Next Level Bassist Teaching and Inspiration

| TEACHING AND INSPIRATION | 

A VIEW 

FROM 

THE PIT 

LEIGH MESH 

FUNDAMENTALS 

OF A BASS 

PLAYER 

HARVIE S 

ORIGIN 

STORIES 

ALEX HANNA 

Philadelphia Orchestra 

DOUBLE 

BASS 

SECTION 

SPRING 2014

Contents 

Spring 2014 

Feature Story 

5 The fundamentals of a Bass Player 

HARVIE S 

9 Spotlight: Philadelphia Orchestra 

Double Bass Section 

10 Just One Dance 

RANAAN MEYER 

11 Origin Stories 

ALEX HANNA 

17 A View from the Pit 

LEIGH MESH 

Contributors 

Ranaan Meyer 

PUBLISHER / FOUNDER 

Brent Edmondson 

EDITOR / SALES 

Karen Han 

LAYOUT DESIGNER 

2 NOV/DEC SPRING 2014 2013 NEXT LEVEL BASSIST

Publisher’s Note 

Welcome to another issue of Next Level Bassist. We 

are covering two topics that every bass player in the 

entire world will deal with on one level or another, 

the idea of inspiration and the art of teaching. 

These two topics combine so well because in many 

ways the longest and most challenging phase of our 

musical lives is that of being a student. The greatest 

players never truly peak, because they devote their entire lives to the study and 

development of the craft. Finding the source of your inspiration can happen at 

any time, but for most people it happens under the guidance of a teacher. This 

close relationship can lead you to many of the most profound discoveries you 

will have in your life, and can set you on the path to success. 

There is no secret: success comes from hard work and most importantly, smart 

work. Every single musician past, present, and future will have to push himself 

or herself to extremes in order to achieve artistic satisfaction, to find the truths 

inside that make truly magical music. Where do we find the fuel to propel 

ourselves forward? How do we take it to the next level? I think that the answer 

to these questions is both incredibly individual, and strangely universal too. 

Ultimately, it all comes from the music. Transitioning from playing jazz 

piano, Harvie S felt the calling of the bass to make his fellow musicians sound 

better, and he taught himself to play from the examples of the greats that came 

before him. Leigh Mesh continues to draw on the beauty and power of the 

music he has been playing for 20 years with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. 

Alex Hanna points to the incredible support of family that allowed him 

to rise to the top of the orchestral world as principal bassist of the Chicago 

Symphony Orchestra! 

johnson 

string instrument 

VIOLINS, VIOLAS, CELLOS, BASSES & GUITARS 

As a student in Philadelphia, I learned so much from the Philadelphia Orchestra. 

For decades their bass section has set standards of interpretation, sound, and 

overall musicality. Besides being my hometown orchestra, I have performed 

in the bass section and in front of this incredible orchestra, and I am so excited 

to share with you all the wisdom and perspective of these great players. 

Finally, I am thrilled to mention the launching of a new journal, Next Level 

Cellist, which coincides with this journal for bass players. The duet I wrote, 

Just One Dance, is featured in both issues, and I hope it is only the tip of the 

iceberg when it comes to collaborating with the cello community. We as bass 

players have been lucky the last year to have this place to come together and 

learn, and I know the cello community will be just as enthusiastic and generous. 

Encourage your friends in the low string world to check it out. And don’t worry 

- we’ve still got the lowest notes here! 

RANAAN MEYER 

Publisher Next Level Journals 

www.johnsonstring.com 

THE BASS SHOP 

26 Fox Road 

Waltham, MA 02451 

800-359-9351 

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SPRING 2014 NEXT LEVEL BASSIST 

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Harvie S 

The Fundamentals of a Bass Player 

Harvie S is an 

award winning 

bassist, educator, 

composer, arranger, 

and producer. 

I 

have been teaching for a long time. I started teaching at the 

Manhattan School of Music in 1984, and I had previously taught 

extensively with a private studio and through workshops. I have 

improved as I’ve been teaching, and my teaching has improved as well. 

Quite truthfully, the process of teaching has taught me a great deal. 

It is a very difficult thing to teach the bass, and it’s taken a lot of 

thought and soul-searching to figure out how I could make myself 

a worthwhile source of information. 

I started on the piano, and didn’t play the bass until I was 18. 

Everything in my life was geared toward playing and performing. 

In fact, I had no aspirations to become a teacher. My true love is 

certainly getting out with other musicians and playing - I won’t say any 

differently! Teaching came as people who heard me performing started 

to ask me to teach them. I used to feel taken aback, and I wasn’t that 

excited about it. People would come over for lessons, and my teaching 

was very scattered - I think I helped in some ways, but not nearly as 

much as I can today. 

