Well… this is, to my mind, a positive development. A sign I might finally be emerging from the months of depression precipitated by the several less than welcome developments of the last year and a bit.
I’m watching videos on bass playing technique, tips, tricks, etc. I absolutely adore the double-bass. And I already owned and then had to sell one. I’ve been contemplating doing the same again. And I may still have to. But Lord knows I don’t want to!
I want to play the damn thing! And I want to start learning and practicing, with it and on it, in a methodical manner. Videos such as those I’m linking to in this post exemplify the kinds of things I want to start doing.
In the two above videos, first we have a lesson on using the thumb. Up until now I’d never even thought to use my thumb on the Bull Fiddle. I’ll come back to this in a minute.
The second video, with Rufus Reid, looks at the idea of playing on just one string. This links back to the thumb video, funnily enough. How and why? Because staying on one string inevitably makes one use the entire length of it, to get the full range of notes.
Reid refers to the territory beyond where the neck joins the body of the bass as ‘no man’s land’! It’s easy to understand what he’s getting at. Cole Davis’ video, and his use of thumb, are all about opening up no man’s land.
I also learned of the Simandl method,* which dates back the late 19th C. I’d not even heard of this before. What I’m enjoying about all of this, is a return of desire and motivation. After aeons of amotivational depression, I’m beginning to want to do stuff…
And to round off this post, the living legend that is Ron Carter. A young bassist, Brady Watt, who I’d not heard of before, spends some time with perhaps the greatest – certainly the most prolific and widely recorded – upright bassist of them all.
Time to enjoy!
* Find that here.