Persevere, a journey to spiccato

 Perseverance.

I don't have a tone of time every day to devote to this task, but I take what little time I have to do so. 

November 1st was no different. 

Key take aways:
- String crossing spiccato at tempos above 100 to quarter note, subdivision at 16th note, very unfamiliar. 
- Bouncing near the finger board allows for a more access to fundamental tone.
- Very little horizontal bow hair contact, even if the stroke is predominantly horizontal the contact point is brief, maybe centimeters of actual bow contact.
- Lock into the fundamental, remind yourself of the on-the-string sound 

Here is a video:

{To come}

Spiccato craze

 With hyper obsessive dedication to this stroke, I continue:

Playing through the exercises by Barry Green and Hal Robinson provide the training ground, if not obstacle course for this study. You'll see in the linked videos my efforts. 

The most significant lesson thus far that I've learned is, to no surprise, the practical application versus theoretical knowledge. I can break down and read, even understand, conceptually the physical components but there is absolutely no substitute for slow, detailed practice with a metronome. The subtle horizontal motion, combined with vertical wrist motion across and up/down the string seem to be only achievable painstakingly.

Using exercises as opposed to excerpts or symphonic literature is an approach that resonates with my sensibilities. I appreciate the "learning through the repertoire" concept, but the potential pit falls of working in bad habits or worse psychological barriers seem to great a risk. To acquire the stroke in a no stakes scenarios allows for mental clarity. I may be missing the mark, but I see an immense value in this practice methodology. 

Here are some more videos of my graduate attempts at acquire this stroke. Repertoire is on the horizon. 

Barry Green pg 55 mixing various off-string strokes

Barry Green pg 55 part 2

More on spiccato

 Here are some low-res (low-fi) photos of the materials that I am using as references (fyi):

I love the mechanical and systematic analysis from Barry Green's book. He breaks the stroke down into very clear, digestible and simple constituents.

I. Tempo; II. Dynamic; III. Intensity; IV: Note Length; V. Bounce; VI. Location of Bounce

He even suggests and diagrams the location on the bow, a span from frog to balance point where the various Horizontal ("arm"), Vertical ("wrist"), and Sautille strokes are best achieved. 

 

This chart is also a useful guideline or starting place to consider the type/quality of the stroke. Particularly important is his indication of quarter-note tempo at the 16th-note subdivision. 

Lastly, I included a hand written aggregation of Dennis Whittaker's observations about spiccato.

Light, Medium, and Heavy. There is a lot of overlap, and these are all context specific. Context meaning style and dynamic, but it is another useful guide post. 

I wanted to add: Orin O'Brien mentioned in an interview 

"If you’re practicing spiccato, start staccato at 92 to the half note, go until you get to 132, and then go back on the string. You’re not required to do off the string past 132, you’re not required. That’s not a requirement that they can force you to do. Only certain people can do past 132, and that’s sautille, and it’s a very soft volume. It’s not a loud volume. If you want louder, then you go on the string." 

This seems clear enough, but there is one constituent left unnamed, and that is the subdivision.

My question is: what is the subdivision? 92 to half note would mean 184 quarter note and a 368 eight-note, and the sixteenth-note impossibly fast.

Her idol and mentor, F. Zimmermann has a bowing book which seems to clarify, until it confuses.

Zimmermann mentions, in section I on page 11, "Play each measure keeping the metronome at half note = 104, using a spiccato bowing. When these are played with a sense of ease and control, increase the metronome marking step-wise to half note = 116 - 126. At an advanced marking of half note = 132 through 152, the bow is again moved with a rapid detache bowing." That would basically align with Obrien.

To be clear, this is indicated for patterns with eight note subdivisions.  

116 to the half note results in an 8th note at 464 BPM, or quarter note at 232. 

If you look already at page 12, Zimmermann starts spiccato at 92 to the quarter note in 16th note subdivisions. Proportionally that is the same division 1/4:1/16 = 1/2:1/8.

