99-669: Karelia Suite , Op. 11 is a subset of pieces from the longer Karelia Music (named after the region of Karelia ) written by Jean Sibelius in 1893 for the Viipuri Students' Association and premiered, with Sibelius conducting, at the Imperial Alexander University in Helsinki , Grand Duchy of Finland , on 23 November of that year. Sibelius first conducted the shorter Suite ten days later; it remains one of his most popular works. Karelia Music
198-510: A music catalogue , the opus number is paired with a cardinal number ; for example, Beethoven 's Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor (1801, nicknamed Moonlight Sonata ) is "Opus 27, No. 2", whose work-number identifies it as a companion piece to "Opus 27, No. 1" ( Piano Sonata No. 13 in E-flat major , 1800–01), paired in same opus number, with both being subtitled Sonata quasi una Fantasia ,
297-411: A "full size" bass; a 1 ⁄ 2 bass is not half the length of a 4 ⁄ 4 bass, but is only about 15% smaller. Double basses are typically constructed from several types of wood, including maple for the back, spruce for the top, and ebony for the fingerboard. It is uncertain whether the instrument is a descendant of the viola da gamba or of the violin, but it is traditionally aligned with
396-483: A 1998 release with the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra , conducted by Tuomas Ollila . Opus number In music , the opus number is the "work number" that is assigned to a musical composition , or to a set of compositions, to indicate the chronological order of the composer 's publication of that work. Opus numbers are used to distinguish among compositions with similar titles;
495-432: A bass bow is shorter and heavier than a cello bow. Pernambuco , also known as Brazilwood, is regarded as an excellent quality stick material, but due to its scarcity and expense, other materials are increasingly being used. Inexpensive student bows may be constructed of solid fiberglass , which makes the bow much lighter than a wooden bow (even too light to produce a good tone, in some cases). Student bows may also be made of
594-468: A blues upright bassist, said that "Starting in the 1950s, they began to reset the necks on basses for steel strings." Rockabilly and bluegrass bassists also prefer gut because it is much easier to perform the " slapping " upright bass style (in which the strings are percussively slapped and clicked against the fingerboard) with gut strings than with steel strings, because gut does not hurt the plucking fingers as much. A less expensive alternative to gut strings
693-449: A bow is having the bow "rehaired" by a luthier with fresh horsehair and having the leather and wire wrapping replaced. The double bass bow is strung with either white or black horsehair, or a combination of the two (known as "salt and pepper"), as opposed to the customary white horsehair used on the bows of other string instruments. Some of the lowest-quality, lowest cost student bows are made with synthetic hair. Synthetic hair does not have
792-581: A composer's works, as in the sets of string quartets by Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827); Haydn's Op. 76, the Erdödy quartets (1796–97), comprises six discrete quartets consecutively numbered Op. 76 No. 1 – Op. 76 No. 6; whilst Beethoven's Op. 59, the Rasumovsky quartets (1805–06), comprises String Quartet No. 7, String Quartet No. 8, and String Quartet No. 9. From about 1800, composers usually assigned an opus number to
891-453: A composition, Prokofiev occasionally assigned a new opus number to the revision; thus Symphony No. 4 is two thematically related but discrete works: Symphony No. 4, Op. 47, written in 1929; and Symphony No. 4, Op. 112, a large-scale revision written in 1947. Likewise, depending upon the edition, the original version of Piano Sonata No. 5 in C major, is cataloged both as Op. 38 and as Op. 135. Despite being used in more or less normal fashion by
990-472: A distinctive pitch. The top of the instrument's fingerboard range is typically near D 5 , two octaves and a fifth above the open pitch of the G string (G 2 ), as shown in the range illustration found at the head of this article. Playing beyond the end of the fingerboard can be accomplished by pulling the string slightly to the side. Double bass symphony parts sometimes indicate that the performer should play harmonics (also called flageolet tones ), in which
1089-634: A few listeners. Just a handful." Ernst Lampén The movements in the suite are all borrowed from the Karelia Music , which consisted of an overture and eight tableaux. Sibelius was commissioned to write it in 1893 by Wiipurilainen Osakunta (the Viipuri Students' Association) for a lottery to aid the education of the people of the Viipuri Province . Sibelius conducted the Karelian Music at its premiere on 13 November 1893 at
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#17327723167501188-502: A luthier. Professional bassists are more likely to have adjustable bridges, which have a metal screw mechanism. This enables the bassist to raise or lower the height of the strings to accommodate changing humidity or temperature conditions. The metal tuning machines are attached to the sides of the pegbox with metal screws. While tuning mechanisms generally differ from the higher-pitched orchestral stringed instruments, some basses have non-functional, ornamental tuning pegs projecting from
1287-481: A member of the chordophone family that originated in Europe in the 15th century. Before the 20th century many double basses had only three strings, in contrast to the five to six strings typical of instruments in the viol family or the four strings of instruments in the violin family. The double bass's proportions are dissimilar to those of the violin and cello; for example, it is deeper (the distance from front to back
