Yo Vince,
Well done on getting a Dounble Bass! Now that you have it, find a GOOD Teacher, Period!! It is very ease to start off on the wrong foot! :^D
Black Hawk

Most definitely find a good instructor. A good instructor will challenge you at whatever level you play. The upright bass is a difficult instrument to learn and tougher still to master. But the rewards are fantastic!

To go into the recording studio with a double bass is a unique experience. You have to try it sometime!

Good luck.

Definately seek out a good teacher.


Check out this YuoTube vid however.
This guy has many cool posts.

Vince, I just bought myself The Improviser's Bass Method I am an electrical player, but that book seems generally good and has quite a few pieces aimed at the double bass player. I have so far not really started on it, but it seems promising.

M.

I've just bought myself expanding walking bass lines It hasn't arrived yet but it seems to be a bit similar to yours.

I think the main thing for me is to actually start playing again. A couple of years ago I played with 2 orchestras, a rock band a folk group and be in the studio on session every so often but now I've not played with a group for about 2 years. I have another book of classical pieces to get my sight reading back up then I'm gonna just play my heart out again just like old times.

I am in a similar place, I can run lot of scales, know the "house" for
almost all keys, but I don't have a good practise exersize, and I
feel that with a little direction I can pick up. Lessons are not an
option as I live to far away. Where do you go after scales?

Put your thumb in the middle of the neck, learn yourself to place your left index finger to rest on the height of A on the G string and play. If you get tired easely, incorporate more open string notes in your play, you ave a little resttime for your fingers and you have more time to think about reaching the next note. I took one hour of lessons on the DB, this is the essence, the rest is, as always, practice

I started playing the stand-up bass this Winter with a jazz teacher and a classical teacher at the same time. (It's really interesting meeting the two concepts together; sometimes their methods collide, sometimes not.)
Now my jazz teacher is working abroad, so I started practicing with Ed Friedland's Jazz Upright Bass DVD. He explains not only technique, but performance matters too, in a rather simple and natural way. The material is divided into short sections and there is a scorebook with all the exercises written down.

I have Ed's "Walking Bass" book, which I think was part of his thesis. Its a great book! I just need to sit down and use it on a regular basis.

I bet the upright book is quite good as well.