At the American School of Double Bass® we teach many facets of bass playing. Musically, our aim is to help bassists extract from the music the interpreter and composer’s artistic vision with integrity and taste. Technically, we search for the most facile means to that end by addressing every aspect of body and instrument posture, the bow arm, and the left hand and arm. But, if someone were to demand to know what is the single most important and unique concept that we teach at the American School of Double Bass®, I would have to say it is our approach to fingering.

The double bass has an enormous string length resulting in a much wider distance between the intervals than with the

other stringed instruments. Consequently, the problem of fingering is much more pronounced with the double bass than with smaller stringed instruments. I have found that virtually every student bassist struggles to devise fingerings that are not only technically sound, but also musically effective. A shortcoming in this important fundamental should not impair the realization of artistic vision. Hence, a key focus of the American School of Double Bass® revolves around this issue.

One of the most important foundations of the American School's left hand technique is the Triangulation of Fingering Systems.