Practice Mute

Earlier tonight, I practised the double bass parts for Mendelssohn's Fingals Cave.

Are there any double bassist out there who have scores for this? I have a feeling that my set of scores is incomplete. I only have pages one to five. Strangely, I cannot find the double bar-line, meant to denote the end of the music, on my set of scores. Could I have been missing page six?

Anyway, at least I have five pages to start with. Hopefully, I will get to see how the complete set of Fingals Cave would look like when the orchestra's librarian distributes a set of new scores to each and every player.

There are many challenging parts for the double bass in Fingals Cave. I thought to myself that it has been a good thing that my double bass did not have too bad a set-up, and it was able to allow me to play those challenging parts quite with ease. At least, I did not have too much problems with strings crossing and the playing of notes at the higher position.

Towards the end of the practice session, I decided to try out my practice mute. I had acquired it some time ago, but have to use it. The practice mute did help to muffle the sound of the double bass. For one moment, I had thought that my double bass had a blocked nose. It gave a very nasal sound when the practice mute was put on to it. But wait, double basses do not have noses, let alone blocked nose.

The practise mute did help reduce the volume of the double bass, and also minimise the vibrations that came from playing it. I suppose it would come especially handy if I were to practise the double bass during the wee hours. Here is an excuse to play late into the night.