Recently I have been in the recording studio laying down double bass tracks for a number of local area artist’s and have had the chance to fully utilize all the various ways to pluck or pizz. a bass. Varying our right hand attack and position is a segment of bass playing that is often over looked. In this article we will discuss the two most commons forms of pizzicato as well as variations on these forms to add different attacks and timbre’s to our playing. Remember your sound comes from the motion and inertia of your entire arm when plucking the bass. If you feel as though you are just using your finger to create sound concentrate on being aware of your wrist and forearm as well.
Right Hand Placement
In general you place your right hand about 3-4 inches from the end of the fingerboard. If you use the bow DO NOT PLUCK WHERE YOU BOW! Finger oil plus rosin goos up your strings. As you left hand moves up the instrument your right hand should follow suit.
“Orchestral Pizzicato”
This pizzicato technique has the fingers perpendicular to the strings with the thumb positioned on the side of the board. I refer to it as Orchestral Pizz. because it is the natural position of the fingers when one is also holding a bass bow. In this technique the point of attack is the tips of the fingers. The starting point would be just a little behind where your finger nail starts(but on the pad side of finger). In this technique both the index and middle finger are utilized. Though some players might use only one however two is highly encouraged. Because we are utilizing less surface area of our finger this form of pizzicato is best suited for delicate and faster passages since we will not be able to get quite the blooming notes as the Jazz Form.
“Jazz Pizzicato”
This version of pizzicato involves our fingers being parallel to the bass string with the thumb on the back edge of the fingerboard but not to far underneath. The point of attack moves away from the tip of the finger to the entire first joint of the finger starting about in the middle of the pad. In this technique you are pulling through the string into the next adjacent string. Again typically both index and middle are used in this technique. Sometimes to add uniformity to tone one finger might be used(especially if you are playing the same pitch multiple times in a row) This method of pizz. will give you a big sound i.e. volume along with an attack at the beginning of the note that will help drive any ensemble you might be playing the upright bass in.
Variations
Pillow of Sound
The method I use to create a big round sound without any attack on it involves using the Jazz Pizz. technique but instead of following through into the next string I pluck through the string and up and out over the next adjacent string. Because of the extra distant the hand must travel it is not an effective method for up tempo tunes.
Plucking Ovals
For faster tunes I tend to pluck the string in relatively the same spot across all the strings. However for medium tempo tunes I often pluck in an oval shape with the Root note coming at the bottom of the oval and the Fifth(or passing tone) at the top. I feel the downward momentum of my hand and arm can add to the gravitas of the root note without necessarily adding an accent to the note.
Hand Slap Vs. String Slaps
There are two main ways to “SLAP” a double bass. The first and one I use most often involves using the hand in a downward motion to slap the strings against the fingerboard. The second involves pulling the string upward and releasing it causing it to slap back against the board.
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