Sunday, October 05, 2008

Week 40 of year 2008 on the double bass

28 Sep 2008, Sun: The fingers remembered even after the break, yet again. Maybe I was more relaxed after a recharging break in Sydney, somehow despite having not practised on David Heyes' arrangement for the double bass of Pachelbel's Canon in D for quite a couple of months, and having a fairly long break away from dear husband (i.e. my own double bass, kept at my home), I actually managed playing through this work with just a couple of major glitches.

It was a recharging practice. Somehow, Pachelbel's Canon in D has a soothing effect on me most of the time when I practised it. The aim for the practice was to work some of the more difficult parts slowly so as to help the fingers remember what they should do when I were to play fast. I was on a practice high actually. However, knowing my physical limits for the day, I stopped practising after half-an-hour. My body was feeling physical exhausted having walked from Dhoby Ghaut area to Chinatown, and back, for close to 6 hours. I deserve to be nice to myself.

1 Oct 2008, Wed: It's a public holiday and I was able to have a day free from work. I used quite a bit of time to continue working on David Heyes' arrangement for the double bass of Pachelbel's Canon in D. As the focus of the practice was to achieve a sound sense of rhythmic, I used the metronome that I had purchased a month ago to help me tap the tempo. The metronome came useful as it gives out loud tapping sounds. I could sense my rhythm was more steady by the end of the practice session.

2 Oct 2008, Thu: There was no double bass lesson for the day. I worked on selected passages from Dragonetti's Concerto in A with the help of the metronome. Yes, achieving a secured sense of rhythm was one of the key goals. Similarly, I aimed for clearer articulation of the sounds. I enjoy the sensations of working out my fingers.

4 Oct 2008, Sat: I continued to practise a selected passages from Dragonetti's Concerto in A so as to improve the quality of the articulation, and to help the fingers familiarise themselves with the passage.

It's nice to be back practising.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey peiyun..siao geng here :) I really love cannon in D.. why don't you record a version and then post it here on your blog? or send it to me :)

oceanskies79 said...

Siao Geng, I have taken note of your request. The thing is that my rendition needs refinement, and Canon in D doesn't sound like Canon in D if there's only one player playing it. When the time is right, then I shall share it with you, but it's likely a version with one voice only, ok?