Everyone's got one. Here's mine from this morning. It might be different tomorrow though.
Elegy in D
Same drill, comments, tips, criticism, etc.
FC
Elegy in D
Same drill, comments, tips, criticism, etc.
FC
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Double Bass Bottesini Elegy
- Thread starter fergus currie
- Start date
Well done! A very good well thought out performance. Intonation, articulation, phrasing and style were all very good. I would question your bow hold and the effect it has on the overall use of the bow arm, especially if you were playing rapid passages. I do need to watch more of your videos taken from other angles to see if this is your usual hold however it might be helping you achieve your tone color by not using much arm weight. Your hold turns the hand away from the index finger and supports the bow with the heel of your hand? This would rule out using much elbow flexing in the bow stroke because to do so would lift the bow away from the strings during up bows and cause you to bow more from the shoulder? Turning the bow hold in on the stick a few degrees by rotating the elbow up and out slightly would align the elbow (a hinge joint) better with the bow direction and permit a nicer mix of arm movements that are independent from arm weight.
If you stand in front of a bench or table and simulate bowing by running your fingertips along the straight edge with your hand turning in slightly you will see a lovely mix of flowing upper and lower arm movements as your elbow bends and straightens.
Having said all this I would still like to offer my congratulations for a very musically satisfying performance.
DP
If you stand in front of a bench or table and simulate bowing by running your fingertips along the straight edge with your hand turning in slightly you will see a lovely mix of flowing upper and lower arm movements as your elbow bends and straightens.
Having said all this I would still like to offer my congratulations for a very musically satisfying performance.
DP
Enjoyed it. Your vibrato very nice.
Were you playing with a midi track? I noticed it did not like rubato phrases. That must be pretty challenging in itself.
Were you playing with a midi track? I noticed it did not like rubato phrases. That must be pretty challenging in itself.
Thanks David for those pointers on the bow hold. I have worked hard to get my pinky down on the bow and the camera angle is a bit misleading. I will work on keeping the wrist flexible.
Yes, that's a plastic midi piano with no rubato at all. One step up from a metronome...
Cheers
FC
Yes, that's a plastic midi piano with no rubato at all. One step up from a metronome...
Cheers
FC
Beautiful!
I'm far from playing at that level so there is nothing I can critize (I don't even play with a french bow), just wanted to say congrats.
On the midi tracks: I also use them and they are really a great tool to improve intonation, but as SplitNick mentioned, the rubato phrases are hard and I need to stop using the midi a few days ahead when I'm about to practice with a real piano player to get rid of the 'machine mode'.
once again, great job. Thanks for sharing.
I'm far from playing at that level so there is nothing I can critize (I don't even play with a french bow), just wanted to say congrats.
On the midi tracks: I also use them and they are really a great tool to improve intonation, but as SplitNick mentioned, the rubato phrases are hard and I need to stop using the midi a few days ahead when I'm about to practice with a real piano player to get rid of the 'machine mode'.
once again, great job. Thanks for sharing.
I assume that you don't use the same bow hold when playing something fast and forte, or?
Have a look at the Allegretto capriccio I posted.
FC
This is Fantastic, I love tone of your bass, and the vibrato is very good. Your shifting is very clean as well.
Elegy in G by Bottesini - YouTube Anyone mind doing the same for me? sorry no video of actually playing, it was recorded in hall. one note for my performance, they were having trouble with the heating so it was like 90 degrees F and it couldn't be adjusted. thanks
Elegy in G by Bottesini - YouTube Anyone mind doing the same for me? sorry no video of actually playing, it was recorded in hall. one note for my performance, they were having trouble with the heating so it was like 90 degrees F and it couldn't be adjusted. thanks
Very nice, Fergus. I'm going to mark where you went up the octave; I like it. I've always played it the way it's printed in the "pink book". Keep those videos coming...
the pink book takes some stuff down the octave from the original (though people mess with the octaves of bottesini stuff all the time) I have a really good Riccordi edition that has the octaves in the "right" places. There's a few other editions that are pretty good too. maybe the Yorke? Basically any time an edition goes below a low A you know it's been messed with, because Bottesini had a 3 string.
eerbrev
p.s. fun fact, my former teacher had a brown version of the "pink book". it was pretty old.
I bought my pink book to replace the original brown book I had as an undergrad in the early 70s. I still have my late-60s Simandls, with the German text.
I play this piece for memory now for about 30 years and I seem to remember that the Ricordi edition advises harmonics on the high GF#GE passage. I play this on the string with the high e pulled (stopped in mid air asit were) on the G string.
As for octaves up and down, I don't think there is a ny reason to not play it all were I do. I don't know which 'pink book' we're talking about; may be some american colection of solo pieces?
I have a habit of lending scores and sheet music to students freinds and collegues, so I loose a lot of stuff. The Elegy is also in the Yorke edition as an itroduction to the Tatantella (a bit rare) and there are some od discrepencies like the second last bar having extra notes in it (I don't know how original they are or if they are the ideas of the late, great Rodney Slatford...)
In this video I do some odd bowings which I'm experimenting with. I have been trying to even out the differences in my up and down bows recently using this and the Melodie as working material.
FC
As for octaves up and down, I don't think there is a ny reason to not play it all were I do. I don't know which 'pink book' we're talking about; may be some american colection of solo pieces?
I have a habit of lending scores and sheet music to students freinds and collegues, so I loose a lot of stuff. The Elegy is also in the Yorke edition as an itroduction to the Tatantella (a bit rare) and there are some od discrepencies like the second last bar having extra notes in it (I don't know how original they are or if they are the ideas of the late, great Rodney Slatford...)
In this video I do some odd bowings which I'm experimenting with. I have been trying to even out the differences in my up and down bows recently using this and the Melodie as working material.
FC
i think your bow hold is fine. what you are doing is allowing you to really taper the ends of phrases, which i like. you need a real accompanist though!
Rinat in LSO?
He looks like he doesen't have any techniqe at all, and the he plays flawlessly. Always inspirign to watch such a 'natural' playstyle.
now that I have a low C, I think I'll play the last seven notes one octave lower, in the spirit of all this up-and-down-the-octave. I love to feel my teeth shake when I hit that low C.
Very nice!
If you really want to make the midi more realistic it's not too much trouble to import it into Sibelius or Finale and add rubato.
If you really want to make the midi more realistic it's not too much trouble to import it into Sibelius or Finale and add rubato.
I think you might be misinterpreting the transposition in the Ricordi edition. THe whole thing is written at actual[i/] pitch. I may be wrong but the talk of low C sets off alarm bells.
FC
Fergus, how do play the passage G,F#,G and then the (written) E harmonic (9 bars before the end)?
I play it like this:
G :harm on g string
F#: harm on d string
G :harm on g string
E: harm on d string
you seem to play it all on the G string with a sliding harmonic to the E. How do play this sliding harmonic E on the g string?
I play it like this:
G :harm on g string
F#: harm on d string
G :harm on g string
E: harm on d string
you seem to play it all on the G string with a sliding harmonic to the E. How do play this sliding harmonic E on the g string?