It was a wakeup call for me when students would ask questions that I 

had never considered before. My default answer at the start was “I just 

do it!” I never had a bass teacher, I taught myself and figured out what 

I needed. When a student would come at me with questions, I had to 

analyze and codify all the things I was doing and be able to verbalize 

them. Up to the point where I started to teach, I worked on things 

with little inward questioning. Once I started to figure out what I was 

doing, I think I started playing on a higher level. There a tremendous 

benefit to teaching, because the more I taught, the better I played and 

the better I taught. I found teaching to be naturally parallel to playing. 

The combination feeds off itself. One of the reasons for enjoying 

teaching is I feel I’ve learned more than I taught! Teaching is about 

making life a better place to be, and it makes me happy when I find it 

appearing in other parts of my life. 

Establishing a baseline for the bass line 

I approach teaching on many levels. The first thing I do is watch 

a student and analyze what they do - not only the notes they play, 

but their posture, their left and right hands, their technique. Beyond 

that, I analyze their bass lines and we can begin figuring out how their 

playing can help a band sound better. Knowing all of the rules, and 

knowing how to break those rules, makes you a great bass player. 

Honestly, I think being a great bass player is not as easy as some 

people like to say. It’s not about playing this or that scale, or approaching 

the root from a certain note - those things aren’t it. Are these 

things completely wrong? Of course not! This seems to me like saying 

all a great basketball player does is dribble and shoot - I don’t think 

that’s the case. 

To me, there’s a whole science of playing the bass, and it’s quite 

involved. Truthfully, I love it, I love talking about it, and I love helping 

people discover this. When I work with a young player and show 

them the things they need for those light-bulb moments, it’s enjoyable. 

I have a set of basic fundamentals that I teach to all my students, but 

I approach every person I work with as an individual. The bass differs 

from other instruments because we don’t simply think differently, 

but the bass and the person playing it make a unique combination 


5

physically. If you have someone who is 6’2 

and very thin, they will approach the bass 

very differently than someone who is 5’8 and 

more stocky. These are vital issues to address. 

We differ from people who play smaller 

instruments, such as the trumpet. In that case 

our relative size to the trumpet wouldn’t be 

quite as big an issue, as only our hands and 

lips would factor in, but we have to stand next 

to and hold the instrument. 

Teaching myself 

No one ever told me what to do. I’m originally 

a piano player, so I approached bass with some 

knowledge of style. I knew how to voice lead 

chords and things like that. When I started to 

play the bass, I really had to take another 

approach. Nobody had ever mentioned 

motion of root notes, so I started listening 

to records to find what other players did. I 

did what everyone does, I borrowed from 

the masters and put things together as best I 

could. I would end up in gigs and figure “I’ve 

got to make this work!” I certainly made a 

lot of mistakes, it was trial and error. People 

would say sometimes “Well ok, don’t do that 

again.” I’m persistent and I kept playing until 

I got it right. 

The same process has basically applied to my 

teaching journey. I think I did ok in the past, 

but to become a very effective teacher has 

taken a lot of thought. I’ve experimented 

and I’ve borrowed from other methods until 

I arrived at something that has a high success 

rate and broad applications. Most of my 

teaching is unteaching. Almost every student 

I get needs to be stripped of bad habits. I’m a 

real bug about being efficient with technique. 

I’m going to start this with a caveat - any 

discussion of fundamentals I could start in 

this article will not cover the topic or even 

come close to what you can achieve exploring 

it with a teacher over a long period of time. 

However, discussing fundamentals is a big 

part of my teaching, so I will give an overview 

of one small aspect. 

A fundamental under 

the microscope 

Here’s a question for you. What do you do 

with the bass the most? You hold it! 

That’s what you will spend the majority of 

your time doing with a bass. Playing it or 

not, you’re holding it! It stands to reason that 

it’s crucial to examine how you hold it! If a 

student comes to me and just asks me to 

show them some licks or solos I did on a 

certain record, I have to stop them and issue 

a disclaimer: I think that’s a waste of money 

and it won’t help you get any better. 

I heard an interview years ago with Ravi 

Shankar, and he talked about how they 

trained to play the sitar. They spend the first 

two years ear training and learning sitting 

positions for playing. They don’t play a single 

note in training for TWO YEARS! It was an 

absolute shock to me. You spend so much 

time learning all of the information you will 

need to play the instrument first, and then 

they can let you loose on it. Listen to some 

of these musicians, and there are some really 

amazing things happening! Imagine if we bass 

players had that kind of patience! Of course 

I don’t make my students do that, but I make 

sure my students train correctly right from 

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day one with me because it’s absolutely vital. Usually with a new 

student, I can determine that a certain posture is leading 20 years 

down the road to back problems, or intonation problems in a 

certain range, etc. I’m not a doctor, but I can certainly foresee when 

a particular approach will lead to pain and suffering down the line. 

I think it’s my job as a teacher to prevent these sorts of things early 

on, rather than allowing them to learn this after years of discomfort 

while playing. 

