What about how to learn about them? The foundation of the orchestra and jazz
The contraband holds the orchestra and makes them walk to jazz, and few play it. What does it give you, where to play and what challenges to face.
Because it's the foundation of nearly every group that sounds about: it holds the harmony of the orchestra with the arch, it makes jazz walk with pizzicato and lays ground to the bolero, to tango and to the salsa. And as there are few contrabelists, who play with good pulse and good tuning, they usually find place in youth orchestras, symphony gangs, jazz combos and camera groups.
It's not an instrument for everyone: it's great, it's demand strength and organization to move it. Here we tell you what's bringing you, what's training, where you're at, what's different from the electrical bass and what challenges to have.
To sum up
- The contraple is the most serious voice of the rubbed ropes and the harmonic and rhythmic base of the orchestra and jazz.
- He plays with an arch and pizzicato, so his name's for both classical music and jazz, bolero, tango and salsa.
- That's why youth orchestras, symphony gangs and jazz combos are after them.
- He trains his pulse and his listening to his whole group and his applied harmony, as an electrical low but with no backlashes and with an arch.
- The challenges are physical and logistic: size, transport, force and smooth tuning.
The group's foundation
The contraband sounds an octave more serious than what's written and that depth holds up everything else. In the orchestra, his main role for a long time was to double them a octave down to give weight to the low line and with time, composers gave him more independence, his own and even his own passages.
In jazz his role changes: with pizzicato his pulse and his chords and his note by note and his chords are known as walking bases. If his backpack accelerates his whole band and his pizzicato and his pizzicato and his drummer are free to risk his best.
The same thing happens in both worlds: nobody claps first to the bottom but they all notice that they are missing.
What training to play contraband
- Pulse and time. Your line is the rhythmic reference of the group. You learn how to play just in time and to hold them even if the other duels.
- Listen as a whole. The countertop listens to all: to the melody to avoid cover, to harmony to sustain and to the drummer or to the director to go together.
- Filling with nothing to do with them. Each note you place with your left hand and confirm with your ear at great distances. It's a constant listening training.
- Two techniques in an instrument. The arch gives you sustained sound and legate control and pizzicate, attack, resonance and groove.
- Practical harmony. To walk a bass in jazz or put up a tumbao in salsa you need to know what grades each chord has and how to connect them.
While his hand learns his distance, you can check his tuning with his [contraple tuning machine]](/herramientas/afinador/contrabajo) online and with time, his ear takes his command.
That's where you play the bottom.
| Format | What's with the bottom? | Main technical |
|---|---|---|
| Symphony or youth Orchestra | The harmonic base, passage with cello and sometimes alone. | Arco, with some pizzicate. |
| Symphony band | Many bands include one or two drawers to round the grave by the tuba. | Arch and pizzicate. |
| Orquesta and camera groups | A single serious voice that should sound clear and refined. | Arco. |
| Jazz | Walking bases, alone and improvisation. | Pizzicato. |
| Bolero, tango and Latin music | Under rhythmic and harmonic, in the salsa, Seville. | A pizzicate with an arch and percussive effect on tango. |
| Andean music and fusion | Some students and contemporary Colombian music groups use this to expand their grave. | Pizzicate and arch. |
The salsa also includes the baby bass, a vertical electrical bass that stands as a backwater and that dominates the sky and soon adapts to the other.
Few counterponists, many opportunities
In youth orchestras, symphony gangs and jazz combos are often missing backstage. The reasons are useful: the instrument is great, it doesn't suit at any car or at any place and few children choose it at their start. That leaves an open space for those who are encouraged.
In practice, a pizzicate with a solid level usually has less competition for a place than with more popular instruments and its role within the group is difficult to replace. Also, with an arch and pizzicate can move between the orchestra, jazz and popular music.
Electrical and low jobs: how they differ
They share the tuning (me, the, re, sun) and the group's core role but the experience of playing them is quite different:
| Aspecto | Double bass | Electric bass |
|---|---|---|
| Diapason | No scattering: with his ear and his hand. | with and with (and with) models without). |
| Arco | Yeah, besides pizzicate. | No, you play with fingers, stick or snap. |
| Postura | Stand up or high bench, clinging to the instrument. | Seat or standing with strap. |
| Typical genres | Orchestra, camera, jazz, bolero and tango. | Rock, pop, funk, salsa, vallenato and urban music. |
| Sonido | Acoustic, round and mattered and with a live amplification with a microphone or a tablet. | It needs an amplifier, and the sound's been molded with the equipment. |
| Transporte | Complicated: requires a car or an extensive taxi. | Simple: goes with a cover behind his back. |
Many electrical bassist come to the bottom to play jazz, and there are counterpits that play both as per the project. If the electrical phone calls you more, read [why learn under electrical phone]](/blog/por-que-aprender-bajo-electrico).
Who's good with the backpack?
- He wants to be the group's reliable base rather than the solo player.
- Whoever likes jazz and wants that acoustic sound from the bass they listen to on the discs.
- To electric bassist who wants to expand their language and to cello pounding them with a different role.
- To patient people, they enjoy building tuning and sound little by little.
The height helps but isn't decisive: there are minor size drawdowns for children and adolescents, and the teacher sets the height of the instrument and posture to each person.
Reactual challenges of playing contraband
- Move him. In Bogotá, with a public transport backpack, you have to have a car and a taxi and a good co-ordination. That's why many counterparties leave their instrument at home and, as they can, use that of the ensemble, and that's why home classes are so comfortable: the teacher goes to where the instrument is.
- Home space. You need a corner where you can stand or lie with safety, far from sunny windows and moisture.
- Strength and resistance. The strings are thick and long distances, so at first their hands get tired and their technique and frequent pauses avoid tensions.
- Filling. Without scattering and with great distances, tuning well is a long term job. To record and play about reference notes helps a lot.
- Climate and adjustments. The wood reacts to changes of moisture and temperature, and the bridge or soul may require adjustments of a luthier. how to care for a contraple We'll tell you what to check.
On the [contraband classes] page](/clases/contrabajo) you find the age of orientation, instrument sizes and what you work at first.
Frequently asked questions
French or German arch: which one's best?
None of them are better: they are two ways to hold the arch, each with his or her school. French is taken as a cello arch and German, with his or her hand under, looks more like holding a saw. The usual thing is to learn what his or her teacher uses and, if interested, to explore the other later.
Can you learn contraband without playing another instrument?
That's right. You don't have to get through an electrical bass or cello first. Reaching from them gives benefits but posture, arc and tuning are learned from the base with any student.
The contrapand's from the violin family?
He plays with an arch such as violin, viola and cello, and sits with them in the orchestra. Nevertheless, he retains traits of the family of the gener Violas da Guba, as tuning by quarters and his low shoulders, and his shape is a little different.
What size of a contraple do I need?
Most adults use 3 / 4, and there are minor sizes for children and adolescents. The right size depends on height and length of arms and we explain this in how to choose a backpack to start with.