Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

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One of the cool things about doing a weekly interview podcast is watching this body of work grow over the weeks, months, and years. After 1 1/2 years of doing Contrabass Conversations, we’ve got quite a body of content (approaching 100 interview shows, plus numerous video lessons, all-music shows, and special feature episodes), and [...]

This video popped in, of all places, one of my music education classes at DePaul University. I’ve been taking a course in class voice pedagogy this spring, and we’ve been covering how important it is for kids to sing with light voices, good posture, and proper vocal technique. Though this video is [...]

 

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This week’s episode continues the interview with jazz bass legend Steve Rodby that we began on episode 58 of the podcast. Rodby has played bass on every Pat Metheny Group record since 1980, co-produced the group’s last five albums and won 10 Grammy Awards with the group. He has toured with jazz greats Joe [...]

The class glances uneasily at the clock as it slowly ticks:
1:13…..1:14…..1:15….
Suddenly, the professor bursts in, shirt rumpled and tie caught within the jumbled stack of file folders, books, and binders he clasps in his arms.
“Hi class, sorry sorry sorry…um, how’s everybody this Tuesday..er, Wednesday. Sorry, sorry, let me just get things…. set up… uh…. what [...]

 

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We’re concluding our interview with the multi-talented bassist Dave Anderson on this week’s episode of Contrabass Conversations. In addition to serving as Principal Bass of the Louisiana Philharmonic, Dave is a prolific composer, active teacher, and electric bassist. He serves as Principal Bass of the Britt Festival Orchestra in southern Oregon, and he plays in [...]

I’ve always been fascinated by the wide variance in lesson durations among various teachers. Many of my piano teacher colleagues hold lessons for preschoolers that last only 15 minutes, while some legendary pedagogues teach lessons that last six, seven, or even eight hours. I’ve even met some teachers who teach a student until the late [...]

 

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We’re continuing our chat (check out part on on episode 73) with Michigan State University and Interlochen Arts Academy double bass instructor Jack Budrow this week on Contrabass Conversations. In addition to helping place students in major orchestras across the globe, Jack has had a very distinguished performance career as a former member of [...]

As a blogger, podcaster, and all-around new media guy, I have found that most people assume that I am on a Mac.  I frequently have people ask me if I’ve installed Leopard yet, how to perform a specific task in iMovie, or tips on assembling podcasts in GarageBand.  This is a pretty reasonable assumption–a [...]

My fellow podcasting cohort John Grillo recently put out a post on his blog  ClassicalMusicNews.tv about the Princeton Symphony’s season finale.  He also gives a little background on the orchestra and describes the current music director search the orchestra is currently undergoing.
Check out John’s new post here.
Wrapping up our Jack Budrow interview
This weekend on Contrabass [...]

A recent article in the Chicago Tribune (Sunday, April 20, 2008 by Howard Reich) on the dramatic increase in music school funding caught my eye over the weekend. Several prominent music schools have new facilities either recently completed or in the planning stages, and the figures are pretty significant:

$22 million - Oberlin Conservatory [...]