It's Called a WHAT?!

[Frederick Charlton]

‘Contrabass’, ‘Double Bass’ or just plain-old ‘Bass’

(An attempt to further confuse the issue)

By Frederick Charlton

English is the only language where ‘that big violin looking thing’ that one sees at the back-right in orchestras or in jazz bands and in many blue-grass groups, etc. is called by so many different names: ‘Bass’, ‘Double Bass’, ‘Contrabass’, ‘String Bass’, ‘Upright Bass’, ‘Stand-up Bass’, ‘Plucked Bass’, ‘Bowed Bass’, ‘Acoustic bass’, ‘Bass-fiddle’ ‘Bull-fiddle’, ‘Dog-house’, ‘Tree’, ‘Portable-bar’, and ‘That Big Violin Looking Thing’.
Well, I’m going to mostly talk about the three more commonly used terms: ‘Bass’, ‘Double Bass’ and ‘Contrabass’.
One thing to make perfectly clear is that in English the terms ‘double bass’ and ‘contrabass’ are synonyms (i.e. they mean the same thing). ‘Double bass’ is perhaps a little more British (in England they often call the contrabassoon the ‘double bassoon’). Where as the term ‘contrabass’ is more international (in many places on this planet you could say the word ‘contrabass’ -but pronounce it like ‘contra-boss’ to a six year old and he or she will know exactly what you’re talking about!). In other languages, the instrument I play has only one name (depending on the language) such as in Spanish it’s called ‘contrabajo, in Italian ‘contrabbasso’, in French ‘contrabasse’, (anyone notice a pattern?), in Portuguese ‘contrabaixo’, in Danish ‘kontrabas’, in German ‘Kontrabaß’, in Russian ‘с. Контрабас’ and in Chinese ‘作曲’ or 低音.
When looking at various bass blogs and forums on the internet, I’ve noticed some massive confusion about the term ‘double bass’. One thing that became apparent to me from the outset is the amount of people who just…make-up-stuff…without doing any research. The most outlandish falsehood spreading-around is that the word ‘double’ in ‘double bass’ is somehow a reference to its’ doubling another instrument in an orchestra. That is simply NOT true – never has been and never will be! Who ever started that rumor should not be shot, but perhaps grazed a little. It reminds me of comedian Steve Martin’s stand-up routine from a few decades ago when out-of-the-blue he suddenly says, “Always have REALLY strong opinions about things you know NOTHING about!” The term ‘double bass’ in this usage means an octave lower than the usual bass register (by the way, the term ‘double bass’ is also used in reference to a pop-drummer using two bass drums). And what is the usual bass register? It’s the range of a bass singer. Soprano, alto, tenor and bass are singer’s ranges. Violin, flute and oboe are considered soprano instruments because they mimic the range of a soprano singer. Viola and English horn have similar ranges to altos. Jumping to a bass singer’s range, although they both go lower than you would write for the basses in a choir, the bassoon and cello are considered bass instruments. But wait, the bassoon and cello are more than just bass instruments. You see, the ranges of singers are more limited than the range of most instruments. The range of singers is around one-and-a-half to two octaves. In able hands, the French horn can get all the way down to the third lowest note on the piano (low ‘B’). And there are players who can squeak-out an high ‘A’ (concert pitch) one ledger-line above the staff (treble clef). Folks, that’s a range of one-step shy of five octaves! So, classifying instruments as soprano, alto, tenor, bass or contra- (double) bass is an oversimplification. But I’m going to do just that anyway to expedite the point I am trying to make. The orchestral strings: Violin=soprano, viola=alto, cello=bass and ‘that big violin looking thing’=contrabass.
There is a misnomer in (mainly) the U.S. that the musical word ‘bass’ means the lowest of the registers (perhaps because it’s pronounced like base…I dunno). It is not the lowest. Contrabass is the lowest register in music. The prefix ‘contra’ usually means ‘an octave lower than’ but not always. The exception is with the saxophones. The contrabass sax is a fifth lower than the bass sax. In the clarinet family there are two instruments lower than the bass clarinet, the contra-alto (yes, it’s an octave lower than the alto clarinet) AND the contrabass clarinet.
Getting back to singers, a bass is a singer with a relatively low range – but not the lowest. There are many male singers that can sing well below the standard bass range. And they are called (as singers)…contrabasses. So, the violin, viola and cello are instruments with their own names, but the term ‘contrabass’ can mean ‘that big violin looking thing’ or a male singer with a very low range. In other words, the bowed contrabass doesn’t have its own name or, its name also means the register it in which it plays.
Before I go on, let me say that have I called my instrument a bass and I have called myself a bassist. But I also call my instrument a ‘contrabass’ or a ‘double bass’ (just to stir-up trouble).
The bottom-line is that in English, what many people call a ‘bass’ is NOT a bass instrument. It’s a CONTRABASS instrument! Bass-clef, bass instruments like the cello and bassoon, read at-pitch (lower members of the sax and clarinet families are considered bass or contrabass instruments but they are all transposing treble-clef instruments). Where as bass-clef, contrabass instruments – the contrabass and contrabassoon – are transposing instruments, they are written an octave higher than they sound – or – they sound an octave lower than they are written. By the way, the CC tuba is also considered a contrabass instrument but because the first tubas were smaller, higher pitched instruments, all tubas read at-pitch (which means that tuba players read parts that can go many ledger-lines beneath the staff).
In my life, way too often I have come across contrabassists who don’t realize that their instrument sounds an octave lower than written. If the double bass is not a transposing instrument, then the cello goes lower than the four string contrabass (without an extension). Does the cello go lower than the double bass?!

Epilogue

In researching and writing this article, I have made a life-altering decision: I will no longer be calling the instrument I play a ‘bass’ (I DO like ‘dog-house, bull-fiddle and tree, however). Why would you call an instrument a ‘bass’ when it’s not a bass instrument. Yes, in expert hands it can easily cover a bass singer’s register, but even a four string contrabass without an extension, can play down to a full octave below a bass’s range. That makes it a contrabass. While there does seem to be a penchant in American-English to shorten some words and phrases to their lowest-common-denominator, I think it is simply wrong to do so in this case. To shorten ‘contrabass’ to ‘bass’ is tantamount to shortening ‘contrabassoon’ to ‘bassoon’.
Now, while I will continue to love, support, participate and join contra- and double bass sites, clubs and organizations, I do wish they would call the instrument by the correct name (and some do). But as they say: ‘People in hell want ice water’.

Frederick Charlton is a solo

Contrabassist, composer/arranger

And a very opinionated guy

[Terry McDougal]

Frederick, I'm pleased you've got that off your chest.

[Nathan Parker]

Very nice. Interesting read.

I refer to myself as a "double-bassist" (it says so on my card), but that usually gets blank stares. I then concede to ignorance and say I play bass while pantomiming my hands going up and down the neck. At that point everyone understands, and I smile while crying on the inside.

[Frederick Charlton]

Thanks Terry - I do feel better now