Hey, guys, it's Lauren with Discover Double Bass and today I wanted to talk about crossing
strings while in a slur.
Now that's a tricky thing to do smoothly, but I've got a couple methods I wanna show
you that'll help make that motion a little bit easier.
There are two keys to slurring across strings smoothly.
One has to do with the right hand and the other has to do with the left.
Let's talk about the right hand first.
So when you put your bow on the string, you're placing it on the balance point, the very
top of the string where you have an even amount of space between the string above it and the
string below.
So when you're crossing strings in all separate bows anyway, you're essentially aiming for
the balance point of the strings that you're playing on, right?
So if I'm playing between the D and the A string, I'm gonna play in the balance point
of the D string and it's only until I'm ready to play on the A string that I'll then adjust
my arm and my bow and play on the balance point of the A string.
And Usually, what I tell my students is when you're crossing strings in separate bows,
that you only want to make that transition and you only wanna go down to or up to the
balance point of the next string until it's time to play the next string.
That's what prevents you from playing two strings at once.
If you go over too soon, then you can hit another string, right?
So you wanna do that at the very last second essentially.
However, when you're slurring it's a little bit different because you don't have a separate
bow in a slur, you've just got one bow to make that transition.
There's no stop, which means you have less time to make that transition.
And if you don't prepare the bow or make it a bit quicker than you would normally, then
you're gonna have a jagged sound or a space in between the two notes or even a squeak.
So what I tell my students to do here is the exact opposite of what I told them to do in
separate bows and that is to prepare the bow.
So let's use that same example going between the D and A string.
You're gonna be playing on the balance point and then right as you're getting ready to
play on the A string, start to lower the arm and the bow so that you're getting as close
to the next string as you possibly can without touching it, so that when you're ready to
play it, you just have to make a tiny little motion.
This is what it looks like.
So what I'm doing is I'm pulling the bow on the balance point, lowering it ever so slightly,
I know it's difficult to see on the camera but preparing it.
Now it's getting closer and then when it's time to play, then it just makes a tiny little
motion.
And it's the same thing as you're going opposite, right?
So if you're going between the D and the G string, then you're just gonna lift your arm
ever so slightly.
Now you do have to be extra careful to not hit another string, but this makes that transition
so much smoother so that you eliminate the possibility of a space or a jagged kind of
sound or a scratch, anything like that.
The next aspect of this is in the left hand fingers.
One of the most common issues that we have when crossing strings in a slur, is that so
often we'll get a squeak or a scratch or a false kind of sound on the second note that
we go to or the second string that we go to.
And the reason for that is almost exclusively because the finger in the left hand isn't
pressed down all the way before the bow hits the string.
So let me show you an example.
I'm gonna go between these two strings, the A and the D string.
Now what happened here was that my first finger on the E wasn't pressed down all the way before
my bow actually hit the string.
I did it a little bit more exaggerated just so you could hear, but it only takes a millisecond.
And if your finger is even halfway pressed down, then that same thing can happen.
So really this is just a mental reminder to yourself to make sure that that finger is
firmly planted against the fingerboard before the bow hits the string.
And if I'm playing two notes, you know, back and forth like this, I can hold the fingers
down to make sure they're planted, but you can't do that all the time.
So if you're playing something like this, you just wanna make sure that you move that
finger over.
Just scooch it over as quickly as you can at least before the bow hits the string.
If you can see my finger moving really, really quickly before that last note.
Just make sure that it's pressed all the way down.
So the two keys here to transitioning between two different strings in a slur are, in the
right hand preparing the bow by moving to the balance point a little bit sooner
and then in the left hand, if you're playing something in the left hand and not open strings,
then make sure that that second note is pressed all the way down on the string before the
bow hits it.
So I hope that this helped.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment in the section below and I'll answer
you as soon as I possibly can.
Now if you've enjoyed this lesson and you would like to learn more from me, please check
out my full-length course all on bowing technique available exclusively on discoverdoublebass.com.
Thanks for watching.
See you next time.