low. When the bass is being used as an ensemble instrument in orchestra, usually between four and eight bassists will play the part in unison; in the largest orchestras, the bass section may have as many as twelve bassists. When writing solo passages for the bass in orchestral or chamber music, composers typically ensure that the orchestration is light, so it will not cover the bass. In jazz, blues, and similar genres, the bass is normally amplified with a bass amplifier and loudspeakers. In genres such as bluegrass and jazz, less onstage amplification is used than in genres such as blues, psychobilly, or jam band-music. In these louder genres, the loud stage volume due to other onstage amplifiers and instruments such as the drum kit may lead to the problem of feedback, which causes a loud howling sound. Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble) or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The term jam band is commonly used to describe psychedelic rock-influenced bands whose concerts largely consist of bands reinterpreting their songs as springboards into extended improvisational pieces of music. ...

Performing on the bass can be physically taxing because the strings of the bass are larger and thicker than those of a smaller stringed instrument. As well, since the bass is much larger than other stringed instruments, the space between notes on the fingerboard is larger. This means that bass players have to shift positions more frequently. The increased use of playing techniques such as thumb position and modifications to the bass such as the use of lighter-gauge strings have reduced this problem to some degree. Bass parts have relatively fewer fast passages, double stops, or large jumps in range.

As with all unfretted string instruments, performers must learn to place their fingers precisely to obtain the correct pitch. Because the bass is larger than other string instruments, the positions for the fingers are much farther apart. As a result, more shifting of position is required, which increases the likelihood of intonation errors. As well, for bassists with smaller hands, the large spaces between pitches on the bass fingerboard may present a challenge, especially in the lower range, where the spaces between notes are largest. A string instrument (also stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ...

Until the 1990s, child-sized double basses were not widely available, and the large size of the bass meant that children were not able to start the bass until their hand size and height would allow them to play a 3/4-size instrument (the most commonly available size). In the 1990s and 2000s, smaller half, quarter, eighth and even sixteenth-sized instruments became more widely available, which meant that children could start at a younger age. The double bass's large size, combined with the fragility of the wooden top and sides and the wood make safely transporting the instrument difficult. Since hard cases are both expensive and heavy, many bassists use soft cases. Some players use wheeled carts or endpin-attached wheels to transport the instrument.

Classical repertoire

Solo works for double bass

1700s

The double bass as a solo instrument enjoyed a period of popularity during the 18th century and many of the most popular composers from that era wrote pieces for the double bass. The double bass, then often referred to as the Violone used different tunings from region to region. The "Viennese tuning" (A-D-F♯-A) was popular, and in some cases a fifth string or even sixth string was added. The popularity of the instrument is documented in Leopold Mozart's second edition of his Violinschulë, where he writes "One can bring forth difficult passages easier with the five-string violone, and I heard unusually beautiful performances of concertos, trios, solos, etc." The violone (literally large viol in Italian, -one being the augmentative suffix) is a musical instrument of the viol family. ... Leopold Mozart Johann Georg Leopold Mozart (November 14, 1719 â€“ May 28, 1787) was a composer, music teacher and violinist. ...

The earliest known concerto to exist for the double bass was written by Joseph Haydn ca.1763, which was presumably lost in the fire at the Eisenstadt library. The earliest concertos that exist today are by Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf, who composed two concertos for the double bass and a Sinfonia Concertante for viola and double bass. Other composers that have written concertos from this period include Johann Baptist Vanhal, Franz Anton Hoffmeister (3 concertos), Leopold Kozeluch, Anton Zimmermann, Antonio Capuzzi, Wenzel Pichl (2 concertos), and Johannes Matthias Sperger (18 concertos). Haydn redirects here. ... Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (November 2, 1739 – October 24, 1799) was an Austrian composer and violinist. ... Sinfonia concertante is a musical form that originated in the classical music era, and is a mixture of the symphony and the concerto genres: It is a concerto, in that it has one or more soloists (in the classical music era usually more than one). ... Johann Baptist Vanhal (Jan KÅ™titel VaÅˆhal) also spelled Wanhal or Wanhall (May 12, 1739 - August 20, 1813) was a composer. ... Franz Anton Hoffmeister (May 12, 1754 – February 9, 1812) was an Austrian composer. ... Leopold Kozeluch (born Jan AntonÃn KoÅ¾eluh, alternatively also Leopold KoÅ¾eluh, Leopold Kotzeluch) (June 26, 1747 â€“ May 7, 1818) was a Czech composer and teacher of classical music. ... Giuseppe Antonio Capuzzi (August 1, 1755 - March 28, 1818) was an Italian violinist and composer. ... Wenzel Pichl (25 September 1741, Bechyne, Bohemia â€“ 23 January 1805, Vienna, Austria; known in his native language as Vaclav Pichl) was a classical Czech composer of the 18th Century. ... Johannes Matthias Sperger (March 23, 1750, Feldsberg[1] - May 13, 1812, Schwerin) was a Austrian contrabassist and composer. ...

While many of these names were leading figures to the music public of their time, they are generally unknown by contemporary audiences. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's concert aria, "Per Questa Bella Mano", K.612 for bass, double bass obbligato, and orchestra contains impressive writing for solo double bass of that period. It remains popular among both singers and double bassists today. â€œMozartâ€ redirects here. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

The double bass eventually evolved to fit the needs of orchestras that required lower notes and a louder sound. The leading double bassists from the mid to late 18th century, such as Josef Kämpfer, Friedrich Pischelberger, and Johannes Mathias Sperger employed the "Viennese" tuning. Bassist Johann Hindle (1792-1862), who composed a concerto for the double bass, pioneered tuning the bass in fourths, which marked a turning point for the double bass and its role in solo works.

Bassist Domenico Dragonetti was a prominent musical figure and an acquaintance of Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven. His playing was known all the way from his native Italy to the Tsar of Russia and he found a prominent place performing in concerts with the Philharmonic Society of London. It is believed that Beethoven's relationship with Dragonetti pushed Beethoven to write difficult, separate parts for the double bass in his symphonies which do not double the cello and the impressive passages in the third movement of the 5th symphony and last movement of the 9th symphony. Dragonetti wrote ten concertos for the double bass and many solo works for bass and piano. Dragonetti frequently played on a three string double bass tuned G-D-A from top to bottom, popular at the time as low E strings made of gut were difficult and expensive to make and were often problematic to play on. During Rossini's stay in London in the summer of 1824, he composed his Duetto for cello and double bass for Dragonetti the cellist David Salomons. Domenico Dragonetti with his Gasparo da SalÃ² double bass Domenico Carlo Maria Dragonetti (April 9, 1763 - April 16, 1846), was an Italian double bass player, born in Venice. ... â€œBeethovenâ€ redirects here. ... The Royal Philharmonic Society is a British music society, formed in 1813. ... Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (February 29, 1792 — November 13, 1868) was an Italian musical composer who wrote more than 30 operas as well as sacred music and chamber music. ...

