How Pizzicato Articulation Works on the Double Bass

Jazz bassist and educator Chris Fitzgerald put out a video recreating his 2019 International Society of Bassists convention presentation titled “Bachrilege – Pizzicato Articulation from Bach to Bebop.”

This video is divided into the following topics, and if you click through to it on YouTube you can jump directly to any of these sections.

You can also download Chris’ presentation examples here on his website.

Video Topics

• 00:25 Introduction
• 06:14 About the pizzicato cello suite edition project; what it is, what it includes
• 10:37 Bach-Bebop mashup introduction
• 11:29 Bach-Bebop mashup by Johann Sphere DeByrd
• 14:09 Similarities between the two styles of interest to bassists
• 18:04 Why would/should a jazz bassist practice cello suite movements?
• 20:30 Legato: The most difficult articulation of all for pizzicato players
• 21:42 Legato techniques in the pizzicato style (overview)
• 22:31 Hammer On technique
• 26:03 Hammer On examples in Bach
• 28:56 Hammer On examples in Bebop
• 30:41 Creating focused Hammer On examples to practice
• 32:22 Pull Off technique
• 33:38 Pull Off technique examples in Bach
• 34:27 Pull Off examples in Bebop
• 35:56 Creating focused Pull off examples to practice
• 37:09 Rake technique
• 38:39 Rake examples in Bach
• 40:41 Rake examples in Bebop
• 42:16 Combinations of techniques in Bach
• 44:07 Slide (vomit) technique
• 47:02 Slide examples in Bebop
• 49:21 Articulated Legato overview
• 50:23 Articulated legato – left hand aspects
• 52:25 Articulated legato – right hand aspects
• 57:02 Articulated legato on the piano: Doris Keyes and “Sleight of Ear”
• 1:00:25 Treating Bebop melodies with the same attention to detail as cello suite movements (in 3 steps)
• 1:05:43 Ornithology melody conceived like a cello suite movement (performance)
• 1:06:32 Technical comparison of musical language between Bach and Bebop
• 1:13:39 Improvisation using all techniques discussed in video

Brilliant idea to put out a video like this! Chris has a wealth of additional content on his YouTube channel, and we had a wonderful chat on the podcast a couple of years ago:

• Walking Bass Lines Part 1
• Walking Bass Lines Part 2
• Thumb Position Technique Basics
• more in Chris’ bass technique series