1386-563: A number of important early-twentieth-century composers, including Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) and Anton Webern (1883–1945), opus numbers became less common in the later part of the twentieth century. To manage inconsistent opus-number usages — especially by composers of the Baroque (1600–1750) and of the Classical (1720—1830) music eras — musicologists have developed comprehensive and unambiguous catalogue number-systems for
1485-437: A perfect fourth). The upper limit of this range is extended a great deal for 20th- and 21st-century orchestral parts (e.g., Prokofiev 's Lieutenant Kijé Suite ( c. 1933) bass solo, which calls for notes as high as D 4 and E ♭ 4 ). The upper range a virtuoso solo player can achieve using natural and artificial harmonics is hard to define, as it depends on the skill of the particular player. The high harmonic in
1584-467: A specific musical composition, and by German composers for collections of music. In compositional practice, numbering musical works in chronological order dates from 17th-century Italy, especially Venice . In common usage, the word opus is used to describe the best work of an artist with the term magnum opus . In Latin, the words opus (singular) and opera (plural) are related to the words opera (singular) and operae (plural), which gave rise to
1683-408: A standard guitar ), rather than fifths , with strings usually tuned to E 1 , A 1 , D 2 and G 2 . The double bass is played with a bow (arco), or by plucking the strings ( pizzicato ), or via a variety of extended techniques . In orchestral repertoire and tango music, both arco and pizzicato are employed. In jazz, blues, and rockabilly, pizzicato is the norm. Classical music and jazz use
1782-546: A work of musical composition , a practice and usage established in the seventeenth century when composers identified their works with an opus number. In the eighteenth century, publishers usually assigned opus numbers when publishing groups of like compositions, usually in sets of three, six or twelve compositions. Consequently, opus numbers are not usually in chronological order, unpublished compositions usually had no opus number, and numeration gaps and sequential duplications occurred when publishers issued contemporaneous editions of
1881-641: A work or set of works upon publication. After approximately 1900, they tended to assign an opus number to a composition whether published or not. However, practices were not always perfectly consistent or logical. For example, early in his career, Beethoven selectively numbered his compositions (some published without opus numbers), yet in later years, he published early works with high opus numbers. Likewise, some posthumously published works were given high opus numbers by publishers, even though some of them were written early in Beethoven's career. Since his death in 1827,
1980-411: Is commonly called the upright bass, standup bass or acoustic bass to distinguish it from the (usually electric) bass guitar . In folk and bluegrass music, the instrument is also referred to as a "bass fiddle" or "bass violin" (or more rarely as "doghouse bass" or "bull fiddle" ). While not a member of the violin-family of instruments, the construction of the upright bass is quite different from that of
2079-403: Is done because with bowed instruments, the player must be able to play individual strings. If the double bass were to have a flat bridge, it would be impossible to bow the A and D strings individually. The double bass also differs from members of the violin family in that the shoulders are typically sloped and the back is often angled (both to allow easier access to the instrument, particularly in
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#17327723167502178-424: Is nylon strings; the higher strings are pure nylon, and the lower strings are nylon wrapped in wire, to add more mass to the string, slowing the vibration, and thus facilitating lower pitches. The change from gut to steel has also affected the instrument's playing technique over the last hundred years. Steel strings can be set up closer to the fingerboard and, additionally, strings can be played in higher positions on
2277-431: Is proportionally much greater than the violin). In addition, while the violin has bulging shoulders, most double basses have shoulders carved with a more acute slope, like members of the viol family. Many very old double basses have had their shoulders cut or sloped to aid playing with modern techniques. Before these modifications, the design of their shoulders was closer to instruments of the violin family. The double bass
2376-404: Is radiused using a curve, for the same reason that the bridge is curved: if the fingerboard and bridge were to be flat, then a bassist would not be able to bow the inner two strings individually. By using a curved bridge and a curved fingerboard, the bassist can align the bow with any of the four strings and play them individually. Unlike the violin and viola, but like the cello, the bass fingerboard
2475-476: Is similar in shape and implementation to the bow used on the other members of the orchestral string instrument family, while the "German" or "Butler" bow is typically broader and shorter, and is held in a "hand shake" (or "hacksaw") position. These two bows provide different ways of moving the arm and distributing force and weight on the strings. Proponents of the French bow argue that it is more maneuverable, due to
