Week 50 of year 2007 on the double bass

9 Dec 2007, Sun: I practised the 2nd and 4th movements of Marcello's Sonata in G major to get a more focused intonation and articulation.

11 Dec 2007, Tue: I was practising on the double bass to sight-read several double bass ensemble works. More work needs to be done on sight-reading.

12 Dec 2007, Wed: I took leave from work to attend double bass trio rehearsals. We rehearsed Tony Osborne's Blues-Style. Afterwhich, we tried our hands on Pachelbel's Canon in D major written for the double bass ensemble, with the harp player helping us to play the ground bass. In the afternoon, the trio attended the quartet master-class by Mr Foo. He gave us tips on how to improve our rendition of Tony Osborne's Blues-Style.

In the evening, it was orchestra rehearsal. It has been several weeks since the previous rehearsals. We rehearsed "Infernal dance of King Kashchei" from Stravinsky's Firebird and the 4th movement of Mahler's First Symphony. I felt demoralised that I had yet to get the feel of the off-beat rhythm to play it accurately.

Anyway, at the end of the rehearsal, our conductor suggested that the orchestra plays Beethoven's Fifth Symphony instead of Mahler's First Symphony for the upcoming concert. That looked like more challenging parts for the double bass section. Hopefully our section has enough time to learn and play Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

13 Dec 2007, Thu: It's double bass lesson day. MJ is back from his overseas trip. For the lesson, MJ got me to practise doing the shift from the first position to the fourth position, and then back. It was good practice because I realised my shifting improved thereafter.

In addition, I worked on Dittersdorf's Concerto in E major. He shared that this work is rather technical in nature, and I should aim to control every single note.

15 Dec 2007, Fri: I practise shifting from the first position to the fourth and then back.

Afterwhich, the remaining of the time was spent practising Pachelbel's Canon in D major written for the double bass ensemble. The focus was to learn to do the shifts from one position to another with accuracy.