Double Bass 101: 2 Strategies for Solving Intonation Issues
I was recently working in a sectional with a small group of middle school bass players at an honors ensemble rehearsal in my region. These students had a few years of experience, but were still at the beginning stages of their musical journey.With such little time to work with the students, it’s challenging to narrow down what to address in this type of teaching context. From our time together, a big issue that came up (and is a constant source of practice for all string players) was intonation. Each students ability to play in tune and their ability to play in tune with one another.
In the short amount of time I had with them I wanted to leave them with some, hopefully, helpful strategies they could use to develop their ears and connection to the bass. We talked about tuning troublesome pitch notes by using intervals and being aware of the natural resonance and depth of sound their instruments produce when played totally in tune.
Tuning by Intervals
First, we spoke about tuning a note from its relationship to another note. The students were working on a piece of music in the key of G. The students were having difficulty playing the low G on the E string. How did we solve this?
I had the students play the open G string and then the low G string. I showed them the relationship of an octave and had them practice matching the open G string to their closed G on the E string. Similarly, I showed them the relationship of a fifth from the open D string to the low G. We then practiced tuning from the relationship of a 5th.
To help young bassists work on intonation issues, encourage them to tune by using related intervals such as octaves and fifths.
Resonance and Overtones
String instruments resonate brilliantly when played in tune. This can be seen on a violin or viola, but is especially true on the cello and bass. When working with these students I tried to help them notice the resonance that happens when a note is played in tune. This resonance is from naturally occurring overtones that sound when a note is played (especially notes related to an open string).
Take our low G on the E string. I had the students play the note. I asked them to notice if the note they played had a clear, bright, resonance to it. Was the bass singing out? I asked them to play the note and look at their open G string and open D string. Was anything happening? The open G string will ring and vibrate in unison with the closed G string.
I always point out to students that they should be aiming to get their open G string vibrating. That low G should cause a wave of overtones. The open D string will sound and vibrate as will the open G string. The other pitches in the overtone series will sound as well. The open strings in the overtone series will be extremely noticeable. This exercise works well when trying to tune any note that is related to an open string.
How can we help young bass students play more in tune? Help them to be aware of the bright resonance a pitch contains as it is played on the bass.
Conclusion
If the bassists in your orchestra are struggling with intonation issues, perhaps these two ideas can help. Additionally, check out this article for more ideas on working on intonation and pitch issues.