2574-437: Is somewhat flattened out underneath the E string (the C string on cello), this is commonly known as a Romberg bevel. The vast majority of fingerboards cannot be adjusted by the performer; any adjustments must be made by a luthier. A very small number of expensive basses for professionals have adjustable fingerboards, in which a screw mechanism can be used to raise or lower the fingerboard height. An important distinction between
2673-427: Is still a matter of some debate, with scholars divided on whether the bass is derived from the viol or the violin family . Being a transposing instrument , the bass is typically notated one octave higher than tuned to avoid excessive ledger lines below the staff. The double bass is the only modern bowed string instrument that is tuned in fourths (like a bass guitar, viol , or the lowest-sounding four strings of
2772-476: Is the only modern bowed string instrument that is tuned in fourths (like a viol), rather than fifths (see Tuning below). The instrument's exact lineage is still a matter of some debate, and the supposition that the double bass is a direct descendant of the viol family is one that has not been entirely resolved. In his A New History of the Double Bass , Paul Brun asserts that the double bass has origins as
2871-400: Is tightened before playing, until it reaches a tautness that is preferred by the player. The frog on a quality bow is decorated with mother of pearl inlay. Bows have a leather wrapping on the wooden part of the bow near the frog. Along with the leather wrapping, there is also a wire wrapping, made of silver in quality bows. The hair is usually horsehair . Part of the regular maintenance of
2970-620: The Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (BWV-number) and the Köchel-Verzeichnis (K- and KV-numbers), which enumerate the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , respectively. In the classical period , the Latin word opus ("work", "labour"), plural opera , was used to identify, list, and catalogue a work of art. By the 15th and 16th centuries, the word opus was used by Italian composers to denote
3069-711: The Imperial Alexander University in Helsinki , Grand Duchy of Finland . The behaviour of the audience was, however, far from ideal. As Sibelius noted later: You couldn't hear a single note of the music – everyone was on their feet cheering and clapping. Ten days later, Sibelius conducted a popular concert that included the Overture , followed by the three movements that would become the Karelia Suite . These four pieces were sold to Edition Fazer in 1899 and, at Sibelius's request, Overture and Karelia Suite were published as Op. 10 & 11, respectively. The rest of
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3168-462: The Karelia Music pieces that were yet to be printed ended up in the hands of Breitkopf & Härtel in 1905. The score was at some point left in the possession of Robert Kajanus and, in 1936, Kajanus's wife Ella returned it back to Sibelius. It is thought that Sibelius burned his eighth symphony along with most of the Karelia Music in August 1945, with only the 1st and 7th tableaux spared from
3267-451: The acoustic bass guitar , as the latter is a derivative of the electric bass guitar, and usually built like a larger and sturdier variant of a viola de gamba , its ancestor. The double bass is sometimes confusingly called the violone , bass violin or bass viol . A typical double bass stands around 180 cm (6 feet) from scroll to endpin. Whereas the traditional "full-size" ( 4 ⁄ 4 size) bass stands 74.8 inches (190 cm),
3366-529: The violas , cellos , and double basses . Based on Kuosa's transcription, the Finnish composers Kalevi Aho and Jouni Kaipainen have individually reconstructed the complete music to Karelia Music . A recording of Kalevi Aho 's completion was released in 1997 in a recording with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra conducted by Osmo Vänskä , and Jouni Kaipainen 's completion was recorded for
3465-418: The violin form (shown in the labelled picture in the construction section); and the viola da gamba form (shown in the header picture of this article). A third less common design, called the busetto shape, can also be found, as can the even more rare guitar or pear shape. The back of the instrument can vary from being a round, carved back similar to that of the violin, to a flat and angled back similar to
3564-582: The Italian words opera (singular) and opere (plural), likewise meaning "work". In contemporary English, the word opera has specifically come to denote the dramatic musical genres of opera or ballet, which were developed in Italy. As a result, the plural opera of opus tends to be avoided in English. In other languages such as German, however, it remains common. In the arts, an opus number usually denotes
3663-989: The Mendelssohn heirs published (and cataloged) them as the Italian Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90 , and as the Reformation Symphony No. 5 in D major and D minor, Op. 107 . While many of the works of Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904) were given opus numbers, these did not always bear a logical relationship to the order in which the works were written or published. To achieve better sales, some publishers, such as N. Simrock , preferred to present less experienced composers as being well established, by giving some relatively early works much higher opus numbers than their chronological order would merit. In other cases, Dvořák gave lower opus numbers to new works to be able to sell them to other publishers outside his contract obligations. This way it could happen that
