Build Your Shifting Vocabulary

Wed Oct 16 at 2 PM - 3 PM EDT
Wed Oct 16 at 2 PM - 3 PM EDT
Event by Moderator
https://app.tonebase.co/bass/live/player/dbs-building-your-shifting-vocabulary

There is no way around it - the ability to shift successfully is necessary to be a double bassist! Join Travis Harrison as he discusses different kinds of shifts, the mechanics behind how they work, and presents some exercises to widen your vocabulary of shifts. Whether you want a vocal shift that imitates the voice, or a stealthy shift that is inaudible to the audience, this livestream will address this important topic for double bassists.

16 replies

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    • Benjamin_Clarke
    • 1 mth ago
    • Reported - view

    Small critique - the spoken instruction is much quieter than the bowed bass, and the room is very audio-reflective. Maybe having the mic closer to the instructor's voice would be helpful.  

      • Benjamin_Clarke
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       also - the audio is ahead of the video one second. Not a big deal but the movements of the hands don't match the audio, so kind of a bummer for grasping the shifting. 

      • Double Bass consultant, tonebase
      • Travis_Harrison
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       Sorry to hear the audio wasn't working well at your end Benjamin - I know technology can be frustrating! When folks have had this issue in the past, restarting or refreshing the player has often helped them. Either way, the video is archived on the tonebase site: on the left side-bar, look for Live Events -> Past Live Events -> Build Your Shifting Vocabulary. All our streams will end up there, though it often takes a few hours for our hosting site to process them properly after the stream ends. I just checked and this one is good to go, and from my end there are no audio sync issues, nor were there for during the live stream according to some colleagues who also attended the stream.

      As for the acoustic of the room, thank you for this feedback. I'll experiment some more with microphone placement and hopefully arrive at something a better for next time.

      • Benjamin_Clarke
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       Thanks for the reply. Actually I had started late, and was looking at a delayed transmission, I think. Later I noticed a prompt to switch to live, and that cause the time discrepancy to disappear. Nice clinic, btw! 

      • Double Bass consultant, tonebase
      • Travis_Harrison
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       Thank you! I'm very grateful for your comments anyways - always looking to improve things at my end!

    • Angus_Whyte
    • 1 mth ago
    • Reported - view

    Hi Travis!

    How would you do "Long Shift and Pivot" from the JQ book, but pizz?

      • Double Bass consultant, tonebase
      • Travis_Harrison
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       I'll assume you mean "Slow Shift and Pivot"? There are a number of ways to use that exercise, but at its most basic level, you're looking at the move between the 2nd and 3rd notes of each group of 5, both up and down. I'd just pizz each note, and make sure to keep the note sustained with the finger, especially through the shift - this will ensure you're not losing contact with the string - keep the sound going! 
      Give it a try and let me know how that works for you - I can always send a short video tomorrow or the next day if that helps.

      • Angus_Whyte
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       thanks for the reply - that makes sense. So do you slur between the 2nd and 3rd of each group of five? Or do you lift a little but stay in contact with the string? I guess this is also a question about executing the first exercise of "The Move" too. 

      • Double Bass consultant, tonebase
      • Travis_Harrison
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       When bowing I absolutely keep it slurred - that gives me a lot of information about how the left hand is moving; in real-life application, if I want the shift to be hidden, then yes, I'll lift contact out of the string as needed (basically portato). 

      • Angus_Whyte
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       thanks, this helps!

    • Bernard_Dionne
    • 1 mth ago
    • Reported - view

    Thanks for the workshop! 

      • Double Bass consultant, tonebase
      • Travis_Harrison
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

      thanks for dropping in for it!

    • Angus_Whyte
    • 1 mth ago
    • Reported - view

    I play fretless EB, but use the Canadian School of DB books.

    • Angus_Whyte
    • 1 mth ago
    • Reported - view

    Oops! Was watching on delay - still curious though!

    • Alex_Bayer
    • 1 mth ago
    • Reported - view

    I watched it later! Thanks for the great class! I'm a professional Jazz Bassist with quite some expertise in playing classical, but I always struggle with keeping the vibrato going while shifting (especially in thumb position) ... your vibrato and shifting sounds great Travis! Very inspiring... would love to find some content that really looks at the mechanics of vibrato+shifting super slow ;)

      • Double Bass consultant, tonebase
      • Travis_Harrison
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       Excellent! I've been planning a live stream and/or Two-Week Intensive on vibrato - please keep your eye out for that in November! In the meantime, there are some vibrato-centric lessons from Petru Iuga and Mikyung Sung that may be helpful; Joel Quarrington's Mechanical Exercises are all based around the idea of vibrato and are worth watching. 

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