Performer Guides

Use this guide to find resources for music performance, including LC call number browsing ranges for repertoire, books, and journals..

Can't find what you are looking for?

Email Kate Linton the Music Librarian for Instruction and Outreach for research assistance and searching strategies.

Library Search

Check out the Library Search which finds print and electronic items, including journal and newspaper articles, book chapters, books, reviews, legal documents, and much more. Note: Due to licensing restrictions, some content is only available to current students, faculty, and staff.

Search help: https://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/searchhelp/

Finding Repertoire for the Double Bass:

If you're looking for new repertoire to perform, it is often helpful to browse the Music Library's scores. The following call number ranges are for double bass music; individual works within these numbers are arranged alphabetically by composer or arranger:

M55-M58, Music for double bass alone
M237-M238, Music for double bass and piano
M1018, Music for double bass with orchestra (full score)
M1019, Music for double bass with orchestra (piano reduction)
M1105-M1106, Music for double bass with string orchestra (full score)
M1118, Music for double bass with string orchestra (piano reduction)
M1366, Jazz ensembles

Excerpts, etudes, and instructional materials are classified in the MT range and housed in the same location as books:

MT320, General works
MT322, Systems and methods
MT330, Studies and exercises
MT331, Orchestral studies (excerpts)

Selected Books on the Double Bass and Double Bassists

Cover of a Double Bassist's Guide with a close-up black and white photograph of a double bass's bridge and right f hole.

A Double Bassist's Guide to Refining Performance Practices

Placeholder plain blue cover used when no other cover image available.

About the Double Bass: A Player's Guide

Dark green cover of the Baroque Double Bass Violone.

The Baroque Double Bass Violone

Dark green cover of Domenico Dragonetti with picture of a dragon playing a double bass.

Domenico Dragonetti in England (1794-1846)

Cover of Better Git It in Your Soul with a black and white photograph of Charles Mingus playing double bass.

Better Git It in Your Soul: An Interpretive Biography of Charles Mingus

Yellow cover of Deep Down in Music with a drawing of a double bassist playing pizzicato.

Deep down in Music: The Art of the Great Jazz Bassists

Cover of the String Instrument Owner's Handbook with a painting of a luthier working on a violin in his shop.

The String Instrument Owner's Handbook

Dark green cover of String Syllabus v. 1 with a photograph of staves of music.

String Syllabus, Vol 1

Last Updated: Sep 5, 2025 9:56 AM
URL: https://researchguides.library.vanderbilt.edu/performer_guides
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Subjects: Music

Tags: brass, guitar, harp, piano, plucked strings, singing, strings, woodwinds

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