MostlyBass.com

My new favorite iPhone app.

A virtual keyboard - great for young students.

I was just browsing through older posts here on MostlyBass.com. I encourage you to check them out. There’s lots of great info - some I had even forgotten about.

Here’s another free download for you! Just click the image and the PDF will download.

Here’s the bass line to Free’s “All Right Now”. I found this in my archives - must have been from Bass Player magazine circa 1990.

The first page is shown and you can download the 2 page PDF here.

My theory is this - find the person just above you: either in education, job, or experience and charge $10 per hour less.

For example when if the local bassist with a masters is charging 70 and you have a bachelors, charge 60. For me, I found out what the local symphony guys are charging or what the people I study with are charging and go from there. Sometimes it may be $20 less if they are a top notch performer. But I also have a degree in education and one in performance plus 13 years education experience.

Do you need help creating documents and worksheets?I’m very good with Word, Pages, Sibelius, Excel, Numbers, Photoshopt, etc… Let me know! Below is a sample I use in my classroom. And, in this economy, rates are quite reasonable

Check it out here at my other blog site, The Evolving Educator.

Check out Bass Musician Magazine - an online ‘zine. It seems to be geared toward the electric players but I’m impressed with the amout of articles on theory, practicing, and general musicianship!

So lately my practicing has been in a state of stagnation. I’m still practicing but it’s a bit of a chore. But one must press on so I decided to change some things.

I firmly believe in a practice area - a place where you have all your materials and where your brain learns that ok, it’s time to practice. But after many years My zone was a little moldy, but I didn’t want to rearrange my entire apartment. So I just turned in 45 degrees. Ah! A fresh view; a new perspective. Not bad!

Now onto scales. I know my scales well. Really well. I needed a new approach so I found excerpts that are scalar - such as Marriage of Figaro and the end of Young Person’s Guide… I can do my scales with actual music - refreshing!

I also had some sections that needed some good ol’ brute force repetition and finger strengthening. So I turned on the television while I did it. And voila, rather than my brain wasting away after 30 seconds, 5 or 1o minutes went by well I did my repetitions.

Now - OF COURSE - I don’t recommend this to younger and developing students. However, for some us that have been playing a while and need some rejuvenation it can be just what we need.

Peter Tambroni

“Goals that are not written down are just wishes.” -Unknown

You have 1 hour.

1. Explain the difference between sforza, sforzando, sforzata, and La Forza Del Destino. Be specific.

2. What is the diameter of the hole in the water key on your instrument? If your instrument does not have a water key, what is the diameter of the third moon of Jupiter?

3. List Johann Sebastian Bach’s children (include middle names) and

give: a. Date of birth b. Date of death (if deceased) c. Last known address d. Social Security number

4. Name the composers who wrote a First Symphony.

5. Give the opening theme of each symphony in #4 (above).

6. What is the relationship and musical significance of the 10th and 11th bars of the aria “Soldaten, Soldaten” to the aria’s final bars (1048-1063) in the Alban Berg opera “Wozzeck”?

(Click here to read the rest of this entry)

For another teacher tree - Anton Torello -> Oscar Zimmerman -> Richard Stephan -> Me

My textbook, “An Introduction to Double Bass Playing“, has been updated. Nothing huge but lots of little tweaks and fixes.

Has lots of new posts and sporting a new, slicker theme…

An announcement from PRObass Music (www.probass.de):

PRObass Music (PRObass Musikverlag) recently published some interesting music for doublebass/doublebasses:

- Th. A. Findeisen: “Quartettsuite für 4 Celli oder 4 Kontrabässe” (quartett suite for 4 celli or 4 double basses)
This, finally, again available(obtainable) work is a highlight in musicallity, but also in virtuosity. Findeisen is here unusual kontrapunktal polyphonic without denying his romantic roots. The first mouvement (Adagio) is a serious, almost quite baroque seeming meditation. The following menuet is cheerful and is followed by an again serious and strictly polyphonic held mouvement (andante moderato) in which the first bass must master extremely high positions. The last mouvement (humoreske) however is witty and elegant again

- Edie W. Cane: “Oliog”
This cheerful piece is rather unconventional in its form: There is a 5 bars long theme and a 10 bars long part whose chords are based on the main notes of the theme. The edition contain a voice in C, in Bb, in Eb and one in the bass clef.

“You can be a Master even if every shot does not hit.”

Longtime friend, Elliot Szabo, has released a new CD. Check it out! There’s some cool bass playing on here as well.

(I even got a little shout out in his liner notes!!)

When I first heard about Chickenfoot , like most rock fans, was quite excited. And why not - with a lineup of Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Chad Smith, Michael Anthony (ok, that one isn’t so exciting - he may be a rock, but he’s a boring rock). No one can deny these musician’s abilities. And Sammy is an amazing frontman and performer.

But….the bottom line is the songwriting sounds like leftover chicken. It sounds like cuts  from Surfing with the Alien combined with remnants from Sammy’s early works. And the lyrics suck. Guys, come on, evolve! This project can be amazing.