New Method for the Double Bass - Book I

I have been a member of a 52 week symphony orchestra for over 30 years. This book is actually more useful as a warm up book for orchestral professionals than as a bass method. I've used it as such for my entire career. I believe there is no really...

great method book for a beginning student-it should be a highly individualized effort between teacher and student.

The "New Method for the Double Bass" by Franz Simandl will always have an important place in the history of double bass pedagogy. Having said that, it is hardly "new". Simandl died in 1912, and the most recent, Zimmerman/Drew edition came out in 1984. Though Volume I is advertised...

as a beginner method, I cannot think of a more inappropriate book for young students. It's like reading the bass playing equivalent of a scientific study of tying one's shoes, totally missing the point of view of a beginning student. It focuses on the left hand, ascending the fingerboard in half steps, attempting to establish an unwieldy and frankly impossible-to-remember position system, on the way to convincing the student that playing in the upper registers of the instrument is inherently hard or somehow only for advanced players. The worst part is that the exercises are patently unmusical, and as such are just plain boring.

I began with ABCs of Bass books. This Simandl was too daunting in the beginning and my teacher suggested the easier ABCs of Bass Book 1. Now I can handle this book and can't put it down. Use the ABCs of Bass book 2 with this book and you...

will cover a lot of ground.

The book is excellent for a starter of the Double Bass. The exercises do help let the mind know all the positions and shifting. Although know the third finger is used more in these positions the book is a great way to become a great musician.

This book is an excellent method for dedicated students. It is a bit dry and boring, but by the end the student will be much better.