The Bass in Fifths

[Jeff Moote]

Originally Posted by Johnny Layton

I think sometimes that it isn't so much a matter of convenience as a matter of habit...one starts to play in 4ths and can end one's professional career remaining so.

I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with playing the bass in EADG tuning.

I agree entirely! My point was not that we shouldn't tune in fourths, but that we shouldn't get sucked into that Simandl/play everything in the lowest position possible/etc system which is very limiting. This is independent of tuning, but fifths both forces you to be conscious of the left hand/requires facility, and also offers other things (contra C without an extension, favourable intonation for some people)