Amazing Bass! Amazing Place!
Double Bass Lessons
CLASSICAL DOUBLE BASS LESSONS: Through the weekly private lessons with Paul Erhard, additional lessons with the double bass studio Teaching Assistant, double bass performance classes and College performance ensembles, Guest Master Classes, mock orchestra auditions, double bass studio recitals, students develop a strong foundation in the performance skills necessary to succeed in careers as professional double bass players and teachers. These skills include:
1. Playing with physical ease and freedom of motion in both the left and right arms and hands. Students develop fast left hand fingering and shifting technique, and use a good bow hold that is based on understanding the natural shape of the hand and fingers (see photos below)
2. Producing a powerfully rich singing tone by using the natural weight of the arm (rather than pressure), and bowing from the back with a relaxed shoulder
3. Developing highly refined inner hearing skills for conceptualizing the music and playing in tune
4. Developing self confidence, self discipline, and the capacity to think clearly
5. Becoming a responsive and sensitive ensemble player in orchestra, chamber music, and jazz
6. Performing at a technical level competitive with students graduating from other leading music schools around the country
The ultimate goal of this comprehensive training program is achieving the highest level of musical excellence by developing the student’s fullest potential as a musician and a person.
PLAYING WITH PHYSICAL EASE AND FREEDOM OF MOTION: Bass playing should feel easy and comfortable. If the bass player is experiencing any prolonged pain in either arm, shoulder, hand, or the back or neck, it means that there is some sort of tension of some sort. Our bass students learn to play without physical strain by having good posture and consciously using the natural weight of the body. We want to fly around the bass with the greatest of ease, and in the process, produce that rich, deep, and resonant bass sound that we basists love. The Alexander Technique classes offered in the College of Music are a great resource to help students further understand and experience this natural way of playing the bass.
DEVELOPING A GREAT MUSICAL EAR: It is easy to listen to someone else play and hear whether notes are in or out of tune. It is quite a different story to hear our own intonation while we ourselves are playing. The capacity to listen to pitch with a high degree of refinement while performing is crucial for any musician aspiring to reach a high level. While so important, this component of performing is perhaps the most elusive to master. Through the study and performance of the music of India, Paul Erhard has developed innovative techniques that help his students play with much improved intonation. In the past, bass players who played somewhat in tune would be praised in the following manner: "You play very well in-tune for a bass player!" Nowadays, bass players can and must play with the same high level of intonation as other string players.
DEVELOPING SELF CONFIDENCE AND THE CAPACITY TO THINK CLEARLY: Central to the double bass program is helping students develop poise, self control and self confidence. Students learn to use to their advantage the adrenaline that comes when performing in front of an audience (concert or audition), which for many musicians means overcoming performance anxiety. Very important is developing the capacity to think clearly in pressure situations, rather than playing as though in a fog. Proper practice helps develop this capacity. Students learn to be able to play those tough passages on stage or in an audition as well in the comfort and privacy of the practice room. To help students achieve this high degree of consistency in their playing, Paul Erhard uses teaching and learning techniques developed from his experiences in Europe and India.
TOPICS COVERED IN LESSONS:
1. Scales and Arpeggios: for developing a keen awareness of tonal harmony and a highly refined ear for intonation. This means learning to hear the quality and function of each note within the scale, i.e. how each note relates to the tonic, and the inherent tension/energy of each note. Use of drones is central to our approach.
2. Etudes: to teach positions, develop facility with strokes, coordination of the left and right arm motion, strengthen awareness of tonality and playing in tune.
3. Vibrato exercises to develop relaxed arm motion and produce a beautiful singing tone.
4. Erhard technique mini-exercises designed to develop specific aspects of double bass technique: slow bow, left hand finger motion, finger replacement shifting, coordination between the motion of the bow arm and the left arm.
5. Solo literature. Over the 4 years of study, students learn the major double bass sonatas, solo Bach, concertos, virtuoso show pieces, and 20th Century works. Graduate students focus on these works and others. The weekly solo performance class gives students frequent opportunities to perform in front of their peers, and learn how to communicate musically with their piano accompanist.
6. Orchestral excerpts: Over 4 semesters, all of the standard double bass works are studied. The entire bass studio studies these excerpts (with bowings and fingerings) in the weekly double bass orchestra music studio class.
7. Chamber music includes bass duos, trios, and quartets.
Amazing Bass! Amazing Place!