# Orchestral double bass excerpts, the standard audition list

The double bass excerpts that recur on audition lists, annotated with what each one tests and where they most often go wrong.

Bass excerpts are shifting problems before they are bow problems. Because a position covers only a whole step, a fast passage that a cellist fingers within two positions may take a bassist five or six, and unclean shifts read to a panel as smudged rhythm rather than as wrong notes.

The other constant is note beginnings. A bass string speaks slowly, so a note that has pitch but no defined start disappears in an ensemble. Almost every excerpt on the standard list is, in part, a test of whether you can make the string speak on time.

## Excerpts

- [Beethoven: Symphony No. 5, III, Trio](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/bass/beethoven-5-iii-bass), The most requested double bass excerpt in the repertoire. The Trio fugato, played by the section alone, fast and quiet. Audition; Classical; Bass clef. Standard audition excerpt.
- [Mozart: Haffner Symphony, IV, Presto](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/bass/mozart-35-iv-bass), The standard classical bass excerpt. Fast running passagework that has to stay light, clear, and exactly in time. Audition; Classical; Bass clef. Standard audition excerpt.
- [Mozart: Symphony No. 40, I, opening](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/bass/mozart-40-i-bass), The pulsing accompaniment that opens the symphony, and the running bass line that follows. Tests classical style and rhythmic discipline. Advanced; Classical; Bass clef. Standard audition excerpt.
- [Mahler: Symphony No. 1, III, bass solo](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/bass/mahler-1-iii-bass-solo), The unaccompanied solo bass statement of Frère Jacques in the minor. The most famous solo in the orchestral bass repertoire, and completely exposed. Audition; Late-Romantic; Bass clef. Standard audition excerpt.
- [Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, IV, recitative](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/bass/beethoven-9-iv-recitative-bass), The instrumental recitative for cellos and basses before the vocal entry. Speech-like, rhythmically free, and section-defining. Audition; Classical; Bass clef. Standard audition excerpt.
- [Strauss: Ein Heldenleben, bass passages](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/bass/strauss-heldenleben-bass), Fast, wide-ranging low string writing that crosses the whole instrument. One of the hardest excerpts on the standard list. Audition; Late-Romantic; Bass clef. Standard audition excerpt.
- [Brahms: Symphony No. 2, I, opening](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/bass/brahms-2-i-bass), The low string figure that opens the symphony, the three-note motif everything else is built from. Quiet, exposed, and entirely about sound. Advanced; Romantic; Bass clef. Standard audition excerpt.
- [Mozart: Symphony No. 39, IV, Finale](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/bass/mozart-39-iv-bass), Fast classical running passages across the instrument. A standard test of clean shifting and light articulation at speed. Audition; Classical; Bass clef. Standard audition excerpt.
- [Mahler: Symphony No. 2, I, opening](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/bass/mahler-2-i-bass), The tremolo-driven low string opening. Aggressive, rhythmically exact, and demanding a large sound without loss of definition. Audition; Late-Romantic; Bass clef. Standard audition excerpt.
- [Verdi: Otello, Act IV double bass passage](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/bass/verdi-otello-bass), The unaccompanied low string writing before Otello’s entrance in the final act. A standard opera-audition excerpt and completely exposed. Audition; Late-Romantic; Bass clef. Standard audition excerpt.
- [Beethoven: Symphony No. 5, I, opening](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/bass/beethoven-5-i-bass), The four-note motif, played in unison across the low strings. Rhythmic clarity is the entire test. Intermediate; Classical; Bass clef. Standard audition excerpt.
- [Strauss: Don Juan, opening](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/bass/strauss-don-juan-bass), The low string part of the opening gesture, fast, wide, and requiring the section to match the upper strings exactly. Audition; Late-Romantic; Bass clef. Standard audition excerpt.

Canonical source: https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/bass