Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

You are browsing the archives of 2007 September.

This week’s Contrabass Conversations episode features an in-depth analysis of the double bass orchestral excerpts most commonly requested at auditions. Double bassist (and regular Contrabass Conversations guest and co-host) John Grillo discusses each of these excerpts–stylistic considerations, differences in articulation and bow strokes, and suggestions for effectively learning them–and then performs them. [...]

I was flabbergasted today during a discussion in one of my teacher certification courses when the course instructor suggested…well, actually, the instructor flat out told this class of music education students that it was unwise and unrealistic to expect to be able to both perform and teach at a professional level. This instructor [...]

Phillip W. Serna Doctoral Recital from 2002 at Northwestern University
Angel of Dusk, Concerto for Double Bass (1980/1993) by Einojuhani Rautavaara (b.1928)For Double Bass, Two Pianos and Percussion
His First AppearanceHis MonologueHis Last Appearance
Dr. Phillip W. Serna, Double BassJoseph Francavilla, PianoJ. David Štech, PianoRobert Dillon, Percussion
For more information, visit Dr. Phillip W. Serna at http://www.phillipwserna.com/.
Part I - [...]

I have been a bit concerned by the throwaway usage of the term ‘bass viol’ recently mostly in regards to John Harbison’s Concerto for Bass Viol. I am actually pleased that by the use of the term, double bassists are recognizing the connection between the double bass and the viol (or viola da gamba) family. [...]

Phillip W. Serna Doctoral Recital from 2002 at Northwestern University
Quest (1990, revised 1994) by George Crumb (b.1929)For Guitar, soprano saxophone, harp, double bass, and two percussionists
Refrain II. Dark PathsII. Fugitive SoundsRefrain 2III. Forgotten DirgesIV. Fugitive SoundsRefrain 3V. Nocturnal
Dr. Phillip W. Serna, Double BassJeff Lambert, GuitarJessica Schaeffer, HarpJoshua Aldorisio, PercussionMathew Coley, Percussion and Appalachian Hammered DulcimerLars [...]

Italian bassist Vito Liuzzi left some great comments on the blog recently, pointing to a video of the second and third movements of the Divertimento Concertante by Nino Rota. I had originally blogged about this back in April of 2007. Click here to check out the first part of this great performance by [...]

Contrabass Conversations listener and double bassist Greg Sowell wrote in recently with a very interesting dilemma, wondering if he has stumbled across a very old cake of Oak Bass Rosin. He writes:

I love the show. Its an excellent source for all us Bass Geeks out here. I am [...]

The Chicago Symphony is on tour at the moment, and I’m holding off on releasing any additional material for Contrabass Conversations from CSO bass section members Michael Hovnanian, Rob Kassinger, or Brad Opland until they get back. It’s always better to put podcast episodes out when the featured guest is around to appreciate [...]

I got married one month ago today on the beautiful island of Kauai, and I realized that, apart from some wacky animated photos, I never put up any pictures of the wedding here on the blog.  I’ve got a ton of them (as well as a few thousand other photos from our honeymoon), so here [...]

Readers could easily have missed double bassist Phillip Serna’s great post yesterday on double bass private studio teaching amidst the glut of posts we’ve put out this week.  In this post, Phillip details the steps he went through in establishing himself as a full-time double bass studio teacher in the Chicago suburbs.
If one is interested [...]