See also:

• DOUBLE
• DOUBLE (from the Mid. Eng. duble, the form which gives the present pronunciation, through the Old Er. duble, from Lat. duplus, twice as much)

DOUBLE See also:

• BASS
• BASS (the same word as " base," and so pronounced, but influenced in spelling by the Ital. basso)

BASS (Fr. contrebasse; Ger. Kontrabass, See also:

• GROSS

Gross Bass See also:

• GEIGE (O. Fr. gigue, gige; O. Ital. and Span. giga; Prov. gigua; O. Dutch gigue)

Geige; Ital. contrabasso, violone)  , the largest member of the See also:

• MODERN

modern See also:

• FAMILY

family of stringed See also:

• INSTRUMENTS

instruments played with a See also:

• BOW (pronounced " bo ")

bow, known as the See also:

• VIOLIN

violin family, and the lowest in See also:

• PITCH
• PITCH, MUSICAL

pitch . The See also:

• DOUBLE
• DOUBLE (from the Mid. Eng. duble, the form which gives the present pronunciation, through the Old Er. duble, from Lat. duplus, twice as much)

double See also:

• BASS
• BASS (the same word as " base," and so pronounced, but influenced in spelling by the Ital. basso)

bass differs slightly in construction from the other members of the family in that it has slanting shoulders (one of the features of the See also:

• VIOLA [Fr. viole, Ger. Bratsche, Ital. viola, alto]

viola da gamba, see VIOLIN); that is to say that where the belly is joined by the See also:

• NECK (O. Eng. hnecca; the word appears in many Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch ride, Ger. Nacken; in O. E. the common word was heals; cf. Ger. Hals)

neck and See also:

• FINGER

finger-See also:

• BOARD (O. Eng. bord)

board, it has a decided point, whereas in the violin, viola and See also:

• VIOLONCELLO (Fr. violoncelle, Ger. Violoncell, Ital. violoncello)

violoncello, the finger-board is at right-angles to the See also:

• HORIZONTAL

horizontal See also:

• PART

part of a wide See also:

• CURVE (Lat. curvus, bent)

curve . It is probable that the shoulders of the double bass were made drooping for the See also:

• SAKE

sake of additional strength of construction on See also:

• ACCOUNT
• ACCOUNT (through O. Fr. acont, Late Lat. comptum, cornputare, to calculate)

account of the See also:

• STRAIN (through O. Fr. straindre, estraindre, mod. i treindre, from Lat. stringere, to draw tight, related to stress, stretch, string, &c.)

strain caused by the tension of the strings . The double bass was formerly made with a See also:

• FLAT (a modification of O. Eng. flet, an obsolete word of Teutonic origin, meaning the ground beneath the feet)

flat back—another characteristic of the See also:

• VIOL

viol family—whereas now the back is as often found arched as flat . The bow :s for obvious reasons shorter and stouter than the violin bow . The technique of the double bass presents certain difficulties inherent in an See also:

• INSTRUMENT (Lat. instrumentum, from insincere, to build up, furnish, arrange, prepare)

instrument of such large proportions . The stretches for the fingers are very See also:

• GREAT

great, almost double those required for the violoncello, and owing to the thickness of the strings great force is required to See also:

• PRESS (through Fr. presse from Lat. pressare, frequentative of premere, to crush, squeeze, press)

press them against the finger-board when they are vibrating . The performer plays See also:

• STANDING

standing owing to the great See also:

• SIZE

size of the instrument . The double bass sometimes has three strings tuned in See also:

• ENGLAND
• ENGLAND, THE CHURCH OF

England and See also:

• ITALY
• ITALY (Italia)

Italy in fourths; ~~=1 in See also:

• FRANCE
• FRANCE, ANATOLE (1844– )

France and See also:

• GERMANY
• GERMANY (Ger. Deutschland)

Germany to fifths . 8-~= Owing to the scoring of modern composers, however, it was found necessary to adopt an accordance of four strings in See also:

• ORDER
• ORDER (through Fr. ordre, for earlier ordene, from Lat. ordo, ordinis, rank, service, arrangement; the ultimate source is generally taken to be the root seen in Lat. oriri, rise, arise, begin; cf. " origin ")
• ORDER, HOLY

order to obtain the additional See also:

• LOWER

lower notes required, although this entails the See also:

• SACRIFICE (from Lat. sacrificium; sacer, holy, and facere, to make)

sacrifice of beauty of See also:

• TONE, THEOBALD WOLFE (1763-1798)

tone, the three-stringed instrument being more sonorous . Some orchestras make a See also:

• COMPROMISE (pronounced compromize; through Fr. from Lat. compromittere)

compromise dividing the double basses intotwo equal sections of three and four-stringed basses . The four strings are tuned in fourths:— = Mr A .

