Upright Bass Lesson - Where Are The Notes? - John Goldsby

[@swaaws]

Hold on I don’t own an upright bass

[@nicholascauton9648]

Doesn't mean you can't learn regardless. I don't have an upright but as an electric bass player who is rooted in rock music, I really want one. And yes, I want to learn how to play an upright. It just looks so cool seeing one in action.

[@ahhh4126]

Nicholas Cauton I am learning how to play it in school for about a year already and I LOVE it. SOOO MUCH FUN

[@vzlanoxvida]

Lololol

[@Jaa_kko]

"just move your finger up and down the g string"

[@justapurplefedora2455]

Teadat haha overused music joke

[@hx-flixblog4569]

Yep, you have to have Sol!

[@GargeBarge]

Hey brother I’m right there with you

[@JamesMartinBass]

I've always loved Goldsby's articles in Bass Player magazine. He's an excellent teacher.

[@PaulFrancisBass]

Ive been playing upright for a while now but never really considered the overtone series as reference for intonation, What a great idea.... Thanks so much for sharing this information much appreciated ....

[@zoiebroughton3922]

Imma need a scholarship for playing the bass tbh

[@justapurplefedora2455]

Zoie Broughton Adam Neely’s old account is that you!?

[@RayWays]

I’m from the future :D

[@dumpsterpenguinn]

I've been playing upright bass for about five years now and I don't have a clue why I'm here but nice video

[@chop1992]

Thanks for the comments--good to hear from everyone!

[@valeriejane3171]

thank you for this video!

[@hyalinamusic18]

Thanks for giving reference to the electric bass. I've been wanting to get into playing upright bass, but it's always seemed intimidating because I don't know where the notes are. Now I've got some more reference to where the notes are. Thanks!

[@michaelanderson001]

Nice one John. This will give me something to work on.

[@rustycalvera977]

intelligently done video.....gets right to it

[@Hexspa]

Interestingly, these physical harmonics correspond to the overtone series where open is fundamental, half is 2nd harmonic, third is third harmonic and fourth is fourth. These overtones are always overlaid on acoustic sounds with some exceptions. In other words, every time you play a note, you’re really playing a chord (the first 8 harmonics make a dominant seventh chord).

[@ManelRuivo]

EXCELENT TEACHER!!!

[@sovietfp]

I'd usually get a paint marker and put tiny dots on where the notes are on the side of the finger board.

[@FiestaBounce]

why not just have dots on the side like a fretless bass?

[@davidluna3209]

You know what they should put at that 12th harmonic? An effing marker!

[@leonardo9259]

Get good lol

[@fernandogiongo]

Lots of bassists do that. But it's easy enough to find without a marker that most don't feel the need to mark it, it's about 4 or 5 cm below the base of the neck. Bassists can tell at a glance where it is.

[@ripper3020]

thanks to you i have aprove a test on university! ♥

[@hamkaab3634]

Makes me wanna try double bass

[@FionaDrAdler]

Thank you for this video! Very usefull!

[@jfs6470]

Thats a lot of D

[@RSTI191]

Why is it called a double bass when I see only one bass...

[@RayWays]

Maybe it is doubled in size?

[@Murdo2112]

Originally it was primarily used to "double" and reinforce, an octave below, the lower register parts played by the cello

[@RSTI191]

@@Murdo2112 Thnx. I never looked into that one, however was being a wisenheimer at the same time..=)

[@RSTI191]

Both beautiful instruments..

[@antikaworu]

Mabye I should buy one first

[@farshimelt]

Play with one before you buy it. You need one that fits your height and feels comfortable to your hand.

[@50CJAZZ]

Great video..... Thanks

[@gigalulmansur]

Why don't they just put marks on the board?

[@asmodeus9075]

Upright bass players don't look at the fingerboard when playing. You build intonation with your ear cordinating with your muscle memory. On electric bass and guitar you look at the fretboard and know where to put your fingers (experienced players can play almost without looking). The upright bass has also a longer neck lenght and therefore longer scale, so you have more room for 'error'. On a violin even a millimiter of error can be heard.

[@gigalulmansur]

Alright. From what you said it still couldn't hurt though it's just not needed. It might speed the process for beginners if they knew where to place fingers from the get go and then slowly remove them?

