Double bass

The double bass is widely considered to be the largest and lowest-tuned member of the violin family of string instruments. In reality, however, it is not. It is the only modern descendant of the viola da gamba family of instruments, a family which originated in the 15th century. Members of the viola da gamba family can be characterized most easily by the sloping shoulders (as opposed to the bulging shoulders of the violin).It resembles the other members of the family, but is much larger and has slight differences in shape. The instrument is known by several other names (especially when used in folk, bluegrass, Western and jazz music), including contrabass, string bass, upright bass, standup bass, acoustic bass, bass viol, bass violin, doghouse bass, dog-house, bull fiddle, hoss bass, and bunkhouse bass. A person who plays this instrument is called a double-bassist or contrabassist.

Strings

Some basses have five strings; the additional string may be either an extra high string (tuned to C) or an extra low string tuned to B. Such basses are larger than usual, somewhat harder to play, and rare.

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Many four-string basses have a 'C extension' which extends the lowest string down as far as low C, a note an octave below the lowest note on the cello. This may take the form of an extra section of fingerboard mounted up over the head of the bass, which requires the player to reach back over the pegs to play, or of a mechanical lever system where keys are positioned next to the neck in the positions which the corresponding notes would occupy if the instrument had a fifth string. The extension is invaluable in classical music, because the bass often does not have a separately written part but is told to play the cello part an octave lower, a practice known as 'doubling'. The string bass is known as the double bass because it transposes down one octave.

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There are two main string materials. Traditionally the strings have been made of gut, and since the 20th century, steel has been the most popular material due to its better playability. Gut strings are nowadays mostly used by individual players who prefer the tone of the gut string. Gut strings are more vulnerable to changes of humidity and temperature, and they break more easily than steel. The change from gut to steel has also affected to the instrument's playing technique over the last hundred years, because playing with gut strings requires more force from the left hand. For example, the classic Franz Simandl method does not utilize the low E string in higher positions, but this has become more common in modern playing.

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