Later on in the book, when he addresses triplet subdivisions, he indicates 116-152 to the dotted quarter as spiccato. For clarity, 116 to the dotted quarter makes the 8th note 348 BPM, and 152 to the dotted quarter creates an 8th note of 456 BPM. 

Still later in the book he suggests spiccato to be executed at the 8th note subdivision between 152-176 to the quarter note (even as fast as 184).

Finally, there is Hal Robinsons adaptation of the Sevcik violin school which indicated tempos for spiccato sections, but also gets rather virtuosic and fast when subdividing 16th notes. 

Let's take a look:

Barry Green - Horizontal Spiccato

Barry Green - Vertical Spiccato

F. Zimmermann Bowing Spiccato

Hal Robinson - Strokin Sevcik

Let's Talk About Spiccato

 On bouncing the bow:

There is a shameful paucity of examples demonstrating spiccato with the underhand/german bow hold. Worse than the lack of public and free resources there is also a dearth of clear references in the common pedagogical literature. 

Perhaps in the paid version of the online resources there are masterful explanations but the pay wall prevents a barrier. 

So here are some observations and thought:

Resources: Jeff Bradetich "Double Bass: The Ultimate Challenge" ; Barry Green "Advanced Techniques of Double Bass Playing" ; Dennis Whittaker's youtube video series based on his "Incredibly Useful Exercises for Double Bass" ; Hal Robinson "Strokin' " based on the Sevcik School of Bowing Technique for Violin.

The most important considerations seem to be are SPEED, VOLUME, STYLE. 

Let's get nerdy: Spiccato describes or indicates an "off the string" or "bouncing stroke". There are two ways to initiate the stroke, either from above the string (ie. off) or from the string (ie. on) and it always is terminated off the string. 

Linguistically speaking, the word spiccato is an Italian past participle that is derived from the verb spiccare [regular transitive verb: 1 staccare una cosa da un’altra a cui è attaccata. 2 compiere un movimento brusco staccandosi da terra. 3 emettere ♦ as an intransitive verb: fare spicco, distinguersi.] 

1. to pick, pluck, or cut off something from another thing to which it is attached.
2. to jump, take off/take flight, fly off from the ground
3. to emit, give off, let out

for extra Italian points it also mean to distinguish one's self as in stand out or stick out.

The noun spicco translates as distinction, conspicuousness, stature, prominence.

It is the opposite of *appiccare* (to attach/stick on), and thus fundamentally means to detach something that has been attached; in many contexts, it is synonymous with *staccare* (to detach/remove), which is the more common term in spoken language.

Linguistic nerd moment over.

Back to bass, bows and strokes.

I love the way Bradetich describes the stroke, it is clear and insightful. "The definition of spiccato is simply 'to bounce.' The bow strikes the string coming from above the string and after getting the string to speak, releases back into the air." 

What a gift of clarity. 

He goes on to say, "The goal is to produce a lighter sound than the staccato stroke, one with a bouyant quality that crates an "up" feeling, as opposed toa "down" or pressed feeling... [it] is primarily used as a steady rhythmic underpinning to the structure of the music. The role, sound, and application of the spiccato stroke changes throughout the different style sof composers and periods of music."

The master player/educator doesn't stop there. He explains, "the 'controlled' spiccato can be broken down into many subcategories, but there are four basic stokes that have clearly identifiable differences: 1. Mozart, 2. Beethoven, 3. Brahms, 4. Strass."

Here we start getting into specifics and it useful to bring in the other resources. Barry Green does an excellent job of breaking down the mechanics of this stroke. He explains that there are two major mechanical functions, or physical vectors of energy, that take place to create spiccato. These two vectors or constituents are the horizontal motion (left right or up-bow down-bow direction) and the vertical motions (into and away from the string). 

He explains that musical passages of slower speeds, and heavy dynamics tend to use predominantly horizontal motion, which he also calls "arm spiccato." 

In musical passages of faster speeds, and lighter dynamics tend to use predominantly vertical motion, which he also calls "wrist spiccato."

