Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

This is an excerpt from a study that David M. Sickle published in the Winter 1990 edition of the International Society of Bassists journal. I thought it would be of interest to many of my readers. It is a survey of 53 North American orchestras and what repertoire (excerpts and solos) [...]

My double bass colleague John Tuck recently sent some comments regarding my Rabbath versus Simandl post. He agreed to let me share them here. John is Assistant Principal Bass for the Northwest Indiana Symphony. He also plays for the Lake Forest Symphony and the Des Moines Metro Opera Orchestra, and he [...]

There are two predominant double bass pedagogical methods in the United States today. The older, established double bass method here is without a doubt the New Method for String Bass by Franz Simandl. This tried and true double bass pedagogical tome methodically takes the beginning double bass student up the fingerboard, half-step by [...]

Michael Hovnanian has been writing some posts on his CSO Bass Blog that would be very helpful to classical double bassists. He has been providing some fingering solutions for pieces that the Chicago Symphony has been performing recently.
Check out his Mahler 7 post or his Kodály Concerto for Orchestra post for some examples.
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This is an older article from Polyphonic.org, but it is illuminating reading for those thinking about a career in music or those wishing to understand the life of a professional musician. Douglas Fisher makes some great points here. The article reads:
Among the highly educated and skilled professions, orchestra musicians make some of [...]

If you are interested in learning more about this subject, check out the follow-up post to this article here.
I have a B.M. and M.M. in Double Bass Performance from Northwestern University. Although I had a good financial package for my undergraduate degree and had a full-tuition fellowship or my graduate degree, I still owe [...]

All double bass players need a decent gig bag. Unlike the other members of the stringed instrument family, double bass players carry instruments in soft cases about 90% of the time. Having a durable, well-padded soft case is essential for any bass player.
As far as bass bags go, I definitely think that the [...]

This post contains thoughts and observations about playing Gary Karr’s former double bass. Read the first part of my “Amati” bass story here.
 
When I first picked up the Amati bass from Aaron Reilly at the Guarneri House, I couldn’t wait to get it home and start working on my recital program. I pulled [...]

I recently read a very thoughtfully written article on ActiveBass.com about practicing methods. Written by Joe Solomon, this article approaches practicing from an improviser’s perspective, but it includes valuable advice for any performing musician:
” I don’t know, I have all these great solos in my head, but I just can’?t [...]

The very first double bass soloist I ever heard live was the extraordinary double bassist Gary Karr. I was fifteen years old and had only been playing the bass for a year. Gary Karr was playing with my hometown symphony orchestra (the South Dakota Symphony), and my teacher Charles Kreitzer had gotten me [...]