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Bass Fingerings

3K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  zeniuk 
#1 · (Edited)
I don't see a thread here on fingerings for bass, just wondering how everyone else does it.
This is some of what I have found on my Wurlitzer American:

Middle C: stuffy with front fingering, side C sounds good. I can also hold the Bb side key while fingering front C, that seems to work too.

Middle D: Standard fingering is stuffy, but I can play it while also holding open the D palm key, or just play the palm key D in the fundamental register.

Middle Eb: Standard fingering is also stuffy, as with D I can play it in the fundamental register with the palm key, or play the standard Eb fingering and open the Eb palm key, that seems to work too.

Hi E: I can play this using the 12th register (2nd overtone) using the fingering for A

Hi F: I can sometimes play this using the 12th register (2nd overtone) using the fingering for side Bb - which is to say, I have hit the note a few times! I'm not yet able to consistently play these altissimo notes, but that's me, not the horn - I have hit them enough to know they are there and speak well.

So - what do y'all do?
 
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#3 ·
Is your Wurlitzer a Conn stencil? Keyed to high Eb or F? Because your findings are almost note-for-note the same as what I found on my Conn bass.
Middle D is almost impossible without the palm key, Eb is a little better but still hard to pop out.
And middle C is ridiculously sharp, closer to a C# than a C, so you have to learn to play it with the side key.
Mine doesn't have a bis key, which is what I usually use, so the side Bb took some getting used to like the side C.
The forked Eb is fun to play around with.
 
#4 ·
Hello Instrument Attic, thanks for your reply! I am not sure if my bass is a Conn stencil, if anyone can tell me what features to check to determine this, that would be great. It is keyed only to Eb (hence the need for altissimo E and F), and it also has no bis Bb (and of course no front F). In spite of these limitations, I absolutely love the horn, what a saxophone! I will check the intonation tendencies of middle C and experiment with the forked Eb and get back to you, but I wanted to acknowledge your reply.
 
#5 ·
I spent some time last night with the Wurlitzer and a tuner and this is what I found (using a vintage mpc, Alexander Superial 2.5, and my beginner's embouchure already tired from 1+ hour on alto):

The horn as a whole tended to play flat. Pushing the mpc in almost to the end of the cork got me close, but the notes from low Bb up to about A in the first octave were still about 10 cents flat. Above that there was enough flexibility that in general, it was not hard to play in tune.

The fork Eb however was about another 20-30 cents flatter than everything else, and poorly vented, so overall, though I like the idea of it, it was not too useful.

The front C was indeed a bit sharp compared to side C, in the middle and upper register, but the difference was not as bad as what Instrument Attic reported on the Conn- maybe 10 cents, and both could be played in tune. Of course the tonal quality on the side C is vastly better.

Middle D played with the "long" ie, standard, fingering, was slightly sharp (though easily lipped down) but horribly stuffy. Adding the palm D to that fingering improved the tone dramatically but sharpened the note even further, though it could still be brought into tune. The best way to play middle D on my horn seems to be to use the palm key, which was well in tune and had good tone, sounding a lot like a bari.

Middle Eb is an interesting case. The "long" (ie standard) fingering, as noted above, was stuffy, but in tune. However I could get good tone and play in tune either by opening the palm Eb key while fingering long Eb, or just using the palm key. I do find it interesting that the "long" fingering played well with the palm key open, because the way the palm keys are set up, pressing Eb also opens the D palm key so if they are acting as an octave vent, that's a lot of open holes up top. I wondered if I was actually just playing a palm Eb (in other words, playing the fundamental register of the horn) when doing this, but starting from standard (ie "long") middle Eb and then adding the Palm Eb key did not seem to produce an audible "break" so perhaps the actual octave pressure node is between the two palm key holes and they can both be opened, which seems to be the case, but I will have to experiment with this some more before I am completely convinced. Perhaps I should not be surprised since saxophones are not excessively sensitive to the position of the octave vent - that's why we can get away with two octave holes instead of 12, right?

The most exciting discovery had to do with the altissimo notes obtainable with the left hand keys using the 2nd overtone. I was able to play from middle G to a high (altissimo) G#, with very little problem and for the most part well in tune, using only the left hand stack keys and the side Bb and C keys! From high C# I just returned to the fingering for G and sounded D. This D was a bit sharp, perhaps 20 cents. It could easily be lipped down to pitch. All the other notes played well in tune. Fingering the usual fingerings for G# through side C gave me the notes up to high G, without much difficulty at all. Of course front C would not work for this. The fingering for C# could also produce a G#, a bit harder to hit than the previous notes but still do-able. Important to note is that I did not use the octave key for the altissimo notes from D to G#, but did employ it in the usual way for the notes G to C#, which produces the situation of needing to ADD the octave key to DROP the register (unless you just play the whole range without using the octave key at all, which is an option).

I will be interested how much of this is valid for other players and other horns.
 
#6 ·
I've spent the better part of the last year doing the Sigurd Rascher Top Tones exercises. I am rocking a Holton/Conn Stencil from about 1922, keyed up to high Eb, but I can play fast passages comfortably up to a high F, just by fingering low E & F, with the 2nd overtone popping out clearly and in tune!

Altissimo -- I use Rascher's fingerings up to high G#, but the high A, which is so clear and precise on other horns, is easily an A#, if not a B. soooo out of tune. Anyway, I highly recommend the Rascher book for getting the higher notes going.

For middle D, I often use palm-D, both for timbre, intonation, and consistency, but the Middle D has a bigger and fuller sound which is what's needed for some occasions. I'll do the same for middle Eb, from time to time.
 
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