JIMMI ROGER PEDERSEN SCANDINAVIAN DouBLe Bass ‘TECHNIQUE Lert Hanp I 2. EDITIONSCANDINAVIAN DouBLE Bass TECHNIQUE Proof reading: David Beecroft and Soren Guldbrandsen Original Title: Skandinavisk Kontrabasteknik 2. edition Copyright (©) J. R. Pedersens Forlag Author: Jimmi Roger Pedersen Cover photo: Vagn Guldbrandsen Print: Scandinavian Digital Printing A/S ISBN 978-87-91618-11-6 PUBLICATIONS Right Hand I (DE, DK and EN) Left Hand I (DE, DK and EN) Left Hand II (DE, DK and EN) Left Hand III (DE, DK and EN) J. R. PEDERSENS FoRLAG Kervej 1 Hollose DK-4700 Nastved Tel: +45 55 450153 Mob.: +45 41 41 55 45 E-mail: post@jrpedersen.dk E-si : www jrpedersen.dk.PREFACE There is no music without technique - and no technique without music! These booklets will give you a thorough technical training in the Scandinavian double bass technique, both for the left and the right hand. ‘The exercises develop systematically - beginning simply and developing rapidly in their complexity. As such the booklets are beneficial for both beginning and advanced bassists who want to change their technique or just wish to widen their horizons. My own technique as a bass player (and also the content of these booklets) is built upon methods Thave developed, and experiences I have had. In saying that, it should be pointed out that a large part of my technical foundation was acquired at the new Rytmisk Musikkonservatorium in Copenhagen/ Frederiksberg while I was under the tutelage of the world famous Danish bassist, Nicls Henning Qrsted Pedersen. The booklets are not meant to be the “be all, end all” bass method. Their purpose is to be a supplement to other excellent schools of bass playing. You can be sure that the technique you will learn here will not be suitable co all musical situations. I believe that it is important to know many different methods of playing in order to honour the various musical styles that one may encounter. Sometimes, when I sce and hear bassists, it scems that they do not have the technical ability to express their musical ideas. For this there can be two important explanations: Either the technical level of the bassist is simply not high enough, or the musical ideas are too complex to be executed on their instrument with the technique available to them. No matter what playing level you find yourself at, there will be musical ideas that are difficult to play due either to the limitations of the instrument or to a lack of appropriate technique. It will be quite a lot of work for you to find the balance between your musical ideas and your technique Learn to appreciate the difference between a “personal approach” to technical difficulties with the instrument (or the music) and the application of useless or bad habits. Here you will have to be open, honest and vigilant with yourself. Many of the exercises in the booklets can be used as warm up exercises. The exercises should not be played any faster than your body or your musical imagination can follow. It is understood that playing the exercises should never cause physical pain, I is a good idea to go back and reread the introductory text at the beginning of the chapter you are working on. Your understanding of what you are working on will decpen as you master the exercise, What you thought the text meant will change as you get the exercise under your fingers. Only after gaining a degree of masters over a specific technique, you will be able to judge whether it is useful to you. However, it is fundamentally important to focus upon the music above your technique. Immediately it can be much easier to work on your technique than the music. To work artistically on music tends to be a painful experience for the soul but nevertheless it always brings up a few good moments. No techniques are wrong - they just sound different!TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction.. Imagine this situation... Contents ofthis booklet. Exercises. ‘Thumb Position... “Three or four fingers. Primary and Secondary Shifts. Definition of Shifts in Main and Thumb Position. ‘Characteristics in Main Position. ‘Characteristics in Thumb Position. Schematic Overview of Shifts in Main and Thumb Position. Explanation of Symbols... A major construction. Exercises 1-45. A major in one octave. Exercises 1-11 Exercises 17-80.SCANDINAVIAN DOUBLE BASS TECHNIQUE - LEFT HAND I INTRODUCTION IMAGINE THIS SITUATION ‘A figure or phrase in the music, which is composed of larger or smaller intervals, is approaching quickly. In the very next moment, you will have to make decisions about the way you want to use your left hand - decisions such as: + Should you begin the phrase in Main or Thumb Position? (See chapter: Left Hand) + On which string should you begin and where should you eventually cross to another string? + How well does the rhythm fit to the Primary and Secondary Shift? (Sce chapter: Primary and Secondary Shift) + Which finger on the left hand should play the first note? + Which open strings could eventually be used to give you time to move your left hand? + Arc there tones or sounds that prefer certian fingers? These questions can not be thought about and answered while playing but many of these questions can be considered, prepared for and practiced before hand. It goes without saying that the more situations you are prepared for in advancc, the better off you will be when the moment makes its demands. CONTENTS OF THIS BOOKLET This booklet will deepen your understanding of only a small portion of the possibilities available for the left hand. If you wish to have a more complete picture of the possibilities available to the left hand, you will have to count on learning other schools of bass playing or at least working through the additional books in this series. One of the basic precepts of this booklet is that the difference between a primary and secondary shift is audible or at least psychologically understood. Beyond that, it is the intention of the exercises in this booklet to impart the ability to choose any finger to play a specific tone any time. This booklet; + Describes how the left hand moves and how the fingers can be used. The exercises are targeted towards solo development which also affects the role of the double bass as the fundament of the orchestra. + Takes you through exercises with the thumb under and over the fingerboard (main and thumb position), as well as the change between these two positions. All fingers on the left hand are used everywhere on the fingerboard, also in the lowest register of the instrument. The more traditional use of the left hand, where only three fingers (1-2-4 “closed hand”) are used to play in the low register, is expanded upon with this technique. Three fingers of the left hand are used when the situation allows saving energy. Four fingers (1-2-3-4 “open hand”) arc often used for chromatic passages and to avoid a primary shift Page 5 of 32 www jepedersen.dkSCANDINAVIAN DOUBLE BASS TECHNIQUE - LEFT HAND I EXERCISES Among other things, the intention of this booklet is to give you the possibility + to change finger if tones on the same string are changed. + to play two or more tones in the same Range. (Sce chapter: Primary and Secondary Shifts) + to complete playing a phrase in the same main or thumb position. The additional facility will make it possible for many to play with more case and flexibility, affording greater technical and, itis hoped, musical development on the bass. The exercises are designed to develop specific techniques and are therefore not always the clearest or most logical solutions. The fingcrings for the right hand have been left out so that you will not be overloaded or confused by too much information. (See booklet: Right Hand 1) RHYTHM. In addition to notes, music is perhaps even more concerned with rhythm. When you do not give enough attention to rhythmic awareness, you diminish the value of the notes you play. Here, the primary and secondary shifis can be used. ‘These shifts has a psychological as well as physical influence on the rhythmic perception of the player as well as the listener (in extreme situations such as playing a large interval on the same string, this effect would be lost). The primary and secondary shifts are tools used to structure phrasing and to help you keeping a methodical overview. Over time, this will become second nature and you will no longer be aware of it. Page 6 of 32 www jepedersen.dk