3762-531: The angle at which the player holds the bow. Advocates of the German bow claim that it allows the player to apply more arm weight on the strings. The differences between the two, however, are minute for a proficient player, and modern players in major orchestras use both bows. The German bow (sometimes called the Butler bow) is the older of the two designs. The design of the bow and the manner of holding it descend from
3861-489: The appearance of the overwound gut string in the 1650s, the double bass would surely have become extinct", because thicknesses needed for regular gut strings made the lower-pitched strings almost unplayable and hindered the development of fluid, rapid playing in the lower register. Prior to the 20th century, double bass strings were usually made of catgut ; however, steel has largely replaced it, because steel strings hold their pitch better and yield more volume when played with
3960-858: The base of the double bass is a metal rod with a spiked or rubberized end called the endpin, which rests on the floor. This endpin is generally thicker and more robust than that of a cello, because of the greater mass of the instrument. The materials most often used in double bass construction for fully carved basses (the type used by professional orchestra bassists and soloists) are maple (back, neck, ribs), spruce (top), and ebony (fingerboard, tailpiece). The tailpiece may be made from other types of wood or non-wood materials. Less expensive basses are typically constructed with laminated ( plywood ) tops, backs, and ribs, or are hybrid models produced with laminated backs and sides and carved solid wood tops. Some 2010-era lower- to mid-priced basses are made of willow , student models constructed of Fiberglass were produced in
4059-553: The bass. The thumb rests on the shaft of the bow, next to the frog while the other fingers drape on the other side of the bow. Various styles dictate the curve of the fingers and thumb, as do the style of piece; a more pronounced curve and lighter hold on the bow is used for virtuoso or more delicate pieces, while a flatter curve and sturdier grip on the bow sacrifices some power for easier control in strokes such as detaché, spiccato, and staccato. Double bass bows vary in length, ranging from 60 to 75 cm (24–30 in). In general,
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4158-429: The bassist lightly touches the string–without pressing it onto the fingerboard in the usual fashion–in the location of a note and then plucks or bows the note. Bowed harmonics are used in contemporary music for their "glassy" sound. Both natural harmonics and artificial harmonics , where the thumb stops the note and the octave or other harmonic is activated by lightly touching the string at the relative node point, extend
4257-463: The bow. Gut strings are also more vulnerable to changes of humidity and temperature, and break more easily than steel strings. Gut strings are nowadays mostly used by bassists who perform in baroque ensembles, rockabilly bands, traditional blues bands, and bluegrass bands. In some cases, the low E and A are wound in silver, to give them added mass. Gut strings provide the dark, "thumpy" sound heard on 1940s and 1950s recordings. The late Jeff Sarli,
4356-536: The case of Felix Mendelssohn (1809–47); after his death, the heirs published many compositions with opus numbers that Mendelssohn did not assign. In life, he published two symphonies ( Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 11 ; and Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56 ), furthermore he published his symphony-cantata Lobgesang , Op. 52, which was posthumously counted as his Symphony No. 2; yet, he chronologically wrote symphonies between symphonies Nos. 1 and 2, which he withdrew for personal and compositional reasons; nevertheless,
4455-466: The cases of César Franck (1822–1890), Béla Bartók (1881–1945), and Alban Berg (1885–1935), who initially numbered, but then stopped numbering their compositions. Carl Nielsen (1865–1931) and Paul Hindemith (1895–1963) were also inconsistent in their approaches. Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953) was consistent and assigned an opus number to a composition before composing it; at his death, he left fragmentary and planned, but numbered, works. In revising
4554-514: The cello (i.e. the cello part was the main bass line, and the "double bass" originally played a copy of the cello part; only later was it given an independent part). The terms for the instrument among classical performers are contrabass (which comes from the instrument's Italian name, contrabbasso ), string bass (to distinguish it from brass bass instruments in a concert band , such as tubas ), or simply bass. In jazz, blues, rockabilly and other genres outside of classical music, this instrument
4653-409: The cellos. This transposition applies even when bass players are reading the tenor and treble clef (which are used in solo playing and some orchestral parts). The tenor clef is also used by composers for cello and low brass parts. The use of tenor or treble clef avoids excessive ledger lines above the staff when notating the instrument's upper range. Other notation traditions exist. Italian solo music
4752-411: The combination of sul ponticello and tremolo can produce eerie, ghostly sounds. Classical bass players do play pizzicato parts in orchestra, but these parts generally require simple notes (quarter notes, half notes, whole notes), rather than rapid passages. Classical players perform both bowed and pizz notes using vibrato , an effect created by rocking or quivering the left hand finger that is contacting
