Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

You are browsing the archives of 2007 July.

There’s a reason why people tell you not to take pictures of yourself:

Yesterday I wrote a post about the recent Seattle Symphony audition. This process resulted in no candidate being chosen, and I put out my two cents on how this procedure and subsequent unsuccessful result can demoralize and frustrate auditioning musicians. In retrospect, I may have not have chosen the best descriptors for [...]

An insider perspective on the psychology of performing musiciansThe essay that follows is intended to serve as a theoretical foundation for the arguments presented in subsequent installments of this series. It is based on contemporary theories on arts education plus my own personal observations of the music business. I welcome any additional reader [...]

The Seattle Symphony had a recent audition for a section position. No one was selected out of the finals to fill the position.
This is nothing new in orchestral auditions. Orchestras across the professional gamut (from the Chicago Symphony to the Rockport Community Orchestra) frequently elect not to fill positions during the course of [...]

Dr. Phillip W. Serna, regular contributor to Jason’s Contrabass Conversations podcast, now is joining the double bass blog as a contributor. Phillip looks forward to all that this partnership has to offer.

The double bass in nature:

Related Posts:

Maggini exhibition photo
beautiful Millennium Park photo
demotivational posters
Bassfest 2007 photos and video
Bass hedge from Robert Oppelt

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Grant Park Symphony bassist and blogger John Floeter put out a recent post on his blog about organizing practice time. He writes:
I divide practice into two large categories, technique and repertoire. Within these two categories are many subcategories.
Technique Goals: physical strength, speed, accuracy, AND mental strength speed and accuracy. With the physical goals, we [...]

Bass blog reader Jake Siener recently sent me a link to this excellent video of Iztok Hrastnik playing the first movement of the Koussevitzky Concerto. What a performance!

Related Posts:

Rabbath’s Poucha Dass
Catalin Rotaru plays Bottesini Concerto mvt 1
Gary Karr plays Paganini Moses Fantasy
Gary Karr plays Van Goens Scherzo
Gary Karr plays Rachmaninoff Vocalise

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This is my first real week of vacation in over six months, and it is a humongous relief to finally have come time to kick back and relax. As a result of all this discretionary time, I have made some big behind-the-scenes changes to the blog and the podcast–the sort of thing that has [...]

After a few hiccups here and there, I’m proud to announce a totally redesigned Contrabass Conversations site. This professional design should hopefully serve the podcast well as it heads into the future, and I’d love to hear reader reactions to this site. The user experience here on the blog will remain the same, [...]