1800s

In the 19th century, the opera conductor, composer, and bassist Giovanni Bottesini was thought of as the "Paganini of the double bass" in his time. His compositions written in the popular Italian opera style of the 19th century for the double bass exploit the double bass in a way that was not seen beforehand requiring the virtuosic runs and great leaps to the highest registers of the instrument in the realm of harmonics. These compositions were considered to be unplayable by many bassists in the early part of the 20th century, but now are frequently performed. Giovanni Bottesini. ... Niccolò Paganini Niccolò Paganini, (Genoa, October 27, 1782 - Nice, May 27, 1840) was a violinist and composer. ...

During the same time, a prominent school of bass players in the Czech region arose, which included such figures as Franz Simandl, Theodore Albin Findeisen, Josef Hrabe, Ludwig Manoly, and Adolf Mišek amongst others. The compositions from these bassist-composers show a high level of virtuosity in a different way than that of Bottesini's compositions. Bohemia, Moravia, Austrian Silesia - 1892, then part of Austria-Hungary Bohemia and Moravia-Silesia within Czechoslovakia in 1928 The Czech lands (Czech: ÄŒeskÃ© zemÄ›) is an auxiliary term used mainly to describe the combination of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia. ... Franz Simandl (1840 - 1912) was a double-bassist and pedagogue who is remembered most for his New Method for the Double Bass, 30 Studies, and more advanced collection of studies, Gradus ad Parnassum. ...

1900s-present

The leading figure of the double bass in the early 20th century was Serge Koussevitzky, best known as conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, who popularized the double bass in modern times as a solo instrument. Because of improvements to the double bass with steel strings and better set-ups, the bass is now played at a more advanced level than ever before and more and more composers have written works for the double bass. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Boston Symphony Orchestra is one of the worlds premiere orchestras. ...

The double bass now enjoys many compositions from the 20th century by leading composers with concertos that include Nikolaos Skalkottas's Concerto (1942), Eduard Tubin's Concerto (1948), Lars-Erik Larsson's Concertino (1957), Gunther Schuller's Concerto (1962), Hans Werner Henze's Concerto (1966), Nino Rota's Divertimento for Double Bass and Orchestra (1973), Jean Françaix's Concerto (1975), Einojuhani Rautavaara's Angel Of Dusk (1980), Gian Carlo Menotti's Concerto (1983), Christopher Rouse's Concerto (1985), Henry Brant's Ghost Nets (1988), Kalevi Aho's Concerto (2005), John Harbison's Concerto for Bass Viol (2006), and André Previn's Double Concerto for violin, double bass, and orchestra (2007). Krzysztof Penderecki and Wolfgang Rihm are currently in the process of writing concertos for the double bass. Nikolaos Skalkottas Nikolaos (Nikos) Skalkottas (Greek: ÎÎ¹ÎºÏŒÎ»Î±Î¿Ï‚ Î£ÎºÎ±Î»ÎºÏŽÏ„Î±Ï‚) (born 1901 in Chalcis, died 1949 in Athens) was a Greek composer of 20th-century music. ... Eduard Tubin (June 18, 1905 - November 17, 1982) was an Estonian composer and conductor. ... Lars-Erik Vilner Larsson (15 May 1908 - 27 December 1986) was an important Swedish composer of the 20th century. ... Gunther Schuller Gunther Schuller (born November 22, 1925) studied at the St. ... Hans Werner Henze (born July 1, 1926 in GÃ¼tersloh, Westphalia, Germany) is a composer well known for his left-wing political beliefs. ... Nino Rota (December 3, 1911 â€“ April 10, 1979) was an Italian composer best known for his work on film scores, notably The Godfather series and the films of Federico Fellini. ... Jean RenÃ© DÃ©sirÃ© FranÃ§aix (May 23, 1912 â€“ September 25, 1997) was a French neoclassical composer, pianist, and orchestrator, known for his prolific output and vibrant style. ... Einojuhani Rautavaara (born October 9, 1928) is a Finnish composer of classical music, probably the best known Finnish composer of his generation. ... Gian Carlo Menotti, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1944 Gian Carlo Menotti (July 7, 1911 â€“ February 1, 2007) was an Italian-born American composer and librettist who wrote the classic Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors among about two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular taste. ... Christopher Rouse (born 15 February 1949 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American composer. ... Henry Brant (born September 15, 1913) is a highly significant California-based composer of art music based on spatialization and limited aleatory. ... Kalevi Aho (born 9 March 1949 in Forssa, Finland) is a Finnish composer. ... John Harbison John Harris Harbison (born December 20, 1938 in Orange, New Jersey) is a composer, best known for his operas and large choral works. ... AndrÃ© Previn (born April 6, 1929)Â¹ is a prominent pianist, orchestral conductor, and composer. ... Krzysztof Penderecki. ... Wolfgang Rihm (b. ...

