Bass maintenance to prevent bad habits

In every school I visit I consistently see new bassists falling into the same bad technique traps, and often it isn’t their fault–many are coping with instruments that are in need of adjustments or repairs that make playing correctly physically uncomfortable.  So they adapt to their bad instruments and find their own postures and hand shapes that feel the most comfortable for them.  This makes correcting bad technique a battle that teachers can’t win.

The biggest problem I see with school basses is that the string height tends to be too high, which makes pressing the string down a huge chore, especially in the upper positions.  Often this will be because of a bridge that is not the right size for the bass, or has been warped or knocked out of place.   This leads the player to try to press the string down by squeezing the left hand fingers against the thumb or even the palm, often distorting the shape of the hand in the process, making intonation dodgy and shifting impossible.  If you can, take your basses into a string shop that has a bass specialist and see what can be done to get the string height lowered.

Often endpins are bent or the scew that secures the endpin is bent or missing, preventing a player from adjusting the bass to its optimal height.  This can effect the right arm and result in playing over the fingerboard, drawing the bow at an angle to the string, or worse, creative contortions of the arm during the bow draw, especially at the end of a down bow–often they’ll want to lift the arm in the air resulting in a “chicken wing” shape (which can be corrected with a low and relaxed “monkey arm”).  While the only fix for a bent endpin is to replace it, the screw can usually be replaced at a hardware store for less than a dollar.

I see basses with generic brand strings that are years old, often mixed from several sets, and it’s no wonder why the students have difficulty getting a good tone–the strings are as dull as a cinderblock!  I recommend heavy gauge Helicore Orchestral strings, which should be replaced every school year.  These are the most economical of the high quality bass strings (about $100 a set) and tend to sound great on inexpensive instruments.  Even a mediocre bass with a proper string height and a set of these strings can sound fantastic.

Lastly, a word about rosin.  At every school I go to the bows are thirsty for rosin.  Many feel like they haven’t felt rosin in months.  The bows have no grip, and the players never get to experience the joyful connection of being “in the string” and drawing a big, robust sound.  I recommend keeping several cakes of Pops bass rosin available to the students, and to encourage them to rosin at least a few swipes every day.  You’ll be amazed at sound results!  Stickier rosin is better (that’s why I like Pops).  Avoid the powdery stuff that resembles violin rosin.  Also, replace your rosin every school year, regardless of how much has been used.  Old rosin loses it’s effectiveness as it ages and becomes crystaline.