CBC 84: Hans Sturm and the Rabbath technique
We’re featuring something a bit unusual for this week’s Contrabass Conversations episode. Ball State University bass professor and International Society of Bassists president Hans Sturm has been featured several times on the podcast in video episodes, and this week we’re featuring Hans discussing the fundamentals of the Rabbath technique left hand positioning system.
This dialogue was [...]
Hans Sturm discusses the Rabbath technique on this week’s podcast
We’re featuring something a bit unusual for this week’s Contrabass Conversations episode. Ball State University bass professor and International Society of Bassists president Hans Sturm has been featured several times on the podcast in video episodes.
This week, we’re featuring audio of a session that Hans and I did concerning the Rabbath technique back in 2007. [...]
CBC 81: Students Speak Out
We’re changing up the podcast format for today’s show and featuring a group of present and former members of the Midwest Young Artists program located on the North Shore of Lake Michigan in metro Chicago. As an educator, I find it very interesting to hear the perspective of younger bassists–what they enjoy about performing, if [...]
Tim Cobb Double Bass Master Class Summary
I had the opportunity to addend a master class featuring Tim Cobb this past Wednesday (5/28/08), which washosted by Northwestern University’s Peter Lloyd. In addition to serving as principal double bassist with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, Tim serves as principal double bassist for the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center. Prior to [...]
CBC 80: Peter Askim interview
We’re featuring double bassist, composer, and conductor Peter Askim on today’s episode of Contrabass Conversations. A former member of the Honolulu Symphony and an internationally acclaimed composer, Peter currently serves as music director and composer-in-residence for the Idyllwild Arts Academy. His Eight Solitudes for Double Bass won the 2002 International Society of Bassists Composition Competition. [...]
Standing versus sitting for the double bassist
Ahh, those lovely and divisive double bass issues like standing–fodder for eternal and impassioned debate on both sides of the fence. Deciding whether or not to stand while playing the instrument (or to do both depending on the context) is a pivotal decision for every single bassist, and it is the source of much controversy [...]
Kristin Korb on Contrabass Conversations, plus an Interlochen Arts Academy primer for double bassists
One of the cool things about doing a weekly interview podcast is watching this body of work grow over the weeks, months, and years. After 1 1/2 years of doing Contrabass Conversations, we’ve got quite a body of content (approaching 100 interview shows, plus numerous video lessons, all-music shows, and special feature episodes), and this [...]
In search of the perfect bow
Most string players own several different bows during the course of their playing career, usually starting on a fiberglass or inexpensive wooden bow in early years of study and upgrading many times on the journey toward professional-level playing. Like strings, rosin, and other key pieces of gear, bows are a very personal and subjective item, [...]
Study at the Beijing Music Festival with double bassist Tim Pitts
Houston Symphony Principal Bass Tim Pitts will be teaching at the Beijing Music Festival this summer (which will actually be held in Shanghai this year to avoid the Olympics). San Diego Principal Bass (and former Tim Pitts student) Jeremy Kurtz provides the following details:
…my former teacher, Tim Pitts, is going back [...]
How long should a private lesson last?
I’ve always been fascinated by the wide variance in lesson durations among various teachers. Many of my piano teacher colleagues hold lessons for preschoolers that last only 15 minutes, while some legendary pedagogues teach lessons that last six, seven, or even eight hours. I’ve even met some teachers who teach a student until the late [...]
