Week 46 of year 2007 on the double bass

11 Nov 2007, Sun: It feels good to be back practising on the double bass. I started out with practising scales, followed by one study. I decided to practise just sight-reading rhythms and work on playing the given rhythms as accurately as possible.

Practice feels more complete when I worked on the first movement of Dittersdorf's Concerto in E and the first movement of Eccles' Sonata in g minor.

13 Nov 2007, Tue: I decided where possible, I shall start with practising scales or studies. I started with practising a study from Michael Moore's Melodic Playing in the Thumb Position. Afterwhich, I practised the first and second movement of Eccles' Sonata in g minor and the first movement of Dittersdorf's Concerto in E. I need to fine tune the intonation and my sense of rhythm.

14 Nov 2007, Wed: The night's practice started with practising arpeggios of the G major scale. Afterwhich, I played selected passages from various works largely from memory.

15 Nov 2007, Thu: It is getting more exciting to study the first movement of Dittersdorf's Concerto in E. I spent most of the double bass lesson working on this. A lot of work is required on both the right and the left hands. It was certainly much easier to play on my tutor's double bass that he had put in the music school because of its set-up, and I could not help but wish for a better double bass.

In addition, I would need to continue to develop a way to play the first movement of Eccles' Sonata in g minor with legato bowings, while keeping the long lines.

My tutor thinks that I should re-sit for the DipABRSM as soon as possible (the earliest being next May), and I have my reservations even though I do hope to move to LRSM.

17 Nov 2007, Sat: The vibrations from the double bass seem to have positive effects on me physically. I felt my nerves being calmed for the moments that I was playing. I practised the first and second movements of Marcello's Sonata in G major, and then played the first movement of Eccles' Sonata in g minor from memory.

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I am keeping to the target of practising on at least four of the days of each week, and hoping that one day I would get closer to better playing and a better double bass.