Customer Reviews

Art of Double Bass Playing

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This book, while well written and very thorough, is a bit out dated. Many of the examples are very helpful, but much of Mr. Benfield's writing isn't very current with the bassists of today (I can't possibly believe that any orchestra would hire a bassist based "soley on his ability to play solos" and I also can't imagine that there are that many bassists that would play the Eccles Sonata at a major audition). This is a nice reference guide, but by no means the "final word".

"The Art of Double Bass Playing," by Benfield and Dean, is a bit dated and it is not useful for beginners. It is not a bass method. Rather, it is, as the authors say in the preface, a complement to traditional bass methods. It includes information about many bass topics: instrument, bow and string choices, information about contemporary techniques, his ideas about posture and practicing, and some ideas about playing in the thumb position. It outlines qualities needed by a double bassist in playing in an orchestral, ensemble and solo setting. "The Art of Double Bass Playing" includes passages from orchestral and solo repertoire and it refers to these passages in his discussions of playing technique.

The one thing this reviewer would caution any player about is this author's encouragement to stretch the hand in using extension fingering. (p.23) "... it takes daily practice to keep the hand stretched and the scales in tune." Stretching can cause serious injury. Use Rabbath's pivoting technique that rotates the hand about the thumb instead.