Incredibly Useful Exercises for Double Bass – an overview

The way that Dennis Whittaker approaches  the bass resonates so strongly with me. 

Maybe it’s our shared background and similar pedagogical influences.  Regardless, there’s something in the way he lays things out that makes me want to drop everything I’m doing and just practice.

I had a few phone conversations with Dennis in early 2020 as this project was taking shape.  In fact, I remember chatting with him on the phone while sipping a drink in the Denver airport lounge.  That was only a few months ago, but it seems like several lifetimes ago!

Fast-forward to the present, and Dennis has not only launched a great YouTube Channel (shout out to Joey Naeger for supporting this!), but he has released not one, not two, but 17 volumes (!) plus an appendix.

A look inside the books

Digging into these volumes has been one of my favorite pandemic projects, and I’ve totally fallen in love with the approach that he has taken here.

The first thing that struck me, both in his YouTube videos and in the individual written exercises, was the holistic approach he was taking with this material. 

If I’m not careful, my practicing tends to devolve into this “ho-hum” part of my day, like folding the laundry or taking out the trash.  I know I’m not the only one to go through that with their practicing!

Dennis’ approach is like a B12 shot of positivity.  It actually reminds me of the experience I had a few years ago when I started incorporating Modacity into my practice routine.  I wasn’t looking to improve my approach to practicing with Modacity, but the deliberate practice approach that this app takes ended up changing my practice habits for the better. I’m finding the same thing with these incredibly Useful Exercises!

Dennis and his mindful approach to this material

Dennis frames each exercise with affirmations, silence, centering, and tonalization.

Here’s a quote from Dennis on his approach to the series, and you can check out this video to hear the whole thing:

Just like each and every memorable performance, these exercises begin and end with gratitude, listening, focus, and beauty […] the four successful pillars of every working musician.

Dennis Whittaker, from Incredibly Useful Exercises for Double Bass

What a meaningful approach to technical development!

Diving into all the exercises

Once the books came out, my first impulse was to purchase Volume 17, which contains all the exercises. 

I ordered the paperback version of this, and it’s great, but I quickly realized that the real magic of these is in the first 16 individual volumes.

I ended up ordering the other 16 volumes plus the appendix on the Kindle, which is convenient for me since i use my iPad Pro for music reading. I think that I’ll likely pick up the individual print books as well, though, because being able to lay both the instructions/framing page and the exercises together is a real perk.

Since I’d already ordered Volume 17, I decided to go through it from cover to cover, working through  each exercise in alphabetical order.  I was mostly curious about all the individual exercises and how they were laid out, but I’d definitely recommend picking one of the first 16 volumes and diving in that way.

Taking a look at each volume

Think of these sixteen volumes like guided practice sessions.  Each of them is designed to take about an hour, which seems like a perfect amount of technique work for a dedicated musician. (paid links below):

• Volume 1 – Mindfulness, Awareness, Control
• Volume 2 – Expression, Beauty
• Volume 3 – Hand Shaping, Precision
• Volume 4 – Lower Octave Fingerboard Mastery Part 1
• Volume 5 – Lower Octave Fingerboard Mastery Part 2
• Volume 6 – Lower Octave Fingerboard Mastery Part 3
• Volume 7 – Lower Octave Fingerboard Mastery Part 4
• Volume 8 – Upper Octave Fingerboard Mastery Part 1
• Volume 9 – Upper Octave Fingerboard Mastery Part 2
• Volume 10 – Whole Fingerboard Mastery
• Volume 11 – Velocity
• Volume 12 – Power
• Volume 13 – Hybrid #1
• Volume 14 – Hybrid #2
• Volume 15 – Hybrid #3
• Volume 16 – Hybrid #4
• Volume 17 – All Exercises
• Appendix – Primers

How I’m digging into these

Ok–this is a lot of material.  But here’s my plan.

I’m taking each of the individual volumes and practicing them for one week, replacing the technique practice I normally do with one hour of Incredibly Useful Exercises (hereafter referred to as IUE).

I’m also building the sequence of exercises as practice lists in Modacity, with each exercise as its own practice item.  Since many of the exercises will  appear in different volumes of IUE, this is a cool way for Modacity to track the time I’m spending on each of these practice items.  It’s a cool way to track what I’m spending my time on over the long haul.

I’m also trying to set up the timing for each practice item so that the whole session comes in at around an hour. Here’s how volume one looks laid out in the app:

I’m also recording a video for each one of these, and I’m trying out filming the whole session with a GoPro on my head. You can check out my first attempt at this here, I think it went relatively well, though I was getting a headache from the camera strap by the end! I’ll work on my angles and making sure everything I’m talking about is more visible in the shot, but I think it will be a fun way to dive into this.

Dennis has released videos for several of these exercises already, and I believe the plan is to have all of them on Youtube eventually. Here’s the list in text form (released videos are linked), and each practice sequence begins and ends with affirmations and silence:

1. Centering
2. Tonalization
3. Glowing Tones
4. Trampolines/Basketball
5. Breathing Scales
6. String Crossing Curves
7. Bow Tuners
8. Long Tones
9. Color and Dynamics are Different
10. 6th Position Harmonic Songs
11. Quick and Dead
12. Tempo and Dynamics are Different
13. Tapers
14. Ribbits
15. Dig It Up
16. Spiccato
17. Chompers

Follow along with my journey through these volumes on YouTube if you like!

Final Thoughts

Dennis has dropped a double bass knowledge bomb, but he has provided a variety of paths for navigating it.

Let’s close today with these words from Dennis, which are such a great way to approach bass, and really anything in life:

Always remember that it’s not about the exercises themselves, it’s about how you frame the exercises.

It’s about how you address them day to day to day.

It’s about how you honor your mind and your body’s natural ability to grow and learn.

It’s about developing positive habits that provide graciousness, trust, and reliability.

Dennis Whittaker