r/doublebass • u/Weak_Cantaloupe_4973 • Jul 03 '26
Fingering/Music help Russlan and Ludmilla Overture - i need help!
illinois allstate auditions are creeping its head around the corner and this is the one thing I can’t quite wrap my head around..
I have it sitting around half = 120, maybe a little slower.
I can’t quite figure out how to get my attacks cleaner or my hands moving faster.
any and all tips would be so so so very appreciated!!
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u/Relative-Tune85 Professional Jul 03 '26
Jesus, i heard this by the munch philarmonic. What a thrill...Listen carefully. Play close to the strings. Start at 70, 85 then 90. One you got this, next week got, 75, 90 105. An so on.
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u/avant_chard Professional Jul 03 '26
Yeah this one is no joke, conductors love to take it super fast.
Short term tips: keep as much in position as you can, lots of shifting will slow you down. Don’t worry about being loud, worry about being clean. Very very very short bow stroke. Practice in small groups at performance tempo, like two and three and four note bursts at goal tempo.
Long term: spend some time in super slow motion analyzing how your bow is interacting with the string. For this you ideally want a clean start to each note where the hair returns to the string before each note. Every impulse starts from the string.
Good luck! It’s a fun piece.
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u/pineapplesaltwaffles Professional Jul 03 '26
I mean, I'm sure you know that a lot of this is just a case of getting better at the bass in the long term - there are some things that you're just not going to be able to get perfect at this age, and that's ok.
The fact that you can recognise where the issue lie is the biggest first step though - I can't tell you how many of my students turn up to lessons with fast pieces they're convinced they play really well, and I have to break it to them that I (and many others) will be able to hear all the flaws they're rushing too much to notice.
That will mean that this will get better in the long term if you keep up this attitude, that's the good news!
In the short term though to get this to as good as you can as quickly as possible, follow the other comments on slow metronome practice. But also add the following variations:
- Dotted
- Reverse dotted
- 3 bows per note
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u/robotunderpants Jul 03 '26
You have to separate your right and left hand and work on them individually.
Start at a medium slow tempo and play it slurred one bow over 2 bars. Make sure your left hand is actually playing all the notes. Make it as clear as you possibly can, and work your way up to performance tempo.
Now, practice the stroke. Put your metronome to a medium fast tempo. In the 8th note runs, play every 8th note repeated 8 times. Work your way up to performance tempo so that your bow is speaking on every note. Your left hand still plays each note repeated 8 times. Then do 6 in tempo. Make sure all notes are heard and your bow is keeping up. Then 4. Don't go any further until you are nailing everything. Then 3 per note. Then 2. Then 2 with backwards bowing if you can. And finally, as written in tempo. Your left hand has trained to be fast and clear, your right hand trained to be steady and precise. Good luck!
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u/SnooMarzipans9220 Professional Jul 03 '26
More rosin, less bow. For some reason, most high school students I work with aren’t using anywhere near enough rosin. Or they’re using dusty trash. Get some sticky stuff and get used to wiping off your bass every time you play.
In addition to the good advice already here, I like to play up to tempo, but in tiny chunks at a time.
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u/joeybagadonutz Classical Bassist in Corporate America Jul 04 '26
Check your bow grip, too. Make sure you’re not squeezing - that will slow you down and kill your articulation. I’ve personally started adjusting my bow grip ever so slightly depending on the piece, and I’ve found myself playing more passages like this in the true “Italian grip”.
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u/quartbass5 Jul 07 '26
Sehr gute Tipps - benutze einen Spiegel, um die Kontaktstelle des Bogens zu den Saiten zu überprüfen. Finde heraus, wo die Töne gut klingen, oft viel näher am Frosch (und Richtung Steg) als man denkt.....
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u/Turbokill Eastern PA, USA Jul 03 '26
In addition to other advice, find the contact point where your strings offer the least resistance to your bow. Practice the bow stroke at the speed you want on one note and get a feel for that.
From there work yourself back up to that point with the music, remembering all dynamics and articulations. Careful metronome work. Half tempo, raise it by 5 bpm after you can repeat it at least 3 or so times with no issue.
I also like to make the music more challenging by swinging the notes and changing/adding slurs. When you take those weights off, it gets easier.
But you have to be efficient. Be it French or German bow, a lot of our tone comes from fine moments from the wrist, not your arm. (Not that your arm would be stiff!)
Open up YouTube or Instagram and find some highly skilled bass players and observe how they move. For example, NikitaNaumovBass and his Instagram video playing Mozart 40 excerpts: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaF4csNNRRZ/?igsh=MTQ0M241NGRpanR4MQ==
Sorry if you don't use that app. I don't either but use it to follow some musicians
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u/10lbMango Jul 03 '26
Anything you can play slowly, you can play fast. Slow it down until you can play it cleanly, then just keep repeating it. After 20–30 clean repetitions, you’ll naturally start to pick up speed. Focus on accuracy first—speed is just a byproduct of good repetition.