double bass
1
3.6
- noun
- /ˈdʌbəl beɪs/
:
contrabajo
- An account of a performance by the Chicago Woman's Symphony in 1927 indicates that male players filled in to play oboe, French horn, bassoon, tuba, and double bass, "because it is impossible to secure women players of these instruments in Chicago."
- play the double bass
- cello and double bass
- viola and double bass
But most people don't realize that this low E right here, his lowest note that an upright double bass will play.
- But most people don't realize that this low E right here, his lowest note that an upright double bass will play.
Examples
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And who is the world's most famous double bass player in a bluegrass band?
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Violins on the left, double basses on the right, and everything in between.
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The double bass sound experience was, at times, influenced by the construction of the keyboard.
Academic text (1998) -
The double bass sound crescendoes, even slightly more than you expected.
Academic text (1998) -
The participants were high school students enrolled in an orchestra program who played violin, viola, cello, or double bass.
Academic text (2015) -
The double bass throbs out a pulse, and the cello echoes.
Academic text (2015) -
Each plucked string of Dr. Dick's double bass resounds like a cannonade.
Fiction book (1999) -
Three years later, the orchestra's conductor, Ebba Sundstrom, still expressed concern over the lack of women players of oboe, French horn, and double bass: "It has been one of our greatest troubles, for we want the personnel to be 100 percent feminine."
Academic text (1993) -
Francois Rabbath, a leading double bass virtuoso and teacher, observes that traditional teaching methods rely on exercises and scales reproduced in a mechanical way, and that such methods do not help the performer hear the notes before they are played.
Academic text (2006) -
The musician played a beautiful melody on the double bass during the concert.
Synonyms
1
3.7
A very large low instrument with a deep sound used in orchestras and jazz bands
1
4.7
A very large violin that makes very low sounds
The largest instrument in the violin family with very low notes used in orchestras
A very large string instrument like a big violin that makes low sounds
How High
Surface Forms
Morphology
A B1 learner who knows 'bass' will recognize a low-pitched instrument and 'double' suggests an intensified or larger form, so they can infer this is a particular type of bass (likely bigger or lower). However, 'double' does not transparently convey the precise technical sense 'largest and lowest-pitched member of the violin family' and could be misinterpreted (e.g., as 'two basses'), so the exact meaning usually requires prior exposure.
Etymology
The noun double bass probably comes from early music where a very large instrument played the same bass part as other bass instruments but much lower, so it 'doubled' the bass at a deeper pitch. The word double shows it 'doubled' the part and bass means a 'low' sound, so double bass refers to the biggest, lowest member of the violin family.