Week Eight: double bass lesson

Continuing from my post Week Eight of 2007 on the double bass, I had practised slightly more than four days for week eight of 2007.

22 Feb 2007 was Thursday and I had double bass lesson with MJ. It started off with me having a blocked nose. To relieve the symptoms, I took at least two extra strong mint throughout the lesson.

I have finally registered for the DipABRSM exams earlier that afternoon. Please wish me good luck and excellent playing for my exams.

Back to the lesson. I started out with some warming-up exercises. That was followed up by me playing the entire Marcello's Sonata in G major. It was not my best rendition. I would like the third movement to be more fluid and sound darker in its tone. Quite a bit of time was spent on doing strings-crossing using wrist-action and minimising movement from other parts of the right arm. I spent the time thinking: figure "8".

After MJ was satisfied with Marcello's Sonata in G major, I played Keyper's Romance and Rondo until it was time for the next student to come in for his lesson. I figured that I have to practise Keyper's Romance and Rondo with a metronome as often as possible so as to keep time. Achieving a moderate tempo and keeping a regular pulse would be fairly important in playing works from the Classical period, I read.

I was also aiming to achieve a clean sound on the double bass so that Keyper's Romance and Rondo would sound just like it is a work from the Classical period. Well, achieving balance was the key, and I am still working on it.

There was no further practice for the rest of week eight. I needed an early rest on Saturday.