Naturally, there is a vertical and horizontal component to all off-the-string strokes, and this returns us to Bradetich who explains that "In the Mozart spiccato, the direction of the bow hitting the string makes the shape of a V. The Beethoven stroke uses more horizontal motion in the right hand and arm" more of a U shape. "The Brahms stroke is broadening of the Beethoven stroke." The shape resembles a semi-circle, think concave, half-moon, arc or meniscus. He describes it as a "saucer-shape." Finally, the "Strauss spiccato is a more aggressive outgrowth of the Beethoven stroke. Its right arm and hand usage is very similar to the Beethoven stroke, but a harder attack or bite into the string and is more clearly defined on the release."

One very important mechanical observation that Bradetich discusses is "The ever-changing bow stroke length. For ALL bow strokes, the length of the stroke will be longer on the higher strings and shorter on the lower strings. The same ratios are in effect when playing all bow strokes on the same string as the left hand moves up and down the string. As the string length become shorter (notes go higher), the length of the bow strokes needs to increase and the opposite is true when descending to lower pitches on the same string."

The one element Bradetich fails to address is the speed. This is where Dennis Whittaker and Barry Green come in imperfectly handy. Green proposes that at tempos featuring 16th note subdivisions, mezzo-forte to fortissimo dynamic, with a heavy character can be played with "arm" or "horizontal" spiccato between 0-85 BPM to the quarter note. 

 He also proposes at tempos featuring 16th note subdivisions, piano to forte dynamic, with a lighter character can be played with "wrist" or "vertical" spiccato between 0-105 BPM to the quarter note.

So lemme give it a try as I am learning to play the underhand grip.

https://www.canva.com/design/DAHZZ797UEc/e2yXJ6ESH2NpYt7v9Dflqg/watch

Let's speed things up:

https://www.canva.com/design/DAHZZy4YPJU/83_IxDSPH0QgGFd02_I2wQ/watch

Just for reference, here is some overhand/french grip - after 20 years I am glad it is noticeably better/easier.

https://www.canva.com/design/DAHZZ2uFNk8/nfjzQ8bderR5lgz4Lyy6gw/watch

A Double Bass Lesson with Derek Weller

 I had a lovely time with Derek Weller, instructor of String Bass at Interlochen Arts Academy. In addition to his role at Interlochen, Weller is on faculty at Eastern Michigan University, is Principal Double Bass with the Michigan Opera Theater, performs with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, and freelances with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He is also a member of the Carmel Bach Festival Orchestra, which performs in Carmel, California during the months of July and August. 

Derek and I, unbeknownst to either of us, have worked together quite a bit. During my tenure as a resident artist at the Detroit Opera, Derek was (and still is) principal bass of the orchestra. I sang in 7 productions maybe 8 with the orchestra during that time. Then in February of this year we met at the inaugural opera at the music hall series, again here in Detroit. 

Derek is a german bow player, and I am as ever on my quest to learning to play with this underhand grip.

He had a lot of useful insights, the most important of which was: the right equipment matters. The fiber glass bow that I own is one of the biggest obstacles to my learning. It would probably be appropriate for someone who has no deep interest in bowing, but wants to mess around. It is now getting in my way, alas, I do not presently have the means to acquire another bow but I will be on the look out. Derek suggested perhaps carbon fiber... 

The other major insight was the grip, of course! He uses a sort of modified "Streicher" or Viennese grip with the thumb over the top of the stick, while the index and middle fingers slightly bent with the the pads of those fingers along the stick. He developed his bow hold as an evolution from his teacher, Stuart Sankey, and the Frederick Zimmermann approach toward a Streicher/Viennese hold. 

More about the lesson later. As for now, I am going to practice. 

Not so Daily Practice - Audition Prep and Help from Friends

This past weekend showed a vacancy sign over my bass. I spent most of the days renovating our kitchen, and thwarted trips to the hardware store. The bass was neglected... until yesterday.

