A double bassist is a
musician whose
instrument is the
double bass or
contrabass, the largest of the bowed
string instruments. In a
symphony orchestra, the bassists play the same part (although sometimes divided), and are called a
section.
Most double bassists have at some point in their lives played electric bass, although this is not a prerequisite. It shows, however, that as far as classical musicians go, the bassists usually have a foot in more genres than other groups, and they often have side gigs in other genres. This would most often be jazz, another style of music where the instrument is prominent.
In classical music, the instrument is commonly played with a bow, signified by the Italian word arco, and also plucked, pizzicato. This is also the technique used by jazz bassists, although with a slightly different hand position and therefore sound. Other playing techniques include hitting the strings with the wood of the bow (col legno), and a very strong pizzicato that results in the string striking the fingerboard, called Bartok pizzicato after Bela Bartok, who first introduced it.