4851-402: The double bass a much richer tone than the bass guitar, in addition to the ability to use a bow, while the fretless fingerboard accommodates smooth glissandos and legatos . Like other violin and viol-family string instruments, the double bass is played either with a bow (arco) or by plucking the strings ( pizzicato ). When employing a bow, the player can either use it traditionally or strike
4950-405: The double bass and other members of the violin family is the construction of the pegbox and the tuning mechanism. While the violin, viola , and cello all use friction pegs for tuning adjustments (tightening and loosening the string tension to raise or lower the string's pitch), the double bass has metal machine heads and gears. One of the challenges with tuning pegs is that the friction between
5049-424: The double bass is a transposing instrument . Since much of the double bass's range lies below the standard bass clef , it is notated an octave higher than it sounds to avoid having to use excessive ledger lines below the staff. Thus, when double bass players and cellists are playing from a combined bass-cello part, as used in many Mozart and Haydn symphonies, they will play in octaves, with the basses one octave below
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#17327723167505148-409: The features needed for playing. While these smaller-body instruments appear similar to electric upright basses , the difference is that small-body travel basses still have a fairly large hollow acoustic sound chamber, while many EUBs are solid body, or only have a small hollow chamber. A second type of travel bass has a hinged or removable neck and a regular sized body. The hinged or removable neck makes
5247-428: The fire. The viola , cello and double bass parts are also missing from the 1st and 7th tableaux, and the flute parts are completely missing from the 7th tableau. The original movements are as follows (historical dates in parentheses): The suite is in three movements: Most of the music was reconstructed in 1965 by Kalevi Kuosa, from the original parts that had survived. The parts that hadn't survived were those of
5346-415: The first four symphonies to be composed were published after the last five; and (c) the last five symphonies were not published in order of composition. The New World Symphony originally was published as No. 5, later was known as No. 8, and definitively was renumbered as No. 9 in the critical editions published in the 1950s. Other examples of composers' historically inconsistent opus-number usages include
5445-408: The frog from underneath, while the ring finger and middle finger rest in the space between the hair and the shaft. The French bow was not widely popular until its adoption by 19th-century virtuoso Giovanni Bottesini . This style is more similar to the traditional bows of the smaller string family instruments. It is held as if the hand is resting by the side of the performer with the palm facing toward
5544-566: The gamba and the violin family. The bass is a standard member of the orchestra's string section , along with violins , violas , and cellos , as well as the concert band , and is featured in concertos , solo, and chamber music in Western classical music . The bass is used in a range of other genres, such as jazz , blues , rock and roll , rockabilly , country music , bluegrass , tango , folk music and certain types of film and video game soundtracks . The instrument's exact lineage
5643-472: The hazards of touring and performing in bars). Another option is the hybrid body bass, which has a laminated back and a carved or solid wood top. It is less costly and somewhat less fragile (at least regarding its back) than a fully carved bass. The soundpost and bass bar are components of the internal construction. All the parts of a double bass are glued together, except the soundpost, bridge, and tailpiece, which are held in place by string tension (although
5742-405: The instrument against their body, turned slightly inward to put the strings comfortably in reach. This stance is a key reason for the bass's sloped shoulders, which mark it apart from the other members of the violin family—the narrower shoulders facilitate playing the strings in their higher registers. The double bass is generally regarded as a modern descendant of the violone (It. “large viol”),
5841-437: The instrument smaller when it is packed for transportation. The history of the double bass is tightly coupled to the development of string technology, as it was the advent of overwound gut strings, which first rendered the instrument more generally practicable, as wound or overwound strings attain low notes within a smaller overall string diameter than non-wound strings. Professor Larry Hurst argues that had "it not been for
5940-441: The instrument's range considerably. Natural and artificial harmonics are used in plenty of virtuoso concertos for the double bass. Orchestral parts from the standard Classical repertoire rarely demand the double bass exceed a two-octave and a minor third range, from E 1 to G 3 , with occasional A 3 s appearing in the standard repertoire (an exception to this rule is Orff's Carmina Burana , which calls for three octaves and
6039-439: The less valuable varieties of brazilwood. Snakewood and carbon fiber are also used in bows of a variety of different qualities. The frog of the double bass bow is usually made out of ebony, although snakewood and buffalo horn are used by some luthiers . The frog is movable, as it can be tightened or loosened with a knob (like all violin family bows). The bow is loosened at the end of a practice session or performance. The bow
