Instrument Exploration: Double Bass

INTRODUCE the double bass

The double bass (also called the string bass, or just bass) has the same basic shape as the violin, viola, and cello, it is just a lot bigger. It's about six feet tall, and bass players need to stand or sit on a special stool to play it. Because it's so big, it can make really low sounds. Bigger instruments make lower sounds.

LISTEN to the sound of the double bass

1. Watch and listen to double bass player Jason Wells tell you about his instrument.

2. When the composer Camille Saint-Saëns [kah-MEEL san-SAHN] decided to write a piece of music called ‘The Elephant,’ he chose the double bass to capture the spirit of that big and playful animal. Listen to the music while you look at some cute elephant pictures.

3. Like the other members of the string family, the strings of the double bass can be bowed or plucked. When the strings are plucked, it's called pizzicato. The double bass is often used in jazz music. In jazz, the pizzicato double bass sound is very common. Here is a well-known jazz song, ‘On the Sunny Side of the Street,’ played and sung by Esperanza Spalding and her band! (Look out for Spalding’s bass solo at the 2:49 mark!)

EXTEND learning about the double bass

Choose one or more activities to extend learning.

1. Watch Jason Wells play double bass as part of Class Notes ensemble Wood N’ Wind.

2. Here is one more example of pizzicato double bass – look/listen out for drumming on the bass, and for one player to use a bow partway through!

3. Write down or tell someone three things you learned about the double bass.