Studien syftar till att utifrån hermeneutiskt perspektiv, utforska hur tre kontrabasister har kommit fram till just sitt sätt att tekniskt ta sig an instrumentet samt vilken funktion dessa kontrabasister anser att deras teknik har. Studiens datamaterial består av kvalitativa samtalsintervjuer med tre professionella kontrabasister som arbetar inom ett flertal genrer. I resultatavsnittet beskrivs respektive respondents tekniska förhållningsätt till kontrabasen utifrån tre tematiska metaforer: En stabil grund, En stor verktygslåda och Ett personligt sound. Det framkommer att respondenterna i varierande grad har studerat olika kontrabaskolor och att de använder sig av skilda metoder för fingersättningar. I det avslutande diskussionskapitlet lyfts studiens resultat till diskussion i förhållande till litteratur och tidigare forskning. I metoddiskussionen tas min förförståelse upp utifrån ett hermeneutiskt perspektiv. / The study aims to explore how three double bassists have reached their own ways of technical take on the instrument as well as what function these double bass players believe that their technique has. The study's theoretical premises consist of the hermeneutic interpretation. The study's data set consists of qualitative interviews with three professional double bass players with distribution across multiple genres. The results section describes each respondent's technical attitude to the double bass on three thematic metaphors. It reveals that the respondents in varying degrees have been studying various double bass methods and use different methods for fingerings. In the concluding discussion the results of the study is discussed in relation to literature and previous research. The methodological discussion is my pre-understanding from a hermeneutic perspective.

The 20th century French repertoire remains some of the most fruitful and varied music written for our instrument. But in fact it was written for another instrument entirely. While these two instruments share the exact same role when it comes to orchestral playing and every other practical sense - under the hood the instruments could not be further apart in terms of mechanics. So how is it that the bassoonist should go about tackling the intricacies of the French Repertoire - which as a whole offer very challenging pieces - when another layer of intricacies is added on top in the fact that it was all written for an entirely different instrument. Through careful and methodical changes to technique and exercises it is possible to alleviate many of the major problems so that they become more manageable. The hope of this paper is that others shall continue their own research into understanding and overcoming some of the shortcomings and complications related to our instrument in hopes that we may continue to build on our established technical and musical foundations.   Keywords: basson, bassoon, alternative fingerings, complications of performance, double tonguing, reed style