my experiences in fifths.
Hi.
First, let me just say thanks to Matthew for your kind words about my playing a few weeks ago in Toronto.
I stumbled upon this thread doing the obligatory search for 'bass in fifths' that one does when one tunes ones bass in fifths. I just wanted to share some experiences with any interested parties about how it has worked for me.
I have been a double bass player for about eighteen years now. I mostly play improvised music, jazz, and some new music, but play the bass with the bow a good percentage of the time. I decided to experiment with fifths tuning about three years ago, mostly just to try it out and see if I like it. Lucky for me, I live in Toronto, and Joel Quarrington teaches here. I went to him for a few lessons, already having bought some appropriate strings and messing around at home in fifths for a while. After spending a few hours with him I was more intruiged than before, and decided to pursue it a little more seriously. Shortly thereafter, I got called to do a fairly prestigious teaching stint at the Banff Centre, which also afforded me the opportunity to play with Dave Douglas and Jeff Parker. I decided that I wasn't really ready to play in that situation in fifths, so switched back to fourths for a while for the sake of comfort. Then, I received a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to do some study, so I decided to take a few months off performing to seriously pursue the fifths with Joel.
Joel's method is very complete, and he even convinced me to switch from French bow to German, which I love. He is an incredible and very involved teacher. He has compiled a technique and a practice routine that is very different from what I was used to - I had studied mostly 'Simandl-style' technique up to that point. I worked through the first little bit of Joel's work-in-progress book with him at those lessons, and I really look forward to it being published.
After three months of study with Joel, I started playing gigs again, and had to really concentrate hard on every note while performing to make sure I wan't a tone or two off in either direction depending on the string I was playing. All of the old technical tricks I had accumulated over the years didn't work any more, and I was required to think a lot about simplicity and melody to attempt to sound good. I continued to study with Joel for about another three months, and used both the lessons and experience playing 'in the real world' to develop comfort in fifths. Thankfully, I continue to feel like I'm learning more every time I play, and every day continue to feel more comfortable.
I have two instruments that I play. One is an average-sized 3/4 German bass from the early 1900s, and the other is a New Standard Cleveland plywood bass with a removeable neck for travel (note : it is an incredible bass - plywood never sounded so good!). On my German bass, I have been using Obligato fifths-tuning strings since they came out a few years ago. I currently have it strung, though, as an experiment with Velvet fifths-tuning strings. The Obligatos are really great sounding strings, but tend to 'roll' with the bow, making it a challenge to play cleanly all the time, especially arco at fast tempos. They also tend to unwind at the bridge from time to time. The Velvet strings sound really amazing with the bow - very clean and crisp - and allow the bass to let the low end come out quite nicely. They are maybe not so good for jazz playing, though. They are a bit metallic sounding and don't quite have the body that the Obligatos do, so I will likely switch back to Obligatos soon. On the New Standard, I have an Obligato A string on the top, a Velvet Anima D and G (well, an A tuned down to a G) and an Obligato low C. This combination really sounds great on that bass. I know it's a bit strange to have different 'middle strings', but the obligato actually matches very well with the Anima both pizz and arco. I am constantly experimenting with strings, though, so my setup changes from time to time.
Now, to the difference in sound. I can only really comment on how fifths and fourths differ from one another on the German bass, as I have only recently acquired the New Standard, and only know it in fifths. In my experience, it's true what they say - playing in fifths does change the tone of the bass. It did, however, take a while. My hypothesis is that the bass has to 'get used' to the fifths before it can take advantage of them. Now, I may be wrong about that - it may in fact be the player that has to get used to it, but I'm sure both aspects affect the transition. I feel like my bass has 'opened up' in a beautiful way. The tone of it seems a bit brighter and more focused, and it 'rings' in a way that I never noticed in fourths (I played Obligatos in fourths as well, so I know that different strings aren't the reason for it...). Although my basses are either smallish or made of plywood, they both really sound great all the way down to the low C. Musicians I play with have also noticed the same things - I get a lot of comments on how loud and ‘open’ my basses sound.
Technically, the fifths have also opened a lot of things up in my playing. I can't really comment on being an orchestral bassist, although for my own enjoyment I play a lot of classical music at home. In response to some comments about tenths and octaves, all of those ‘shapes’ that we learn can be relearned and rethought. For example, an octave ‘shape’ in tenths is just a backwards octave ‘shape’ in fourths, with the first finger playing the higher note two strings over from the fourth finger playing the lower one. It does take some time to get used to these things. As for the shifting, fifths is more easily manipulated using pivots on the thumb, extensions and stretches, but isn’t too cumbersome to get used to. Certainly the left hand does ‘move’ more than in fourths, but not to the extent that it becomes a big problem.
Being a bassist who usually doesn’t play in a bass section, I can’t really comment on the question of acceptance by peers. My musical community here doesn’t seem to have any sort of problem with what I’ve done, and in the creative and improvised music scene, individuality and personal style are the things you strive for anyway. It also means, for better or worse, that ‘sitting in’ is a bit difficult in either direction - others on my bass or me on other basses.
So, there you have some thoughts. I don’t think fifths is for everyone, just the same as fourths isn’t for everyone. I really enjoy the sound and the feeling of playing in fifths, and for me it’s the right thing to do right now. If you have the ‘itch’ to try it and can afford the time to do it with some seriousness, I highly suggest it - even if it isn’t for you, it’s worth a try.
|