C . See also:

• WHITE
• WHITE, ANDREW DICKSON (1832– )
• WHITE, GILBERT (1720–1793)
• WHITE, HENRY KIRKE (1785-1806)
• WHITE, HUGH LAWSON (1773-1840)
• WHITE, JOSEPH BLANCO (1775-1841)
• WHITE, RICHARD GRANT (1822-1885)
• WHITE, ROBERT (1645-1704)
• WHITE, SIR GEORGE STUART (1835– )
• WHITE, SIR THOMAS (1492-1567)
• WHITE, SIR WILLIAM ARTHUR (1824--1891)
• WHITE, SIR WILLIAM HENRY (1845– )
• WHITE, THOMAS (1628-1698)
• WHITE, THOMAS (c. 1550-1624)

White, finding that an additional lower See also:

• COMPASS (Fr. corn pas, ultimately from Lat. cum, with, and passus, step)

compass was required, first tuned his double 1 The real sounds are an See also:

• OCTAVE (from Lat. octavus, eighth, octo, eight)

octave lower . bass with three strings to „'' -- afterwards adding 3 a x a See also:

• FOURTH

fourth See also:

• STRING

string, the lower D . By this accordance the third and fourth strings gain additional See also:

• POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power and clearness from the fact that the first and second, being their octaves higher, vibrate in sympathy, obviating the See also:

• NECESSITY (Lat. necessitas)

necessity of making the 'cello See also:

• PLAY

play in octaves with the double basses to increase the tone when the lowest See also:

• REGISTER

register is used . In order to obtain equal sonority on his double bass with four strings, Mr White2 found it necessary to have a wider See also:

• BRIDGE

bridge measuring about 5 in., so that the distance between the strings should remain the same as on a double bass with three strings, thus allowing plenty of See also:

• ROOM

room for vibration . The neck was also widened in proportion . A five-stringed double bass was sometimes used in Germany tuned either to _ B—` or to See also:

• ATE

ate— but such instruments have been almost superseded by those with four strings . A somewhat larger double bass with five strings by Karl See also:

• OTHO, MARCUS SALVIUS (32-69)

Otho of See also:

• LEIPZIG

Leipzig was introduced between 188o and 1890 with the following accordance: The See also:

• PRACTICAL

practical compass of the double bass extends from t (real sounds) with all See also:

• CHROMATIC (Gr. xpcoµaruc6s, coloured, from xpwµa, colour)

chromatic intervals . In order 8va See also:

• BASSA

bassa . to avoid using numerous See also:

• LEDGER (from the English dialect forms liggen or leggen, to lie or lay; in sense adapted from the Dutch substantive logger)

ledger lines the See also:

• MUSIC

music is written an octave higher . The quality of tone is very powerful but somewhat rough, and varies greatly in its gradations . The notes of the lowest register, when played piano, See also:

• SOUND
• SOUND, THE (Danish Oresund)

sound weird and sometimes See also:

• GROTESQUE

grotesque, and are some-times used instead of the kettledrum; when played forte the tone is See also:

• GRAND

grand and full .

The lowest octave is mainly used as a fundamental octave bass to 'cello, See also:

• BASSOON
• BASSOON (Fr. basson; Ger. Fagott; Ital. fagotto)

bassoon or See also:

• TROMBONE (Fr. trombone, Ger. Posaune, Ital. trombono)

trombone . The tone of the See also:

• PIZZICATO (from Ital. pizzicare, to pluck or twitch)

pizzicato is full and See also:

• RICH, BARNABE (c. 1540-1617)
• RICH, CLAUDIUS JAMES (1787-1821)
• RICH, JOHN (1692-1761)
• RICH, PENELOPE, LADY (c. 1562–1607)
• RICH, RICHARD, 1ST BARON RICH (1490?-1567)

rich owing to the slowness of the vibrations, and it changes See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character according to the harmonies which See also:

• LIE, JONAS LAURITZ EDEMIL (1833—1908)
• LIE, MARIUS SOPHUS (1842–1899)

lie above it: with a chord of the diminished seventh above it, for instance, the pizzicato sounds like a menace, but with the See also:

• COMMON

common chord See also:

• CALM

calm and majestic . Both natural and artificial harmonics are possible on the double bass, the former being the best; but they are seldom used in orchestral See also:

• WORKS

works . As an instance of their use may be cited the See also:

• SCENE (Fr. scene, Lat. scaena, Gr. oflvil, a tent or booth, a stage or scene)

scene by the See also:

• NILE
• NILE, BATTLE OF THE
• NILE, SOBAT

Nile at the beginning of the third See also:

• ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act of See also:

• VERDI, GIUSEPPE FORTUNINO FRANCESCO (1813-1901)

Verdi's Aida, where harmonics are indicated for both 'cellos and double basses . The technical capabilities of the double bass are necessarily some-what more limited than those of the violoncello . See also:

• QUICK

Quick passages, though possible, are seldom written for it; they cannot sound clear owing to the See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time required for the strings to vibrate . An excellent effect is produced by what is known as the intermittent tremolo: owing to the See also:

• ELASTICITY

elasticity of the bow, it rebounds several times on the strings when a single See also:

• BLOW, JOHN (1648-1708)

blow is sharply struck, forming a See also:

• SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of See also:

• SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short tremolos . The double bass is the See also:

• FOUNDATION (Lat. fundatio, from fundare, to found)

foundation of the whole See also:

• ORCHESTRA (Fr. Orchestre; Ger. Kapelle, Orchester; Ital. Orchestra)

orchestra and therefore of great importance; it plays the lowest part, often, as its name indicates, only doubling the 'cello part an octave lower .