Other composers to have written solo works for the double bass in the 20th and 21st centuries include Reinhold Glière, Paul Hindemith, Luciano Berio, Christian Wolff, Fernando Grillo, Sofia Gubaidulina, Jacob Druckman, Iannis Xenakis, Elliott Carter, Salvatore Sciarrino, Vincent Persichetti, Mario Davidovsky, Samuel Adler, Bright Sheng, Oliver Knussen, Giacinto Scelsi, Charles Wuorinen, Renaud Garcia-Fons, Lowell Liebermann, Georges Aperghis, Ana Maria Avram, Philippe Boivin, Aldo Brizzi, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Gualtiero Dazzi, James Giroudon, Ramon Gonzalez Arroyo, Karim Haddad, Pierre-Alain Jaffrenou, Pierre Jodlowski, Michael Levinas, Martin Matalon, Horatio Radulescu, Kaija Saariaho, Sylvano Bussotti, James Dillon, Pascal Dusapin, Brian Ferneyhough, Philip Glass, Bruno Maderna, Philippe Boivin, John Cage, Tom Johnson, and Franco Donatoni. Reinhold Moritzovich GliÃ¨re Reinhold Moritzovich GliÃ¨re (Russian: , Rejngold MoriceviÄ GliÃ¨r) (January 11, 1875 [O.S. 30 December 1874] â€“ June 23, 1956) was a Soviet composer of German descent. ... Paul Hindemith aged 28. ... Luciano Berio (October 24, 1925 â€“ May 27, 2003) was an Italian composer. ... Christian Wolff is the name of at least two notable individuals: an eighteenth-century philosopher and mathematician - see Christian Wolff (philosopher) a twentieth_century composer _ see Christian Wolff (composer) a German actor This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same... Sofia Gubaidulina in Sortavala 1981 Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina, (Russian Ð¡Ð¾Ñ„Ð¸Ñ ÐÑÐ³Ð°Ñ‚Ð¾Ð²Ð½Ð° Ð“ÑƒÐ±Ð°Ð¹Ð´ÑƒÐ»Ð¸Ð½Ð°) (born October 24, 1931) is a Russian-Tatar composer of deeply religious music. ... Jacob Druckman (June 26, 1928 â€“ May 24, 1996) was an American composer born in Philadelphia. ... Iannis Xenakis in 1975. ... Elliott Cook Carter, Jr. ... Salvatore Sciarrino, born April 4, 1947, in Palermo. ... Vincent Persichetti (June 6, 1915 – August 14, 1987) was a composer and teacher at the Juilliard School whose students included Philip Glass and Thelonious Monk. ... Mario Davidovsky (born March 4, 1934) is an Argentine-American composer. ... Samuel Adler (1809-1891) was born in Worms Germany, and became a rabbi in 1842. ... Bright Sheng (surname Sheng, born Sheng Liang, Shanghai, China, December 6, 1955) is a Chinese composer of contemporary classical music. ... Oliver Knussen (born June 12, 1952) is a British composer and conductor. ... It has been suggested that List of works by Giacinto Scelsi be merged into this article or section. ... Charles Wuorinen (born June 9, 1938 in New York City) is an American composer. ... Renaud Garcia-Fons is a French/Spanish double-bass player and composer, notable for his virtuoso musicianship and for using a customised 5-stringed bass. ... Lowell Liebermann (born February 22, 1961 in New York City) is an American composer. ... Georges Aperghis (Dec 23, 1945 in Athens, Greece) is a composer primarily influenced by Iannis Xenakis and Mauricio Kagel. ... Karlheinz Stockhausen (born August 22, 1928) is a German composer, and one of the most important and controversial composers of the 20th century (Barret 1988, 45; Harvey 1975b, 705; Hopkins 1972, 33; Klein 1968, 117; Power 1990, 30). ... Karim HADDAD (Arabic: ÙƒØ±ÙŠÙ… ØØ¯Ø§Ø¯) Composer of contemporary music Born on January 22, 1962 in Dar-el Mraisseh, Beirut, Lebanon. ... Kaija Saariaho (born October 14, 1952) is a Finnish composer. ... Sylvano Bussotti (born 1931) is an Italian composer of contemporary music. ... James Dillon (26 September 1902 - 10 February 1986) was an Irish politician and leader of Fine Gael from 1959 to 1965. ... Pascal Dusapin (29th May, 1955), is a French composer born in Nancy. ... // Brian John Peter Ferneyhough (born 16 January 1943 in Coventry) is an English composer. ... Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is a three-times Academy Award-nominated American composer. ... Bruno Maderna (April 21, 1920 - November 13, 1973) was an Italian-German conductor and composer. ... For the Mortal Kombat character, see Johnny Cage. ... American composer and critic Tom Johnson (born November 18, 1939), is one of the few composers to self-identify as minimalist, in fact, he may have coined the term while serving as the new music critic for the Village Voice. ... Franco Donatoni (1927, Verona-17 August 2000) was an Italian composer of art music. ...

Chamber music with double bass

Perhaps the most famous chamber work that features the double bass is the Serenade for strings in G major, "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" K.525 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart scored for two violins, viola, cello, and double bass. The work is more often performed today with more than one to a part. Mozart also included the double bass in addition to 12 wind instruments for his "Gran Partita" Serenade, K.361 (370a). One of Beethoven's most famous pieces during his lifetime was his Septet in E flat major, Op.20 for violin, viola, clarinet, horn, bassoon, cello, and double bass. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the common group to play at dance functions was two violins and a double bass. Beethoven also composed Six Minuets, WoO9 and Six Ländlers, WoO15 for this instrumentation. The Serenade for strings in G major, better known as Eine kleine Nachtmusik (A little night music or less literally, A little serenade), is one of the most popular compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ... The Serenade No. ... A minuet, sometimes spelt menuet, is a dance for two persons, usually in 3/4 time. ... The lÃ¤ndler is a folk dance in 3/4 time which was popular in Austria, south Germany and German Switzerland at the end of the 18th century. ...

Gioacchino Rossini composed six string sonatas for two violins, cello, and double bass at age twelve over the course of three days in 1804 which remain his most famous instrumental works. Luigi Boccherini, whose father was a double bass player, composed three string quintets for two violins, viola, cello, and double bass. Antonín Dvořák also used the string quartet with double bass for his String Quintet in G major, Op.77 as did Darius Milhaud for his second quintet for strings, Op.316. Portrait Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (February 29, 1792 â€“ November 13, 1868)[1] was an Italian musical composer who wrote more than 30 operas as well as sacred music and chamber music. ... Luigi Boccherini Luigi Rodolfo Boccherini (February 19, 1743 â€“ May 28, 1805) was a classical era composer and cellist from Italy, whose music retained a courtly and galante style while he matured somewhat apart from the major European musical centers. ... AntonÃn DvoÅ™Ã¡k AntonÃn Leopold DvoÅ™Ã¡k ( , (often pronounced in English as ) ; September 8, 1841 â€“ May 1, 1904) was a Czech composer of Romantic music, who employed the idioms and melodies of the folk music of his native Bohemia and Moravia. ... Darius Milhaud (IPA: ) (September 4, 1892 â€“ June 22, 1974) was a French composer and teacher. ...

