Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

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After finishing my doctoral coursework in 2002, I moved out to the suburbs of Chicago, not knowing what I was getting into with building a private studio. Like many bassists, I planned on trying my hand at freelancing (in a bassist saturated city like Chicago). What ensued was the best learning experience of [...]

This is very cool.
Peabody Institute bass faculty members Jeffrey Weisner (National Symphony Orchestra), John Hood (Philadelphia Orchestra), and Paul Johnson (Baltimore Opera Company) have started a collaborative blog. This new site, which can be found at peabodydoublebass.blogspot.com, is really a great idea. What an excellent way to let students (current, former, [...]

Taking a week-and-a-half off from blogging has been a really great thing for me. I didn’t get online once while in Kauai. No e-mail, no Facebook, no Flickr, no podcasts–no internet activity of any kind. I didn’t even attempt to check phone messages. Taking a real break from work/teaching/blogging/podcasting has convinced [...]

As I pack my bags and put the finishing touches on the next two week’s podcast episodes, I’d like to take a moment and let people know about several new projects we’re cooking up for the fall here on the blog and for the Contrabass Conversations podcast:Podcast Developments

Double Bass “Lessons” from Andrew Anderson - This [...]

Before I get started on the blog entries for this week (regarding private studio teaching), I wanted to make sure I invited anyone in the Chicago area who is interested to my upcoming recital:

Dr. Phillip W. Serna – The Seventeenth-Century Lyra-Viol, a RecitalPhillip W. Serna, Tenor & Bass ViolOur Lady of Mercy Catholic Church701 South [...]

The highly useful podcast text search tool EveryZing continues to both amaze and amuse me daily. It does a good enough job with the speech to text transcription to allow for really useful search results, but if you actually sit down and read the transcripts, you’re likely to find yourself rolling on the floor, [...]

Greg Sarchet (Bass Club Chicago, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Northeastern Illinois University) for several years has handed the following list of recommended texts out to his incoming double bass students. These books touch on all sorts of issues relating to musicians and serve as a course for developing an aesthetic sense, which is something [...]

I spent the past two weeks performing with the Grant Park Symphony. This has been a real treat for me, both musically and personally. The GPSO is a great ensemble, and we played a lot of excellent repertoire, including Beethoven 2, Mahler 5, and the Firebird Suite. Bass blog readers will actually [...]

This week marked the launch of Bass Musician Magazine, a new publication available at www.bass-musician-magazine.com, and one in which Contrabass Conversations will be a regular feature. Check it out!___________
We released the next part of the Basses, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles featuring tales of woe regarding plane travel. This is the first in an [...]

This week featured the second part of This Crazy Business, my new series about life as a working musician. Unlike Road Warrior Without an Expense Account (which is about being a freelance musician), this series is about life as a musician in general.
If you’d like to read the 50 or so more substantial articles [...]