The amount of helpful online content for bassists today is truly staggering.  As an “old” guy, it’s hard to conceive of how many more resources young bassists have these days at their disposal.

There’s so much, in fact, that knowing where to even begin can be baffling.

This post is an attempt to help wth that.

Before we get into the list itself, I’d like to recommend checking out my weekly double bass podcast Contrabass Conversations, which features in-depth interviews with major principal bassists like Alex Hanna (Chicago Symphony), Ed Barker (Boston Symphony), Max Dimoff (Cleveland Orchestra), and Owen Lee (Cincinnati Symphony), important pedagogues like Lawrence Hurst and Kurt Muroki (Indiana University), DaXun Zhang (UT Austin), Jeff Bradetich (UNT), Jack Budrow (Michigan State), and countless other bassists from around the globe.  You’ll end up learning a lot from these longer form conversations with these significant figures in the world of the bass.

Bass Excerpt Videos

This list will undoubtedly grow over time.  Some of these links come from the excellent site MUSAIC, which is created and curated by the New World Symphony.  We have a lot of YouTube links but more specifically pull several excerpts from Hal Robinson’s two-hour video of excerpts from many years ago, Mark Morton‘s videos for Texas All-State, and Barry Lieberman‘s recent in-depth video survey of major excerpts on his beautiful Maggini bass.  I’d also highly recommend checking out the excellent website doublebassexcerpts.com.  This is a fantastic resource and is full of helpful materials for auditioning bassists.

I’m listing the excerpts in alphabetical order by composer, with the person doing the teaching/playing following the piece.  I’ll keep adding to this list as I find more videos.

• Bach Violin Concerto No. 2 (Adagio) – Barry Lieberman
• Bach Orchestral Suite No. 2 (Double) – Steve Metcalf
• Bach Orchestral Suite No. 2 (Double) – Barry Lieberman
• Beethoven 5 mvt 2 – Hal Robinson
• Beethoven 5 mvt 3 –   Steve Metcalf
• Beethoven 5 mvt 3 – Matt Gibson
• Beethoven 5 mvt 3 – Hal Robinson
• Beethoven 5 mvt 3 – Klaus Stoll (in German – English subtitles available)
• Beethoven 9 letter K (mvt 4) –  Steve Metcalf
• Beethoven 9 Recitatives –  Steve Metcalf
• Beethoven 9 Recitatives – Barry Lieberman
• Beethoven 9 Recitatives – Mark Morton
• Beethoven 9 Recitatives – Hal Robinson
• Brahms 1 – Hal Robinson
• Brahms 2 –  Steve Metcalf
• Brahms 2 – Hal Robinson
• Britten Young Person’s Guide – Barry Lieberman
• Britten Young Person’s Guide – Hal Robinson
• Ginastera Variaciones Concertante –  Steve Metcalf
• Ginastera Variaciones Concertante – Barry Lieberman
• Haydn 6 – Barry Lieberman
• Haydn 7 – Barry Lieberman
• Haydn 8 – Barry Lieberman
• Haydn 31 –  Steve Metcalf
• Haydn 31 – Barry Lieberman
• Haydn 31 – Hal Robinson
• Haydn 88 – Hal Robinson
• Mahler 1 mvt 3 –  Steve Metcalf
• Mahler 1 mvt 3 – Barry Lieberman
• Mahler 1 mvt 3 – Mark Morton
• Mahler 1 mvt 3 – Hal Robinson
• Mahler 1 mvt 3 – Hal Robinson (different recording)
• Mahler 2 – Hal Robinson
• Mozart 35 mvt 1 – Hal Robinson
• Mozart 35 mvt 4 – Matt Gibson
• Mozart 35 mvt 4 – Hal Robinson
• Mozart 39 mvt 1 – David Allen Moore
• Mozart 39 mvt 1 – Tim Pitts
• Mozart 39 mvt 1 – Hal Robinson
• Mozart 39 mvt 2 – Hal Robinson
• Mozart 39 mvt 4 – Hal Robinson
• Mozart 40 mvt 1 –  Steve Metcalf
• Mozart 40 mvt 1 – Hal Robinson
• Mozart 40 mvt 4 –  Steve Metcalf
• Mozart 40 mvt 4 – Hal Robinson
• Mozart 41 mvt 2 – Hal Robinson
• Mozart 41 mvt 4 – Hal Robinson
• Mussorgsky Pictures (Goldenberg) – Barry Lieberman
• Prokofiev Ivan the Terrible – Peter Lloyd
• Prokofiev Lt. Kije – Barry Lieberman
• Prokofiev Lt. Kije – Mark Morton
• Prokofiev Lt. Kije – Hal Robinson
• Saint-Saens The Elephant – Barry Lieberman
• Schubert 9 mvt 3 – Felix F. J. Maiwald
• Strauss Don Juan – Hal Robinson
• Strauss Ein Heldenleben –  Steve Metcalf
• Strauss Ein Heldenleben – Hal Robinson
• Stravinsky Pulcinella –  Steve Metcalf
• Stravinsky Pulcinella – Barry Lieberman
• Stravinsky Pulcinella – Hal Robinson
• Tchaikovsky 4 – Hal Robinson
• Verdi Otello –  Steve Metcalf
• Verdi Otello – Barry Lieberman
• Verdi Otello – Hal Robinson
• Verdi Requiem (Agnus Dei) – Barry Lieberman
• Verdi Rigoletto – Barry Lieberman

If anybody has additional suggestions for this list, leave a comment on this post.  Thanks!