Another famous piece featuring the double bass is Franz Schubert's Trout Quintet scored for piano, violin, viola, cello, and double bass. The piece is thought to have been influenced by Johann Nepomuk Hummel's Quintet for piano and strings, Op. 87 which uses the same instruments. The instrumentation was used again in the 20th century by Ralph Vaughan Williams for his Piano Quintet. Felix Mendelssohn wrote his Sextet for piano and strings, Op.110 using piano, violin, two violas, cello, and double bass. Schubert redirects here. ... The Trout Quintet is the popular name for the piano quintet in A major by Franz Schubert. ... Johann Nepomuk Hummel Johann Nepomuk Hummel or Jan Nepomuk Hummel (14 November 1778 â€“ 17 October 1837) was a composer and virtuoso pianist of Austrian origin who was born in Pressburg (present-day Bratislava, Slovakia). ... A statue of Ralph Vaughan Williams in Dorking. ... Portrait of Mendelssohn by the English miniaturist James Warren Childe (1778-1862), 1839 Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and generally known as Felix Mendelssohn (February 3, 1809 â€“ November 4, 1847) is a German composer, pianist and conductor of the early Romantic period. ...

During the 20th century, the double bass was used in a variety of works including Erwin Schulhoff's Concertino for flute/piccolo, viola, and double bass; Paul Hindemith's Octet for clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, two violas, cello, and double bass; and Serge Prokofiev's Quintet, Op.39 for oboe, clarinet, violin, cello, and double bass. The double bass continues to be used in chamber music by more contemporary composers. Examples of such pieces include Fred Lerdahl's Waltzes for violin, viola, cello, and double bass; Mario Davidovsky's Festino for guitar, viola, cello, and double bass; and Iannis Xenakis's Morsima-Amorsima for piano, violin, cello, and double bass. Erwin Schulhoff (Prague, June 8, 1894; WÃ¼lzburg concentration camp, near WeiÃŸenburg, Bavaria, August 18, 1942) was a Czech composer and pianist of German-Jewish origin. ... Paul Hindemith aged 28. ... Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Серге́й Серге́евич Проко́фьев) (April 271, 1891 – March 5, 1953) was one of the Soviet Unions greatest composers. ... Fred Lerdahl, Fritz Reiner Professor of Musical Composition at Columbia University, is a composer and music theorist, best known for his work on pitch space and cognitive constraints on compositional systems or musical grammars. ... Mario Davidovsky (born March 4, 1934) is an Argentine-American composer. ... Iannis Xenakis in 1975. ...

Orchestral passages and solos

The double bass in the baroque and classical periods would typically double the cello part in orchestral passages. A notable exception would be Haydn, who composed solo passages for the double bass in his Symphonies No.6 “Le Matin”, No.7 “Le midi”, No.8 “Le Soir”, No. 31 “Horn Signal, and No. 45 “Farewell”, but who otherwise would group the bass and cello parts together. Beethoven paved the way for separate double bass parts which would become more common in the romantic era. The scherzo and trio from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is a famous orchestral excerpt as is the recitative at the beginning of the fourth movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. A scherzo (plural scherzi) is a name given to a piece of music or a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony. ... Trio is generally used in any of the following ways: Three musicians playing the same or different musical instrument. ... â€œBeethovenâ€ redirects here. ... Ludwig van Beethovens Symphony No. ... The Symphony No. ...

While orchestral bass solos are somewhat rare, there are some notable examples. Johannes Brahms, whose father was a double bass player, wrote many difficult and prominent parts for the double bass in his symphonies. Richard Strauss assigned the double bass daring parts, and his symphonic poems and operas stretch the instrument to its limits. "The Elephant" from Camille Saint-Saëns' The Carnival of the Animals is a satirical portrait of the double bass. The third movement of Gustav Mahler's first symphony features a solo for the double bass which quotes the children's song "Frere Jacques", transposed into a minor key. Sergei Prokofiev's "Lieutenant Kijé Suite" features a difficult and very high double bass solo in the "Romance" movement. Benjamin Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra contains a prominent passage for the double bass section. Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (May 7, 1833 â€“ April 3, 1897) was a German composer of the Romantic period. ... This article is about the German composer of tone-poems and operas. ... Charles Camille Saint-SaÃ«ns () (9 October 1835 â€“ 16 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor, and pianist, known especially for his large-scale orchestral works The Carnival of the Animals, Danse Macabre, Samson et Dalila, and Symphony No. ... Le Carnaval des Animaux (The Carnival of the Animals) is a musical suite of fourteen movements by the French Romantic composer Camille Saint-SaÃ«ns. ... Mahler redirects here. ... The Symphony No. ... Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Russian: , Sergej SergejeviÄ Prokofijev; April 27 (April 151 O.S.), 1891â€“March 5, 1953) was a Russian and Soviet composer who mastered numerous musical genres and came to be admired as one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. ... Britten redirects here. ... The Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra, op. ...

Double bass ensembles

Ensembles made up entirely of double basses, though relatively rare, also exist, and several composers have written or arranged for such ensembles. Gunther Schuller and Jacob Druckman both composed quartets for four basses. Larger ensemble works include Galina Ustvolskaya's Composition No. 2, “Dies Irae” (1973), for eight double basses, piano, and wooden cube, Jose Serebrier's George and Muriel (1986), for solo bass, double bass ensemble, and chorus, and Gerhard Samuel's What of my music! (1979), for soprano, percussion, and 30 double basses. Gunther Schuller Gunther Schuller (born November 22, 1925) studied at the St. ... Jacob Druckman (June 26, 1928 â€“ May 24, 1996) was an American composer born in Philadelphia. ... Galina Ustvolskaya (born June 17, 1919) is a Russian composer of classical music. ...

Active double bass ensembles include L'Orchestre de Contrabasses (6 members),[1] Bass Instinct (6 members),[2] Bassiona Amorosa (6 members),[3], the Chicago Bass Ensemble (4+ members),[4] The Bass Gang (4 members),[5] and the ensembles of Ball State University (12 members) and the Hartt School of Music. The Amarillo Bass Base of Amarillo, Texas once featured 52 double bassists,[6][7], and The London Double Bass Sound, who have released a CD on Cala Records, have 10 players.[8] Ball State University is a state-run research university located in Muncie, Indiana, USA. Located on the northwest side of the city, Ball States campus spans more than 1,000 acres (4 kmÂ²). The student body consists of more than 20,000 students, of which over 18,000 are... The Hartt School is a school of performing arts located in West Hartford, Connecticut, primarily providing postsecondary programs in music, dance, and theatre. ... Amarillo redirects here. ...

