The original post can be found here, and a quite articulate follow-up post from double bassist John Tuck is a must-read as well. Here’s the comment that just came in–interesting:

I am a conductor, composer and double bassist with an active performing and teaching career. While I have been a bass teacher for 37 years, I have never allowed my thinking about the bass to stand still. This curiosity moved me to spend most of my 45 years on the bass experimenting with and analysing every approach or system I came across. I believe the result of this journey is a synthetic approach that combines the strongest elements of each set of practices into a cohesive yet open architecture that consistently produces rapid progress for my students… and now their students as well.

I will return to add information when I complete the article.

Check out all the comments for the two previously linked posts as well–some interesting perspectives (and feel free to add your own, of course).

Official Notice:

The Peabody Double Bass Department welcomes the appointment of Ira Gold to the bass faculty. Mr. Gold is a member of the National Symphony Orchestra and on the faculty of the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He will join the current faculty, Paul Johnson and Jeffrey Weisner, along with Artist in Residence Harold Robinson.

Links of interest about Ira Gold and the Peabody bass studio:

• Ira Gold interview part 1, part 2, part 3
• Jeff Weisner’s Contrabass Conversations interview
• PeabodyDoubleBass – blog for the Peabody double bass studio (full of interesting articles)

Yes, I am a nerd.

I submitted a clinic proposal for the January 2011 Illinois Music Educators Association (IMEA) All-State Convention. They only accept a select handful of string-focused clinics, so I figured that mine didn’t have much likelihood of getting accepted. Imagine my surprise, therefore, when I opened up a fat envelope from IMEA filled with an acceptance letter and details about my clinic.

The session will happen at the Peoria Civic Center on Saturday, January 29, 2011 at 8 am. It’s titled “Developing a Good Bass Sound” and will focus on how to teach bassists of all ages about getting a core sound, and how this approach changes from elementary to high school. I’d better start planning…

Barry has asked several bassists from around the world (and he graciously included me in this lineup!) to present virtual master classes for this summer’s Golden Gate Bass Camp. I’ll be connecting with the folks participating in the 15th year of this great camp on Friday afternoon, and I’ll be sure to write about this experience. What a great way to incorporate different perspectives into a summer experience!

http://mustech.net/2010/06/09/music-education-pln-team

A bassoonist by trade, this student teacher had been assigned to strong music program in a very posh Chicago suburb. The first week he was “on the job,” his mentor teacher asked him to demonstrate for new band recruits… on the tuba!

It didn’t matter that this student teacher (bassoonist, remember) couldn’t actually play the tuba–the regular teacher decided that it would be a good experience for him. Yikes!

Anyway, he muscled up and gave it the old college try, hacking through what must have been a few entertaining blats and plops of sound.

After he finished, the mentor teacher sidled up to him and, whispering in his ear in a very serious tone, said “You know, that wasn’t very good at all.”

Duh! Gotta love humiliation in music. We’re all one wrong move away from making a complete fool of ourselves in this business anyway, but still, why pile on the pain like that?

One goal of the YCM is to encourage the creation – by adaptation, improvisation, or writing – of new works of all genres for small ensembles that include bass. For classical musicians involved, there is a great wealth of untapped chamber music repertoire with bass. Another goal of this initiative is to encourage bassists to search for and perform lesser-known works. We will be promoting many different sides of the bass as it is used to create music in all types of groups.

As a part of the yearlong celebration, MTNA has designated January 22, 2011, as the International Day of Collaborative Music (IDCM), one special day devoted to collaborative music making throughout the world. We are hoping that ISB members around the world will create events that celebrate this ideal, and we will post news of those events, both past and future, on a year-long calendar residing on the ISB’s website, which can include links to audio and video performances.

Performers: Let us know of performances that emphasize the bass’s role in collaborative music in any style. Send us the names of performers, a brief description of the concert or event, the location, and contact information to info@isbworldoffice.com.

University Teachers/Professors: Organize an event at your institution (particularly for January 22, 2011), and contact us to be an official ISB Collaborative Music partner. We will help publicize your event on our website and e-newsletter.

Amateurs: Let us know what ideas you have, and what resources you have found to help you connect with other musicians for collaborative music readings and performances.

If you have any questions, contact the ISB at info@isbworldoffice.com.

