While reviewing the various installments of Road Warrior Without an Expense Account, This Crazy Business, Basses, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, or any of the other gig stories here on the blog, I couldn’t help but notice that something was missing. Many of these works cover the strange and bizarre things that happen in a section (Louisville audition story), the pain and suffering that goes into either getting a job in this business or schlepping around the entire country on your own dime once you do get a job (or two or three or four, in my case!), but few talk about the real reason that so many people tolerate this unstable and unpredictable lifestyle.
What’s the real reason why we do this kind of work? For me, it is the satisfaction of being a member of a high quality bass section.
Bass section playing is a total blast for me. The subtle nuances involved in getting between six and eight players on the same musical page are an art form all of their own, and developing the musical maturity and expertise needed to really play as a section is truly a lifelong journey.
Unfortunately, far too many students focus on developing proficiency as a soloist, and only after learning a wide array of solo literature do they deign to “lower” themselves to (gasp!) ensemble playing. There is an old (and quite outdated, thankfully) mindset in instrumental education pertaining to solo playing, key points of which are outlined below. Keep in mind that, while I understand the philosophical justification behind each of the following points, I am highly dubious that following these pedagogical pillars will result in a student developing good ensemble skills.
- Solo literature offers the greatest technical challenges to the instrumentalist.
- Solo literature focuses on complete musical thoughts, while ensemble music focuses on fragmented musical thoughts. Focusing on solo music creates a complete musician, while focusing on ensemble music creates a fragmented musician.
- Solo literature develops the widest array of instrumental techniques and builds up physical endurance in the instrumentalist. Ensemble playing is a breeze after working on solo music.
- The highest quality performers pursue a solo career, or a principal chair in an orchestra at the very least. Second-rate performers make up the remainder the ensemble.
These solo-centric pedagogical pillars seem antiquated for any instrument, and especially so for bass. While it is certainly true that violinists in the first half of the 20th century may have turned their noses up at the prospect of a position in the back of the second violins, the overall quality of instrumental craft and employment stability offered by the modern orchestra means that the cream of the classical music crop now routinely compete for section positions in orchestras across the world.
Playing in an ensemble requires a very different skill set than solo playing. I can’t count how many times I have witnessed amazing solo pianists tanking while playing with an ensemble. Any instrumentalist who focuses exclusively on their own solo performance while neglecting ensemble skills is asking for trouble in the long run. After all, the vast majority of music created in any genre consists of at least two performers, so unless you want to strum a guitar in a corner by yourself you’re best advised to focus your energies on ensemble playing.
Orchestra playing is interesting in part because it consists of mini-ensembles within the greater ensemble. Each instrument group is a unique section–the bass section, the violin section, the trombone section, the flute section–ideally with a homogenous (or at least compatible) section sound and approach to musical details like articulation, vibrato, and phrasing. Each of these homogenous sections combine to form a heterogeneous but instrumentally related larger section–the strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion, with each of these larger sections working together to create a unified meta-section sound. These sections then combine to form the complete ensemble, again subtly adjusting their approaches to create a cohesive whole.
Not only do these homogenous sections combine to form meta-sections (which then combine to form a complete ensemble), but each of the smaller sections can also combine with other sections outside of their meta-section parent family. Basses frequently meld with tubas, violins with piccolos, and cellos with bassoons. Each of these new pairings then has to combine with other new pairings and assemble together (like pieces of a puzzle) into a collective musical product.
The combinations are multi-faceted and ever-changing, and this is what really makes ensemble playing fascinating and satisfying. First off, even learning how to speak as a section and not as a bunch of soloists is a humongous challenge. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve played with a group of bassists who sound like they’ve got chops to spare while warming up, only to discover (to my horror) that they sound like a bunch of caffeineated cats duct taped together when they start playing as a section. These chopsmeisters all too often fall apart in a section, tripping all over themselves musically, steamrolling in on rests and generally ignoring the musical subtleties occurring around them.
A good section player possesses a set of finely honed skills which, while perhaps not as immediately obvious as the above described “flashy” players, actually require more musical awareness and intelligence to execute properly. If a quality solo player resembles a champion sprinter (or other such solo athlete) in many respects, then a quality section player resembles a submarine captain, keeping tabs on countless ever-changing conditions, reacting to subtle changes and anticipating new situations.
