Bass Learn More
Welcome to one of the most exciting of human achievements - playing the double bass! This instrument combines brain power and athleticism to master the giant instrument of musical expression.
The string bass comes in various sizes. The correct size for each student depends on the overall size of the student. Generally speaking, by the time students reach 8th or 9th grade, most will require a 3/4 size instrument which is also used by most adults. Before that age, students may use an instrument more your size.
Why are there different names for the bass?
The name 'double bass' refers to one of it's oldest uses 300 years ago - doubling the bass line of the church organ; which later became the foot pedals for. Eventually, organs were developed which have foot pedals. Upright bass comes from it's different direction compared to electric bass that is held horizontally. String bass to be different from tuba or sousaphone that also plays the bass line. Contrabass is to note that the range goes lower than cello or guitar.
ORIGIN
The bass plays a very important role in providing solid lower register support for the stringed instruments occupying the front of the orchestra. However, there is one aspect in which the contrabass differs significantly from the violin, viola, cello, and other stringed instruments. The contrabass was originally a relative of the viola da gamba, a completely different kind of stringed instrument. Instruments in the viola da gamba family were often in use until the second half of the 18th century. They differ from instruments in the violin family in that fingerboards are fretted and their bows are held differently when playing. The "violone," the largest instrument in the viola da gamba family, was responsible for playing in the lower register. It is also the instrument that the contrabass ultimately developed from.
A violone
The history of the contrabass
The contrabass was originally a member of the viola da gamba family, so the number of strings varied from three to six even after the turn of the 19th century, and there were many varieties of these instruments of roughly the same size as a cello. Modern instruments tend to have four or five strings tuned in fourths. When playing the contrabass, either a French bow or a German bow is used. French bows resemble violin bows and are gripped similarly, while German bows (used in Germany and Austria) developed from viola da gamba bows and are held with an underhanded grip.
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