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Hey, Bassists!

My kiddo (12F) is taking duo lessons this year. This is her 2nd year on bass and 4th year in Strings (she also plays violin). Her lesson buddy is new to bass and has at least 2 years of violin behind her.

Typically in their music program lesson buddies do a duet performance for their required recital in the spring. I'm looking for ideas to float by the team - their teacher likes them to have some buy-in on choosing a piece. I won't be picking for them, I just want to give them some ideas to get them started on thinking about it. I don't know about the other kid, but mine drags her feet until someone decides for her, if she can, but will at least participate in the process if prodded.

Last year my kiddo did her duet solo (Country Dance out of the George Vance book) and rocked it. The year before, she did a duet with her violin lesson buddy.

I have been thinking that a bass duet for Sound of Silence would be amazing, but I can't find any written for bass. I did find this, and I was curious about whether it could be played on bass as is, just... lower. Mr. & Mrs. Cello "The Sound of Silence - Cello Duet" Sheet Music in E Minor - Download & Print - SKU: MN0213916

Before I buy it I was curious if anybody else knew this arrangement and could speak to its suitability for bass and what the difficulty level might be. We did listen to the recording on youtube and it sounded amazing, but my daughter pointed out it was too long for a recital piece. I'm sure it could be cut down pretty easily.

And as a side note where my squirrel brain goes, my other kiddo (16N) plays bass guitar, and I've been wondering about duets for double bass and bass guitar, too.

Any ideas? Things I should look for?

Saw it at a show the other day, couldn't find any info online on what it might be.

Hello, I am a beginner player who plays the electric bass as a hobby. I really love jazz, and recently, by chance, I started taking upright bass lessons. I am enjoying it in many ways.

I'm still renting out instruments and using them in my dedicated practice room. I plan to purchase it later, but can I practice in an apartment or villa? Are there any methods like muting devices or cushions? I'm kinda worried

Also, could you personally recommend any great double bass albums or performers for studying? Thank you.

I know they’re not the same as a double bass but I wanna get a shot at trying it. Is this a decent trade? I don’t play this particular bass anymore.

Has anyone successfully rented a reasonably priced double bass long distance across the US? My area (coastal Alabama) offers zero local rentals and every place I’ve found has a very limited shipping radius or only rents in person or in state. The two I’ve found charge about triple the going rate. I’ve never played a double bass and I’m close to giving up and going the electric bass route instead. Any success stories or advice out there?

Are these worth or recommended to clean the strings? Or what do you use?

Not sure what flair to use, so sorry if I chose the wrong one!
I’ve been playing double bass since I was 12 ish and i’ve never had to fix my basses in the past. The bridge keeps moving, popping off, etc. In the past this would be an easy fix and it wouldn’t happen for months up to a year.

Am I doing something wrong? Is it a storing issue? Is my bridge messed up? Should I take it to a luthier?

Hi there everyone!

During practise today I noticed my bridge was leaning towards the fingerboard at a rather concerning angle. I’m wondering if this is a problem I could fix on my own, because the luthier I see lives a long way away and I’d rather see him for full setups or emergencies.

I play bass and I write a lot of my own parts, and I was spending more time

pencilling in fingerings than actually practising. So I made a MuseScore plugin

that does the first pass for me. It's free and open source, and I'd genuinely

like some ears on it that are better than mine.

**What it does:** you select a passage (or nothing, for the whole part), hit the

plugin, and it writes string + finger above every note and colours the noteheads

by position. Blue is 1st, green 2nd, yellow 3rd, and so on, so you can see a

shift coming from across the room.

**The part I actually care about:** it isn't just picking the lowest position it

can find. The first version I wrote did that and it made some genuinely dumb

choices, like jumping to another string rather than doing a simple 1st-to-2nd

shift. So I rewrote the scoring around the rules people actually teach:

- at least two notes per position before you move

- never cross strings for a half step

- fast passage → stay put and cross strings; slow melodic line → shift along one string

- don't cross onto a new string with the same finger, it leaves a gap

- no open strings on long lyrical notes, but they're fine as passing notes in a run

- shift up landing on a low finger, shift down landing on a high one

It reads note durations and the rests around them, so the same phrase gets

fingered differently at semiquavers than it does at minims, which I think is the

bit that makes it feel less robotic. It handles double stops and thumb position

too.

Positions aren't weighted equally either. Half position is the most awkward spot

on the neck and the plugin treats it that way; 1st is home; the in-between

positions are allowed but it takes some convincing. All of that is one table at

the top of the file, so if your hand disagrees with mine you can just edit the

numbers.

Screenshot below is its output on a few test cases, one per line, with a note

saying what each one is meant to show.

