Hi Brian,
Fortunately bassists have more than simply two options for employment as a player. And being a good teacher is also moderately lucrative. All professional music jobs in performance require a well trained ear. So get as much ear training as possible. Theory and piano helps a great deal too as a basis for any music study. So get some theory and relate it to the piano for visual and tactile reference. Then there is your focus: the bass. Have a good working knowledge of as much orchestral rep as you can. Etudes such as Storch-Hrabe and Nanny help direct that knowledge into accurate playing too. Solo materials that include lots of Baroque and Classical sonatas and concertos interspersed with some Romantic (Bottesini, Negri) and Contemporary (Persichetti, Turetzky, Proto, Neher!) Then be prepared to show your abilities in a 10 to 15 minute audition that covers all styles. If you like jazz, be sure to do an equal amnt of jazz study as classical.
Best of luck and Happy Holidays!
Patrick Neher
Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianMcAnally  Hello there Mr. Neher!
I was just wondering if you could let me know what you think a young bass player like myself should know/already know/be working on before going to a music college headed in the direction of the almost impossible:
An orchestral job or teaching at a music school for a living... |