When we discuss posture, my motto is: “This is what I believe to be 

the most efficient way to hold and play the bass. All I ask of you is to 

try it, and I will justify everything I show you.” The approach I show 

is emphatically NOT the only way to approach the instrument. When 

you get in your car to drive to work, there isn’t only one route for you 

to get there! I can take 50 routes to get where I want to go, and I’ll 

settle on the one I like the best. I may change my mind one day to the 

next and go a different way, and that’s ok. I try to give a fundamental 

understanding of an aspect to bass playing so that players will have the 

same tools I do to make these decisions. One person might not feel my 

approach works best for him, and will alter it, having the education 

necessary to make an informed choice about it. 

Students should always feel free to ask why their teacher does something 

a certain way. It’s up to you as a teacher to go into detail here and 

explain it. My concept isn’t “My way or the highway.” The student has a 

choice of using my concept, modifying it, or disregarding it. 

The path to crafting great bass lines 

I’ve done so much studying of bass lines of the “greats” and I’ve 

figured out what really works in what they did. I find that so many 

bass players to me are missing the point. When they play bass lines, 

they don’t know what their job really is. To me, it’s most important 

that you understand the building blocks - really understand them 

and be able to manipulate them for your own purposes. Without this, 

you may get around but you’ll never be a true “great.” Always strive 

for greatness! Before you can learn these building blocks, you have 

to know what one is. I think the problem is that it’s never been 

established what they really are. I haven’t found a satisfactory book 

that lays it all out. There’s a lot of good information in the materials 

out there, don’t get me wrong. I’ve just found that I need to synthesize 

the information from 4 or 5 different great bass players to get to the 

basis of what they’re doing. Every one of these players will sound 

fantastic, play very well, and have some incredible ideas, but they 

all sound completely different. 

Most of the bass lines I hear would sound fine to a non-bassist, but 

I often feel players run the risk of missing the point completely. If I 

were the piano player, as I often am in lessons, it would be the job of 

the bass player to make me sound good. Even in my case, where I’m 

not the greatest piano player in the world, the job of the bass is to take 

me beyond my own playing level. I’m trying to teach people to boost 

the sound of the band. It’s for this reason that I think bass is one of the 

hardest instruments to teach - you’re trying to teach people to play 

something that by itself isn’t that impressive. When it combines with 

the other elements, the ensemble should sound phenomenal. With 

piano playing, you can take another approach where you sound great 

by yourself. If you as a bass player are laying something down that 

sounds great by itself, it’s probably not a great bass line. It needs to 

make the band sound better, and that’s the real job of the bassist. 

This is my bass mantra: A bass line is only 

as good as how it makes the other members 

of the band sound. 

When you live by those words, then you’re on the right track to being 

a good bassist and team player. Playing the fastest licks, out-reading 

everyone, memorizing 14 Paul Chambers bass solos - this stuff doesn’t 

make you a great player. You have to know how to listen to the other 

musicians, you have to know the form and structure of the music. At 

the end of the night, nobody in the band is going to come over and say 

“Hey, that was great bass playing tonight! Great lines, you really made 

us swing.” They won’t say that, but what you should really hope to hear 

is: “Great gig tonight. Listen, we have a tour in the spring, would you 

like to join us for it?” It can sometimes seem like a thankless job, but 

your job is ultimately to take the music to a higher level and make it as 

good as can be. 

Listening list of some greats: There’s not enough room to simply list 

all of the “greats” of jazz bass, but if you are hoping for a career in this 

business, you will have a hard time if you don’t know these players: 

Wellman Braud, Jimmy Blanton, Oscar Pettiford, Slam Stewart, Israel 

Crosby, Paul Chambers, Ray Brown, Milt Hinton, Neils Henning 

Orstead Pederson 

Technology in teaching 

I’m not a heavy-weight technology user, but I use Skype all the time! 

It’s the direction the world is taking, and it allows me to teach somebody 

in Italy from my studio at home. It’s almost like this student is in 

the room. I do everything I can to help with technique, and in the off 

time I give writing concepts as homework - this is part of my bass lines 

fundamental. Technology is so wonderful, because we can easily share 

files between teacher and student, and I can easily distribute exercises 

and other resources. Video lessons are so close to the real thing these 

days that it’s a very realistic way to make learning happen. I’m very 

happy to take on new students this way and it allows me to get an idea 

of what’s going on outside of my studio in Manhattan. 

My teaching when it comes to students at the Manhattan School of 

Music is all live, as it traditionally is in formal school situations. As 

much as I appreciate video lessons, I want to give my students the best 

that I can by being present in the room. Being there allows me to play 

piano with the student, coach them actively, and interact with them in 

a way that simulates real world scenarios like gigs and recitals. 

My duets 

Many people set out to write a book for the bass thinking they’ll be 

producing something that every bass player needs, but after years 

of teaching I find uses for perhaps 2 or 3 pages from many different 

books has worked for me. I think many people decide to write a book 

because they want to synthesize all these different ideas together, and 

that’s what I’ve attempted to do with my series of 8 duets. Invariably 

when bassists are hanging out, we’ll find ourselves wondering what 

we can play together. Usually it’ll be something like “Let’s play Stella 

by Starlight,” and the two players start arranging how they’ll play the 

tune. They’ll alternate playing the melody and the bass lines, someone 

takes a chorus here or there, and so on. You might play some free 

improvisation, or go to the old Stuart Sankey duet book. For a long 

time, there was nothing for jazz that functioned along those lines. 


