Week 1
Description:
The fact is, there’s really no way around the necessity of shifting when it comes to playing the double bass. Left to only one hand position, we can barely cover a one-octave scale in a very select number of keys (F-major, B-flat major, G-major… and that might be it!)
Come join in on this Two-Week-Intensive (TWI) with Travis Harrison and learn some new ways to use scale practice to connect your shifting in ways that are applicable to our every-day bass playing and our standard repertoire. In this TWI we will look at a few different ways of practicing scales; explore the power of practicing different fingerings; and look at ideas like using long-tone scales and scale progression exercises to enhance your double bass playing.
How it works:
For this TWI, we will be organized into 2 groups depending on your comfort level of playing scales:
Group 1: two-octave scales
Group 2: three-octave scales
Please sign up for the group you feel most comfortable playing in.
Once the TWI starts, you can expect the following: you will receive a PDF with several different exercises focussed towards your journey with scales.
- Watch the assignment video by Travis Harrison, and download the PDF booklet through the Double Bass TWI Forum
- Work on the scale routine and post a text, audio, or video twice:
- once at the end of week 1 (around October 11);
- and again by October 17
- Help others improve and comment on each other’s submissions with a helpful advice; as well as curated feedback from Travis, who will be monitoring the TWI discussion thread.
- Optionally check in with a Zoom Call during the 2nd week (October 15 at 6:00pm Eastern Time) - sign-up for this is required for the Zoom link.
Timeline:
- Sign-Up : Oct 2 - 6
- Course Period: Oct 7 - 18
- Optional check-In via Zoom: Oct 15 6pm ET
Assignments:
Workbook: TWI 2 - WB - Level-up your scales - Travis Harrison
Assignment Video Week 1: https://youtu.be/QN4LflvFpuI
16 replies
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The idea to use the third finger on the G of the E string, is it lso motivate by the fact that in this way we can play F F# and G using 1st 2nd and 3rd finger? Or is this configuration rather not reccomandable?
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Hi all, just checking in here and hoping everything is going smoothly so far.
Any questions or comments? Send them my way! If you're worried about using the forums, no problem - you can contact me directly by replying to the TWI email I sent out - though the forum here is a great place to also possibly get feedback from your colleagues here! -
Hi all! Here is my first attempt to play through these scale fingerings.
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Hello !
Here is my first video with 4 different fingerings (not the same as you Travis but I took inspiration from some of yours).
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Really excelllent , I'm happy to provide some inspiration! Those fingerings I presented can work well on some basses, but not on others - the important thing is that you practise different options and do ones that sound good on your instrument, and that you enjoy playing! So I really admire these, and think it's a great start - now curious to see how they fit in with the next set of scale study exercises. Great job!
Curious - did you practise these with a drone? It could be a nice thing for feeling the "gravitational pull" of the key and centering pitch (I'm again being very picky - but there's not much to find issue with your performance here!)
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Hey, I haven't been able to record my self playing the scales until yesterday. I will do it very soon :)