the.com/bass fiddle
The violin's giant cousin that holds up the whole band and never gets a solo.
means A plain-spoken name for the double bass, the largest and lowest-pitched member of the string family, played standing up or seated on a stool.
from 'Fiddle' is an old, humble word for bowed string instruments, going back through Old English fithele to a Latin root also behind 'viola' and 'violin.' 'Bass' comes from Italian basso, meaning low — itself from Latin bassus, 'short' or 'low.' Jazz, bluegrass, and folk musicians favored the folksy 'bass fiddle' over the more formal 'double bass' or 'contrabass,' a reminder that the same instrument can wear a tuxedo in an orchestra or overalls on a barn-dance stage.
- actual name
- double bass, fiddle is folksy slang
- size flex
- too tall to play sitting, mostly
- genre hopper
- equally at home in orchestras and bluegrass
- job description
- low notes nobody notices until they vanish