7

During a period in my life where I was writing a lot of band arrangements, 

I would find myself inspired and writing late into the night. It 

seemed like the time for me to tackle these bass duets I had always felt 

the need for. These 8 duets were composed over the course of a year. 

Originally, I envisioned them as student/teacher duets because I really 

enjoy playing with my students. The top parts of these pieces are very 

challenging and soloistic. The bottom parts are primarily functional, 

and they’re designed to teach you how to construct bass lines. All of 

the music is written for the bass, so they’re fundamentally playable. 

Some of the tunes are arrangements of standards, some tackle a 

certain idea (like playing in 13/4 and 11/4 time), and common forms 

like a 16 bar blues. The educational value of these duets is limitless! 

Packaged with each of them is a series of recordings, including the 

individual parts and the whole score at various tempi for practicing. 

The recordings are generated digitally so you can strive for perfect 

timing and intonation. There are also parts in Bb and Eb for 

collaborating with other non-bassists. 

By practicing with the other part, you develop your listening skills as 

a musician. By playing the top part, you can also learn which elements 

of the bass line are important to have under a soloist. You can then 

construct bass lines using those elements, knowing you’re doing your 

part to back up the solo. Practicing the bottom part is actually the 

harder part - you need to play in tune with perfect time to support 

the duet, and in each tune you’ll find playing in thirds and other 

harmonies, as well as some great rhythmic challenges. Playing in 

unison is another tool that can expose weaknesses in intonation. 

Playing with instruments other than bass will often reveal adjustments 

you need to make, for instance, playing in tune with a saxophone 

or a piano. 

A friend of mine came by recently, and we spent two hours working 

on the duet “Bluzin F” and we were having the time of our lives! The 

idea is to really learn the duets and then improvise over them too. 

The chord symbols are there to give you another degree of freedom. 

There’s a lot of “learning by doing” involved here, and the different 

settings for the melody show different approaches to putting a bass 

line under a tune. I strongly suggest any bass player should look into 

these pieces. 

The difficulty level of the top parts is such that you need to work 

at them. I don’t think jazz players should have to rely on classical 

repertoire like the Koussevitzky concerto to advance their playing. The 

beauty of having jazz duets is that you can play them as they’re written, 

you can improvise over them, you can change them without feeling 

guilty or like you’re copping out. They’re available to be used as a tool, 

and to generate ideas. Have fun with them and get what you can out 

of them, because that’s what they’re about! I’m setting the bar to see if 

you can jump over. ■ 

To check out this and other duets, click here. 


SPOTLIGHT 

PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA DOUBLE BASS SECTION 

There are several orchestras in the world 

that receive the respect and admiration 

of the classical music community for their 

high level of technical prowess, incredible 

music directors at the helm, and reputation 

for definitive interpretations of great works. 

There is only one orchestra in the world, 

however, that is known universally for 

its unique sound, cultivated by decades of 

tradition and a famously uncooperative hall. 

The Fabulous Philadelphians, as they are 

often called, can lay claim to the original 

soundtrack to Fantasia, and boast a longstanding 

tradition of bass playing cultivated 

by their relationship with an equally distinguished 

institution, the Curtis Institute 

of Music. We spoke with the members of the 

bass section, who boast an unbroken line of 

experience dating all the way back to 1964. 

Witnessing the Philadelphia Orchestra bass 

section in action, one is immediately struck 

by the relative ease with which they play 

together. Rob Kesselman, who joined the 

section in 1987, believes the philosophy of 

the section is to “support the big string sound 

with a big bass sound. Nothing too fancy, 

just laying it down!” Frequent substitute 

player Mary Javian describes it using one of 

the section’s most popular sayings, “Cut her 

loose!” However you slice it, the section upholds 

the tradition of the “Philly sound.” This 

idea is rooted in the history of the orchestra, 

which performed until 2001 in the Academy 

of Music. This hall, which is known for its 

dry acoustic, is believed to have forced string 

players to play in a longer, more connected 

style in order to compensate for a lack 

of resonance. Famous recordings of the 

orchestra were captured in venues as diverse 

as Town Hall and a basketball court in 

Fairmount Park, allowing the rich and vibrant 

quality of sound to transcend the limitations 

of their normal concert venue. For the last 

13 years, the orchestra has performed at the 

Kimmel Center, a space with an acoustic to 

match the sublime quality of the playing on 

stage, and the impact of the “big bass sound” 

has never been stronger. 

The members of the Philly section share a 

common learning heritage. Of the 8 players in 

the bass section, 4 are alumni of Philadelphia’s 

Curtis Institute of Music. The school’s close 

proximity to the orchestra and a faculty roster 

full of Philadelphia Orchestra musicians allow 

students to get deeply acquainted with the 

sound, tradition, and tastes of this orchestra. 

