Double Bass Easy Piano/Bass Duets

[Stev187]

Hello DB peeps:

I just started bass lessons again, and my young kids are in their 2nd year of piano. I wonder if you know of any easy piano/bass duets; something that would be accessible for me and one or both of the kids?

Poking around online I found "Four Cat-Like Moods" by Sy Brandon. Anyone have their students play this? Any better ideas?

Might be fun to learn along with the kids and give them practice playing with another instrument. I'm open to suggestions.

--Steve

 

[Stev187]

I'm going to bump this on the theory that somebody here has to know...

I'm looking for DB/piano duets that would be in the very easy range; you know, the kind of "first pieces" you would give your students. Surely some people here have assigned or played such pieces.

Any ideas? I also saw these Invalid Link Removed pieces. Again, the idea is that my kids (who are going into their 3rd year of piano) might be able to work on a piece with dad.

Any input would be great. Thanks.

--Steve

 

[JeffBTZ]

I'm not sure how difficult "very easy" is, but I know one of my favorite duets right now, vocalise, is done by bass and piano at times.

I'm sure if you rooted around on youtube, you could find something that would fit. It wouldn't be a very efficient search though. I'm sure someone on here with more experience than I has done duets that will chime in.

Additionally, I'm not sure if your kids are into video games, but some of them frankly have really cool theme songs that they might be interested in.

 

[Stev187]

I'm not sure how difficult "very easy" is...

Thanks, Jeff. By very easy, I meant something with piano parts in the grades 1-3 range (easier DB parts for me wouldn't hurt, either). This is what I found on Invalid Link Removed:

1. Beginner (Complete beginner, no previous musical knowledge)
2. Easy (Simplified arrangements; Grade 1-3)
3. Intermediate (Slightly simplified arrangements; Grade 4-6)
4. Intermediate / Advanced (Accurate transcriptions of most rock/pop titles; Grade 6-8)
5. Advanced (Accurate transcriptions of more complex pieces; Grade 8+)

The score for the Link Removed piece was only $3.95, so I just ordered it directly from Brandon. Worth playing around with, and I love the idea of paying the composer directly. I'll post here if we start working on it. Part I (the first cat-like mood) looks like the piano part might be just in line with my daughter's skill level.

But if others have new ideas, please chime in.

Thanks,

--Steve

P.S. The video game theme idea is cool.

 

[JeffBTZ]

Let us know how it goes. I would check that song out, but I'm leaving for work as we speak. Best of luck.

 

[tstone]

If the kids' piano pieces have a left hand part with mostly single notes, you could just play that part on the bass an octave or two lower than written.

I've played some of the pieces from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach that way, and they sounded very nice. Of course, Bach's bass lines are usually gorgeous, even on the simplest material.

 

[Stev187]

I've played some of the pieces from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach that way, and they sounded very nice. Of course, Bach's bass lines are usually gorgeous, even on the simplest material.

+1,000. I just adore the Notebook for AMB. I have a facsimile copy of it (in her handwriting) and I even published an article about it in The American Organist. Bach's 2nd wife was an amazing person, and there's even some evidence in the Notebook that they gave music lessons to a developmentally-delayed, perhaps autistic, son. I've marveled at Bach's bass parts for many years. Anna Magdalena served as a copyist for Bach through their marriage, and she was actually a working musician when they married--she was getting paid more as a vocalist than her brothers who played instruments.

One more note: the two most famous pieces from that Notebook (apart from the drafts of the French Suites that appear in there) are not by Bach at all. The famous Minuets in G Maj and G min are actually by Christian Petzold. It was very common to copy pieces into notebooks without attribution back then. After all, this was a family music book, not intended for publication.

Okay, I am done. I just love Bach and that wonderful Notebook.

--Steve

P.S. IMHO, the most charming recording of the pieces in the Notebook was done by Igor Kipnis on harpsichord. Okay, now I am really done.