I have a Bass player in my Jazz Band that I have recruited to play upright bass in my Wind Ensemble. He has also played in the varsity orchestra at my school. Really good musician.

I have played with groups with an upright bass plenty of times, but I really am not sure how to utilize this student in our wind ensemble. My sense is to give him tuba parts and then tell him where to play and where not to play. I can see places in literature, especially transcriptions, where it would be advantageous to add a string bass part. However, I do not know how to utilize a bass in something like a modern Markowski piece.


Any suggestions from someone who has experience with this? I also would like to know about things like tuning tendencies and whether or not to use a bow.

I took this student in order to give him an opportunity to play with a band and also to stretch myself a little as a teacher. I also think it will be good for my band students to experience a little bit of the string world.

Any insights would be much appreciated!