Double Bass
Transposition: Sounds 1 Octave below written (8ve lower)
PreviousUp to this instrument's family pageNext
The range of this instrument (from the lowest to the highest note)


Xtend

This instrument's repertoire
Listen

This instrument's jokes
Jokes

Instrument in Art
Picture

The history of the instrument
Evolution

Animation of the Instrument
Animation

Search for the Instrument on the internet
Internet

Musical Dictionary
Dictionary

Students Projects
Projects


The Contrabass
Listen...The contrabass, also known as the double bass or bass viol, is the biggest instrument in the violin family. Its sounds are very low and for this reason it rarely plays solo in the orchestra. For the same reason, it is not a not a member of the chamber ensemble. In symphonic music, the role of the contrabass players is important, and they usually play the cello part, an octave lower.
Beethoven let the double bass perform the famous theme in his 9th symphony, and Saint-Saëns used it to represent the elephants in "The Animal's Carnival".
In jazz, however, the double bass is a widely-accepted, important instrument, and leading jazz players play it by plucking (pizzicato).
The contrabass inherited unique qualities from its ancestor, the bass viol, and therefore its appearance and characteristics are a little different from other strings (the most evident difference is the instrument's shoulders, sloping downwards).

Structure of a String instrument
Structure
Relative sizes of a String instruments
Relative size






Electric Bass


Electric Bass Guitar

The double bass has been replaced by bass guitar in popular music

Composers


Beethoven


Saint-Saëns






Painting
St Cecilia (1617-18) Domenichino, Musée du Louvre, Paris

up

MusixCool© By Nadav Dafni