The part for the double bass is written on the bottom stave of the score. The notes sound an octave lower than written. Unlike any other member of the violin family the strings are tuned in fourths — GDAE; this is because with strings of such length and thickness the intervals between the stopped notes are very wide and if they were tuned to the usual fifths there would be insuperable physical difficulties in fingering. The greater length of thicker string gives a smaller, not wider, compass on account of the notes being so widely spaced. The compass is about two and a quarter octaves.

Bassists may appear to stand behind their tall instruments but in fact they are usually perched on high stools, frequently on an elevated section of the staging, to the right of the conductor. The weight of the instrument is taken by an adjustable peg to the floor. It is noticeable that whether there are two, ten or twenty bassists, no one instrument will have precisely the same configuration as its neighbour. All have sloping shoulders and flat backs, features retained from the viol which are purely functional; high, broad shoulders would make it impossible to reach over to finger and bow the strings. The tuning pegs are also different from those of other members of the family because instead of sticking out on either side of the scroll, they jut out at the back. And the tension of the strings is such that a cogwheel mechanism is used for adjusting the tuning.

Not only does the double bass resemble the viol in appearance, but until comparatively recently actual bowing techniques were similar, the hand being held palm facing outwards. And the stick of the bow remained convex long after other members of the family had adopted the concave Tourte type. Two ways of holding the bow are still in practice: the German, in which the bow is held like a wood saw, and the French, in which it is held like the cello bow.

History

It has been suggested that the double bass is so-called because its original role in church and instrumental music was to double the bass line. The instrument dates from the first half of the 16th century. During its career it has been made in many different sizes and the number of strings has varied from three to six. At first it was played exclusively in church where it doubled the 16 foot pipe of the organ, to marvellous effect, it is said. Then in the 17th century it was introduced to theatre orchestras. By the 18th century the Paris Opera could boast of one which, according to one source, played only on Fridays, the day of the most important social gathering of the week.

It was a performer rather than a composer who liberated the bass from its doubling, the charming and eccentric virtuoso Domenico Dragonetti (1755-1846) who, on his death bed, ‘held out his great hand covered with callosities and unnaturally spread from constant playing and said with emotion ‘This is the hand which Beethoven our great friend . . . bade me press’ (Grove). Not only was Dragonetti a friend of Beethoven, but of Haydn also, and such was the span of his life that he was also heard and admired by Berlioz. During his lifetime therefore Dragonetti was involved in playing most of the new, exposed and important orchestral passages that were written for the liberated instrument. Dragonetti’s instrument, like those of other virtuosi, was smaller and more manageable than that of modern orchestral players.

The composer and conductor Bottesini (1821-89) was known as the greatest player of all time and the conductor Koussevitsky (1876-1951) was also a brilliant performer. In our day the composer Oliver Knussen first made his name as a bassist. Today’s best-known protagonist of the double bass as a solo instrument is Gary Karr, who plays an instrument which once belonged to Koussevitsky.

Two names from popular music might also be mentioned: Jimmy Blanton, who played with Duke Ellington until his early death from tuberculosis, revolutionized the playing of the instrument with his technique and delicacy he could make the whole band sound as though it were walking on tip-toe. And Charlie Mingus, who died in 1979, was second to none in his mastery of his instrument.

Technique

Unnaturally spread hands covered with ‘callosities’ seem likely to be the reward for a life-time of playing an instrument as heavily strung as the bass. It is a tiring instrument to play and scores will generally be found to contain bursts of energetic activity interspersed with rests or less tiring passages. Sometimes long, rapid passages are shared between firsts and seconds for ease of execution, and to prevent bassists having to fudge their way through passages they find too difficult.

As with the other bowed string instruments two types of harmonics can be produced. These are natural harmonics produced when the open string is lightly touched, and artificial when produced from a stopped string. The former sound well from the bass but the latter do not and are rarely if ever used. The mute is also rarely used as it stifles the timbre in a way that composers find not particularly useful. Pizzicato on the other hand has a noble and resonant sound and is much used. All the bowings used on the other stringed instruments are possible but cannot be executed with as much agility because some effort is needed to overcome the inertia of a heavy string; it is slow to `speak.’

Repertoire

When Dragonetti was trying out a bass by Gasparo de Salo (1540-1609), the greatest of all bass makers and a contemporary of Amati (c. 1511-1579), he was staying in a monastery. On the midnight the poor monks were awakened by the sound of a terrible storm — imitated on the bass by Dragonetti. This incident is a reminder of the celebrated passage in the fourth movement of Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ Symphony in which the bass imitates the rumblings of the approaching storm.

In Haydn’s Creation the bass becomes a whale, and in Saint-Saens `Carnival of the Animals’ it takes the part of an elephant. But its more serious contributions in works by Mahler, Stravinsky and Strauss demand considerable agility. Double bass solos are very rare, but can be heard in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Schélzérazade, Mahler’s Fourth Symphony and Copland’s Four Dance Episodes from the ballet Rodeo, as well as in Ravel’s L’Enfiint et les Sortilèges, where it is heard unaccompanied. Among the most familiar and impressive passages for double bass is that in the Scherzo of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, where the basses burst forth with a vigorous theme. Brahms’ First Symphony is also rich in writing for the bass, especially the famous pizzicatto passages in the last movement.

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dodoMusic Equipments, Popular Music, String Instruments, Violin15 Jul, 2008