‘Arm weight, contact point and bow speed’ - How to create a full sound with musical intention

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The following is an extract from the January 2020 issue Technique feature ‘Sound and Phrase’. To read the full article, click here

Pieces containing sustained melodies will help you to internalise the technical skills you need to produce a phrase: arm weight, contact point and bow speed with breathing and vibrato for a beautiful sound and sense of direction in example 1; calm, portamento-free shifts and legato bowing in example 2; and all of these in example 3 or any Bottesini work, which are so influenced by bel canto singing. To work on chords and scales in a musical context, try Rota (examples 4 and 5). Teppo Hauta-aho (example 6) will help you to practise creating a sense of phrase that runs throughout a movement. Other pieces that I would recommend include Dittersdorf’s Second Double Bass Concerto, which is great exercise for elegant string changes; the second movement of Bach’s Violin Concerto in E major BMV1042, which is very demanding for double bassists; and Bruch’s Kol nidrei, which requires great bow control. Finally, in Saint-Säens’s The Swan, you can use a calm legato to create a big, focused sound as you sail through the changes in register.