Next Level Bassist Musicality Issue

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Koussevitzky Concerto. I am always boggled when I have to say that in the first place, since I can’t remember NOT making music with it. I’m sure Mr. Loew said the same thing to me, which is why I remember the beautiful story he told me to conjure up an image so that I WOULD play it musically. He helped me realize the piece is a sad, angst filled love song that drives the melodies. This is another tool I try to teach my students - if the music inspires them to imagine a story “I find that singing a phrase can often help with the fluctuation of time that can be effective in creating a musical line.ˮ or an image, the musical point will be more clear. For lack of a better phrase, “Paint me a picture.” In my analytical view, there are a few big technical tools one can use to help create the above mentioned tension and pictures. Dynamics, the variance of tone, vibrato, and the fluctuation of time are a few techniques that we can use to help create a sense of music within a piece. Dynamics are a pretty cut and dry tool to use. Luckily, many composers and editors give us the general direction for these. For example, a change in dynamic can signal increasing or decreasing tension or the beginning of a new phrase. That is when those above mentioned diagrams can become particularly useful. Mapping out exactly what you as the musician are hoping to achieve as you change the “volume” level can be extremely helpful. The next and most important step is to find out if what you are doing is audible to the listener. This can be done most efficiently by recording yourself and finding out if what you are doing can be heard. In my experience, as the player you must always be more dramatic and exaggerated than you think with dynamics for them to be evident to the listener. Varying the tone you produce on the instrument can be quite helpful in creating a sense of musicality as well, and is often done in conjunction with dynamics. When I think about the point when the first movement of the Eccles Sonata goes from the minor into the major key, I think about warming up my tone. This is a great metaphor, playing something “warm” or “cold,” but what does it mean? In that case, when I go from minor to major, or cooler to warmer, not only does my dynamic increase to start the phrase, but I also am trying to use more bow, and more bow hair to create a fuller, rounder sound. In addition, it is important to think about playing the same dynamic with contrasting tones. You can play a passage forte in a myriad of ways. To play an aggressive forte sound, the player can create a harsher sound by playing closer to the bridge. To play a big, hearty Brahms passage, the player would think about using more bow and not playing quite as close to the bridge in order to find that sweet spot where the instrument sings. For the opening phrases of Mozart’s 35th Symphony, we want to create a forte sound that is strong, but somehow lighter than Brahms, most likely by playing with a bit less hair and slightly closer to the fingerboard. The same discussion can be had for all the different ways to play softly, with varying amounts of hair and bow speed. Vibrato is a great asset to us as musicians. I like to tell my students that using vibrato is like using glitter. You can use a little or a lot, in as many ways and colors are imaginable. Slow or fast, wide or narrow. Creeping in, or immediate. None or very intense. I truly started listening to vibrato when I was told mine sounded “odd.” I hadn’t given it much thought until that point. I thought bass vibrato was, well, bass vibrato. I try not to let my students fall into that hole, as well as not letting the cumbersome size of our instruments get in the way of our music. I often try to think of a singer or wind player playing the same melodic line, to make sure that a technical glitch on the bass isn’t getting in the way of my vibrato. For instance, if a note occurs most easily as a harmonic, that doesn’t mean the vibrato should stop or sound different when we land on it. In addition, shifting can also create problems for vibrato. It is important to remember that shifting and vibrato are two different motions and we can do them independently, and that shifting doesn’t require the vibrato to stop. Most importantly, I try to listen to other string players and how they use their vibrato to “decorate” their musical lines. When practicing the Vanhal Concerto, I think of listening to my friend play Mozart violin concerti. When practicing the Koussevitzky, I think of another playing the Elgar Cello Concerto. It is truly by listening to others play that I have learned how to enhance my vibrato to use the “glitter” appropriately. I find that singing a phrase can often help with the fluctuation of time that can be effective in creating a musical line. It was a friend of mine who plays the french horn who unknowingly taught me this technique through very thin practice room walls. If you can sing and conduct it, probably the acceleration or ritard you are trying to make will sound more organic. In the right context, it is appropriate for the musical line to push or pull, but most often we want to do that in a way that pleases the listener, rather than jars them. The Recitative excerpt from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is an excellent example of this. We all know that there are more ways than we can count to interpret this excerpt. When playing it in an audition, it is most important to play this excerpt musically, in a way that will please rather than raise eyebrows. The idea is that if you can conduct and sing this excerpt, it is more likely that the conductor and other musicians on the committee will be able to imagine doing the same while you are playing. It is the thrill of making music with my friends and colleagues that I find most exhilarating. We are bass players because we love to play with the whole orchestra and collaborate with our friends. So, listen to them and try to break down what it is they did that sent shivers down your back, and hopefully you will soon be doing the same. ■ 10 NOV/DEC 2013 NEXT LEVEL BASSIST
PHOTOGRAPHY: JEFF GRASS ORCHESTRAL INSTITUTE May 30 – June 28, 2014 | For college and young professional musicians (ages 18–30) All participants receive a fellowship covering tuition, housing, and meals. 2014 REPERTOIRE HIGHLIGHTS Bartok | Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin Britten | Sinfonia da Requiem Brubeck | Travels in Time for Three Mahler | Symphony No. 2 Nielsen | Symphony No. 4 Shostakovich | Symphony No. 10 Wagner | The Ring Without Words COnduCTORS Mei-Ann Chen Daniel Hege Franz Anton Krager Carlos Spierer GuEST ARTISTS Cynthia Clayton, soprano Melanie Sonnenberg, mezzo-soprano Participant Winner, Mitchell Young Artist Competition Time for Three Houston Symphony Chorus FACuLTy Violin Emanuel Borok Andrzej Grabiec Frank Huang Lucie Robert Leon Spierer* Kirsten Yon Jun Zuo Viola Wayne Brooks Helen Callus Susan Dubois SEASON Cello Norman Fischer Brinton Smith * Week 2 guest concertmaster Double Bass Paul Ellison Eric Larson Dennis Whittaker Flute Leone Buyse Aralee Dorough Oboe Robert Atherholt Anne Leek Clarinet Randall Griffin Michael Webster Bassoon Richard Beene Elise Wagner Horn Robert Johnson William VerMeulen Trumpet Mark Hughes Jim Vassallo Trombone Allen Barnhill Tuba David Kirk Harp Paula Page Percussion Ted Atkatz Matthew Strauss All programs, faculty and guests are subject to change. www.tmf.uh.edu UH is an EEO/AA institution Join today’s rising stars at the TMF 2014 Orchestral Institute NOV/DEC 2013 NEXT LEVEL BASSIST 11
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