In addition, the double bass sections of some orchestras perform as an ensemble, such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Wacker Consort.[9] There is an increasing number of published compositions and arrangements for double bass ensembles, and the International Society of Bassists regularly features double bass ensembles (both smaller ensembles as well as very large "mass bass" ensembles) at its conferences, and sponsors the biennial David Walter Composition Competition, which includes a division for double bass ensemble works. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, based in Chicago, Illinois, is one of the leading orchestras in the world. ... Image:H4. ...

Use in jazz

See also List of jazz bassists (which includes both double bass and electric bass guitar players) The following is a list of noted jazz bassists with Wikipedia articles. ...

Beginning around 1890, the early New Orleans jazz ensemble (which played a mixture of marches, ragtime, and dixieland music) was initially a marching band with sousaphone (or occasionally bass saxophone) supplying the bass line. As the music moved into bars and brothels, the double bass gradually replaced these wind instruments. Many early bassists doubled on both the "brass bass" and "string bass," as the instruments were then often referred to. Bassists played "walking" basslines, scale-based lines which outlined the harmony. Image File history File links Jazzbass. ... Image File history File links Jazzbass. ... Look up ragtime in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Dixieland music is a style of jazz which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s. ... Sousaphone player in Washington Square, New York City The sousaphone is a type of tuba often used in a marching band. ... The bass saxophone (or bass sax for short) is the second largest existing member of the saxophone family (or third largest, if the subcontrabass tubax is counted). ...

Because an unamplified double bass is generally the quietest instrument in a jazz band, many players of the 1920s and 1930s used the slap style, slapping and pulling the strings so that they make a rhythmic "slap" sound against the fingerboard. The slap style cuts through the sound of a band better than simply plucking the strings, and allowed the bass to be more easily heard on early sound recordings, as the recording equipment of that time did not favor low frequencies.^[9] For more about the slap style, see "Modern playing styles," below.

Double bass players have contributed to the evolution of jazz. Examples include swing era players such as Jimmy Blanton, who played with Duke Ellington, and Oscar Pettiford, who pioneered the instrument's use in bebop. The "cool" style of jazz was influenced by players such as Scott LaFaro and Percy Heath, whose solos were melodic. Paul Chambers (who worked with Miles Davis on the famous Kind of Blue album) achieved renown for being one of the first jazz bassists to play bebop solos in arco (bowed) style. Jimmy Blanton (1918 – July 30, 1942) was an American jazz double bassist. ... This article is about the American Jazz composer and performer. ... Oscar Pettiford (Okmulgee, Oklahoma, 30 September 1922-Copenhagen, Denmark, 8 September 1960) was an American jazz bassist, cellist and composer known particularly for his pioneering work in bebop. ... This article is about the genre of music, for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles character see Bebop and Rocksteady. ... Rocco Scott LaFaro (April 3, 1936, Newark, New Jersey - July 6, 1961, Flint, New York) was one of the most influential jazz bassists of the 20th century. ... Percy Heath, (April 30, 1923 â€“ April 28, 2005), was a jazz musician, most famous for his 40+ years as the double bass player for the Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ). ... Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers, Jr. ... Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 â€“ September 28, 1991) was an American jazz musician, widely considered to be one of the most influential of the 20th century. ... Kind of Blue is a jazz album by musician Miles Davis, released on August 17, 1959. ... An ARCO gas station in Los Angeles ARCO (an acronym for Atlantic Richfield Company) is an American oil company that was formed by the merger of East Coast-based Atlantic Refining and California-based Richfield Petroleum in 1966. ...

Free jazz was influenced by the composer/bassist Charles Mingus (who also contributed to hard bop) and Charlie Haden, best known for his work with Ornette Coleman. This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ... Charles Mingus (April 22, 1922 â€“ January 5, 1979) was an American jazz bassist, composer, bandleader, and occasional pianist. ... Hard bop is an extension of bebop (bop) music which incorporates influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano playing. ... Charles Edward Haden (born August 6, 1937) is a jazz double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. ... Ornette Coleman (born March 9, 1930) is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. ...

Beginning in the 1970s, some jazz bandleaders such as saxophonist Sonny Rollins and fusion bassist Jaco Pastorius began to substitute the electric bass guitar for the double bass. Apart from the jazz styles of jazz fusion and Latin-influenced jazz, the double bass is still widely used in jazz. The sound and tone of the plucked double bass is distinct from that of the fretted bass guitar. The bass guitar produces a different sound than the double bass, because its strings are usually stopped with the aid of metal frets. As well, bass guitars usually have a solid wood body, which means that the sound is produced by electronic amplification of the vibration of the strings. Theodore Walter Sonny Rollins (born September 7, 1930 in New York City) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. ... John Francis Anthony Jaco Pastorius III (December 1, 1951 â€“ September 21, 1987) was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged for his virtuosity of the fretless bass,[1][2] as well as his command of varied musical styles. ... A sunburst-colored Fender Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass[1][2]; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ... A sunburst-colored Fender Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass[1][2]; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ... The neck of a guitar showing the first four frets. ...

Use in bluegrass

The string bass is the most commonly-used bass instrument in bluegrass music and is almost always plucked, though some modern bluegrass bassists have also used a bow. The bluegrass bassist is part of the rhythm section, and is responsible for keeping a steady beat, whether fast, slow, in 4/4 time, 2/4 or 3/4 time. The Englehardt and Kay brands of laminate basses have long been popular choices for bluegrass bassists. Most bluegrass bassists use the 3/4 size bass, but the full and 5/8 size basses are also used. Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music. ...

Early pre-bluegrass music was often accompanied by the cello, which was bowed as often as plucked. Some contemporary bluegrass bands favor the electric bass in an effort to avoid transporting a very large yet delicate instrument on road trips and tours, but it has a different musical quality than the plucked upright bass. The upright bass' slower attack and its percussive, woody tone gives a more "earthy" or "natural" sound than an electric bass, particularly when gut strings are used. This article is about the stringed musical instrument. ... A sunburst-colored Fender Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass[1][2]; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ...

