Week 16 of year 2007 on the double bass

15 Apr 2007, Sun: It is Sunday, and I spent some part of the day practising. I practised part of Pachelbel's Canon transcribed to G major, scored for a double bass quartet, arranged by David Heyes. Subsequently, I also practised part of Faure's Sicilienne and a bit of Berkeley's Introduction and Allegro.

I felt tempted to play Capuzzi's Concerto in D major, so I went with the flow and practised it too.

To be frank, I needed to work on Berkeley's Introduction and Allegro more than anything else, but I have no inclination to play it today.

17 Apr 2007, Tue: After a long day at work, I was pleased to find myself still having the motivations to practise on the double bass. I shall be thankful for the motivations.

About 25 minutes was spent just practising the first page of Berkeley's Introduction and Allegro. I was working on getting the fingerings and the rhythms correct. It went quite good.

Afterwhich, about 5 to 10 minutes was spent playing Capuzzi's Concerto in D major for the sake of fun. I just felt like playing the first movement of it somehow.

More practising to catch up, and I shall continue to work on it.

18 Apr 2007, Wed: I felt tired in the night, although the work-day was shorter than that of 17 Apr 2007. Slightly more than 30 minutes was spent practising.

I practised just a particular 16 bars from Pachelbel's Canon transcribed to G major, scored for a double bass quartet, arranged by David Heyes. Afterwhich, time was spent practising the first, second and fourth movement of Marcello's Sonata in G major.

I miss orchestra rehearsal. Wednesdays feel different without it.

19 Apr 2007, Thu: It's double bass lesson day today!

I requested to start the lesson with the third movement of Marcello's Sonata in G major. Some time was spent to work on playing the vibrato. MJ also worked out with me on the phrasing for the third movement. He reminded me that for this work, if there should be any change in the dynamics, it should not be too sudden. Gradual change in dynamics is preferred.

I went on to work on the fourth and the second movement of Marcello's Sonata in G major. My homework for the week is to practise the second movement such that my fingers are generally kept close to the fingerboard (no "flying fingers") when I play the sixteenth-notes passages.

Afterwhich, I was to work on Keyper's Romance and Rondo. I was asked to practise it at a slower tempo and to make sure that I keep strictly to time. Clarity seems very important for this work.

I wish I could have more time to practise!

21 Apr, Sat: Before I left home in the late morning, I set aside time to practise D major scales and B minor (melodic and harmonic) scales on the double bass. I figure that it is necessary to devote some time to practise scales so I did that today.

Afterwhich, I spent a couple of minutes working out a few passages from Berkeley's Introduction and Allegro. More work on this will be needed.

Another week of achieving my set targets. Then again, to be honest, I would like to have more time to practise. I have done my best nevertheless. It has been a challenge to find time to practise when one has a full-time non-music job and several other committments to juggle with.