Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

Michael Hovnanian recently put up a new post on his CSO Bass Blog with some left hand exercises he has been practicing. It looks like good stuff. I remember working on materials like this when I was studying with Michael. Note the use of the third finger in the low positions [...]

I have been doing some work on my download offerings from this blog, adding some new materials (new scales from John Floeter, blank sheet music). I am planning on adding a large number of downloadable double bass MIDI practice tracks. This makes much more sense than putting up Finale or Sibelius files. [...]

Bassist Drew Davies also runs a company called Click for Lessons. This is a service that will match up students and teachers for various instruments. The service is not just for music–I see that you can find lessons for salsa dancing, ballet, acting lessons, and the like. I was just playing around [...]

In this second installment of my series on professional freelance life as a musician, I would like to offer some commentary on trends that I see in the world of professional classical music performance. This installment of the series is geared toward orchestral performance. Other musicians, educators, and industry professionals may find value [...]

Guanaco recently linked to me in a post on Cellomania. I had not discovered this blog before, but it is really an excellent read. The author lives in Alaska and recently started learning to play the cello. This blog documents the experience of learning to play this instrument, and it is a [...]

Yesterday I launched episode one of Contrabass Conversations. This is a project I have been planning for a long time. It will be a weekly 20-30 minute podcast devoted to all aspects of the double bass. Episodes will be released each Monday. Visit contrabassconversations.com for all information about this podcast.
My plan [...]

Nina from Violinmasterclass.com recently sent me a link to this video by a violinist and cellist from the Great Wall International Music Academy. Check out greatwallacademy.org for audition and scholarship information for this academy. When you go to their homepage you will notice that they are using YouTube videos of their performers [...]

Recently I have been checking out an interesting pedagogical site called Violinmasterclass.com. This site features some great multimedia resources for both music teachers and students. Here is some information about the site:
Violinmasterclass.com was created for violin professionals, teachers, parents, and students at all levels to enhance the study of playing the violin.
This site [...]

I recently discovered this site devoted to the great double bassist François Rabbath. It was created by one of Rabbath’s relatives and is a great place to start learning about this double bass virtuoso and master pedagogue. It contains a links page to recordings and publications, information about news and workshops, and a [...]

If you look at the tabs you will see that there is now a tab specifically for bass videos. I noticed that a lot of people like to check out the bass videos I have posted here, so I thought a devoted tab for those would be good. I’m trying not to go [...]