Yesterday, I had the sincere pleasure to spend an hour and half with my dear friend and Nashville Symphony section bassist Matt Abramo. Matt has - through-out my kaleidoscopic, quilted, desultory, sinuous career - been supportive and helpful. His fantastic technical skill and beautiful artistry has been an inspiration since we were at S.U.N.Y. Purchase studying with Tim Cobb. Matt started as a graduate student the same year I started as an undergrad. 

Matt was - pardon my rhetoric - instrumental in my development as bassist. Unlike many of my collegiate peers, contemporaries, and professional colleagues, I was not raised in a musical family. Neither of my parents are musicians, nor were my grandparents. I had not ever played in an orchestra until I entered the conservatory. I did not have years of elementary, middle school, high school or community orchestra. Truth be told, I had about 4 months of private lessons with the imminent and understated double-bass workhorse: Eric Lemons. I am grateful for Eric's instruction, but those initial lessons were not geared toward classical or orchestral futures. More on Eric another time...  

As important as Tim Cobb was, as my first proper teacher, Matt set the example of student/peer excellence. Matt was already obviously gifted, and has gone on to blossom into the real deal: New World Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and Nashville Symphony to name a few of his professional credits. He continues to inspire. 

Matt also became a good friend. More important than the bass playing is the high quality human being he is. The perfect blend of witty, silly, kind, direct, trustworthy, and thoughtful. Not sure what admirable qualities this guy doesn't have. 

He patiently walked me through some excerpts, ranging from the familiar Beethoven Symphony 5 to the unfamiliar Bartok Concerto for Orchestra. My hands ached from the labor and torture of ikea furniture and hours wasted attempting to tune my own piano. I played like crap. Matt has heard me play like crap for years. He even spent some time with me this past fall preparing for the Lancing Bass Audition (I was feeling quite good about my preparation for that audition). Despite the fatigue, mental and physical, and the obvious low quality of my playing, Matt was an gentleman. I just couldn't ask for a better friend and colleague. He was funny, clear, supportive, generous, patient, and helpful. That guy!

We worked on Beethoven 5 scherzo, Bartok Concerto for orchestra movement 1, Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique, Mahler 2, Mozart 40 and touched a little on Schubert 8 (unfinished symphony), Brahms 2nd Symphony, and Britten Young Person's Guide. 

It was quite a session. 

My days since have continued to be scattered and desultory with teaching, practicing, learning and errands. 

I'll keep going for now, and we'll see what comes. Sometimes even an underdog and the long-shot comes through... fate and luck have a weird way of creating the path.

Daily Practice - Audition Prep 2026!

Happy New Year!

Yesterday, I made sure to get a little bit of bass in yesterday. I probably played the ugliest most out of tune hour of F minor scales anyone has ever witnessed in the 400 year history of the double bass. I also played through the Allemande from Bach Cello Suite I, utter crap. 

As for today... well... I couldn't let the diasterous and cacaphonous F minor scales from yesterday sit unaddressed. I repeated my work and it paid off. The F melodic and harmonic minor scales were quite lovely. Believe it or not, the natural minor in the last few variations were trash. I am struggling with getting the low thumb position on the IV string exactly in tune. Brutal and humbling practice. 

The Allemande is coming along. Good progress was made toward something like music today.

I didn't touch the excerpts, but will focus my energies on those starting tomorrow.

The Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, Britten Young Person's Guide, Beethoven, and Mahler 2 are in my fingers and in my mind. There are a lot of other excerpts that need attention, but this is an ok start.

Cheers to a successful prosperous 2026!

Daily Practice - Audition and then some

 Let me catch you up on yesterday's practice log

I played through the E melodic harmonic and natural scales in various fingerings from The School of Agility.

I played variations 21-40 in #4 Bille School of the Bow.

I worked on Bartok Concerto for Orchestra opening page excerpt.

I finished memorizing Bach Cello Suite 1 Allemande.

I played through the exposition of Vanhal Concerto.

TODAY.... 

well today I had to teach and I played cello...

em... no bass today... 

😕

Daily Practice - Auditions

Greetings,

I am taking a break from German bow for a few weeks as I prepare for some upcoming auditions.

