Teaching Long, Long Ago Variations on Violin
As a public school orchestra director I have my students perform solos out the Suzuki books. Long, Long Ago is a favorite but students struggle […]
Continue reading »The ErgoBass – A Review
The ErgoBass ABOUT THE ERGO BASS Designed by Petru Iuga, a bassist and university teacher in Germany. View his short YouTube video. He has done […]
Continue reading »Celebration for Bass Quartet
Here’s a quick arrangement I did of Kool and The Gang’s “Celebration” for bass quartet.
Continue reading »March from The Nutcracker…for Bass Quartet!
That’s right! The arrangement bass players everywhere have been wishing for! Ok maybe not but I thought it would make a cool piece for bass […]
Continue reading »Bottesini Elegy
Here’s a free download of my edits of Bottesini’s Elegy (updated 06/05/17)
Continue reading »Jazz Pizzicato
Last year I did Samuel Applebaum’s arrangement of Leroy Anderson’s Jazz Pizzicato with my middle school orchestra. I wanted to demonstrate to my students that […]
Continue reading »Bottesini Reverie Accompaniment in Orchestra Tuning…and more!
I originally did this to have the accompaniment in orchestral tuning as I couldn’t find it elsewhere. As I was revising it I decided […]
Continue reading »Egos, the Students, and The Greater Good
What do we want as teachers? All of us want our students to be successful in their endeavours. That success can take many forms and […]
Continue reading »Ramblings on the Future of Music
Oh no! Run for the hills. No, wait. Run for the old days. The internet is ‘destroying’ traditional income streams and product sales! People are […]
Continue reading »I don’t want to be a lapsed member any more!
I’ll admit it. I’m not member of the International Society of Bassists or American String Teacher Association. Yep, I know. I was a member for […]
Continue reading »Valse Miniature Arrangment “Donationware”
As an orchestra teacher I rarely have access to an accompanist. But I see a string orchestra every day. And I’m sure there are bassists […]
Continue reading »What’s inside “An Introduction to Double Bass Playing”?
Here is the table of contents for my textbook “An Introduction to Double Bass Playing”. Click here to download the table of contents PDF
Continue reading »3 Zombies & A Ballerina
Check out a short video I did on teaching beginning upper string players the bow hand.
Continue reading »Contrabass Conversations Podcasts
I am fortunate to have been on Jason Heath’s Contrabass Conversations podcast several times. Thank you! My 2016 episodes made Jason’s top 5 most downloaded for 2016!! Wow!!!! […]
Continue reading »Which Way is Down?
Need help teaching bow direction? I’ve got ya covered with my new packet, “Which Way is Down?” 12/21/16 Updated & Improved
Continue reading »Free eBook Downloads
Originally posted 8/28/2009 Author Jon Gorrie has released a few free downloads and has given me permission to post them here. 1st Aid! For Controlling […]
Continue reading »BEADGCF Banner
Only 1 left in stock! A banner of the order of flats and sharps. I tried having two banners for each but students found it […]
Continue reading »Composer Pronunciations
How do you pronounce Bach? Debussy? Schöenberg or Lutoslawski? Unless you met the composer, it is probably slightly different than I or someone else says […]
Continue reading »Amazing! 6th grade violinist becomes prodigy by not practicing!
“Amazing! 6th grade violinist becomes prodigy by not practicing!” Despite a string of 0 minutes in his practice log, Sean thinks he’s just seconds away […]
Continue reading »More Free Downloads!
More free downloads for you! Click images to download the PDF. Visit the MostlyBass store for more. […]
Continue reading »Conquer Stage Fright
Stage fright. You know it and hate it. Sweaty palms. Increased heart rate. Too much adrenaline. I once did a performance where I was so […]
Continue reading »“An Introduction to Double Bass Playing” ON SALE!
Get my text book, “An Introduction to Double Bass Playing”, for only 5 bucks!
Continue reading »Part III – The Practice Routine
Part I discussed whether or not to warm up. Part II moved on to what makes a useful warm up. Part III explores the actual […]
Continue reading »Bow Hand in Game of Thrones
Hmmm.. An anachronism? A modern bow hand? Game of Thrones Bow Hand
Continue reading »Scene with a bass from the classic movie, Freaky Friday
Looks like a Kay bass. Freaky Friday
Continue reading »Variations on a Theme!
Grupa_MoCarta_w_Operze_-_Eine__Kleine_Welt_Musik Variations on Mozart
Continue reading »Wolf Tones
Many people have misconceptions of or don’t understand what a wolf tone is. I found a student cello that provides an extreme example. Wikipedia’s definition […]
Continue reading »Video Issues
Videos are having issues being played. I recently changed hosts and servers but the main culprit seems to be Google Chrome. I’m working on it […]
Continue reading »Bass Height
Originally posted 11/3/2012 I’m at an orchestra festival today where one of my violin students was accepted. Of course, as a bassist, I immediately gravitated […]
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