Common rhythms in bluegrass bass playing involve (with some exceptions) plucking on beats 1 and 3 in 4/4 time; beats 1 and 2 in 2/4 time, and on the downbeat in 3/4 time (waltz time). Bluegrass bass lines are usually simple, typically staying on the root and fifth of each chord throughout most of a song. There are two main exceptions to this "rule". Bluegrass bassists often do a diatonic "walkup" or "walkdown" in which they play every beat of a bar for one or two bars, typically when there is a chord change. In addition, if a bass player is given a solo, they may play a walking bass line with a note on every beat or play a pentatonic scale-influenced bassline. In music a walking bass is a bass accompaniment generally consisting of unsyncopated notes of equal value, usually quarter notes (known in jazz as a four feel). Walking bass lines are used in rock, blues, rock-a-billy, ska, r&b, gospel, latin, country, and many other genres (Friedland 1995...

An early bluegrass bassist to rise to prominence was Howard Watts (also known as Cedric Rainwater), who played with Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys beginning in 1944.^[10] One of the most famous classical bassists, Edgar Meyer, has frequently branched out into newgrass, Old Time, Jazz, and other genres. For the retired NBC News correspondent of the same name, see Bill Monroe (journalist). ... Edgar Meyer (born November 24, 1960) is a prominent contemporary bassist. ... Progressive bluegrass, also known as newgrass (a term attributed to New Grass Revival member Ebo Walker), is one of two major subgenres of bluegrass music. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ...

Slap-style bass

Slap-style bass is sometimes used in bluegrass bass playing. When bluegrass bass players snap the string by pulling it until it hits the fingerboard or hit the strings against the fingerboard, it adds the high-pitched percussive "clack" or "slap" sound to the low-pitched bass notes, sounding much like the clacks of a tap dancer. Slapping is a subject of minor controversy in the bluegrass scene. Even slapping experts such as Mike Bub say, "...don't slap on every gig" or in songs where it is "not appropriate." As well, bluegrass bassists who play slap-style on live shows often slap less on records. Bub and his mentor Jerry McCoury rarely do slap bass on recordings. While bassists such as Jack Cook slap bass "...on the occasional faster Clinch Mountain boys song", bassists such as "...Gene Libbea, Missy Raines, Jenny Keel, or Barry Bales [rarely] slap bass."^[11] Bassist Missy Raines has achieved acclaim in the world of bluegrass, including six International Bluegrass Music Awards Bass Player of the Year awards. ... Categories: Possible copyright violations ...

Bluegrass bassist Mark Schatz, who teaches slap bass in his Intermediate Bluegrass Bass DVD acknowledges that slap bass "...has not been stylistically very predominant in the music I have recorded." He notes that "Even in traditional bluegrass slap bass only appears sporadically and most of what I've done has been on the more contemporary side of that (Tony Rice, Tim O'Brien)." Schatz states that he would be "... more likely to use it [slap] in a live situation that on a recording - for a solo or to punctuate a particular place in a song or tune where I wouldn't be obliterating someone's solo.".^[12] Another bluegrass method, Learn to Play Bluegrass Bass, by Earl Gately, also teaches bluegrass slap bass technique.

Use in popular music

In 1952, the upright bass was a standard instrument in rock and roll music, Marshall Lytle of Bill Haley & His Comets being but one example. In the 1940s, a new style of dance music called rhythm and blues developed, incorporating elements of the earlier styles of blues and swing. Louis Jordan, the first innovator of this style, featured a double bass in his group, the Tympany Five.^[13] The double bass remained an integral part of pop lineups throughout the 1950s, as the new genre of rock and roll was built largely upon the model of rhythm and blues, with strong elements also derived from jazz, country, and bluegrass. However, double bass players using their instruments in these contexts faced inherent problems. They were forced to compete with louder horn instruments (and later amplified electric guitars), making bass parts difficult to hear. The double bass is difficult to amplify in loud concert venue settings, because it can be prone to feedback "howls". The double bass is large and awkward to transport, which also created transportation problems for touring bands. Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... Marshall Lytle (b. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... R&B redirects here. ... Blues music redirects here. ... Louis Jordan swinging on sax, Paramount Theatre, NYC, 1946 (Photo: William P. Gottlieb) Louis Jordan (July 8, 1908 â€“ February 4, 1975) was a pioneering African-American blues, jazz and rhythm & blues musician and songwriter who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Country (disambiguation). ... Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music. ... Two different electric guitars. ... Audio feedback (also known as the Larsen effect after the Danish scientist, SÃ¸ren Larsen, who first discovered its principles) is a special kind of feedback which occurs when a sound loop exists between an audio input (for example, a microphone or guitar pickup) and an audio output (for example...

In 1951, Leo Fender independently released his Precision Bass, the first commercially successful electric bass guitar.^[14] The electric bass was easily amplified with its built-in pickups, easily portable (less than a foot longer than an electric guitar), and easier to play in tune, thanks to the metal frets. In the 1960s and 1970s bands were playing at louder volumes and performing in larger venues. The electric bass was able to provide the huge, highly-amplified stadium-filling bass tone that the pop and rock music of this era demanded, and the double bass receded from the limelight of the popular music scene. Leonidas Fender (August 10, 1909 - March 21, 1991), also known as Leo Fender, was an American luthier who founded Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company, now known as Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, and later founded G&L Musical Products (G&L Guitars). ... Categories: Music stubs | Electric bass guitars ... A sunburst-colored Fender Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass[1][2]; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ...

The upright bass began making a modest comeback in popular music in the mid-1980s, in part due to a renewed interest in earlier forms of rock and country music. In the 1990s, improvements in pickups and amplifier designs for electro-acoustic horizontal and upright basses made it easier for bassists to get a good, clear amplified tone from an acoustic instrument. Some popular bands decided to anchor their sound with an upright bass instead of an electric bass. A trend for "unplugged" performances further helped to enhance the public's interest in the upright bass and acoustic bass guitars.