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#17327723167506138-556: The lower strings and still produce clear tone. The classic 19th century Franz Simandl method does not use the low E string in higher positions because older gut strings, set up high over the fingerboard, could not produce clear tone in these higher positions. However, with modern steel strings, bassists can play with clear tone in higher positions on the low E and A strings, particularly when they use modern lighter-gauge, lower-tension steel strings. The double bass bow comes in two distinct forms (shown below). The "French" or "overhand" bow
6237-445: The mid-20th century, and some (typically fairly expensive) basses have been constructed of carbon fiber . Laminated (plywood) basses, which are widely used in music schools, youth orchestras , and in popular and folk music settings (including rockabilly, psychobilly, blues, etc.), are very resistant to humidity and heat, as well to the physical abuse they are apt to encounter in a school environment (or, for blues and folk musicians, to
6336-410: The more common 3 ⁄ 4 size bass (which has become the most widely used size in the modern era, even among orchestral players) stands 71.6 inches (182 cm) from scroll to endpin. Other sizes are also available, such as a 1 ⁄ 2 size or 1 ⁄ 4 size, which serve to accommodate a player's height and hand size. These names of the sizes do not reflect the true size relative to
6435-472: The nationalistic character of the music. The piece is orchestrated for three flutes (3rd doubling piccolo ), three oboes (3rd doubling English horn ), two clarinets , two bassoons , four horns in F and E, three trumpets in F and E, three trombones , tuba , timpani , bass drum , cymbals , triangle , tambourine , two sopranos / baritones (Tableau 1), a baritone (Tableau 5), SATB choir (Tableau 8) and strings . Ralph Wood has commented on
6534-453: The natural sound produced acoustically by the instrument, as does traditional bluegrass . In funk, blues, reggae, and related genres, the double bass is often amplified . A person who plays this instrument is called a "bassist", "double bassist", "double bass player", "contrabassist", "contrabass player" or "bass player". The names contrabass and double bass refer (respectively) to the instrument's range, and to its use one octave lower than
6633-401: The older viol instrument family. With older viols, before frogs had screw threads to tighten the bow, players held the bow with two fingers between the stick and the hair to maintain tension of the hair. Proponents of the use of German bow claim that the German bow is easier to use for heavy strokes that require a lot of power. Compared to the French bow, the German bow has a taller frog, and
6732-529: The only two of the kind in all of Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas. Furthermore, the Piano Sonata, Op. 27 No. 2, in C-sharp minor is also catalogued as "Sonata No. 14", because it is the fourteenth sonata composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. Given composers' inconsistent or non-existent assignment of opus numbers, especially during the Baroque (1600–1750) and the Classical (1750–1827) eras, musicologists have developed other catalogue-number systems; among them
6831-403: The pegbox and a sturdy, thick sound post , which transmits the vibrations from the top of the instrument to the hollow body and supports the pressure of the string tension. Unlike the rest of the violin family, the double bass still reflects influences, and can be considered partly derived, from the viol family of instruments, in particular the violone, the lowest-pitched and largest bass member of
6930-418: The pizzicato basslines that classical bassists encounter in the standard orchestral literature, which are typically whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, and occasional eighth note passages. In jazz and related styles, bassists often add semi-percussive " ghost notes " into basslines, to add to the rhythmic feel and to add fills to a bassline. The double bass player stands, or sits on a high stool, and leans
7029-410: The player holds it with the palm angled upwards, as with the upright members of the viol family. When held in the traditionally correct manner, the thumb applies the necessary power to generate the desired sound. The index finger meets the bow at the point where the frog meets the stick. The index finger also applies an upward torque to the frog when tilting the bow. The little finger (or "pinky") supports
7128-463: The range illustration found at the head of this article may be taken as representative rather than normative. Five-string instruments have an additional string, typically tuned to a low B below the E string (B 0 ). On rare occasions, a higher string is added instead, tuned to the C above the G string (C 3 ). Four-string instruments may feature the C extension extending the range of the E string downwards to C 1 (sometimes B 0 ). Traditionally,
7227-429: The role of the percussion in this composition. "The noise in the hall was like an ocean in a storm. I was at the opposite end of the hall and could not distinguish a single note. The audience did not have the patience to listen and was hardly aware of the music. The orchestra was actually there, behind the pillars. I thrust my way through the crowd and managed to reach the orchestra after a good deal of effort. There were
