Blog and News!
Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer
I know Christmas just ended, but I didn’t get around to posting this until now. These guys were a lot of fun and really talented. Also, hey, as of today, there are only 348 shopping days until Christmas.
Merry Christmas World
Christmas Concert
DB-10 Playing Your First Notes on the Bass
Watch The Video Lesson
This is lesson DB-10 Playing Your First Notes on the Bass, and is a continuation of my journal of things I have learned as a beginning adult double bass student. See the video for a few pointers about beginning to play your first notes. Be sure to check out my Double Bass Lessons page for a complete list of all of my lessons!
For making progress in orchestral playing I am using the big “orange” Simandl bass method book and a book of bowing techniques called, “Mastering the Bow”. (I’ll talk more about jazz, blues and pop playing later.)
You can find both books on Amazon, or probably at your local music store.
F. Simandl, “New Method for the Double Bass”, published by Carl Fischer
Here is what Wikipedia has to say about Franz Simandl:
Franz Simandl (August 1, 1840 – December 15, 1912) was a double-bassist and pedagogue most remembered for his book New Method for the Double Bass, known as the Simandl book, which is to this day used as a standard study of double bass technique and hand positions.[1]
His approach uses the first, second, and fourth fingers of the left hand (the third and fourth operating together as one digit) for stopping the strings in the lower register of the instrument and divides the fingerboard into various positions.
The bowing book is called, Mastering the Bow, Studies for Bass, by Gaelen McCormick, published by Carl Fischer.
Much of what I present will be drawn from these books and I think having this grounding in technic and theory will pay off when you play pop/jazz/blues.
- For this lesson, I am looking at page 6 in the Simandl book.
- For now play using full bow strokes.
- These are the symbols for down bow and up bow.
- Bow position on strings:
- Keep bow parallel to bridge and edge of fingerboard. Tip the bow slightly towards you as you play.
- Practice with a metronome.
DB-9 How to Hold the Bow
Watch The Video Lesson
This is lesson DB-9, How to Hold the Bow, and is a continuation of my journal of things I have learned as a beginning adult double bass student. See the video for a few pointers about holding the bass bow. This is for the French bow. Be sure to check out my Double Bass Lessons page for a complete list of all of my lessons!
Spooky is Out!
Just in time for Halloween….you can play my version of Spooky at your party or as background music as you open the door for Trick or Treaters.
You can download your copy at CD Baby by clicking this link. Also here is the video. Or you can watch it on YouTube.
This is my instrumental version of Spooky…..arranged, performed (Yes, that’s me playing electric guitar, string bass, keyboard and synthesizer.) and recorded by me. Spooky was a billboard hit for the group Classics IV in 1968 and then again in the late 1970s for the Atlanta Rhythm Section (ARS). Spooky however, was originally composed by Mike Sharpe (Shapiro) and recorded as a saxophone jazz instrumental.
Per Wikipedia, “Mike composed the tune along with help from Harry Middlebrooks and recorded the song at Liberty Records. The Mike Sharpe version of Spooky peaked at #57 on the Billboard Pop Hot 100, which was pretty good for a Jazz group. The Classics IV version of the song added lyrics which we all associate with the song and as a single it peaked at # 3 in the US as a pop single.
In 1979 ARS covered the song and released it on “Underdog”, and according to the album’s entry on Wikipedia, “The album contained two songs which reached the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
LYRICS
In the cool of the evening when ev’rything is gettin’ kind of groovy,
I call you up and ask you if you want to go and meet and see a movie,
First you say no, you’ve got some plans for the night,
And then you stop, and say, “All right.”
Love is kinda crazy with a spooky little girl like you.
You always keep me guessin’, I never seem to know what you are thinkin’.
And if a fella looks at you, it’s for sure your little eye will be a-winkin’.
I get confused, ’cause I don’t know where I stand,
And then you smile, and hold my hand.
Love is kinda crazy with a spooky little girl like you.
Spooky!
If you decide someday to stop this little game that you are playin’,
I’m gonna tell you all what my heart’s been a-dyin’ to be sayin’.
Just like a ghost, you’ve been a-hauntin’ my dreams,
So I’ll propose… on Halloween.
Love is kinda crazy with a spooky little girl like you.
Spooky,
Spooky,
Spooky,
Oh-whoa, all right,
I said Spooky!