Orchestras are teams nested within other teams, and learning how to work together and combine different musical approaches into a cohesive product is a lifelong and endlessly fascinating process. Knowing that I need just 5% more bow for this note in this situation, that I need to reduce my vibrato by 15% when accompanying a particular section, or that I need to move my one centimeter closer to the bridge (for just one bar!) comes with ensemble experience, and this kind of highly refined skill set is, to my mind, even more challenging than developing fingers of fire to play solo literature. Orchestral musicians must have the flexibility to change their execution of any passage on a dime, and the good taste to make these changes in a musical fashion. And section players need those aforementioned “fingers of fire” as well, as any performer familiar with the music of Strauss, Mozart, Stravinsky, Brahms, Bach, Beethoven, and all of our other art music masters can tell you.
Does the audience notice all of these subtle manipulations? Well, let me ask you this: can an audience tell the difference between the Cleveland Orchestra and the Centerville Community Orchestra? You bet your life they can, and it is these subtle ensemble factors that I am describing that make the difference between a good orchestra and a rotten orchestra. Even in less extreme examples, I firmly believe that audiences can hear differences in quality, even if it is not always at a completely conscious level. Even if they can’t pinpoint exactly what they didn’t like about
Orchestral playing requires the complete package. One needs to switch on a dime between the role of soloist, accompanist, section leader, duet partner, and a myriad of other subtle roles, and developing the mental acuity to make these rapid transitions requires years of practice and experience. Having the musical maturity to be able to deal with this torrent of information represents to me the pinnacle of quality musicianship, and it is for this reason that I look up to orchestral players the most.
This multi-dimensional musical awareness that really gets me excited about playing in a section and makes it my favorite kind of musical activity, and like so many other aspects of music performance, it is highly addictive once you start to develop some proficiency in this skill set.
______________
An extremely well-known instrumental pedagogue chastised a colleague of mine several years ago in a lesson after paging through the music that this player had prepared for the occasion.
“You…you are like half musician. No solo, only excerpts. Where is solo? Why no solo?”
I like to think that I’d have fired back some witticism such as “because I like to be employed,” or “because audiences don’t usually come to concerts to hear bass solos”.
In truth, I’d probably have nodded vigorously, agreeing with this criticism like a spineless puppet. “Yes, sir….I am half musician…no solo….so sorry.”
Read the complete series:
- Part 1 – Hard-Wiring the Musical Mind
- Part 2 – Full-Time Loyalty at Part-Time Rates
- Part 3 – Music is Addictive
- Part 4 – Orchestras – A Secret Society of Weirdoes (and I’m one of them!)
- Part 5 – Driving for Dollars – life as a classical music bottom feeder
- Part 6 – Individual Artistic Expression
- Part 7 – The Satisfaction of Section Playing
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Great post. I especially liked your submarine captain analogy. However, I think it is about time someone writes a piece for eight highly caffeinated bass players duct taped together!
Great post Jason… I agree completely. I taught a rep class recently where the talk turned to intonation, and I was asked precisely how a section of bass players a)figured out what the right intonation was and b)all converged on it within a half a second, all without speaking to each other. The amount of neurons that must have to fire in the brains of each bassist to do all that must be enormous! (That must be why it so often doesn’t quite happen….) – Jeff Weisner.
Your crazy business post reminds me of a famous joke:
A bass player takes a non-musician to a concert and proceeds to explain the string section to him:
“Look at the first violins: they’re all frustrated concert artists. They never succeeded in becoming as good as Heifetz nor Menuhin, so they ended up in a symphony orchestra”.
“What about the second violins” asked the friend?
“They’re all frustrated first violins”, replied the bassist. They weren’t good enough to get into the first violin section, so they ended up playing second fiddle.
“Now look at the violas”, he continued. “These people couldn’t even play the violin, so they took up the viola instead”, he added.
“And what about the cellists”? asked his friend.
“They too, just like the first violins, are also frustrated concert artists” said the bass player. They missed out in life in becoming young Rostropovitchs and Yo Yo Mas. They had no choice but to play in a symphony orchestra.
The non-musician was surprised at all of this. “I suppose that you bassists had no choice in life either” he replied.
“On the contrary”, said the bass player, “out of all of the string sections, we are the happiest bunch with no frustrations, because we learned from the very beginning that a bassist’s true role is to ultimately be part of a symphoninc orchestra bass section”.
