Upright Bass Archives - Page 2

This is part 2 of this series by Dr. D. Check out Part 1. Set Up for Sound In terms of sound, there are any number of things that can affect the volume, sustain and tone of your instrument. The bottom line is that everything you do to the instrument matters. Strings matter. Tailpiece length matters. Tailpiece weight matters. Tailpiece...

I thought I would address a question left on No Treble’s Facebook page regarding string action on upright and volume discrepancies between different strings by talking a bit about set up on the upright bass. When someone talks about getting the upright bass set up, they are referring to a number of things, from bridge height to curve of the...

Steve Bunker sent in this request: “Can you talk about the best way to amplify the upright to avoid feedback and the best way to record the bass. I play mostly rockabilly.” Hi Steve! I’ll get to the recording part of the question another week. For today, let’s talk feedback. Feedback is a real problem for anyone amplifying the double...

This week, we’re celebrating the upright bass with a look back at the top 10 most viewed upright bass videos on No Treble. 1. Miles Mosley: Voodoo Child It is fitting Miles Mosley chose to cover Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”, since he’s doing a Hendrix-like re-invention of his instrument of choice: the upright bass. 2. Esperanza Spalding: “Mela”...

This is part 2 of the Common Upright Bass Tunings series. This time, we’ll cover 5 String Tunings, C extensions and some practice suggestions. Check out Part 1. Five String Tunings As long as there have been basses, there have been basses with 5 strings. Traditionally, the extra string has been used to extend the range of the instrument lower....

One of the beautiful things about upright bassists is their unwillingness to conform. When it comes to tuning, we often refuse to conform not only to the practices of other instruments in our family, but also to each other! Although 3 string basses are largely a thing of the past, there are still uprights with 4 strings, with and without...

Using the bow on an Upright Bass can open up a world of creative possibilities. Most people who get into it never get out! Before you can wow and amaze your friends, however, you will need to own a bow. When you start investigating bass bows you will find that there are two main styles of bass bows. Their physical...

Recently I got a series of questions from a upright bass player in Norway regarding amplification of the double bass and the use of electronic effects (EFX). Since I get these sorts of questions often, I thought I would print some of my thoughts here as part of the lowdown. If you have your own questions, feel free to send...

While hunting down the next great bass video, I stumbled upon this three year old video featuring a cardboard bass, aka the “Bogdon Box Bass”. The bass is marketed as “a reduction of technology and the simplification of needs.” And yes, there’s a company who makes them. You can order a fully-assembled one or a do-it-yourself kit at Bogdon Music.

The upright bass is a physically challenging instrument. I’m not trying to say we’re tougher than our treble-ended friends, but when was the last time you saw a violinist shift three feet at a time? The size of the upright bass means we have to be very efficient in how we approach playing music, especially if you are going to...

Last time we talked about some of the general concepts involved in making the switch from Electric to Upright Bass. It’s a fairly big subject, so we are going to continue down this road for the next several installments. As I mentioned last time, an accomplished Electric player can often pump out a line on an Upright after only a...

In this week’s lesson, Jon takes us through some key fundamentals in upright bass playing. Balance Balance is the key. It takes many pounds of pressure to hold a string against the fingerboard with enough firmness to get a good fundamental tone; this force needs to have a counterweight applied against it. The objective is to get maximum weight into...