I'm an incoming freshman at a University, been playing at a serious level for about a year now. I've tackled most of Simandl 1, and some of Two. I played the Telemann sonata for my audition, and did pretty well. However, my sightreading just wasn't up to par, so I'm not in the orchestra this semester unfortunately. I've almost fell into a rut, just playing long tone scales for hours on end. Does anyone have any suggestions for some stuff I could use to build my chops? Doesn't really matter if it's an excerpt or solo rep, but anything would be welcome.
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Double Bass Intermediate Bass Rep
- Thread starter ljtravis95
- Start date
Try my Melodic Foundation Studies. It's set up so the left page are technical studies and the right hand page is the application of those techs to a melodic setting. Lemur and the Asodb.org both carry them.
Tom Gale
Let me make that clearer. You start with Study in a major key - let's say C followed by a study in the relative minor - in this case, A minor. Then comes a review étude that covers both keys. It ends with Db Major/Bb minor and studies covering both. Ten major keys and ten relative minors with combined technical and melodic studies and etudes.
Hope that makes it clearer.
Tom Gale
[email protected]
Hope that makes it clearer.
Tom Gale
[email protected]
Join the club. I'm part way through Simandl 1 and some of Vance 1. My sight-reading is also horrible, but I found a local community orchestra with a summer reading program. Basically, the conductor hands out the music for that week and everyone gets through it the best he can. I still miss a lot and play what I can, but it has been an eye-opener. In fact, the conductor mentioned that I could try to work with the orchestra during rehearsals and if I dropped out, at least I gained an appreciation of what I need to do to get to their level.
BTW, how are you practicing your scales? My instructor likes to integrate various techniques with my scale work. She wants me to work on dynamics; ie, getting louder as I ascend the scale and quieter as I descend. She also has me working on different areas of the bow as I do the scales and learning how much bow to use for each note. It's added another dimension to simply "playing notes".
I also have some Bach cello pieces at home that could provide some good exercises. PM me with your e-mail address and I'll shoot them out to you.
I was thinking about this recently - how do you get repertoire that is at the right level?
I don't play classical, but listen to a lot and sing in a choir. I noticed that when we sang with orchestras - some of the bass parts were very easy and I was thinking that even I could have played that.
But then in other pieces there were easy parts, but occasionally there would be some fiendishly fast and difficult-looking bowing, that I don't feel I could ever attempt. 
Has somebody "graded" orchestral works to outline the difficulty inherent in each?
I don't play classical, but listen to a lot and sing in a choir. I noticed that when we sang with orchestras - some of the bass parts were very easy and I was thinking that even I could have played that.
But then in other pieces there were easy parts, but occasionally there would be some fiendishly fast and difficult-looking bowing, that I don't feel I could ever attempt. Has somebody "graded" orchestral works to outline the difficulty inherent in each?
In my personal experience, I did not become a proficient sight reader until I first had spent a lot of time away from the instrument drilling rhythm patterns and variations, both clapping and singing, using a system (1 e & a*; there are others). Rhythm reading must become automatic.
While developing a solid rhythmic vocabulary I also wood-shedded scale and arpeggio reading (not rote) skills at very slow speeds (to check intonation of every note of every fingering variation) without regard to bowing or rhythm, then worked on a variety of bowings and articulations, like Sevcik or Reinschagen or Galamian, after I had the fingerings and intonation in control.
Then, the rhythmic, fingering, and bowing parts of the notation (as practiced seperately) became automatic and and I was (am) able to read and respond to the ever-changing musical information while sight reading (dynamics, articulations, bowings, repeats, key-signatures / meter changes, G.P.s, listen to and meshing with other instruments or sections, watch the conductor, listen to the solo instrument or soloist). Voila! Meta-consciousness!
Here is a rhythm book example from Alfred:
Invalid Link Removed
I used a wickedly difficult Hindemith sight-reading, sight-singer book in college.
While developing a solid rhythmic vocabulary I also wood-shedded scale and arpeggio reading (not rote) skills at very slow speeds (to check intonation of every note of every fingering variation) without regard to bowing or rhythm, then worked on a variety of bowings and articulations, like Sevcik or Reinschagen or Galamian, after I had the fingerings and intonation in control.
Then, the rhythmic, fingering, and bowing parts of the notation (as practiced seperately) became automatic and and I was (am) able to read and respond to the ever-changing musical information while sight reading (dynamics, articulations, bowings, repeats, key-signatures / meter changes, G.P.s, listen to and meshing with other instruments or sections, watch the conductor, listen to the solo instrument or soloist). Voila! Meta-consciousness!
Here is a rhythm book example from Alfred:
Invalid Link Removed
I used a wickedly difficult Hindemith sight-reading, sight-singer book in college.