Henry Scott, a member since 1974, says that 

playing with the section reminds him of first 

driving a car. “Some things just seem to be 

so natural and ingrained in me as I grew up, 

attending Philadelphia Orchestra concerts.” 

As one of only 18 orchestras in America with 

a full time schedule, these musicians possess a 

coveted asset in today’s orchestra world - true 

familiarity as an ensemble. One of the most 

rewarding aspects of performing with an 

orchestra that plays together, week in and 

week out, is the overall sense of quiet confidence. 

Says Mary Javian, “you can play your 

guts out from the very back of the section. 

Every player contributes a huge, lush sound.” 

A recent development of the orchestra was 

the appointment of a new music director, the 

38 year old French Canadian maestro Yannick 

Nezet-Seguin. According to many orchestra 

veterans, his coming marks a new golden 

age for the Philadelphia Orchestra. Henry 

Scott counts among his favorite moments in 

a 40 year tenure with the orchestra a 2013 

performance of the Bach St. Matthew Passion. 

“That entire concert was awesome. Since 

Yannick has been with us, there have been 

very many such moments.” As the orchestra 

sees the retirement of musicians dating back 

to the Eugene Ormandy recording era and 

the appointment of a new generation of 

musicians, the ensemble continues to find 

inspiration in bold new programming and 

incredible performances. 

True to their roots as one of America’s great 

institutions, the bass section members often 

cite Beethoven and the other “war horse” 

composers as their favorites. In an orchestra 

known for its power and intensity, it comes 

as no surprise that the immortal music of 

Beethoven and Brahms, Mozart and Strauss 

are the source of inspiration for these heavyweights. 

What is it about these composers, 

besides an overarching sense of greatness and 

respect for them? Perhaps, as Rob Kesselman 

believes, it comes down to continuing to be 

challenged. In a career where many musicians 

can expect to perform for over 40 years with 

the same group of musicians, finding nuance 

and subtlety in the same works is crucial. 

Often these moments come about because 

of external circumstances. Kesselman recalls 

playing the William Tell Overture (one of 

the most often performed works of the entire 

repertoire) with Riccardo Muti: “It was in 

Buenos Aires. It was absolutely thrilling, the 

audience threw flowers on the stage afterward!” 

For Mary Javian, it was the visceral 

impact of Shostakovich: “The depiction of 

the invasion in the first movement was so 

vivid I felt as if I had been transported to this 

scene of war and horror. The orchestra played 

with a crushing force that was absolutely 

hair raising.” 

There is an indefinable chemistry involved in 

the healthy functioning of a group of people 

who play music together. In a profession so 

filled with emotion and artistic risk, having 

a good atmosphere is crucial. Henry Scott 

attributes this to “a respect for what we do, 

as well as respect for one another.” Principal 

Hal Robinson helps to cultivate a “laid-back 

attitude” in rehearsals, and when it comes to 

concert time, the section creates a sound that 

demands to be heard. ■ 

SELECTED VIEWING: 

• Complete performance of Carl Orff ’s Carmina Burana with Rafael 

Fruhbeck de Burgos at the Kimmel Center, February 2013 

• Trailer for Music From the Inside Out, a terrific documentary 

of the musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 2004. There 

are some great shots of Hal Robinson performing solo music 

by Francois Rabbath! 

• The Philadelphia Orchestra’s own recordings page lists current 

recording offerings available for purchase. Please support this bass 

section and orchestra, while building your library of superlative 

recordings 


9


Want more? The complete version of this duet is available by clicking here.

Origin 

Stories 

ALEX HANNA 

SPRING 2014 NEXT LEVEL BASSIST 11

My path to a successful career began with a few very fortunate 

circumstances. The first and most important thing in my progression 

from my first music lesson as a child to being principal of the CSO 

was support from my parents. They signed me up for piano lessons 

at age 4, and continued to cart me around to piano, cello and bass 

lessons throughout my childhood. It’s important for every musician 

to have an encounter that starts a fire within. It may be parents, a 

great music teacher, or it could be a musician or ensemble you see in 

a concert. We’re so lucky today to have a resource like Youtube, where 

anyone with an interest in music can look up a video and start learning 

by seeing and hearing. 

My parents hooked me up with piano lessons from age four and cello 

lessons from age 8. They made sure I got to my lessons and that I had 

quality teachers, and this level of support so early on was a major 

factor in my success. The next step beyond support was hard work 

and dedication. These are the qualities you need to cultivate the skills 

required to pursue music at a high level. I was not really excited about 

music from age four to about age nine. I 

was good at it, but my parents made me 

practice. It didn’t really click for me until 

I was 10 or 11 years old, and I realized 

that I could excel and impress my friends, 

which was pretty cool to me. At that 

time, I began taking my own initiative 

to practice all the time. I was setting my 

own goals, which is a vital step in a 

musician’s progress. These goals could 

vary - a middle school ensemble solo, a 

weekly lesson, learning a new piece - 

but I think it was a fairly unusual trait for 

a young person to set ambitious goals like 

I was. I knew by the time I was 14 and 

began playing bass that I wanted to join 

an orchestra, and that I wanted to go to 

Curtis, and so I started working toward 

those goals. 

