Reddit mentions of A Double Bassist’s Guide to Refining Performance Practices

Oh boy! Yes. First of all, anyone saying play slow scales to a drone for intonation is absolutely right. My intonation has improved dramatically over the last year. This appears to be a life-long commitment, according to Edgar Meyer. The Korg TM-50 is an awesome tuner/metronome that also produces drone tones.

I've also found The Art of Double Bass Playing and A Double Bassist’s Guide to Refining Performance Practices to be very inspiring and informative. The scale and bowing exercises in the latter are great, and they both offer a lot in the department of just thinking about the bass and its unique challenges.

Next, be careful! Last weekend I decided to play sitting on a stool instead of standing to see if I could improve my left hand position. It took several hours to get comfortable, and in doing so I did something wrong with my neck and could not move my head without terrible pain for the next five days! As you're experimenting with your posture and hand position, remember that the bass is a big beast, and it may bite you.

Another great thing to do is take a lesson. Find a bass instructor at your local college or someone in the local symphony and get a one-off "how am I doing?" session. It's very helpful.

Lastly, I guess, is to go very slow. If there's a scale, a shift, or a passage giving you trouble, take it very, very slowly. You'll likely discover what you're doing wrong. It takes patience and discipline, but it can be valuable.

A lot of this can be boring as hell, and it seems like you're not getting anywhere, but then every so often you'll realize that you're suddenly doing something that you couldn't have done even a month ago. Hey, progress! It's like magic.

So, that's what I got. Have fun!