7326-452: The same low pitches played with a delicate pianissimo can create a sonorous, mellow accompaniment line. Classical bass students learn all of the different bow articulations used by other string section players (e.g., violin and cello ), such as détaché , legato , staccato , sforzato , martelé ("hammered"-style), sul ponticello , sul tasto , tremolo , spiccato and sautillé . Some of these articulations can be combined; for example,
7425-475: The same opus number was given to more than one of his works. Opus number 12, for example, was assigned, successively, to five different works (an opera, a concert overture, a string quartet, and two unrelated piano works). In other cases, the same work was given as many as three different opus numbers by different publishers. The sequential numbering of his symphonies has also been confused: (a) they were initially numbered by order of publication, not composition; (b)
7524-412: The side of the pegbox, in imitation of the tuning pegs on a cello or violin. Several manufacturers make travel instruments, which are double basses that have features which reduce the size of the instrument so that the instrument will meet airline travel requirements. Travel basses are designed for touring musicians. One type of travel bass has a much smaller body than normal, while still retaining all of
7623-417: The soundpost under the bridge is essential for the instrument to sound its best. Basic bridges are carved from a single piece of wood, which is customized to match the shape of the top of each instrument. The least expensive bridges on student instruments may be customized just by sanding the feet to match the shape of the instrument's top. A bridge on a professional bassist's instrument may be ornately carved by
7722-416: The soundpost usually remains in place when the instrument's strings are loosened or removed, as long as the bass is kept on its back. Some luthiers recommend changing only one string at a time to reduce the risk of the soundpost falling). If the soundpost falls, a luthier is needed to put the soundpost back into position, as this must be done with tools inserted into the f-holes; moreover, the exact placement of
7821-406: The string, which then transfers an undulation in pitch to the tone. Vibrato is used to add expression to string playing. In general, very loud, low-register passages are played with little or no vibrato, as the main goal with low pitches is to provide a clear fundamental bass for the string section . Mid- and higher-register melodies are typically played with more vibrato. The speed and intensity of
7920-486: The strings must somehow be transferred to the surrounding air. To do this, the strings vibrate the bridge and this in turn vibrates the top surface. Very small amplitude but relatively large force variations (due to the cyclically varying tension in the vibrating string) at the bridge are transformed to larger amplitude ones by combination of bridge and body of the bass. The bridge transforms the high force, small amplitude vibrations to lower force higher amplitude vibrations on
8019-427: The strings vibrating against the fingerboard near to the fingered position. This buzzing sound gives the note its character. The lowest note of a double bass is an E 1 (on standard four-string basses) at approximately 41 Hz or a C 1 (≈33 Hz), or sometimes B 0 (≈31 Hz), when five strings are used. This is within about an octave above the lowest frequency that the average human ear can perceive as
8118-416: The tailpiece (important for violin, viola and cello players, as their instruments use friction pegs for major pitch adjustments) unnecessary, a very small number of bassists use them nevertheless. One rationale for using fine tuners on bass is that for instruments with the low C extension, the pulley system for the long string may not effectively transfer turns of the key into changes of string tension/pitch. At
8217-431: The tiny "barbs" that real horsehair has, so it does not "grip" the string well or take rosin well. String players apply rosin to the bow hair so it "grips" the string and makes it vibrate. Double bass rosin is generally softer and stickier than violin rosin to allow the hair to grab the thicker strings better, but players use a wide variety of rosins that vary from quite hard (like violin rosin) to quite soft, depending on
8316-404: The top of the bass body. The top is connected to the back by means of a sound post, so the back also vibrates. Both the front and back transmit the vibrations to the air and act to match the impedance of the vibrating string to the acoustic impedance of the air. Because the acoustic bass is a non-fretted instrument, any string vibration due to plucking or bowing will cause an audible sound due to
8415-471: The true bass of the violin family . He states that, while the exterior of the double bass may resemble the viola da gamba, the internal construction of the double bass is nearly identical to instruments in the violin family , and very different from the internal structure of viols. Double bass professor Larry Hurst argues that the "modern double bass is not a true member of either the violin or viol families". He says that "most likely its first general shape
8514-399: The un-numbered compositions have been cataloged and labeled with the German acronym WoO ( Werk ohne Opuszahl ), meaning "work without opus number"; the same has been done with other composers who used opus numbers. (There are also other catalogs of Beethoven's works – see Catalogues of Beethoven compositions .) The practice of enumerating a posthumous opus ("Op. posth.") is noteworthy in