Obviously, it’s a really big risk to make 

that decision. There were only a handful 

of students in my school doing anything 

like this. I was lucky to have my older 

sister as a role model, because she was 

pursuing music and went to the Peabody 

Conservatory. It was very helpful to have 

that path laid out for me by someone in my family, and I became very 

familiar with the conservatory vibe and what it would take to get in. 

To sum it up, it takes support from your family and your educators, it 

takes hard work and the ability to set realistic but ambitious goals, and 

most important, the willingness to take risks. It takes a tremendous 

amount of courage to say to your family and friends, “I’m going to 

spend the rest of my life as a double bass player.” I would be willing to 

bet these three things would be a recipe for success in any pursuit. 

PASSING THE FLAME 

Identifying what makes you tick is so important. What kind of music, 

what genre, what atmosphere, what piece, what composer? When you 

know that, it’s just a matter of going after it. Don’t hold back, don’t feel 

any shame, and don’t worry about what anyone else thinks of you. As 

long as it speaks to you, it’s worth chasing! 

Since I was a young child, the most inspiring and fulfilling thing has 

always been listening to live music. No matter what it is, as long as 

it’s really great, I can connect with it. That includes Bach, jazz, rock 

music, so many different things. I grew up in a small college town in 

Ohio. There was a surprising amount of great music around, but not 

nearly as much as most big cities. So, I was getting a hold of recordings. 

Youtube didn’t exist when I was in high school! I remember 

being on a family trip as a kid, and we stopped in a bookstore. I saw a 

DVD of the Appalachian Waltz trio with Edgar Meyer, Yo-Yo Ma, and 

Mark O’Connor, and I knew instantly that I had to have it! I probably 

watched that DVD 200 times in one year - it was on all the time! The 

chance to study Edgar’s magic on DVD was life changing. I was also 

listening to recordings of Gary Karr, Yo-Yo Ma, Rostropovich and 

other legendary string players. All my life I’ve been listening to music. 

Every weekend while I was at Curtis, I was able to see the Philadelphia 

Orchestra, and watch Hal Robinson play with the section. That was 

the best education I ever could have asked for! There are also 5 or 6 

recitals I’ve seen that have literally changed my 

life, like hearing recitals by Maxim Vengerov, 

Christian Tetzlaff and Yo-Yo Ma. That’s the stuff 

that really inspired me. 

I was very fortunate to go to Curtis and be 

around great students. We weren’t just limited 

to listening to bass recordings in the bass 

studio, although the majority of the time we 

were certainly listening to Edgar Meyer, Hal 

Robinson, Ed Barker, and other great bassists. 

We would also listen to Glenn Gould and other 

great musicians interpret Bach. Live music is 

where it’s at for me, it’s what I do for a living and 

it’s how I communicate best. Even at the best 

school or community in the world, the most you 

can learn is from sitting down at a concert and 

hearing a great musician play at the top of his or 

her game. Learning to listen and being open to 

really great music has been the most important 

thing, and it’s what has kept me going. Now 

I’m really lucky to go to work every single week 

with incredible musicians. I get to work with 

Riccardo Muti, Pierre Boulez, Bernard Haitink - 

these monsters of music on the podium - and be 

surrounded by wonderful music each week. 

RECEIVING INSPIRATION ON STAGE 

When it comes to a great conductor, I’m just looking for someone 

to connect with my colleagues and me. Everyone has different styles, 

different ways of conducting the beat, and so on, but that’s the very tip 

of the iceberg. The truly great maestros connect with your soul and 

your gut, and they bring out the best in you. I’ll never forget the very 

first rehearsal I had with Muti and the Chicago Symphony - it was part 

of my trial week, playing Brahms Symphony No. 2. I was very jazzed 

up to be joining this orchestra for the first time, and everyone was 

checking me out to see how I would do. Muti strutted out - the really 

great conductors are immensely confident in everything they do. As 

soon as he was out, he was running the show, making jokes and calling 

the shots. We started playing Brahms, and right from the first phrase 

with the cellos and basses, Muti was staring me down and bringing out 

the sound from inside all of us. It’s hard to describe, but it’s an 


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Eric Larson 

Houston Symphony 

Hal Robinson 


Ranaan Meyer 

Time for Three 

4th Wabass Workshop - Summerfest at the Curtis 

Institute of Music 

June 22-25, 2014 

www.wabass.com for more information 

John Patitucci 

Jeffrey Turner 

Ranaan Meyer 

Joseph Conyers 

Grammy Award Winning 

Jazz Bassist 

Principal Bass, Pittsburgh 

Symphony Orchestra 

Time for Three 

Assistant Principal Bass, 



immensely special thing when it happens. 

