Home | Back Issues | Other Mel Bay Sites | Purchase Bass Products
Reading Gerald Veasley's Mail | Bass Bootcamp
Moving on Up (right) | "The Greatest Show on Earth"

Moving on Up (right)

Learning Upright Bass from a Bass Guitarist's Perspective

by Elizabeth White

This is intended to help people who play bass guitar learn upright bass, for times when an upright bass is needed. Whether you're switching genres or looking for a different sound, upright bass is a cool trick in your bag that can help you get more gigs.

Setup - You always need to check the endpin to make sure it puts the bass at the right height. The endpin on the bass should be out enough that the second knuckle of the right hand is even with the top of the bridge when the arm is straight and hanging down from the shoulder.

Playing position - You are going to be standing most of the time when playing upright bass. You should be in proper standing posture (feet shoulder width apart, spine relatively straight, and no slouching or leaning). The bass should lean forward just a little bit - this adds the weight of the bass when fingering the strings, meaning you don't have to squeeze as hard to get a clean tone. You can sit down on a tall stool; but when you do I would recommend readjusting the endpin to keep the bass at the correct height, keeping one foot on the ground, and maintain correct posture.

Left hand - The thumb of the left hand should be centered on the back of the neck and the fingers should arch over the strings. The elbow should be up, not quite level with your shoulder.

Right hand - the arm should be relaxed and almost straight, and the hand should rest on the strings about six inches up from the end of the fingerboard. Don't pluck the strings like you do an electric bass. If you pluck the strings with the tip of the fingers you won't get much volume and your tone will suffer. You need to keep your fingers parallel to the strings, which will increase the contact area - meaning you can pull a lot harder on the strings. The right hand should pluck the strings a few inches above the end of the fingerboard. It is easier to pluck it there, and if you start playing with a bow, it will keep your hand out of the rosin that deposits on the strings. The right hand should use a pinching motion to pluck the strings, pulling against the right thumb anchored on the side of the fingerboard. The thumb should be above the fingers so that when the hand closes the fingers curl up in the palm of the hand - you'll be able to pick harder.

Playing notes. This is where experience playing electric bass comes in handy. The strings are tuned to the same pitches so the notes are in the same places relative to each other, just farther apart. On a typical upright bass (called 3/4 size), the distance between notes is going to be about 25% greater than on a bass guitar. In general, you shouldn't use your third finger notes on an upright bass. The exception to this is when you are backing up the fourth finger, or when you are in thumb position (which I will explain in a later article).

Playing in tune on an upright is a huge part of playing it well. When you play fretted bass guitar you have frets that will keep you pretty close to correct pitch, but an upright bass doesn't have that crutch. To play upright well, you have to work on training your ear to hear the pitches, as notes and in relation to each other.

In general, on upright bass "positions" indicate where you should be looking for notes. There are only two positions you need to deal with when starting on upright bass. Half position starts on the first note above the nut - an F on the E string. First position starts on the second note above the nut - an A on the G string. DO NOT permanently mark where notes or positions are on the fingerboard - it will reduce the resale value of the bass and be very hard to remove later on. Ideally, you should hear and know the positions so you don't need markers, but if you must have markers (I freely admit I still need a few) I recommend using whiteout. I've yet to find a finish it will damage and it rubs of with a damp rag.

Exercises to improve upright bass skills

Fingering exercises: scales across all the strings, and scales on one string to get used to moving up the neck. Start with simple ones like C, G, and F. -see attached fingerboard images. Ear training exercises: major and pentatonic scales. If you've been playing bass guitar much you should be familiar with the sound of major and pentatonic scales. Also try playing along with recordings of tunes that you already know on bass guitar. It will help you get in tune.

D.C. Al Fine

I hope this has given you a start towards learning upright bass. Practice up your ear training. I would recommend finding an upright bass teacher in your area to work with for a few lessons to help you get some of the finer points, and help get good habits ingrained from the start. I'd also look into instructional books and videos. This article is intended to be the first in a set of articles get you started on upright. Keep and eye out in future issues for the next article.

Feel free to email me with questions and comments,

Elizabeth White
Email - EAWhite@moment.net