RESOURCES

Here are some helpful links for collaborative music:

MTNA’s webpage for the Year of Collaborative Music is www.mtna.org/Default.aspx?tabid=677.

Paul Nemeth has created a massive database of chamber music works with bass. If you’re looking for repertoire ideas go to www.paulnemeth.com/basschamber.htm.

Double Bass.org also has a chamber music listing at www.double-bass.org/music.html.

ISB board member and chair of its YCM initiative Jeremy Kurtz will be posting articles relating to the Year of Collaborative Music and chamber music with bass on his website throughout the year at www.jeremykurtz.com/writing.html.

The Amateur Classical Musicans Association has relevant information for finding other musicians who are looking for chamber groups at www.nycclassical.com.

The Chamber Music Network also has helpful listings for finding other musicians at www.acmp.net/index.php.

Not a member of the ISB? Join now!

Thanks to John Floeter for sending me this.

It’s not like a had a bad attitude in my busier freelancing days, per se, but a general malaise and weariness went hand in hand with all of my long drives all over creation. One day in Milwaukee. The next in Memphis. Then a trip out to some far-flung rural Illinois town, playing along with some sort of good-natured but headache-inducing community orchestra. Throw in a few frustratingly futile failed audition attempts and you’ve paved the way for creative bitterness and exhaustion.

It’s amazing to me, therefore, how much of a difference playing less has made on my attitude towards the bass. I now look forward to the gigs that I have on the calendar, seeing them as a way to practice the craft that I spend my days teaching to students. Each rehearsal or performance is an opportunity to think more deploy about the mechanics of string playing and music making, not just an opportunity to earn a few extra bucks (though there still is that element, of course). I now catch myself watching conductors and picking up tips on to do (or not to do!) in my own conducting.

When I decided to go back to school and become an orchestra director, I thought that I’d probably quit playing bass altogether at some point. I was sick of it and didn’t really see myself missing it. That attitude has definitely changed for me now that I’m teaching all day, and I see these performance activities as a way to recharge my musical batteries and get me thinking creatively. It’s an enhancement to my teaching life, and I really enjoy it.

I also think that playing gigs every other week (which is what I’ve been averaging this season) rather than every week makes a huge difference. I have done a few stretches with gigs every single week this year, and I begin to feel myself getting beaten down after a few days. My freelancer world-weariness creeps back, and I start to see all those gig hours marked in my schedule as an albatross. Once I’m back to every other week, I feel great.

It also doesn’t hurt that I axed all the, er… “lesser quality” gigs from my schedule. Everything I’m playing these days is good: pay, colleagues, music, working conditions, proximity, etc. If it’s not good, then I don’t do it. I’ve played enough bad gigs for a lifetime (most musicians my age have, probably… even if they’re in a major orchestra!). I certainly don’t miss the detritus!

The teacher work hours and lifestyle also appeal more to me than the freelancer life. While many people undoubtedly look at the hours a freelancer frequently works (sleep late, get up late, lounge around all day, go to a gig, go out partying, then do it all over again) with envy, I like getting up early in the morning and being productive. These days, I get to school by 6:30 am and practice violin (!) for about 90 minutes before beginning my teaching. I wrap up my day in the early afternoon and the rest of the day is mine.

I always felt like a bum living the freelancer life, spinning my wheels and not really getting anywhere from year to year. Though I seemed to feel like my playing was stuck in an endless loop (a good loop, to be sure, but still a loop), I have felt that my teaching abilities continued to improve. This seems to be something that I can work hard at and see tangible results.

Many musicians see their performance activities as the core of their career, augmenting these with some teaching and the like. For me, the opposite has proven to be a better fit, and I’m happier as a result.

Does this mean that I’m a failure as a bass performer? Do I just give up too easily? Is this just following the course of least resistance? Should I have kept taking audition after audition? Gone back to get a doctorate in bass performance (oh no!)? Done music festival A, B, or C? Studied with person X, Y, or Z? And does it even matter? Would I really have found my professional life complete if I made it into some orchestra or another?

I don’t think so, though my 18-year-old self would probably see me as a washed up performer. All I can say is that I’m happy and that I feel like I’m making a meaningful contribution, and I come home from work satisfied and looking forward to the next day.

And I didn’t as a freelancer.