Something I find in common among great 

conductors is a true respect for the bass. They 

understand our importance for the integrity 

of the orchestra, the sound of the ensemble. 

Muti has said on a few different occasions 

that if he were to play an instrument in the 

orchestra, he would play the bass. Simon 

Rattle always wants the bass section to play 

out and to lead. All the guests that come 

in and never look at us, or tell us to shadow 

the celli have a lack of reverence for us, and 

for the composers. There’s a type of conductor 

that tries to make the art form serve his 

musical personality, or leave his stamp on 

the music. It’s very frustrating when people 

do that! Muti, Haitink, Rattle - these 

conductors truly admire and respect the 

composers they’re conducting. They are very 

connected with the needs of the piece rather 

than serving their own ego. Respect for the 

composer, respect for the bass and the bass 

section as a whole - these traits allow a human 

connection to form between the maestro and 

the orchestra. 

TEACHING 

I’m teaching at DePaul University now and 

I also coach the Civic Orchestra of Chicago 

bass section. Civic is a really great program, 

and I get to work with those students at least 

every month for a couple hours. The focus 

of my pedagogy is at DePaul, which is really 

exciting! I work with a really stellar faculty, 

including Rob Kassinger and Michael 

Hovnanian from the CSO bass section. 

Both of those guys are absolute masters! Jason 

Heath also teaches with us. He’s fantastic 

and very dedicated to the school. There’s also 

a jazz program at DePaul, so there is a very 

diverse body of students. Many of the bassists 

are pursuing orchestral careers, and there are 

also people who bring different interests to 

the table, like jazz or contemporary/electronic 

music. My current plan is to accept one student 

each year, to eventually have a 4 student 

studio. My preference is teaching undergraduates. 

I find undergraduate students are at 

the age when they are a little more open to 

the knowledge I’m giving them, and it’s a very 

exciting time in any musician’s career. I have 

one very fine young student now; he’s very 

focused on orchestral music. The vast majority 

of my experience has been with orchestral 

music, so it’s a good fit for us. 

My approach to teaching is very personalized. 

When I teach, I have a few goals in mind. I 

want to figure out what my student wants to 

do: join an orchestra, play chamber music, 

give recitals, compose, teach? My desire is 

to show him or her the best way to do that. I 

say “best way” because there is no single way 

to do any of these things! I also use the word 

“show” instead of teach. I don’t think “teach” 

is the right word to use; it has the wrong connotation. 

I identify strengths and weaknesses 

in students, and figure out the best paths they 

can take to achieve their goals. 

The second part of the equation is to show 

them how to play the bass. This may be a 

bit more generalized in nature. I certainly 

have strong opinions about what works best 

for certain styles of music and concepts of 

sound on the instrument. I have something 

like a routine that I hope students will visit 

on a regular basis, consisting of scales and 

arpeggios, bowing variations, things to train 

the body and the mind to produce whatever 

sound one desires on the instrument. 

One of the biggest gray areas I’ve found for 

our instrument is how to hold it. Everyone is 

a different height, with different hand sizes, 

different basses, etc. I’m astonished by how 

many viable options there are out there. One 

of the most fascinating aspects of my own 

playing and that of others is posture, how you 

engage the bass and body. This is a work in 

progress for me. My curiosity with this has 

lead me to many Youtube videos, checking 

out players in concerts, and studying the variety 

of approaches and what the benefits are. 

The third aspect is introducing the student to 

really great music. No matter what my students 

want to do once they leave my studio, 

I’m going to have them play Bach. I think that 

any great musician has to respect, understand, 

play, and listen to Bach. Getting to share 

the music of great composers (which also 

includes Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, and 

others) is certainly one of the most fun parts 

of the relationship with my students. 

ACCESSING BACH 

The first and most important step is to just 

listen to the music. Listen to the cello suites, 

the violin sonatas and partitas, the keyboard 

music - the quantity of music this man put 

out is incredible! There’s a tremendous 

amount to be learned from playing the cello 

suites on our instruments. I have studied the 

1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th suites in a variety 

of keys. It builds a lot of different skills on 

the instrument, and demands a high quality 

of musicanship to execute. I find that 

unaccompanied music is great for students 

to learn how to sell a musical product that 

is truly solo. It forces the musician to become 

all parts of the experience - conductor, 

performer, interpreter. 

The easiest way to access Bach’s music would 

probably be the chamber music. Playing 

the bass lines to the Brandenburg concerti, 

Orchestral Suites or the violin concerti is so 

much fun. To be a bass player and just lay 

that stuff down is so satisfying. It’s some of 

the best music ever created! There’s so much 

music that can be performed beyond the cello 

suites, although that will be the primary point 

of exposure for most bassists. It’s also very 

important to keep in mind that Bach mainly 

played the keyboard and I believe the true 

greatness of his work was composed for it. 

It would be great if everyone got both books 

of the Well-Tempered Clavier and followed 

along with the score. I was a pianist and cellist 

for 10 years before I ever picked up the bass. I 

studied the Well-Tempered Clavier and cello 

suites and performed them; I learned so much 

from them. The music of Bach is a gift that 

has been life changing for me. 

