(orchestra plays Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique)
My name is Michael Fuller,
and I'm a member of the Philharmonia Orchestra
double bass section.
The double bass is the largest,
and the lowest,
of all the string instruments.
It's made of wood and has four strings.
The bass is also unique,
in it has its origins not only from the violin family,
but also from the viola da gamba family,
which was used primarily during
the Renaissance and Baroque era.
This hybrid history expresses itself in many ways,
and also makes the double bass fascinating,
in that it is the least uniform and standardised
of all the string family.
Basses have had different shapes,
sizes, bows, tunings,
and numbers of strings throughout the instrument's history.
This bass has four strings, and they are
E,
(plays E note)
A,
(plays A note)
D,
(plays D note)
and G.
(plays G note)
The bass is tuned in intervals of fourths,
which is unlike the violin, viola and cello,
which are tuned in fifths.
This tuning comes from the gamba family,
and is also the same as the
four bottoms strings of the guitar,
only an octave lower.
In addition to that,
this up here is called an extension,
which allows the bass to go down to a low C.
(plays a low C)
That's a full octave below the lowest note of a cello.
Some basses, instead of an extension,
have a lower fifth string, to reach the bottom notes,
and in centuries past,
even three string basses were common.
Another unusual thing about the bass,
is that two different types of bows
are used by players around the world.
This type I have here is known as the French bow,
and it is held with an overhand grip.
This is like the rest of the violin family.
But there are also many players
who use what's called the German bow,
which is held underhand,
and has its origins, again, from the gamba family.
As you might imagine from the names,
these bows have certain connections
historically with different countries.
The German bow is the dominant bow grip used
by players in Germany, Austria,
and many places in Eastern Europe,
while the French bow has been historically
more common in places like France,
the Netherlands, and Great Britain, although these days,
there are many fine French and German bow players in the UK.
Also in America, it's mixed,
with the big French and German bow schools of playing,
and I'm told that in Russia,
if you study in Saint Petersburg,
you'll play German bow,
and in Moscow, you're likely to play French.
The double bass in the orchestra is played arco,
with the bow...
(plays a scale)
And pizzicato, plucking the strings like this...
(plays a scale)
Here's a passage from Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique",
where the phrase first appears as arco,
and then shortly after as pizz.
(plays Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique")
Pizzicato reminds us that the bass is also
used in genres such as jazz and bluegrass,
it's the same instrument,
only the setup might be a little different
depending on the style,
like, for example, using different types of strings.
Sometimes people ask me
"Why is it called the double bass?"
In fact, this same instrument has many different names.
It's also known as the contrabass,
the upright bass, the acoustic bass,
the string bass, and my personal favourite,
the bull fiddle.
They're all names for the same instrument.
There are even different theories about
how the term double bass came about.
Some scholars say it's because in the Baroque era,
we would literally double the left hand of
the keyboard instrument,
and an octave below the cello when we play together.
But some say it's called a double bass
simply because it's roughly twice the size of a cello.
Another thing people always ask me is
"Don't you get tired of hauling that thing around?"
And the answer is, well,
one of the nice things about having a job
in an orchestra like the Philharmonia is
that we get to put our basses away in hardshell cases,
they're different colours so we can tell whose is whose,
and then our excellent transport department
takes them wherever we need to go.
But I have certainly hauled my bass around quite a bit,
especially when I was studying in New York,
and I would take it on the subway all the time.
That is one thing I do not miss!
What is the bass's role in the orchestra?
The bass primarily provides a rhythmic
and harmonic foundation.
It's the fundamental tone that
the rest of the music is built on top of,
and a good double bass section can
propel the music forward,
ground it rhythmically,
and make the whole orchestra sound richer,
warmer, and more resonant.
How do composers use the double bass?
Well, going back to this idea of
doubling the cello an octave lower, you'll find,
in classical symphonies by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven,
that the cello and bass part are often almost identical.
As we move into the 19th century and beyond,
composers start to use the bass in a
more individually expressive way.
One of the greatest bass excerpts is
from Verdi's opera "Otello".
In this passage,
Verdi has written for the bass section
completely on its own,
and uses it in a pivotal moment in the opera.
Otello has become convinced that his wife
has been unfaithful to him,
and as we play, he resolves to do the unthinkable.
I believe Verdi uses the bass here to express the deepest,
darkest emotions that Otello is experiencing,
and that he felt that the sonority
of the double bass was the best way to evoke this.
(plays excerpt from Verdi's "Otello")
- If you've enjoyed learning about
the instruments in the orchestra,
why not try our iPad app, The Orchestra,
featuring Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra.
Fully interactive video playback
lets you view the orchestra from all angles,
and the revolutionary BeatMap shows you
who is playing when.
(orchestra plays Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique)
Follow along with synchronised scores,
hear the inside scoop in audio commentaries,
and get a 360 degree view of all the instruments.
Available for download in the App Store on iTunes.