Sunday, October 19, 2008

Week 42 of year 2008 on the double bass

12 Oct 2008, Sun: I practised selected passages from the first movement of Dragonetti's Concerto in A major, with the metronome ticking away. The goal of the practice was to achieve more steady tempo and rhythm, and to achieve a clear articulation. I wonder why, the simple act of working out my fingers, hands and arms over a practice session seemed to have a rejuvenating effect on my mind and body. Maybe music liberates?

13 Oct 2008, Mon: I spent time practising the first and second movements of Marcello's Sonata in G major. The focus was to achieve greater fluency in playing for the right-hand, and to achieve better pitching. How could I make music that touch people's heart?

15 Oct 2008, Wed: There was no orchestra rehearsal and sectional. Anyway, I practised the third and fourth movement of Marcello's Sonata in G major. I need to work on improving the rhythm, tempo and pitching.

Thereafter, I practised almost the entire first movement of Dragonetti'sConcerto in A major, just to help the fingers know where they should be placed.

16 Oct 2008, Thu: It was double bass lesson with MJ. I worked on the entire Marcello's Sonata in G major. It had been quite a number of months ever since I had worked on this sonata during double bass lesson with MJ. Definitely, I need to work on securing a good sense of rhythm. On the positive side, my rendition of this sonata has improved. I was able to play with greater confidence and control. That certainly brought a smile on my face after lesson.

MJ suggested that I secure a good intonation by marking the various notes on my double bass, and practise slowly to secure the intonation. These compensatory steps would be helpful to folks like me who has a pretty average double bass which is pretty demanding for the left-hand to work-out on.

I need to remember to prepare some works to practise sight-reading for all future double bass lesson. You can see that I am now starting to prepare to resit for the DipABRSM in the near future.

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