Kalamazoo and Indianapolis are the two symphonies with-in a 200 mile radius with openings for a section player. It may seem like quite a distance, but as I've been accustomed to driving 1200 miles round trip for work in New York, 400 round trip seems like a breeze.

As for the daily practice:

Every day I take one scale and play a variety of fingerings and bowings. I've been using the Eugene Levinson "The School of Agility" as a guide. It's a book that I've had for years and didn't bother with. Today was G major, yesterday was F major, and the day before F# major. 

Playing through the various fingerings with the rhythm and bowing variations takes about an hour. Metronome click on to keep me honest, and accurate. I follow his recommended patterns: 3  quarters slurred, separate; 6 eights slurred, separate; the arpeggio; triplets slurred; sixteenths slurred; and I choose a few of the other variations depending on my mood. Two slurred/two separate (or reversed), syncopated triplets, two legato/two portato or slurred staccato.

I also like staring fresh by reading a few of the Bille art of the bow variations. 
I am playing through No. 4.
Today, I played through variations 1-22. 

Lasty, I will work on some of the excerpts for the auditions. I will focus on the least familiar and the shared repertoire. 

Meanwhile, I am also close to memorized - which I never forced myself todo - on the Allemande from the 1st Bach Cello suite.

Happy practicing!

The Right Hand: Learning to Play with the "German Bow" part 2

Here are some photos of the various underhand bow holds of master players and teachers.

Some screen captures of Joel Quarrington:

Some shots of Boguslav Furtok:

Last, but not least, Josef Semeleder,

More photos in the next post.

As for my own practice:

I have started using both the Isaia Bille School of the Bow (Part 1 Book 2) and A contemporary concept of bowing technique for the double bass by Fred Zimmermann.

I find the Bille to be very useful, traditional, direct, obvious and playable. 

Today I worked through studies numbers 1 and 2 with all of the variations at 82 beats per minute. I also started study no. 3 and played variations 1 - 21 at 112 bpm.

I have been applying the string crossing and bow direction concept from the Zimmerman book. His approach must have influenced Michael Klinghoffer. Michael was the first person to make me aware of the different "sides" of the string. 

The strings have apparent (but not real sides). This concept come from the function of the curvature of the bridge! Each string has a side because the bridge is rounded, and the bridge must be rounded for the player to be able to play one string at a time.  

Let's try to see this in action:

Look at or manifest in your mind the second string, the D string. The D string has two neighboring strings, the G and the A. From the player's perspective the G string is left and slightly lower than the D. There is a G string "side" to the D string. On the other "side" of the D string rests the A string. The A string is right and slightly lower than the D. 

The D string has a G side and an A side. We could also say far side and near side; left side and right side; top side or bottom side: whatever you wish.

The concept is that in most typical or normal bowing patterns one draws a down-bow on the far side or the left side of the string and - conversely - pushes an up-bow on the near side or bottom side.

Let's try to see THIS in action:

Start by drawing a down bow across both the G and the D strings simultaneously (a double stop). Retake the bow and play another down bow across both the G and D strings and slowly allow the bow to lift from the G string while continuing to play the D. 

At the moment the bow no longer engages the G shows the player the G side of the D string.

The same procedure can be done to observe the A side of the D string, but with the up-bow.

Start by pushing an up-bow across both the A and the D strings simultaneously (a double stop). Retake the bow and play another up-bow across both the A and D strings and slowly allow the bow to lift from the A string while continuing to play the D. 

 At the moment the bow no longer engages the A shows the player the A side of the D string.

More soon...

The Right Hand: Learning to Play with the "German Bow" part 1

When I was 17, my parents bought me a double bass. 

Instead of a lengthy auto-biography let's get right to the point.

I am teaching myself how to play with a "German" bow. While I do understand - and believe - that terminology matters (how were think is everything), unless we are imbroglio-ed by the terminology thus some obstruction blocks our playing, the terminology hardly matters at all. I guess... it matters when it matters and doesn't when it doesn't. Helpful, I know. 

