Bass Performance Advice?

[Deminicus]

Okay, I really kind of need help on this. In my high school, my band director made like these small ensembles (like we have i think a flute quartet, brass quintet, chamber woodwind ensemble, and I think one more) starting this year so that we would have more performance opportunities, I ended up being a solo performer (because no one wanted to be in my group, ).

Well, originally I was to perform on tuba, but I couldn't find any solos that didn't involve piano accompaniment (plus I'm much better on bass than on tuba...though I've played them both about the same amount of time, ). I have to convince him bassically that I can play my bass in a way that won't seem "out of character" with the music the rest of the band is playing, so I've been trying to decide what I should play for the performance. I don't know how many pieces I will play, but I was thinking of at least picking three. One I had in mind was Fur Elise (everyone would recognize it, plus I have been really practicing my tapping this past year, so I can play the treble and bass clef parts on my bass simultaneously pretty easily...i know it isn't a gigantic accomplishment...but still, it makes me happy, ), and I was considering playing one of Bach's cello suites (though those may be too long).

Basically, I was wondering if any of you guys had any ideas on some music I could play for the performance (difficulty doesn't matter, the more difficult, the better. And the original instrument doesn't matter, though I would prefer music written either as a piano solo, or as a solo for some stringed instrument). It has to be, umm, would the word be "classical" (that word has many meanings, so I've been told) though.

Thanks, .

[IanStephenson]

Bach Cello suites would be great.

I've got a couple of old Jeff Schwarz tabs for Ferdinand Sor Opus 60 and a few other good similar pieces.

Stu Hamm's Star Spangled Banner is great.

[Deminicus]

Thanks, . Yea, I was thinking that a Bach Cello Suite would be a good idea, but I'm not sure if I would have enough alotted time to perform the entire thing during the concert (there are going to be at least five ensembles), so i was thinking of only playing a few movements probably from the first and/or second suites (At most, I think I can only have a selection of probably about five pieces). Also, do you think you can email me the tabs you have for the pieces that you mentioned? (Deminicus@gmail.com). If you can, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again.

[IanStephenson]

I'll see if I can dig them out. I know I've got printouts, but they are OLD (early 90's!!), so I'll have to see if I can find the files. They're easier than the cello suites.

If you're playing a few spot pieces in a concert, I'd pick the "greatest hits" from the cello suites - Suite 1, 1st movement, and suite 3, 5th movement (I think). They'll both be recognised. Tackling a whole suite (or two!) is a LOT of work, and probably won't go down so well.

Ian

[Bluesy Soul]

There are many Bach melodies (from various of his works) that I think would be appropriate.

Check: www.bassbooks.com.

Good luck and tell us what you ultimately choose.

Bluesy Soul

[Deminicus]

Thanks guys for all the advice. I decided on three pieces (I found out most groups are doing between one and three, and I don't want to take too much time, seeing as I'm only one person, and there are about 4-6 groups that I know of (may be more)).

First I'll Play the 1st Movement (Prelude) of Bach's 1st Cello Suite, because it is a familiar piece to almost everyone we'll be playing for, plus I've been practicing the 1st suite for most of my summer and can play it with almost no noticeable error.

Second I'll play Beethoven's Fur Elise because I've made an arrangement for it to play using two-hand tapping, and...well, almost everyone has, or will probably hear Fur Elise (or at least part of it) sometime in their lifetime, so it is probably the most familiar piece that anyone will play at the performance (doesn't leave any room for error).

I'll finish with the 6th Movement (Gigue) of Bach's 1st Cello Suite, because it is somewhat familiar to the crowd I am playing for, it fits as a nice finish, it has trills (I love trills), and...well, I really like this movement.

I had to decide pretty quickly (the performance is in the first week of November), so I picked pieces I knew very well. If this goes well, though, I may be allowed to play a piece or two for some of the other concerts we'll do throughout the year (there was one piece I wanted to do for this concert, but it was pretty long (i forgot the piece's full name, I think it was Bach's 2nd Partita in D Minor, don't remember the name of the movement I wanted to play.), and I wouldn't have time to practice it (have to play the pieces for my band director tomorrow morning)).

Thanks guys,