Karr/Dimoff vomit exercise

[Matthew Heintz]

I recently downloaded Dimoff's warmups on doublebassblog.org. I was wondering if ya'll could explain how Karr and/or Dimoff do their "vomit" exercises. Specifically, Dimoff's exercises use various finger combinations 1-1, 2-1, 2-4 etc... But also 1-3 and 2-3. Does he use the third finger in the lower octave or is that only in the upper octave?

I only briefly saw Gary perform these exercises at a master class in 1994 or '95, and he was focused primarily on bow speed and placement. Faster bow, nearer the bridge on higher notes. Slower bow, further away from bridge on lower notes. Anything else that he emphasizes during these exercises?

Re the (unfortunate) description of the exercise: it comes from Gary himself or at least I personally heard him describe it as such on at least a couple occasions. I believe that it originates from Gary's class where he has a group of students performing the glissandos at the same time. You can also see the term used on Max's exercises and in his interview at doublebassblog.org (http://doublebassblog.org/). See http://doublebassblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/max-dimoff-warmups.pdf.

[Joel Larsson]

I played that exercise (but not as much as I should have) under a teacher who generally used 1-2-4 in the lower octave. He did nevertheless advocate playing with the third finger as well, during this exercise, point being that the more you know, the better you get. He even made me start with the 4 on low A.
Good and reasonable point or no, I must say I liked the man. He's almost bald and pretty wise.

[Matthew Heintz]

Thanks, Joel. Somehow I feel vaguely Italian when using the third finger in the lower octave. :) I've been working on the exercise a bit and I find that it has really helped my standing posture, particularly the glissandos down.

[Joel Larsson]

You're a standing player? I had a brief period when I wanted to start standing again, and that's when I played the vomit exercise. It's true that it helps you find a position that lets you access every inch of the fingerboard; when I try to stand I have great difficulty going from low to thumb positions and back. In the end, I sat back down again; it felt like it'd take ages to get as good while standing as I was sitting, like having to tread a too familiar path when you could explore the vast wilderness instead!

I felt that the exercise served its most obvious purpose of making huge left hand leaps seem less threatening, and it also made me more aware of the importance of the bow speed. It IS good for your overall sound! But I see what you mean about feeling Italian. Maybe it isn't so important playing third finger down low. ;)