Week 30 of year 2007 on the double bass

22 Jul 2007, Sun: A Sunday is well-spent practising with a good friend. Before meeting my friend, J, to practise, I spent some time in the morning working on Marcello's Sonata in G major.

When I met up with dear J, we rehearsed Keyper's Romance and Rondo. J said that I can just play the Romance movement with lots of feelings put in, and I don't necessary have to imagine myself loving someone. Keyper's Romance and Rondo is a very interesting piece of composition. I am quite delighted to realise that Keyper, a double bassist, has done a very commendable job in writing this work. The harmonies are very interesting. I've enjoyed myself playing it.

Afterwhich, we went through Marcello's Sonata in G major. It was quite physically demanding to play two pieces, one after another. I wondered if I should sit on a high stool to play for the exams.

The last piece that we worked on was Berkeley's Introduction and Allegro. I felt very grateful to have J as an accompanist. I can sense that she was listening and doing her best to follow me. It was quite a challenge to rehearse Berkeley's Introduction and Allegro, yet it was rewarding too. It created a necessary opportunity for my ears to listen out for what the piano part was playing. There are some interesting harmonies.

Many thanks to J.

23 Jul 2007, Mon: Feeling that I needed a change, I took time to read Dragonetti's Solo in e minor. I could still kind of manage playing the first three pages from the double bass parts but anything beyond that was a challenge. I wonder if it ws due to unfamiliarity, lack of skills or merely that my eyes were too tired from the night?

25 Jul 2007, Wed: The initial plan for the day was to have sectional to rehearse double bass ensemble music.



As the rest of my section-mates were not available for sectional, I had the privilege to be have individual lesson with Mr GM.

I have a liking for Rachmaninov's Vocalise, so time was spent working on it. I learnt that it helps by counting this work in eight. Mr GM also guided me on how to do a vibrato rhythmically. On my side, I need to practise the vibrato technique.

After lesson, in hope to practise for sight-reading, I kind of sight-read Capuzzi's the 1st and 3rd movement of Concerto in D major. In addition, I sight-read 4th movement of Vivaldi's Sonata no. 1 in Bn (RV 47). I did these sight-reading before the start of the orchestra rehearsal, during the rehearsal-break, and after the reheasal. A rewarding evening where sight-reading is concern.

For orchestra rehearsal, Mr L. conducted for the week. We rehearsed the third and fourth Mahler's First Symphony. Maybe I shall not attempt to make the double bass be heard? I felt had rather odd sounding fairly loud when no one else was playing.

26 Jul 2007, Thu: It's double bass lesson day. I worked on Faure's Sicilienne and the rendition did not sound as great. Perhaps my mind was not focused. My homework would be to practise Faure's Sicilienne such that I can play from memory.

I also practised Berkeley's Introduction and Allegro. It was a challenge to remember the rhythm.

28 Jul 2007, Sat: I played selected sections from the first and the third movements of Capuzzi's Concerto in D major. In addition, I played the fourth movement from Marcello's Sonata in G major and selected passages from the first movement of Keyper's Romance and Rondo. My double bass has been sounding muted of late, I wonder if it is an indicator that it is time to change the strings?

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Results of the week: I've managed to reach the target.