What comes first and foremost is the "hold" or "grip." 

I prefer the term "under handed" rather than "German". That is getting into terminology, so again... let us not get stuck at the thresh hold but enter.

I have a "German" bow, which I've owned since I started playing bass. It's a no name plastic disaster from Guitar Center or maybe - the gone but not forgotten - Sam Ash. I started college playing on this bow and quickly moved to "French bow". Now, 20 years later, I am re-learning this bowing approach.

HOW DO I HOLD THE DAMN THING. 

I asked friends, colleagues, and have been watching youtube videos. 

Here are some excellent resources that I've found very useful.

The absolute most musical and virtuosic german bow bassist I have ever heard in person: Joel Quarrington. I played for Joel in a masterclass when I was a graduate student at the University of Georgia.

 https://youtube.com/shorts/l80404iYEEw?si=to5pllMWNHz01eVO

https://youtube.com/shorts/6nqbaNrim8E?si=6WJgvPyF9XhxuzXZ

The second master is a video by the dear Michael Klinghoffer, who I had the pleasure of meeting and taking a lesson with in 2015 while I was singing at the Detroit Opera in a production of Die Passegerin.

https://youtu.be/ZZA9kE06SVM?si=J8Vptw07HVCmOrGc&t=54

The inimitable Thomas Martin, who I also had the pleasure of playing for in a master class while an undergraduate student at  S.U.N.Y. Purchase.

https://youtu.be/y4Ea49TGj1g?si=nGFuNcztaAnmGsBw&t=175

Here are some detailed insights from David Allen Moore

https://youtu.be/CvTigqfUR_E?si=6VFqajP2XwGeFPnQ&t=257

https://youtu.be/snONbEinP3w?si=AmbwY3LAFzNEA1tL&t=48

While I've never met him, Associate Principal Double Bass Dušan Walkowicz of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, has a rather clear and dry video worth watching.

https://youtu.be/cqi2AZ9tq4c?si=BjARDNOreaivVqsg&t=42 

Lastly, Barry Green has some helpful observations in his book, Advanced Techniques of Double Bass Playing

Preparing of an Orchestral Audition

 Greetings Readers,

As the title of this post plainly states, I will be - rather academically - discussing my preparation for my audition with Lansing Symphony 2025. This will be a stark and pallid post, bone dry and direct. Typically, I prefer - when sharing my thoughts publicly - writing some-what more florid and elaborate content. I yearn to be a writer, maybe a poet. This is not that post. And away we go...

I am sharing my method of preparation below, and some detailed discussion of the excerpts and pieces.  

Final preamble:

There are a myriad of brilliant sources of double bass instruction on the internet. Of course, there are master teachers and pedagogues out there around the actual real live in person world. Yes, the internet and teacher, but also books, too! None of these need any promotion from me, yet I will list a few of the excellent online-resources. The four most prominent internet sources are ToneBase - Bass, Double Bass HQ, Discover Double Bass, and String Virtuoso. Youtube contains a robust repository of videos, but as a platform does not specialize in bass. I would be remiss if I did not mention Orchestra Excerpts.com

Part I: The List

This is the Lansing Symphony 2025 audition repertoire list:

For those who are not in the know, this audition repertoire list is an ideal example of a standard list. These selection that the symphony is expecting to hear are typical excerpts from the symphonic repertoire. To put a finer point on the matter: one may reasonably expect to see each of these excerpts on any audition list around the world.  

That being said, it is - IMO - a short and approachable rep list. In addition to being standard, these particular selections, from Mozart to Strauss, are some of the most playable excerpts. I should also be clear that being a "playable" list, I do not wish to suggest that it is easy. These are not simple, obstacle free, shake-and-bake excerpts. All of these require major, advanced ability. 

What I find elegant about the list is that if one can meet all of the criteria of excellence in these selections, then it is abundantly clear that the player is highly capable. Those criteria are:
1) accurate to perfect intonation
2) accurate to perfect rhythm
3) clear and accurate articulation
4) correct dynamics
5) approximate speed
6) appropriate style nuance

To put it simply: ya gotta play in time, ya gotta play in tune, and ya gotta sound like you know how the piece goes. 

