Tuning in fifths

[Johnny Layton]

I tried it for a couple of weeks...loved it, loved the sound, loved the range...gave up because I just couldn't work out the flat keys...then tried it again for a couple of months...loved it, loved the sound, loved the range...and gave up again for the same reasons.

I am still a big Silvio Dalla Torre fan with the 4 finger technique and all, and even that didn't help me much...it's just too fatiguing for me in the lowest positions and so I end up doing Simandl fingerings there most of the time. Call me a wimp.

Maybe I get a second bass someday and have it set up for 5ths tuning again.

I'd bet that Red Mitchell and Joel Quarrington would be monster players regardless of the tuning, but yeah they sure do make 5ths tuning sound sweet!

[Daniel Yeabsley]

There's a great chapter on Red Mitchell in the Gene Lees book "Cats of any color".

Gene talks to Red who really goes into detail on the 5ths thing. He also tells some great stories about Whitey.

BTW that book "Cats of any color" is about racism (against black and whites) in jazz, and contains a chapter about Wynton Marsalis and Stanley Crouch that really opened my eyes on 'reverse' racism, and how jazz should be a universal music.