The double bass is also favored over the electric bass guitar in many rockabilly and psychobilly bands. In such bands the bassist often plays with great showmanship, using slapping technique, sometimes spinning the bass around or even physically climbing onto the instrument while performing; this style was pioneered c. 1953 by Marshall Lytle, the bassist for Bill Haley & His Comets,^[15] and modern performers of such stunts include Lee Rocker of the Stray Cats, Scott Owen from The Living End and Jimbo from Reverend Horton Heat. Primus's Les Claypool used an upright bass for the song "Mr. Krinkle," from Pork Soda, and for the song "Over the Falls," from the Brown Album. Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam uses a double bass in the song "Nothing As It Seems," on the album Binaural. Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers uses a double bass for the song "Cabron," on the 2002 album By the Way. A sunburst-colored Fender Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass[1][2]; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ... Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, and emerged in the early-1950s. ... Psychobilly is a genre of rock music that mixes elements of punk rock, rockabilly, and other genres. ... Marshall Lytle (b. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Lee Rocker Lee Rocker (born August 3, 1961 in Long Island, New York) is a rockabilly double bass player. ... The Stray Cats are a rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist/vocalist Brian Setzer (Bloodless Pharaohs/Brian Setzer Orchestra) with school friends Lee Rocker (born Leon Drucker) and Slim Jim Phantom (born James McDonnell) in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. ... Scott Owen wrestles with his double bass on stage Scott Owen plays the double bass in the Australian rock band The Living End. ... This article is about the Australian band. ... Jimbo can refer to: Jimbo, a nickname for the first names James and Jimmy Jimbo Jones, a character in the TV series The Simpsons Jimbo Kern, a character in the TV series South Park Jimmy Jimbo Wales (born 1966), co-founder of Wikipedia and Chairman Emeritus of Wikipedias Board... The Reverend Horton Heat: Scott Churilla (left), Jim Reverend Horton Heath (center), Jimbo Wallace (right) The Reverend Horton Heat is both three-piece psychobilly / rockabilly band from Dallas, Texas and the stage name of its singer/songwriter, Jim Heath (born in 1959 in Corpus Christi, Texas). ... Primus (disambiguation) has multiple meanings, generally derived from the Latin word meaning the first one. // Primus (band), a rock trio. ... Leslie Edward Les Claypool (born September 29, 1963 in Richmond, California, U.S.) is a singer, lyricist, bassist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer, best known for his work with the alternative rock band Primus. ... Mr. ... Pork Soda is the fourth album by Primus. ... Over the Falls, is the second of two singles by the alternative rock band Primus, released off their 1997 album, Brown Album. ... Jeff Ament (born March 10, 1963 in Big Sandy, Montana), is an American Rock bassist and one of the founding members of Pearl Jam. ... This article is about the rock group. ... Nothing As It Seems was a single by the rock group Pearl Jam off their 2000 album Binaural. ... Binaural means involving both ears. Most evolved auditory systems feature two ears, one on either side of the head. ...

Modern playing styles

In popular music genres, the instrument is usually played with amplification and almost exclusively played with a form of pizzicato where the sides of the fingers are used in preference to the tips of the fingers. Jazz bass is played almost exclusively in pizzicato. ...

In traditional jazz, swing, polka, rockabilly, and psychobilly music, it is sometimes played in the slap style. This is a vigorous version of pizzicato where the strings are "slapped" against the fingerboard between the main notes of the bass line, producing a snare drum-like percussive sound. The main notes are either played normally or by pulling the string away from the fingerboard and releasing it so that it bounces off the fingerboard, producing a distinctive percussive attack in addition to the expected pitch. Notable slap style bass players, whose use of the technique was often highly syncopated and virtuosic, sometimes interpolated two, three, four, or more slaps in between notes of the bass line. Swing music, also known as swing jazz, is a form of jazz music that developed during the 1920s and had solidified as a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States. ... In music, the term slapping is often used to refer to two different though related playing techniques usually on the double bass and on the (electric) bass guitar. ... The snare drum or side drum is a tubular drum made of wood or metal with skins, or heads, stretched over the top and bottom openings, and with a set of snares (cords) stretched across the bottom head. ...

"Slap style" may have influenced electric bass guitar players who from about 1970 developed a technique called "slap and pop," where the thumb of the plucking hand is used to hit the string, making a slapping sound but still allowing the note to ring, and the index or middle finger of the plucking hand is used to pull the string back so it hits the fretboard, achieving the pop sound described above. A sunburst-colored Fender Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass[1][2]; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ... Slap Bass More commonly known as Slap Bass, this sound is produced by a bass player hitting his thumb hard down on an individual string. ...

Double bassists

Historical

Domenico Dragonetti with his Gasparo da SalÃ² double bass Domenico Carlo Maria Dragonetti (April 9, 1763 - April 16, 1846), was an Italian double bass player, born in Venice. ... Giovanni Bottesini. ... Franz Simandl (1840 - 1912) was a double-bassist and pedagogue who is remembered most for his New Method for the Double Bass, 30 Studies, and more advanced collection of studies, Gradus ad Parnassum. ... Edouard Nanny was a famous French double bass player and teacher. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Contemporary (1900s-present)

Classical

Some of the most influential contemporary classical double bass players are known as much for their contributions to pedagogy than for their performing skills, such as US bassist Oscar G. Zimmerman (1910-1987), known for his teaching at the Eastman School and, for 44 summers at the Interlochen National Music Camp in Michigan andFrench bassist François Rabbath (b. 1931) who developed a new bass method which divided the entire fingerboard into six positions. Bassists noted for their virtuoso solo skills include US player Gary Karr (b. 1941)and Finnish bassist-composer Teppo Hauta-Aho (born 1941). For a longer list, see the List of contemporary classical double bass players. Year 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... This article is about the year 1987. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... FranÃ§ois Rabbath (b. ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Gary Karr (born November 20, 1941) is a famous classical double bass soloist and teacher. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... Teppo Hauta-aho, born in May 27, 1941, is a Finnish double bassist and composer. ... Edwin Barker Jeff Bradetich Max Dimoff Larry Wolfe Timothy Cobb Kevin Corren Mark Dresser Paul Ellison Paul Erhard Diana Gannett Barry Green Gary Karr Albert Laszlo Eugene Levinson Homer Mensch Edgar Meyer Orin OBrien Donald Palma Joel Quarrington Hal Robinson Roger Ruggeri Donovan Stokes Bertram Turetzky DaXun Zhang Ricky...

