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Double Bass College Audition Critique

#2
Hey Steve,
You play really well. I'm editing what I wrote earlier looking at the Bott 2 music. You are rushing the half notes that are tied to the next triplet and also the quarter notes tied to triplets. If you play this with a pianist (or an orchestra) you'll see how necessary it is to hold them to their full value. This is relatively easy stuff to fix. Again, you play beautifully.
 
#3
Well, you shouldn't have any problem getting in. I think I was only playing open strings at that age.

The pros: Everything is really in tune. Your teacher has taught you well - very good hand positions, transitions over the break, nice sounding vibrato and so on.

The Mozart is very good; especially the eighth and 2 sixteenths passages. Nice steady tempos.

The cons:
Bottesini: I've see on the other videos on Youtube you have performed this many times. The video from 2006 is the best one. The only thing that will improve this is to listen to lots of opera; esp. tenor arias by famous Italien composers. Essentially, no two triplets should be the same. There is lots of room for rubato. This will liven up your performance. Also, listen for their use of vibrato, it varies from note to note.

Brahms: Very in tune, very in time; but it is not death march enough. It needs to sound like you've been teleported into the middle of a medival battlefield. Just because there is no crescendo or decrescendo marks doesn't mean you can't put in some phrasing. It sounds like you don't know what else is happening in the orchestra.

Heldenleben: Congrats on hitting the high-C's. I hate to tell you this, but the rhythms are completely wrong. I can tell you haven't listened to a recording of this. The rising triplet motif happens a million times. The auditioners are listening for the accuracy of the triplets (esp. after the long notes), the sixteenth notes, and the dotted eighth & sixteenth rhythms. You can solve this by subdividing the next rhythm in your head while holding the long note just before the passage. Also, use a metronome, play just one note and play the various rhythms. This is not the place for rubato.
 
#4
bejoyous said:
Heldenleben: Congrats on hitting the high-C's. I hate to tell you this, but the rhythms are completely wrong. I can tell you haven't listened to a recording of this. The rising triplet motif happens a million times. The auditioners are listening for the accuracy of the triplets (esp. after the long notes), the sixteenth notes, and the dotted eighth & sixteenth rhythms. You can solve this by subdividing the next rhythm in your head while holding the long note just before the passage. Also, use a metronome, play just one note and play the various rhythms. This is not the place for rubato.
Click to expand...

I think you are confused. He is not playing rehearsal 9. He's playing somewhere around rehearsal 60, I think. I didn't hear anything wrong with the rhythm, except maybe a little rushing of long notes preceding shorter notes.
 

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