I'll address the choice of solo later, so let's dive into the list.

Part II: How to approach the list

The very first endeavor is compiling the excerpts according to the list.  

One can find these in the printed in the Zimmerman books published by International Music, or through IMSLP, or at Orchestra Excerpts.com.

Let's go one by one.

The excerpts are listed in the following format:

Composer Last Name, Title of the symphonic work, the section or movement of that larger work, the measures to be played (here written as "mm." for measures) + additional information for clarification.

The first listed is:
Beethoven [Ludwig van] Symphony no. 5 mvmnt. 3, mm.1-96; pick up to mm. 141-160 (second ending, no repeat).

We typically call this the scherzo and trio.

The second step to acquaint yourself to the piece. Listen to the entire work! Listen to several different recordings/performances, and absorb the style of the work. 

While you listen, you may wish to also do some study of the piece to place it in its historical context.

Beethoven's 5th Symphony is - what historians and musicologists refer to as - a work of  his middle period. It is also known as the "Fate Symphony" and was written between 1804 - 1808. Fun fact, it premiered on a concert with his 6th symphony (the Pastorale). It is in C minor, and it is Beethoven's opus 67. 

Why are these details important? Because the help us understand the style. A Beethoven forte is different from a Mozart or Brahms forte. The type of articulation and stroke of the bow is not a one-size-fits-all mode.

I also think it is important to review the full score of these sections to understand and internalize what the other parts are playing. This is the intimacy of owning and absorbing an excerpt. 

I have performed this symphony several times, most recently at Carnegie Hall in New York City with the Fort Greene Orchestra. Despite my familiarity, I still listen to recordings. Four of note are:

Riccardo Muti: Philadelphia Orchestra
Michael Tilson Thomas: San Francisco Symphony
Josef Krips: London Symphony Orchestra
Carlos Kleiber: Wiener Philharmoniker

Of course, all the great orchestras in the world have a recording of this symphony. Listen to modern and classic recordings because style preferences change. Listen to L.A. Phil or N.Y. Phil, Chicago, Berlin, etc.

The third step is learn to play the part, which requires a dedicated approach. 

Start slowly, with a metronome. I always find it useful to play the scale of the key that is written, and a short etude to get into the mood and sonic sound scape. Then work through the part systematically, SLOWLY WITH A METRONOME. I suggest trying 20-30 clicks slower than the indicated tempo, but if that is too fast then start slower. The goal is to set in good habits from the beginning. 

Audio-Books - Inspiration and Highway Road-Stops

 05-12-25
(From a roadside center in Ohio)

I am listening to an audio book. 

I am a some what clumsy late-comer to audiobooks. What kept me away for so long? I adore those obvious, probably mundane charms of print books: the weight, the smell, the silent voices spoken in my mind's ear. Yes, above all it is that seductive and unique quality of books to transform me into a co-creator that I love. The "paint by numbers" that comes with reading a story. The author has given my imagination all of the tools to manifest what isn't there. While I hazard the graceless overlapping of a mixed metaphor, the book is a playground for the imagination to run wild. Well, sort of wild. It's more like a play ground, it is a cultivated space. It isn't the wide open timeless arena of a rural childhood, or the borderless infinity in a wild animal's gaze. The book is a playground, not a play ground. I've seen children seem to long for the stable, guided, and controlled liberty of the playground. Remember the swings, the slide, the see-saw, and the merry-go-round? Do you remember the feeling of freedom without awareness of the highly curated protected zone? Monkey-bars instead of trees, slides instead of waterfalls, and turf or rubber instead of grass? That is what the author provides to me. The author created the playground-cum-canvas, the tools, the story, and the numbers on which to the paint the very colors they gave me. These inconspicuous elements are provocative. I heard the voices. These characters, the narrator, they are not intoned in my voice, yet nor are they the voices of others. Not simply an Ersatz but a simulacrum. I have transformed into a co-creator in that space. That is alluring. Perhaps, it is the fear of loss, the loss of that co-creator agency that kept me away for so long.

