Summertime for Double Bass

In this lesson I perform and teach you my arrangement of the classic composition, ‘Summertime’. It’s a study piece for intermediate/advanced jazz double bassists which combines the melody and bass line. The tune is in thumb position, which if you are not familiar with you could leave and focus on the bass part, but if you are looking to work on thumb position this is a suitable piece.

The backing track and full transcription for this piece is available as part of the Discover Double Bass Lessons Guide.

If you are learning jazz it’s very important not to focus exclusively on improvisation as there are many benefits to learning set works such as this. Classical bassists routinely learn new study pieces (etudes) which result in improvements to their technique and musicianship. If you do end up recording this one I would love to hear your version.

I hope you enjoy the lesson and if you have any questions, feedback or lesson requests please leave a comment below.

The transcription and backing track for this lesson are included in the YouTube Lessons Guide.