Now here’s an area of musical study where you just don’t see a lot of females. When was the last time you went to see an orchestra and found a woman playing the upright string bass? It’s pretty rare.
I majored in music at a fairly prestigious music college and we had at least 2 double bass players that I recall and they were extremely talented ladies.
I did a quick stroll through youtube looking for female double bass players, but I came up empty-handed. If you know of any clips, post them in the comments below. Let’s highlight these women and let people know about them.
Oh and I have to admit, I really enjoyed drawing this particular design. I really like drawing musical instruments, probably because I grew up around so many of them and I think they are all beautiful works of art.
This double bass player design was requested by several Girls Can’t WHAT? fans, and I’m so happy to finally get to add it to the shop. You can see a few product examples below or click here to see all of the designs and gift items.
Girls Can’t WHAT? Double Bass Gifts!
[zstore contributorhandle=”girlscantwhat” productlineid=”196393504795235965″ showpagination=”false” showhowmany=”9″ defaultsort=”popularity” showsorting=”false”]
18 comments
Scraps
Happily, the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra (at least the last time I had a chance to see them) has at least 1, if not 2, female upright string bass players. Don’t know of any clips online of them, though.
And in middle school we had girl playing upright string bass in our band program–I never knew that it was anything other than ordinary!
M.M.
You’re right that women are severely underrepresented in the music world — especially in the bass clef section! However, luckily and weirdly for me (a female double bass player), a majority of the fellow bassists I know are in fact women. Also, I’ve seen plenty of videos on YouTube of women who play string bass. Not nearly as many as there are men of course, but enough to inspire and encourage young girls to take up the wonderful instrument!
I can see that this article is around a decade old — so I gather that girl bassists were less appreciated when it was written. But props to you for bringing attention to us! Carry on slapping that bass :D
gretchen
Very cool! I’ll have to research them. :)
Scraps
Found another one! While browsing some gorgeous wedding photos, I saw a string trio of women, one of them playing the upright string bass!
The group is Puamana (http://www.myspace.com/puamanahawaii) and the wedding photo that led to this is here: http://www.stylemepretty.com/gallery/picture/479909
When I saw it I instantly thought of this post :)
gretchen
Beautiful! I am listening to them now. And thanks for the photo link. :)
Marlo
I’m surprised you didn’t run across information on Esparanza Spalding in your search. She’s a very famous woman bass player who won a Grammy two years ago for best new artist, beating out Justin Bieber! She’s young, beautiful and should be a role model to all aspiring bass players. My oldest son plays the bass and she’s a role model for him.
gretchen
Hi Marlo – I’ve mentioned Esperanza on here when she won artist of the year. I probably missed any clips of her on YouTube because my search was a bit too narrow. When I tried a broader search for girls playing bass, the results were of bass guitar players, which is similar but not quite what I was after. Esperanza is simply amazing!
https://www.girlscantwhat.com/artist-of-the-year-is-a-woman-and-she-plays-bass/
till82
Hey,in bluegrass( my FAVORITE music) there are some really good clips on youtube. Tony rice had a chick named Bryn Davies. She rocks that double bass. Also a girl named missy Raines playing the upright bass with Claire lynch on Wabash cannonball.
gretchen
Cool – I will have to check them out. Thanks!
Carrie
Hiya! I sing and play upright bass. My band is called Carrie and the Dirty Pillows. http://www.facebook.com/carrieandthedirtypillows.
gretchen
Awesome – you sound great!
Bootsy Cline
My band made some videos in a snow fort this winter…
I usually play electric with them but I pulled out my Engelhardt for this one.
http://youtu.be/OQ6RWEsNPLM
There’s a few more videos there too :)
Brandy Bones
Im Brandy Bones, upright bassist, celloist, and vocalist for ‘Americana Noir’ band Big John Bates, outta Vancouver BC
https://www.facebook.com/bigjohnbates?fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/Brandybonesanderson?ref=tn_tnmn
gretchen
Very nice Bootsy – thanks for the video!
HI Brandy – I checked out Big John Bates – cool stuff!
Cleo
I’m currently in school, a girl, and play the double bass! Love this design! :)
gretchen
Thanks. :)
Tara
My daughter plays bass in a children’s orchestra. There’s 4 bass players and they’re all girls!
Krista Cheatham
I know this is an old thread, but I thought y’all might enjoy this video of my daughter and her friends. This 8th grade quintet calls themselves Radical 5 and their principal gigs are country competitions like this one and nursing homes. 😊 There are lots of young female bass players in my life!