8613-436: The upper range). Machine tuners are always fitted, in contrast to the rest of the violin family, where traditional wooden friction pegs are still the primary means of tuning. Lack of standardization in design means that one double bass can sound and look very different from another. The double bass is closest in construction to violins, but has some notable similarities to the violone , the largest and lowest-pitched member of
8712-545: The vibrato is varied by the performer for an emotional and musical effect. In jazz, rockabilly and other related genres, much or all of the focus is on playing pizzicato. In jazz and jump blues , bassists are required to play rapid pizzicato walking basslines for extended periods. Jazz and rockabilly bassists develop virtuoso pizzicato techniques that enable them to play rapid solos that incorporate fast-moving triplet and sixteenth note figures. Pizzicato basslines performed by leading jazz professionals are much more difficult than
8811-415: The viol family. The double bass features many parts that are similar to members of the violin family, including a wooden, carved bridge to support the strings, two f-holes , a tailpiece into which the ball ends of the strings are inserted (with the tailpiece anchored around the endpin mount), an ornamental scroll near the pegbox, a nut with grooves for each string at the junction of the fingerboard and
8910-450: The viol family. For example, the bass is tuned in fourths, like a viol, rather than in fifths, which is the standard in the violin group. Also, notice that the 'shoulders' meet the neck in a curve, rather than the sharp angle seen among violins. As with the other violin and viol family instruments that are played with a bow (and unlike mainly plucked or picked instruments like guitar), the double bass's bridge has an arc-like, curved shape. This
9009-444: The viol family. Unlike the violone, however, the fingerboard of the double bass is unfretted , and the double bass has fewer strings (the violone, like most viols, generally had six strings, although some specimens had five or four). The fingerboard is made of ebony on high-quality instruments; on less expensive student instruments, other woods may be used and then painted or stained black (a process called "ebonizing"). The fingerboard
9108-402: The violin family. While the double bass is nearly identical in construction to other violin family instruments, it also embodies features found in the older viol family. The notes of the open strings are E 1 , A 1 , D 2 , and G 2 , the same as an acoustic or electric bass guitar . However, the resonance of the wood, combined with the violin-like construction and long scale length gives
9207-471: The weather, the humidity, and the preference of the player. The amount used generally depends on the type of music being performed as well as the personal preferences of the player. Some brands of rosin, such as Wiedoeft or Pop's double bass rosin, are softer and more prone to melting in hot weather. Owing to their relatively small diameters, the strings themselves do not move much air and therefore cannot produce much sound on their own. The vibrational energy of
9306-423: The wood of the bow against the string. In orchestral repertoire and tango music, both arco and pizzicato are employed. In jazz, blues, and rockabilly, pizzicato is the norm, except for some solos and occasional written parts in modern jazz that call for bowing. Bowed notes in the lowest register of the instrument produce a dark, heavy, mighty, or even menacing effect, when played with a fortissimo dynamic; however,
9405-476: The wood peg and the peg hole may become insufficient to hold the peg in place, particularly if the peg hole become worn and enlarged. The key on the tuning machine of a double bass turns a metal worm , which drives a worm gear that winds the string. Turning the key in one direction tightens the string (thus raising its pitch); turning the key the opposite direction reduces the tension on the string (thus lowering its pitch). While this development makes fine tuners on
9504-405: The word is abbreviated as "Op." for a single work, or "Opp." when referring to more than one work. Opus numbers do not necessarily indicate chronological order of composition. For example, posthumous publications of a composer's juvenilia are often numbered after other works, even though they may be some of the composer's first completed works. To indicate the specific place of a given work within
9603-415: The works of composers such as: Double bass The double bass ( / ˈ d ʌ b əl b eɪ s / ), also known as the upright bass , the acoustic bass , the bull fiddle , or simply the bass , is the largest and lowest-pitched chordophone in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions such as the octobass ). It has four or five strings, and its construction is in between that of
9702-399: Was that of a violone, the largest member of the viol family. Some of the earliest basses extant are violones, (including C-shaped sound holes) that have been fitted with modern trappings." Some existing instruments, such as those by Gasparo da Salò , were converted from 16th-century six-string contrabass violoni. There are two major approaches to the design outline shape of the double bass:
9801-535: Was written in the beginning of Sibelius's compositional career, and the complete Music consists of an Overture , 8 Tableaux , and 2 Intermezzi ; it runs for about 44 minutes, whereas the Suite lasts about 12 minutes. The rough-hewn character of the Music was deliberate – the aesthetic intention was not to dazzle with technique but to capture the quality of naive, folk-based authenticity. Historical comments have noted
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