ABSTRACT
The Prague Conservatory was a progressive center of bass study. The first bass professor, Wenzel Hause, produced many students who became leading teachers. Franz Simandl’s method was the primary text at the Juilliard School in New York City and in the earliest years of the bass classes at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. Friedrich Warnecke was aware of the physical problems that were inherent to new students of the double bass, especially when they begin study as teenagers. Franz Simandl’s work simply introduced the notes of the positions and offered exercises to incorporate prior positions, but did not offer explanation of the shift motion. Franz Simandl taught harmonics for tuning as well as the more common nodes, showing how the thumb will be used both to play harmonics and to act as a closed note finger. Franz Simandl’s approach marked a thoughtful grading of the material for the student.