Okay, I just can’t resist it, if someone does write the Caffeinated Cats Bass Octet (or sep-, sex-, quin-, quar- etc.), I’ll try and get it a performance. Where would one put the duct tape? Would it make a difference if there were standing and sitting players? Hmmm . . .
Maybe at next year’s MusiCircus… that’d be perfect!
Jacque
Chicago Bass Ensemble
I am a happy (section) camper. Astute observations as usual J.
dear “happy camper”:
are you happy to play all life notes without to think or to feel ??,like a little
part in the big cold machine??
mybe you still didnt get to the point of understanding that!!!
if you are happy ….
(its so good to know that some people still try to make music,real music…and i am not speaking about our little “happy camper”!! – more about the amazing Gary Karr, Maestro Rabbath, the Great Guy Tuneh & so on!!)
What are we speaking about?
To be able to play Solo? or to be soloist? or to play in an Orchestra???? what is better??
how many Orchestra instrumentalists we have ??, and how many REAL Soloists we have??
every one can play in Orchestra but NOT every one can be a REAL Soloist!!, or Chamber musion!!!
Orchestra “musions”; be happy that you can make your leaving from what you are doing, because with your talent no one will come and listen to you as a solist!!!(and you know it).and dont try to sale us that what you are doing is the best!!
the best;the interview with Mr. Tuneh,looks to me that he understund that already better then all of us.just listen to his interview and try to understand his points, and he has some.
the Job as an orchestra instrumentalist is importent (someone has to do it..)but
not more then a soloist job and its not more harder. (or harder then to be Chamber musions, or music teaching), and because of this point of view by some of the orchestra musions they start to be very not nice persons!
so all of the smart guys, listen to Maestro Tuneh’s interview and learn from him, no one of you is
a player of his caliber!!
so just try (if you will undersand)to listen and learn !!
and try finaly to understand your real place on earth !!!!
I always thought of double bassists as being more focused on the ensemble aspects of playing over most other instruments, since that is the majority of where most of us spend our time. Back at NEC I remember thinking about this when cruising the halls – there’s another violinist practicing a concerto, another pianist playing a sonata, and a row of bassists all working on excerpts.
Thank you Joe Lewis, that you make my point stronger!!
the bass can also be as an ensemble instrumet, but because most of us doing it, dosent say that we are the best, or that our job is the harder,!more then that
sould not make us primadonas!!
can be allways some one better.
once again listen to Mr. Tuneh’s
interview.
So, thank god that we have some people who can show that the bass is also a solo instrument not less then the other instruments,
thank god that Bottesini,Gary Karr,
Ovidiu Badila,R.Patcolo,M. Gajdos,Guy Tuneh, Nabil Shehata and so on, are changing the way of how people think about the Bass!!!
they show the music has no limit!
What fun, Jason! How about an article regarding defining musical satisfaction (and job satisfaction, life-satisfaction) based one’s own definition instead of others’? As the late Albert Fuller said, “Life gives you the grade.”–Happy Camper
I find the notion that the bass is a solo instrument equal to the others ridiculous at best. Place the Bottesini concert next to the Brahms violin concerto and tell me with a straight face it takes the same level of artistry to play them. The ‘great’ bass soloists mentioned may or may not be masters of the instrument, but even the best of them sound like mildly dysfunctional cellists.
If the point of being a musician is expressing one’s ego, then I suppose being a soloist is a pinnacle of some sort. My own opinion is even playing last chair bass in a great orchestra’s performance of a work by Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, etc. etc. is more satisfying than being featured playing Dittersdorf, Bottesini, or the like.
Dear Mr.”Anonymous”, when some one is looking at music (Bottesini or
Brahms) like in the way that you are looksing then one is clear :
An Artist you are not!!!!
but it is clear that you are an orchestra player, dont be “little”
it it not importent what you are
playing, its importent HOW you are playing and what stayes in our heart & mind later!!!
I am sure that Mr.Karr, Mr.Gajdos,
Mr.Shehata , Mr. Tuneh and so on,would be very happy to know that they are “pinnacle musicians” AS YOU SAID!!
be very carefull with what you say
and most fo all, dont show that you have no idea about what we are speaking about!!!!!!!!
like you can tell how big was Bottesini or brahms,
lets hear how you are playing…
17 exclamation points – who can refute logic like that? I stand corrected: Bottesini wrote better music than Brahms; ask anyone.
