Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

You are browsing the archives of bow.

Calgary Philharmonic bassist Matt Heller just put out a great follow-up post on the topic of practice sessions and overpracticing.  Comparing practicing music to grilling steaks, Matt writes:
The music needs to be prepared just well enough - medium rare, let’s say - so that it still has the juice of spontaneity in it, without [...]

This is a post from double bassist from Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music student Nicholas Hart. Nick will be contributing weekly posts to the bass blog about life as a music student in one of the nation’s most exclusive programs. I think readers will find this different perspective on the double bass world and the [...]

Matt Heller has put out a bunch of really excellent posts on his hellafrisch blog lately.  For those new to the bass blog here, Matt is a bassist in the Calgary Philharmonic.  He was previously a member of the New World Symphony (where he was featured in a New York Times piece), and he also [...]

Double bassist and blogger Joe Lewis wrote a post yesterday that raised some very good questions. He writes:
I’ve often thought much about efficiency when practicing music. I used to park myself in a practice room from dawn until midnight back at NEC and even before then. I would break my practice routines down into [...]

While reviewing the various installments of Road Warrior Without an Expense Account, This Crazy Business, Basses, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, or any of the other gig stories here on the blog, I couldn’t help but notice that something was missing. Many of these works cover the strange and bizarre things that happen in a [...]

I get requests for more Guy Tuneh interviews and performances on a daily basis, and I’d like readers to know that we are planning some more collaborations. Look for some video featuring Guy coming in the next few weeks. I’ll be sure to keep you posted!
Folks who haven’t checked out this amazing artists [...]

I recently got a chance to play around with one of luthier Chris Threlkeld-Wiegand’s double basses. Chris used to work at Robertson and Sons in Albuquerque, New Mexico, building extensions with capos (like the ones you see on the Contrabass Conversations logo). He now runs his own business in Iowa City called the [...]

Bass blog contributor Benjy wrote a wonderful comment after viewing the Hans Sturm videos about the Rabbath technique that we’ve been posting here. Since comment can quickly disappear under the radar here (due to the daily avalanche of new content), I thought that it would be a good idea to take a moment and [...]

National Symphony bassist and Peabody Conservatory instructor Jeff Weisner wrote a very flattering post on PeaBodyDoubleBass, the collaborative blog from faculty members Jeff, Paul Johnson, and John Hood.  Thanks for the kind words, Jeff, and thanks for pointing readers to the various blog and podcast projects!
Jeff discusses employment prospects for the double bassist in this [...]

Double bassist Kurt Muroki is selling his 1854 Luigi Bajoni double bass. Information on this instrument is located on the For Sale page of the blog, so check it out–it looks like a fabulous bass!