Playing the Upright Bass

Series Summary

The bass has a bit of a chip on its shoulder. Many people think that the least talented musician in a band is assigned to the bass. But fewer strings does not necessarily translate into less creative impact. While much of pop music has relatively simple bass lines, even the most basic of these lines are crucial to creating a solid rhythm section. In more progressive forms of rock music as well as in jazz, the bass maintains the timekeeping function while adding a subtlety and depth to a band’s sound nearly impossible to achieve with the more intrusive lead instruments. In funk and hip hop, the bass steps up to center stage, pounding home dancefloor rhythms. And in reggae the bass takes over, with the guitar keeping the beat as expansive bass runs dance all around it. The double bass is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument used in the modern symphony orchestra. In this free video series, a music teacher will show you how to play the double bass, or upright bass, with lessons on the parts of the double bass, how to hold the bass, and how to play with bows and fingers. Next, you'll learn about playing in different times, counting rests, playing spiccato, and playing staccato. With these beginner tips and techniques, you'll be on your way to standing upright and mastering the double bass.

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Don Rovero. I'm speaking to you today on behalf of Expert Village and we're going to be learning how to play the upright bass. If you enjoy music and want to play in a group with other people, the upright bass is a great choice. Once you learn a little of the basics, you'll find that you'll be able to accompany a lot of different kinds of music and get a lot of enjoyment out of it. In this series, we're going to learn about all the different parts of the bass, how to produce sound on the bass, using your fingers to play notes, using the bow to play notes, the two different kinds of bows for the bass. We'll learn all about playing the notes on the fingerboard with our left hand. All the different positions up and down the neck, so you'll be comfortable playing in a wide range. We'll also discuss some major and minor scales, learn some simple songs and chord progressions and a lot of other things that will just make it easy for you to get going in a group with other people. We'll talk about basic rhythms that are very common when you're playing different kind of music on the bass. And, again, we'll learn about playing scales with the open strings and with our fingers on the fingerboard. So, let's get started."