Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

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We released a Contrabass Conversations episode this past weekend featuring the Bad Boyz of Bass (Anthony Stoops, Volkan Orhon, Paul Sharpe, and David Murray).  Check out episode 71 of the podcast to hear these guys chat about the group and perform some selections, and be sure to subscribe to Contrabass Conversations (click here for [...]

Here’s a dynamite arrangement of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” from a performance at Indiana University about ten years ago featuring the original members of the a capella ensemble Straight No Chaser. It’s a great little video to get folks out there in a holiday spirit! I’m getting more than enough ‘holiday [...]

 

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This week’s Contrabass Conversations episode features an interview with Suzuki Bass School pioneer, pedagogue, and teacher trainer Virginia Dixon. Virginia shares her years of experience performing and teaching the double bass, highlights unique aspects of the Suzuki bass method, and offers advice for those interested in pursuing a career as a double bass [...]

 

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This interview-only Contrabass Conversations episode features the conclusion of our interview with Indiana University double bass professor Lawrence Hurst, whom we interviewed on episodes 20 and 23 of the podcast. This interview is a wonderful opportunity for folks out there to learn more about one of the United States’ most influential double bass pedagogues.  [...]

This week’s Contrabass Conversations episode features the conclusion of our chat with Minnesota Orchestra bassist Colin Corner. Colin joined the orchestra in 2006 after being a member of the Vancouver Symphony and Louisiana Philharmonic. In this episode we discuss the process of taking an audition for an ensemble like the Minnesota Orchestra–the various [...]

This week’s Contrabass Conversations Episode features the second part of our interview with Chicago Symphony bassist Rob Kassinger. Last time we heard from Rob (on episode 25), we talked about his early years on the bass, growing up in Colorado, playing jazz and electric bass, studying the instrument, and studying with Homer Mensch in New [...]

This week’s Contrabass Conversations episode features an in-depth analysis of the double bass orchestral excerpts most commonly requested at auditions. Double bassist (and regular Contrabass Conversations guest and co-host) John Grillo discusses each of these excerpts–stylistic considerations, differences in articulation and bow strokes, and suggestions for effectively learning them–and then performs them. [...]

 

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This week’s Contrabass Conversations episode features an interview with Minnesota Orchestra bassist Colin Corner. Colin joined the orchestra in 2006 after being a member of the Vancouver Symphony and Louisiana Philharmonic. We got a chance to talk auditions, orchestra life, gear, and much more. We also feature a piece from Israel-based musician [...]

I’d like to welcome jazz bassist Bill Harrison to the doublebassblog.org writing staff. An active double bassist and educator, Bill is the owner of PlayJazzNow.com, the world’s only source for downloadable play-along tracks, and he maintains a blog called Jazz Underneath.
Bill is a prolific and insightful writer, and I urge readers to check out [...]

Bassist John Floeter has been continuing his series about organizing one’s practicing, putting up a great post earlier this week on his blog about how to really get a quality sound on the bass. This is a subject that I find very interesting, and it is great to hear John offer up valuable advice. [...]