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“The String Bass.”
The string bass, also known as the double bass and bass violin, is widely used in a symphony orchestra in the left and/or right back rows. The string bass’s strings are four notes apart like most other music instruments and unlike the five notes apart that some other odd instruments are.
The string bass belongs to the string family. Most stringed instruments are found in orchestras. The string bass is also the largest instrument in the string family. It is a lot like a larger version of the viola. The string bass plays the lowest notes in this family. The strings that are quite large play the notes: E, A, D, and G. Most of the music is written in either F of bass clef. The string bass sounds an octave higher than what is written. In modern time, composers write the music in tenor and treble clefs.
The string bass is used in orchestras for background and strength. It is also used to show sadness, gloom, or stress. It is rare that any string bass solos are performed, but a few modern composers are starting to put them in. One famous piece the string bass is featured in is Beethoven’s Septet from the year 1800.
In 1987, Jeffrey Turner, a bass player, joined the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, or P.S.O. Before that, he was in the New American Chamber Orchestra. He has a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music from the University of Rochester. He also serves at places like Duquesne University and City Music Center’s Young Bassist Program.
Three stringed basses were common in the 18th and 19th centuries. These were often tuned for A, D, and G. These still are in existence in the some Eastern European folk music. Early basses in the 16th and 17th centuries had four or five strings and sometimes six in rare cases. The fifth string tuned to the C above the G String was added on modern dance-band basses.
Until the 19th century, bass players has used bows with stick out-curved in relation to bow hair long after the in-curved bow was set a standard for the violin, viola, and cello. The out-curved bass bow continues its use alongside two in-curved types that were developed in the 19th century.
This instrument stands approximately 6 feet high and has a bottom support peg. There is the E string extended at the head of the instrument and fitted with a small clamp mechanism to cut off the extra length of the string and releasing this mechanism would allow the string to sound with notes lower down to C. The string bass is sounded by the bow rubbing across the strings, creating a vibration inside of the hollow bass itself. This causes deep sounds, which is great for many purposes in an orchestra.
Bibliography
Works Cited
About the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra: Bassists – Jeffrey Turner. Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. 20 Feb 2001 http://www.pittsburghsymphony.org/pghsymph.nsf/bios/Jeffrey+Turner
Lycos Zone Research Center: Funk and Wagnall’s Multimedia Encyclopedia. Lycos. 21 Feb 2001 http://versaware.kidsreference.lycos.com/getpage.asp?book=FWENCOnline&abspage=/articles/006001a/006001206.asp
The New York Philharmonic Kidzone! – Instrument Storage Room – Bass. 23 Jan 2001 http://nyphilkids.org/lockerroom/bass.html
Word Count: 475
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