Research Guides: Double Bass Guide: Welcome to the Double Bass Guide

M - Scores. Scores are shelved in 3 sections, by size: miniature (study scores), regular stacks and oversize.
ML - Books on music literature, history and criticism. The BIOGRAPHY/CRITICISM number for composers is ML410. Books are grouped in alphabetical order by the biographee/subject. e.g Bruckner ML410 .B88
MT - Books on Music Theory, Teaching/pedagogy or Technique for instrumental/vocal study

Double Bass Resources

Advanced techniques of double bass playing by Barry Green
Call Number: MT322 .G74 1976t
The Art of Double Bass Playing by Warren A. Benfield The Art of Double Bass Playing is the result of a collaboration between Warren Benfield, an outstanding bassist/teacher and James Seay Dean, Jr., Associate Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, a skilled writer/editor. Warren Benfield started his professional career in 1934 as the youngest member of the Minneapolis Symphony. Moving on to the St. Louis Symphony as principal bass and then to the Philadelphia Orchestra as co-principal bass, he joined the Chicago Symphony in 1949 where he remained until his retirement in 1987. Benfield has always been dedicated to teaching, and during his years with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, he was on the faculties of Northwestern University and DePaul University. He has also given many master classes and lectures, including two in China. Since retiring, he is continuing to teach a few students at the American Conservatory and at Chicago's Merit School for underprivileged children, which focuses on the arts. Benfield's particular aim is to teach the approach of the double bass from a musical, as well as a technical standpoint.
Call Number: MT320 .B45
The Baroque Double Bass Violone by Alfred Planyavsky; James Barket The most exhaustive study of the double bass violone accessible to English-speaking musical enthusiasts. This book includes lists of terminology, the most comprehensive bibliography to date, and 48 illustrations that make this a complete compendium of string bass research.
Call Number: ML927.V63 P613 1998
Complete double bass parts of thirty-six overtures by Oscar G. Zimmerman
Call Number: MT331 .Z552
The Contemporary Contrabass by Bertram Turetzky Now in its second edition the acclaimed volume is more than a book about the contrabass, but an introduction to string playing at a time in the history of Western music when timbre has finally ascended to its rightful role among musical parameters. It articulates the real musical image and potential of the contrabass, and introduces new concepts, aesthetics, and techniques.
Call Number: MT320 .T87 1989t
Domenico Dragonetti in England (1794-1846) : the career of a double bass virtuoso by Fiona M. Palmer Dragonetti devoted his life to the double bass. His career in England (1794-1846) is one of the most remarkable success stories in the annals of musical history. His unprecedented virtuosity elevated the double bass to a new status. In combination with his charismatic personality his musicaltalent dominated the English cultural world for more than fifty years. As performer, composer, collector, and friend, he exposed the unforeseen potential of the double bass. His formidable talent as a musician and businessman provides an unusual insight into nineteenth-century entrepreneurship. This first substantial biography and assessment of Dragonetti's career allows us to understand his importance in the history of music in general and of double-bass performance in particular.
Call Number: e-book
A Double Bassist's Guide to Refining Performance Practices by Murray Grodner Murray Grodner draws on his distinguished career as a double bass musician and teacher in this compendium of performance philosophy, bowing and phrasing recommendations, tutorials on fingerings and scales, and exercises for bowing and string crossing. Grodner addresses technical obstacles in musical performance, offers advice on instrument and bow purchase, and provides a detailed approach to the fundamentals of bass playing. This guide is an invaluable resource for any bassist seeking to improve performance practices.
Call Number: MT320 .G76 2013
The Integrated String Player by Pedro de Alcantara Pedro de Alcantara's The Integrated String Player: Embodied Vibration is a practical guide for all string players: violinists and violists, cellists and bassists, but also gamba players and anyone who makes music drawing a bow across a string. Dozens of exercises, supported by a dedicatedwebsite with 80 video clips, cover all the basics of string playing, including left-hand articulation, vibrato, changes of position, double-stopping, sound production, string crossings, and many other techniques. Each exercise, however simple or complex, can become a meditation with the goal ofintegrating the musical, technical, and metaphysical aspects of a player's practice.Part I is devoted to the fundamentals of coordination, rhythm, and listening in depth. Part II focuses on the left hand, with an emphasis on healthy gestures that are charged with musicality and meaning. Part III covers the bowing arm, exploring innovative concepts such as expressive gesticulation,mechanical intelligence, and the use of the bow as the player's voice, both literally and symbolically. Part IV covers the integration of analytical thought and sensorial practice, providing an extensive study of the harmonic series, the circle of fifths, Tartini tones, and many other sonic aspectsthat are essential to a string player's musical freedom. In addition, the conversational, linguistic, compositional, and improvisatory dimensions of string playing are discussed and supported by multiple practical exercises.The Integrated String Player is addressed to players of all abilities and from all aesthetic backgrounds: students and professionals, teachers and performers, classically trained musicians and jazz players, chamber-music players and orchestral players.
Call Number: ML3820 .A44 2018
A new history of the double bass. by Paul Brun
Call Number: ML920 .B785 2000