Week 7 of year 2008 on the double bass

10 Feb 2008, Sun: Orchestra rehearsal was held in the afternoon. I was trying not to be too discouraged by the challenges that I had met in playing the off-beat rhythms. I could play them at slower pace, but when the tempo gets too fast, I find it challenging to get the rhythms right. Is self-confidence what I need? Or more so, the technique to play such rhythms at fast speed?

In the night, in my attempts to find an avenue to release the emotions within, I played Rachnaninov's Vocalise.

11 Feb 2008, Mon: I played Rachnaninov's Vocalise. My right-hand technique and vibrato has improved quite a bit, but something seems missing from my rendition.

After which, I practised some passages from Dittersdorf's Concerto in E major. Probably, I needed an avenue to express an urge to scream and cry, and playing the first movement from Dittersdorf's Concerto in E major was not simply the right piece of music to do so. As such, I felt myself feeling rather disoriented after playing the concerto. Anyway, I did not go back to playing Rachnaninov's Vocalise for I figured that I needed a break.

13 Feb 2008, Wed: For the orchestra rehearsal, the orchestra rehearsed almost all the programme to be played for the upcoming concert held on 1 Mar 2008. I felt I was losing my concentration towards the end of the rehearsal.

14 Feb 2008, Thu: Much of the earlier part of the double bass lesson focused on sight-reading. I still need more work in sight-reading.

16 Feb 2008, Sat: I practised certain passages from the encore piece that the orchestra would be playing for the upcoming concert. The triplet rhythms can get pretty challenging for me.