[@asmodeus9075]

@@gigalulmansur i don't even play the upright, only guitar and electric bass. But watching videos from various teachers i learned that the upright requires a lot of dedication to posture and movement economy, so they all tell to learn the basis first with no shortcuts to gradually build your feel with the instrument, so that you're less and less hesitant about your intonation. If you learn by looking at the fingerboard you could also develop bad neck posture. Im not a double bass player so you should ask a pro for more info. But i feel that the old school method still is considered the best. If you want just to play a couple of tunes for fun do it, but if you want to explore the instrument in it's entirety then you should focus on ear and muscle memory, and intuition of course. I want to start to play upright and i am also a bit scared on the 'darkness' of the fingerboard.

[@asmodeus9075]

I would be like learning to walk by having signs on the ground. It won't work. You gradually learn the movement more efficiently and know when to make a longer or shorter step. It becomes almost instinctual. I think that this would be a correct metaphor, but maybe i don't consider all the aspects.

[@gigalulmansur]

@@asmodeus9075 hm alright, I was just curious thanks for your time

[@juditharmstrong6267]

Thanks

[@mightynathaniel5355]

PythFagoras 🍻

[@de4d.br4t13]

is that 3/4 size ??

[@MixtapeMan07]

2:53 I’ve definitely practiced putting my harmonic D on my girl’s G string 🤫

[@jacquelineiginiamre5027]

MixtapeMan07 LMOAAA😭😭😭

[@anniethai3180]

Hello, I have a question: Is there a way to play a note below the open e string on the bass?

[@AlgyCuber]

getting a 5 string bass would help

[@TheGamercrew999]

You can get an C extension

[@GargeBarge]

Oh so the Pythagorean theory was important to remember.... oops...

[@rxw5520]

P.S. fretted bass players, your calluses are now in the wrong place 😅

[@angelsarchive]

You gotta wonder why they can’t just add fret markers on the side

[@fernandogiongo]

I'll try to explain. We can add these, but because of the size and position of the instrument, we most definitively shouldn't be looking at the fingerboard while playing 99% of the time. Do cello players look at their fingerboard while the play? Mostly they don't, especially not in the lower positions, where the low notes are, and where most music on the bass is played. The bass is very similar to the cello in this sense. Both in cello and bass, looking sideways at the fingerboard is terrible for posture, will give you back, neck and hand pain, and looking down will prevent you from looking at where you really want to be looking instead: at the sheet music, or at the conductor, and/or other bandmates/musicians. Those are the strongest reasons why pretty much all double bass teachers will _strongly advise_ against using markers on the lower positions, but it's not forbidden at all. Online bass shops sell those, people buy them. Some novice bass players add them, you can even find tutorials of how to install them online, but most times, even if they use fret marks, novice bassists will abandon these early in their studies, too. Makes you look like you don't know what you're doing. That's because of something he didn't mention in the video: bassists with a couple weeks of study can already reliably find notes by feel, using their thumb to find the base of the neck, where it connects to the body, and also can feel the top of the neck, where it connects to the "head", where the nut is, and that is *easily* enough tactile feedback to remember by touch and muscle memory where all the notes are. That feedback will do the same as the markers. Markers *will not* help you play in tune, they are too imprecise for that; finding the general vicinity of a note is done by touch, but fine ajustments of tuning _have to be done by ear regardless_ , even master bassists can't home in on the notes with 100% precision all the time; bassists are always making tiny adjustments by ear. That imprecision happens because whenever you tune your instrument, or change strings, or even if it's a colder, or hotter day than usual, or if it's a bit dry, or too humid, the notes tend to shift place a little, because the bridge in orchestral string instruments is not glued to the body, and is free to lean and shift upwards or downwards, and the wood on the instrument tends to shift a lot (more of a problem in larger instruments like the doublebass). The only thing keeping the bridge in place is the string tension, if you loosen the strings, the bridge falls completely off of the instrument. Where using markers can be really useful, and you will find even some of the most prestigious bassists like Edgar Meyers use them, is for playing solo repertoire on the very high positions, or what is called _thumb position_ , when the thumb has to be lifted off of the back of the neck to play very high notes. There is no visual or tactile feedback to find notes on those positions, and a few marks come in useful. However, like I said, bassists cannot use these marks to play in tune, just to find the general area of a note.

[@thrashxd4xlife105]

But where are the notes?

[@selfactualizer2099]

you dont need physical cuees to tell you where the notes are. You use your ears. How does a guitarist's hands know where the 8th fret is without looking? he practiced.

[@risharddaniels1762]

Sleepy Shibu That’s why he’s telling the audience where the physical cues are...if you don’t learn where the note is, how can you play it? Of course it’s simple from the mind of an experienced instrumentalist but this video is clearly for beginners