I didn't come here to gnaw the rag on my experience with audio books. It's Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She inspired me (I am also a late comer to her works). I am reading (listening to) "Americanah". I finished "Notes on Grief" two months ago, and I find myself smitten by her writing. I feel inspired to write. The needle point precision of her observations are in perfect balance of profound and casual, if such a thing is possible. 

Her writing has a way of beseeching me. It calls me to write something, as if I had something to say: something worth reading. So I type on my laptop in a rest-stop off the bland and monotonous interstate highway in Ohio. Sandusky, Ohio. Somewhere and nowhere, but not anywhere.

I am making the drive again, that drive. The drive that has become habit, routine. The round-trip drive from Michigan to New York. 1200 miles, practically a straight line from Toledo, Ohio to New Jersey. I've lost count of my r/t drives. Sometimes it's once a month. It's even been twice in 3 weeks at times. Hundreds of dollars in petrol and tolls; an uncountable cumulation of hours, no: days, no: weeks of my life in a car, all for sake of my career as a musician. My free-lance life, and my attachment to New York. Adichie left me so profoundly inspired that I took my laptop out to type this, here of all places. I won't take too much time, it is an 11-hour drive, after all. I battle the will to type and the noxious fumes of burning breakfast foods, stale coffee and putrid stench of a toilette placed inhumanly close to the food court. I am disgusted and determined. 

Basso Obbligato ossia continuing the continuum (Introduction)

Welcome to the Bassobbligato blog!

Greetings folx, I am called Giuseppe 👋 Of the many hats that I wear, I am a bass player and educator. Please, with grace and kindness, accept this post as welcome and brief introduction to me and this blog. Below are some of the nuts and bolts, necessaries and incidentals, that seem sort of... obligatory.

Basso Obbligato  
(BassObbligto)

This capricious elision has stuck with me for decades. I remember learning about the basso continuo as a high school student, nerd. No longer can I recall whether I saw it printed as one word, a single "o" as a bridge linking these terms, or if it really is the fruit of my own imagination. It hardly matters. I was immediately struck. Has that ever happened to you? Did you see or even maybe create something sort of cute and it just stuck with you? You couldn't unsee it?

As I started studying music in earnest, I came across words like ostinato, obbligato, thorough-bass, and their associative forms like the passacaglia, chaconne, and the lament. What a treasure trove of sounds! I love the way some words taste. You must know the mouthfeel of words you love saying, no? The words that tickle, and flow from your mind's ear out into the world. Words that have a feeling and feel personal to you. They are more than units of utilitarian communication. Those words are not mere vocabulary and function, but straddle the fine line of life-theater (simulacra and simulation) and full extemporized authentic free expression. The lexiconic treasure trove of concepts! Coming from a background in rock and jazz, these words and what these words represented, the forms and compositional practices, made immediate sense to me. The bass made sense to me. I wanted to drink it all in and gobble it all up. Here was the link between repetitive song forms and classical music! 

I am getting ahead of myself. Before I get completely carried away, here are some auto-biographical thoughts for your consideration: 

I have been a professional multi-genre freelance bassist for over 20 years.
I was born and raised in New York City, where I attended the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts.
I studied double bass at Purchase College, State University of New York, the Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia, and several summers at the Conservatorio Antonio Vivaldi in Alessandria, Italy.

Guilty: I did earn a doctorate in music from the University of Georgia, Athens.

More about me later.

Why this blog? Why me? Why Now?

If you've made it this far, the answers to those questions and the questions themselves are irrelevant. Well, not irrelevant. No, but rather allow me to pose these very questions to you, dear reader.  They are relevant to me but about you! Why my blog? why are you here now? With all of the great resources like string virtuoso, tone base, contrabass conversations, double bass headquarters, discover double bass, and youtube, what drew you to this space?