No wonder bass players are the butt of so many jokes.
Losers are saying : why to play solo, or Brhams is better then Bottesini.
Winners are just going and playing Solo!!!!
Another way to put it:
What do you call someone who cannot win an orchestra audition?
Soloist.
and the one who win:
a non talented little head!!!!
To all of you anonymous commentors, how about putting your name on your opinions so we know who you are.
ha!!! what absurdity! to suggest that someone who wins an audition is “non-talented.”
I am personally most impressed by people who are able to balance their musical life with orchestral, solo and chamber music performance as well as teaching. These are the people who don’t LIMIT themselves by calling themselves “soloist” or “orchestra player”.
If a person has the talent and skill to play solos on the bass, that doesn’t mean he is a “soloist.” As far as a career, it is about as reasonable to pursue the title of astronaut as “bass soloist”
1) Weighing in with Eric Hochberg: the comments of “anonymous” are hopelessly inflammatory. C’mon, be part of the community: give your name so we can have a dialogue instead of a shouting match.
Jason, you should *consider* prohibiting anonymous comments.
2) To say that one kind of playing is better than another or harder or more rewarding?? Are you saying the Gravenstein is a better tasting orange than a Comice? It takes a lot of skill to play well in a section. There are a lot of solo players who sound like crap in a section, because they haven’t developed that skill. There are a lot of section players who sound like crap playing solos, because they haven’t developed that skill.
Or to put it another way: Ron Carter and Rufus Reid are great players, just as are Gary Karr and Daniel Marillier. And so are Eugene Levinson, and Barry Guy. But if Gary Karr tried to sound like Barry Guy, or Rufus Reid did a Joelle Leandre impersonation . . . well, it wouldn’t be great.
3) There are sounds that are made by soloists, sounds that are made by ensembles, and sounds that are made by great big orchestras. I don’t care what you say, no soloist, no matter how great, is ever going to make the kind of sound that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra makes playing *Also Sprach Zarathustra*. And the CSO will never sound like Dave Holland unaccompanied. This is not a problem! But to make a sound like a big Strauss tone poem, you have to be a section player. And to play solo, you have to be a soloist.
We make choices, we are offered opportunities, we are denied opportunities. Life does this to us, and we find our joy in the things in which we find joy. Anyone who degrades the joy of another person, deserves no joy himself for his arrogance and selfishness.
4) Enough with comparing Brahms and Bottesini or whatever. There are great players who can make a single note sing. There are fantastically written pieces of music that can sound terrible played by a person who doesn’t have the understanding, feeling or skill to play them. Don’t worry about whether this piece of music is better than that one — you’re worrying about the wrong things.
Thanks for outlining these great points, Jacque. I’ve thought about turning off anonymous comments…we’ll see. Anyway, though some of the comments above are certainly inflammatory, I think that it is interesting how strongly some people feel about this subject.
I think that it takes a tremendous amount of skill to play really well in a bass section. I also think that it takes just as much skill to play really well in a jazz context.
I also agree that the aforementioned soloists are changing and expanding the role of the double bass. Like you, Jacque, I don’t see orchestra playing and solo playing as mutually exclusive, with one being superior to the other.
Isn’t it possible to have great solo bass playing and great orchestral bass paying without one necessarily being a superior form of expression than the other? Like you said, Jacque, it’s like oranges battling apples for best all-time fruit.
Finally, voices of reason. Thanks Jon, Jacque, Jason.
When are Jeremy, Jude, Jonah, et al. going to weigh in?
I’ve been following this thread with growing amusement. I like the astronaut analogy, at least for here in the US. Jason made an observation about the seemingly different perspectives from Europe. Perhaps in Europe there are more possibilities for someone to have a career as a soloist, although bass recitals are probably about as interesting to the general public, wherever you go. Denigrating orchestra players has been going on at least since I was a student.
I would be very surprised if the ones calling other people ‘little heads’ and so on would have the courage to put their names on those sorts of comments. Diversity of opinions is a great thing but, while I’ve gotten more than a few laughs from all this, putting other people down is kind of a drag.
P.S.
Everybody know apples are best!!!!!! You’re clueless boobs if you say otherwise!!!!!
So we had;
M.Hovnanian, Eric hochberg, Jacque…
i would like to know the opinion
of Mr. Tuneh ??
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