Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

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A really cool resource out there for all string educators is the String Pedagogy Notebook, put together by Michael Hopkins of the University of Vermont. Basically, it is everything a music educator needs to know about string instrument technique, with great articles and video examples. The double bass videos are very useful [...]

A festival students may wish to check out for the summer is the American School of Double Bass, run by Mark Morton. Dr. Morton is principal bass of the Columbus Symphony (Ohio), and he started this workshop/retreat/school a few years ago. I haven’t had any students attend these activities in the [...]

Here are some interesting performances to check out this weekend:Old St. Patrick’s Siamsa Na NgaelSymphony Center, Fri. 3/17The performance will take place at the Symphony Center and will also feature the Metropolis Symphony Orchestra, Old St. Patrick’s concert choir, and Irish instrumentalists and dancers. General admission tickets range from $25 to $55 and can be [...]

On Wednesday, March 8, Boston Symphony principal bass Ed Barker gave a fantastic mastercless. The class was held in Roosevelt University’s beautiful Ganz Hall (pictured above) and was open to the general public free of charge. Four Roosevelt University students performed, and Mr. Barker devoted a half-hour to each of them. All [...]

Boston Symphony principal bass Ed Barker will be presenting a masterclass on Wednesday, March 8th from 9-11 a.m. at Roosevelt University (Michigan and Congress) in Ganz Hall on the 7th floor.
Only Chicago College of Performing Arts students will be performing, but all are welcome to audit!
About Edwin Barker
Associate Professor of Music, Double Bass. [...]

This is a repository of resources helpful to the current and prospective music educator. There is an emphasis on resources for string players (especially double bass players) given the slant of this blog, but most music teachers and students should find some helpful information here. The following information is intended to serve [...]

Summer is still many months off, but now is the time for serious (and even not-so-serious) double bass students to think about some summer study. One can learn more in a one-week music camp than in an entire year of study. this is the case even with an excellent bass teacher. There [...]

Here is a list (updated regularly) of double bassists on MySpace. Please e-mail me if you would like to me included on the list, or you can always become my friend on MySpace (my name is jasonheathbasspage, which is about as lame as one can get:

MySpace Double Bassist Archive
Aren - Kendallville, IN bassist
Artemis - [...]

The intent of the UWW Bassfest has always been to provide students with an opportunity to design and teach their own courses. Since UW-Whitewater has so many music education majors I thought that this would be a valuable supplement to their regular studies. My current and former students pictured here–Tyler, Nic, Joe, and [...]

Check out Northwestern University bass teacher DaXun Zhang’s new website. It has a lot of excellent audio clips and information.