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Oops - I started with an F major scale and then the mixed it up with G major. I must have written that when I was tired! Sorry! Basically it is as you corrected me: E string: F (1st finger) shift to G (1st finger) then 3rd and 4th fingers (A & Bb) A string: C (1st finger) shift to D (1st...

Start with your index finger on the root of the scale (I.e. F) on the E string, then shift to a G with that finger, then play your 3rd and 4th fingers (B & C). Now go straight across to the A string, your index finger will now be on a D - repeat what you did on the E string, shift a whole step...

That’s because most of us who are making a living playing don’t have the time to post a lot about our playing. Right now I’m having my morning coffee before I head out to a rehearsal and checking my emails, etc. I’m fortunate that I get a pension and can essentially pick my own hours and gigs. I...

I had to go for 75%-100%. After 20 years of playing professionally in the USAF I retired in 1998. Now I do a lot of freelance playing as well as playing in an orchestra. My only non-playing income is a very small percentage which comes from writing program notes, teaching bass and president of...

I’m curious, what piece is this and who wrote it?

I don’t think it’s the model number - more likely the number made. I have a Juzek “Master Art Copy” which has violin corners and the inlaid Diamond ebony mark on the back. On the label it is marked 1937 #133. I bought it from Jim Orleans (Boston SO) in 1984 when I was studying with him. It’s a...

I’d definitely buy it! There is so much history with that generation of musicians. They played under great conductors and played a lot of our great orchestral music with the composers either conducting or there: Copland, Bernstein, Stravinsky, Henze, et al. Do you have access to enough...

That is a beautiful bass! I attended the week-long masterclasses Gary did. at Hartt School in the mid-80s and I remember that bass sitting in his music room with his other basses. What blew me away was the length of decay on an open string. Gary pulled the D string and let it ring - it lasted...

I’ve got a Bobelock case and I really like it. Very solidly built and though I won’t drive my car over it, I feel the bows are protected as well as can be expected. Got it from String Emporium around $90.

Many years ago at an ISB Convention I was browsing basses at Robertson’s display and the guy there said I should give this one bass a try. He took me into a quieter room and I started playing it - OMG, the thing played itself. Truly one of the most amazing basses I ever tried. Then I looked at...

i suggest practicing with your bowing reverse of normal (‘up’ bows on downbeats, or just reverse of what you are regularly doing). Then, try accenting your ‘up’ bows and not accenting the ‘down’ bows. Also, when I studied with Klaus Trumpf he had me playing two-octave scales with a huge variety...

No, I haven't - but I do have friend who goes regularly

I was stationed in Germany with the USAFE Band, studying with Klaus Trumpf, and about 13 years into my 20-year career. At this point I was playing in the concert band under the direction of Major Craig Jessop and I think we were on tour in Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic and Slovakia)...

If I might offer my opinion after just now watching and listening to your Simandl etude and the Eccles: Not bad work on the Simandl & the Eccles. There may have been a comment or two about arm weight, or how I learned it from Gary Karr, just allowing the arm to drop freely without holding it...

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This has been a very interesting set of posts for me - as an adult student, but mostly as a teacher of young and older students. I started playing double bass when I was 25 (37 years ago) and had great, notable teachers. The material I was given was demanding, but their teaching was not. They...

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How are they with the bow? I’m interested, currently using Flexocore Deluxe and looking for a bigger, meatier sound.

Be a professional. Tell them that you are giving them a 30 or 60 day notice. You can’t afford to offer any more financial compensation but you will perform what they need until they find a replacement. Next time, when you join (or start) a band make sure there is some kind of contract so you...

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I started electric bass when I was 15 and was mostly self taught as far as technique goes. I began studying the upright bass when I was in my mid-20s and having lessons on that taught me how to approach the electric bass in a more intelligent way. I spent 20 years in the Air Force Band program...

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Reading through all the posts has been interesting. I’ve always felt, in my 30+ years of playing, that a good bass is one that has a nice, even tone throughout the length of the fingerboard and that the timbre of the four strings are similar with clarity in higher positions even on the A and E...

It might work in a pinch, but I probably fall back on security of playing and I don’t have that sense of security bowing these strings right now. I’m also fortunate that I have 3 nice basses to use so one is used for orchestra, one for jazz and one with solo strings. As I mentioned, I used...

I did a previous post a number of months ago about the bowing of Red Diamonds. I found that using a tighter bow, faster bow speed with a harder rosin worked pretty well. If you have problems bowing Spirocores, then you will have a worse time with these. I’ve got 35 years of classical bass...

I’ve had the Red Diamonds on and off my bass several times now from last December when I bought the set. I do many styles of playing and I have to say I have been very pleased with these strings. As I mentioned before I played a Messiah performance with them and after adjusting my bowing...

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As far as rosin goes - I like Kolstein All-Weather or Gaston Brohan Oak rosin from Gregorian Strings (kind of pricey, but lasts a long time). For etudes, and this depends on your level of abilities, I really like to use the Storch-Hrabe concert etudes. They offer so much that in a musical...

Considering that it is still under copyright that would be a real long shot! If they did agree to sell the parts I would think they would probably price them at over $500 for the set - not too cost effective for maybe one performance...

NeilG: You must have read my mind? The full score is a mess and I am working on editing that and submitting it to Schirmer. Hopefully if enough bassists find the solo enjoyable and wish to perform it with an orchestra then it will find its way off the shelf and into the concert halls. It’s a...

I am very pleased to announce that G Schirmer has finally published my edition of Menotti’s Concerto for Double Bass. The piano reduction and an edited solo part is now available here: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] It’s a wonderful piece that the music world has forgotten and it should be...

Anyone interested in a couple of reviews of the Gamut Red Diamond strings go to the thread titled Gamut Red Diamond. I posted a couple of reviews on my first impressions of using them in a performance of the Messiah tuned at A=415 and then some performances with choirs in a large cathedral and...

Update on last post: I used the same bass with the Red Diamond strings for two choral performances in a large cathedral and one performance in a small, very live hall. I was concerned that the bass would be heard, unamplified, over the choirs, especially in the cathedral. After the second...

Just had to give my initial impressions of the Red Diamond strings from Gamut. I live in Duluth so I went over to Dan’s shop and talked with him about my concerns from what I have read here. That was Monday and my intention was to put the strings on and play a Messiah sing along the next...

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You can find it here: http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-plastic-and-rubber-tubing/=j8vtpu You want a 1/2" Inner Diameter and then Wall thickness to what you desire - sounds like you would like a 1/16" thickness. Lemur sells precut tubes, but as you buy this by the foot, it is so much cheaper...

In case anybody is still interested - I had two cakes (one medium and one soft) of Brohan's Oak Rosin that had really gotten all messed up by warm weather, etc. I broke them up and took a clean, empty cat food can and put the pieces of rosin in there, then put the can in a small saucepan with a...

Mittenwald is a city south of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. They have a Violin making school there and this is the home of Gunther Krahmer-Poellmann (famous bass maker). I have a bass from the Bavarian region and it could be considered a "shop" bass. Horst Gruenert looked at it and told me that a few...