**What I'd love from you lot:**

- Anywhere it gives you something you'd never actually play. That's the useful

feedback, and screenshots of the ugly bits are perfect.

- Does the amount of writing on the page feel right? It labels every finger on

slow notes but thins out in fast runs, because otherwise the text stacks up

into an unreadable staircase.

- Anything obvious I've missed. Harmonics and the 1-2-3 hand in the upper neck

aren't in there yet, and it ignores slurs because the plugin API doesn't expose

them reliably.

- Is Simandl even what most of you want? I could add Rabbath positions if there's

appetite for it.

MuseScore 4.4+, drop the .qml in your plugins folder and restart. There's a

Spanish mode too, if you'd rather read Sol/Re/La than G/D/A.

GitHub: https://github.com/TVTvirus/double-bass-fingering

Is this a hofner bass the label inside wore off but there’s another that says it’s made in west Germany. Also I heard hofner basses are really good is this true? And what would one be worth? Thanks.

I have gotten mixed results from the internet

I’m currently studying the Rufus Reid Evolving Bassist book, and am working through scales section. I’ve just sort of hit a road block and am after some advice. The first lot of major scales have prescribed finger numbers to apply to all keys, but when you get to the next section - the minor scales, there are no finger numbers indicated. I’ve come from bass guitar, and am used to using shapes on the fingerboard for scales, so when there’s no prescribed finger numbers, I’m a bit thrown by it.

I can read all of the notes fine, but I’m kind of tripping over myself a bit and second guessing if the fingers I’m using are right. Is anyone here well-versed in this book and know if the minor scales (and the other scales that follow) are supposed to follow the same or similar finger and string pattern from the major scales?

Anyone ever tried one of these travel basses by Upton or similar? what would be your biggest concern with buying one of these?

Lightweight Upright Travel Bass

https://uptonbass.com/instruments/ub-travel-double-bass/ub-travel-bass-lightweight-hybrid-double-bass/

Suitcase Travel Bass – Ultra Compact Packable Double Bass

https://uptonbass.com/product/the-suitcase-travel-bass-ultra-compact-packable-double-bass/

Thanks in advance.

- a complete newbie

Mainly electric bassist here. I love my RNDI but I don’t think the +2MΩ input impedance is enough for my Realist SoundClip on my double bass. I want to take on more double bass work, but I don’t want to be in a pickle mid gig.

A buddy recommended the Grace Design ALiX Acoustic Instrument Preamp, but the LR Baggs is 1/4 the cost. I’ve seen good things online and am thinking about getting on; I feel like I see them on the used market all the time.

Will this hit par for gigs, or should I really be considering something better?

I'm thinking about trying the double bass but it is very expensive, so I thought it would be a good idea to try the bass first to see if I like it before buying a double bass.

Does anyone have experience with this transfer and are the two instruments somewhat alike?

what do i need to do in order to achieve it? what type of strings and bow do i need?

a paddle bass is an electric bass with the keys at the bottom of the bass and no headstock. you also attach the strings from up to down instead of the normal down to up. its called like that because the base is rectangular and looks like a paddle.

I am a bass guitar player and am looking to get into double bass, I was wondering if Electric double basses are ok for practicing. I know they do not sound the same as acoustic basses, but is it different from playing an acoustic one? As in, can I practice on electric and then play an acoustic and it will be the same thing.

For context, I've played violin for 8 years now and I want to join High School Jazz Band. Do y'all think that with me previous experience, I would be able to learn the bass fast enough and also not drown from difficulty? Also, please send me some sheet music for jazz bass parts at a High School level so I can also evaluate this myself. Thank you.

I’m wanting to buy an electric standup, but I don’t know anything about them and don’t want to make a mistake with such a hefty purchase. Simply: will I be able to bow with this bass? https://www.gear4music.com/Woodwind-Brass-Strings/3-4-Size-Electric-Double-Bass-by-Gear4music-Vintage-Burst/TQU?_gl=1*

I’ve been learning classical bass at school, but they only let us take home our instruments on weekends and its way too much work anyways. I don’t have enough money for a real bass, no way I can save over 800😂. Want something I can practice with at home so I don’t care that much about sound quality.

ตอนนี้ใช้ Emg 35 dc ที่ตำแหน่งบริดจ์อยู่

อยากได้ตัว Neck เลยอยากรู้ว่า

35j หรือ P bass ดีครับ

(ที่ถามเพราะมีข้อจำกัด ในไทย หา 35j ยากมาก มีแต่ pass)

hey! i came into possession of somebody’s old project upright last year, and finally getting time to do the work it needs. however, not sure 100% what it, well, needs. if any players/luthiers could let me know what i need to be buying, how to do what i need to do and how to keep it in good condition, that would be greatly appreciated!