Jazz

Notable jazz bassists from the 1940s to the 1950s included bassist Jimmy Blanton (1918–1942) whose short tenure in the Duke Ellington Swing band (cut short by his death from TB) introduced new melodic and harmonic solo ideas for the instrument; bassist Ray Brown (1926–2002), known for backing Beboppers Dizzy Gillespie, Art Tatum and Charlie Parker, and forming the Modern Jazz Quartet; hard bop bassist Ron Carter (born 1937)]], who has appeared on 3,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, including LPs by Thelonious Monk and Wes Montgomery and many Blue Note Records artists; and Paul Chambers (1935–1969), a member of the Miles Davis Quintet (including the landmark cool jazz recording Kind of Blue) and many other 1950s and 1960s rhythm sections, was known for his virtuosic improvisations. Jimmy Blanton (1918 – July 30, 1942) was an American jazz double bassist. ... This article is about the American Jazz composer and performer. ... Raymond Matthews Brown (October 13, 1926â€“July 2, 2002) was an American jazz double bassist. ... For the Australian cricketer nicknamed Dizzy, see Jason Gillespie. ... Arthur Tatum Jr. ... For other persons of the same name, see Charles Parker. ... The Modern Jazz Quartet was established in 1952 by Milt Jackson (vibraphone), John Lewis (piano, musical director), Percy Heath (bass), and Kenny Clarke (drums). ... Hard bop is an extension of bebop (bop) music which incorporates influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano playing. ... Ron Carter (born May 4, 1937, Ferndale, Michigan) is an American jazz bassist. ... Thelonious Sphere Monk (October 10, 1917 â€“ February 17, 1982) was a jazz pianist and composer. ... John Leslie Wes Montgomery (6 March 1923 - 15 June 1968) was an American jazz guitarist and the grandfather of actor Anthony Montgomery. ... Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff. ... Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers, Jr. ... The Miles Davis Quintet was a bebop-oriented jazz quintet formed in 1955 by bandleader and trumpet player Miles Davis. ... Kind of Blue is a jazz album by musician Miles Davis, released on August 17, 1959. ... Improvisation is the practice of acting and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of ones immediate environment. ...

In the experimental post 1960s eras, which saw the development of free jazz and jazz-rock fusion, some of the influential bassists included Charles Mingus (1922–1979), who was also a composer and bandleader whose music fused hard bop with black gospel music, free jazz and classical music; free jazz and post-bop bassist Charlie Haden (born 1937) is best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman and for his role in the 1970s-era Liberation Music Orchestra, an experimental group; and fusion virtuoso Stanley Clarke (born 1951) is notable for his dexterity on both the double bass and the electric bass. In the 1990s and 2000s, one of the new "young lions" was Christian McBride (born 1972), who has performed with a range of veterans ranging from McCoy Tyner to fusion gurus Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea, and who has released albums such as 2003's Vertical Vision. For a longer list, see the List of jazz bassists, which includes both double bass and electric bass players. Charles Mingus (April 22, 1922 â€“ January 5, 1979) was an American jazz bassist, composer, bandleader, and occasional pianist. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... A bandleader is the director of a band of musicians. ... Hard bop is an extension of bebop (bop) music which incorporates influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano playing. ... Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as (in terms of the varying music styles) to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music. ... This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ... This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ... Charles Edward Haden (born August 6, 1937) is a jazz double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ornette Coleman (born March 9, 1930) is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. ... Liberation Music Orchestra is a jazz album by Charlie Haden, released in 1969 (see 1969 in music). ... Look up fusion in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Stanley Clarke (born 30 June 1951) is an American musician and composer known for his innovative and influential work on double bass and bass guitar as well as his numerous film and television scores. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Christian McBride (born May 31, 1972, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a jazz bassist. ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Alfred McCoy Tyner (born December 11, 1938) is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet. ... Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois) is an Academy Award and Grammy award-winning American jazz pianist and composer. ... Armando Anthony Chick Corea (born June 12, 1941) is a multiple Grammy Award winning American jazz pianist/keyboardist and composer. ... The following is a list of noted jazz bassists with Wikipedia articles. ...

Other popular genres

Edgar Meyer (born 1960) is a notable bluegrass and newgrass player who has recorded for Sony. Well-known rockabilly and psychobilly bassists include Marshall Lytle (Bill Haley & His Comets) and Lee Rocker (1980s-era rockabilly revivalists the Stray Cats). More recent performers include Scott Owen (The Living End) and Jimbo (Reverend Horton Heat). For a longer list, see the List of double bass players in other popular genres article. Edgar Meyer (born November 24, 1960) is a prominent contemporary bassist. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music. ... Progressive bluegrass, also known as newgrass (a term attributed to New Grass Revival member Ebo Walker), is one of two major subgenres of bluegrass music. ... Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, and emerged in the early-1950s. ... Psychobilly is a genre of rock music that mixes elements of punk rock, rockabilly, and other genres. ... Marshall Lytle (b. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Lee Rocker Lee Rocker (born August 3, 1961 in Long Island, New York) is a rockabilly double bass player. ... The Stray Cats are a rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist/vocalist Brian Setzer (Bloodless Pharaohs/Brian Setzer Orchestra) with school friends Lee Rocker (born Leon Drucker) and Slim Jim Phantom (born James McDonnell) in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. ... Scott Owen wrestles with his double bass on stage Scott Owen plays the double bass in the Australian rock band The Living End. ... This article is about the Australian band. ... Jimbo can refer to: Jimbo, a nickname for the first names James and Jimmy Jimbo Jones, a character in the TV series The Simpsons Jimbo Kern, a character in the TV series South Park Jimmy Jimbo Wales (born 1966), co-founder of Wikipedia and Chairman Emeritus of Wikipedias Board... The Reverend Horton Heat: Scott Churilla (left), Jim Reverend Horton Heath (center), Jimbo Wallace (right) The Reverend Horton Heat is both three-piece psychobilly / rockabilly band from Dallas, Texas and the stage name of its singer/songwriter, Jim Heath (born in 1959 in Corpus Christi, Texas). ...

Contents

History

Terminology

Design

Construction

Strings

Bows

German bow

French bow

Bow construction and materials

Rosin

Pitch

Tuning

Playing and performance problems

Classical repertoire

Solo works for double bass

1700s

1800s

1900s-present

Chamber music with double bass

Orchestral passages and solos

Double bass ensembles

Use in jazz

Use in bluegrass

Slap-style bass

Use in popular music

Modern playing styles

Double bassists

Historical

Contemporary (1900s-present)

Classical

Jazz

Other popular genres

See also

References

External links

Contents

History GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Terminology

Design

Construction

Strings

Bows

German bow

French bow

Bow construction and materials

Rosin

Pitch

Tuning

Playing and performance problems

Classical repertoire

Solo works for double bass

1700s

1800s

1900s-present

Chamber music with double bass

Orchestral passages and solos

Double bass ensembles

Use in jazz

Use in bluegrass

Slap-style bass

Use in popular music

Modern playing styles

Double bassists

Historical

Contemporary (1900s-present)

Classical

Jazz

Other popular genres

See also

References

External links

History