Encounter Double Bass

The largest member of the violin family, the double bass usually requires the player to stand or sit on a high stool. It is constructed a slightly rounded resonating wooden box with arched belly, flat back, sound-post, and "f-shaped" sound holes, The unfretted fingerboard rests on the neck, and has four or five strings strung across an arched bridge. It is tuned in fourths for easier finger stretches. The bow stick is concave, and bow hair is made from horsehair which is coated with sticky rosin. This assists the string to vibrate when stroked across the strings.

The double bass belongs to the most important family in the orchestra, the strings.

Sound is usually made by the string vibrating when the bow hair is drawn across the string. By 'stopping' the string with the fingertip the length of vibrating string is shortened, which produces a higher pitch. Stopped notes can be played with vibrato (rapid rocking of finger) producing greater intensity with slight pitch 'wobble'. Special sound effects are produced with Pizzicato, tremolo, harmonics, double stopping. To play the bass, the player stands or sits on a high stool.

Bass and tenor clef, sounding an octave lower than written.

The Elephant in Carnival of Animals - Saint-Saens.