ETUDES 

A little of my background: I started with 

Simandl etudes at the very beginning, and 

I quickly moved on from them. I could 

read music very well, and I had played cello 

for many years before playing bass. From 

Simandl I went almost immediately to the 

Petracchi Simplified Higher Technique and the 

Isaiah Bille method at the same time under 

the tutelage of Scott Haigh. While we spent 

significant time on these etudes, the majority 

of our lessons were spent on solo repertoire 

and complete orchestra works of the great 

composers. 

I think the use of etudes is subject to a 

case-by-case basis. There’s a great deal of 

information and value you can get from these 

books, especially when using the Bille along 

with studying orchestral excerpts. Etudes 

improve virtuosity in the lower register of 

our instrument. Playing with a beautiful 

sound and legato in an unfriendly key in a 

low register is extremely challenging! I think 

that it’s like taking your vitamins. While it 

might not be absolutely necessary, it can help 

build a foundation. Learning all 12 keys and 

all the different registers of the instrument is 

very important. One thing that I’m brutally 

demanding about is ensuring that every 

etude a student works on needs to be played 

extremely soloistically, with as much 

character, humor, love, and passion as they 


dare to give. Anyone who is coming in and playing etudes with their 

brain and soul turned off should stop doing the etudes and look for 

inspiration elsewhere. When it comes to Bille, many of the pieces are 

actually nice bits of music. They’re all extremely tonal, and although 

they may not be very risky or adventurous musically, they merit care 

and attention. It can be a good exercise for your musicianship to take 

a piece of music that may not be as high quality as the Schubert 

Arpeggione sonata and say something with it anyway. I think that 

there is a lot to be gained from etudes, but it takes a lot of discipline 

to ensure they are good for you rather than detrimental. 

MOTIVATION 

I think the most important thing a teacher can do to motivate is to 

show a student the greatness of what he or she is working on. I don’t 

think you can scare anyone into being disciplined, or threaten them 

with failure as a consequence. These tactics don’t usually work. If I 

have a student who doesn’t seem to be working to full potential, I’ll 

try to show him or her the right way without forcing it or scaring him. 

I think it’s really important not to force the issue, so the student can 

avoid feeling inadequate or obligated in some way. Students end up 

doing a lot of bad work practicing out of fear rather than their own 

passion for music. 

One thing I find is really fun to do in lessons is to play together. If 

you’re playing orchestral music, it makes a lot of sense to play the 

excerpts together, which can be really fun. Doing some duets is also 

fun, like the Bottesini or Anderson duets. My piano chops are still 

strong enough to play some concerto or sonata accompaniments as 

well. Exposing the student to as much great music is a great motivator. 

However, in the end, It’s really up to the student to have an organic 

desire to realize their potential. 

I will often play the other parts of the orchestra on the piano while 

my student plays an excerpt. It’s important to take us out of playing 

excerpts in the lesson, and put my student “on stage” with a really great 

maestro and Orchestra to make him or her connect with the music, 

and to grasp the big picture. I so often wish I could take my students 

and put them where I sit on stage when the CSO plays Beethoven 5, 

to experience the energy and the impact you feel in those moments. A 

lot of my work on excerpts is about simulating those experiences. The 

goal is to then have my students to be able to simulate those experiences 

for their audiences and audition committees too! 

FINAL THOUGHTS 

When it comes to listening to live music - for every hour of practicing 

our instrument, I think we should have an hour of listening. It’s so 

important and we learn so much! Hearing Hal Robinson and the many 

other stars of the Philadelphia Orchestra every weekend for four years 

in school - I feel like that’s how I became who I am. It inspired me to 

work and take the risks that led me to be Principal Bass of the Chicago 

Symphony Orchestra. 

Great music has never been as accessible as it is right now – go get it! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eTlaE5y9hk 

NOW 

AVAILABLE 

SOLO 

TUNING 

Strings Handmade in Germany 

Photo Credit © Pöllmann 


FRIRSZ TAILPIECE 

At first glance, the Frirsz bass tailpiece gives the immediate 

impression of elegant beauty. These tailpieces are made 

from layers of rosewood or exotic hardwoods, shaped with 

a completely smooth arch. The consistency of construction 

between our two example tailpieces was immediately 

striking. The tones from tapping the tailpieces were 

identical, the weight and shape were perfectly matched - 

a lot of thought and planning has gone into the creation 

of this product. 

For would-be buyers, it is important to note that the tailpiece 

does not come with wire, and we recommend that you have 

a luthier install the tailpiece for you. There are a lot of 

variables at work on a bass, and this is not a DIY situation. 

In the instance of our test bass, a May 2013 shop bass 

from Shank Strings in Elizabethtown PA, we aimed for 

tuning the after length of the G string to a C two octaves 

and a fourth above the open string. The manufacturer 

recommends placing the tailpiece as low as possible, 

but for an initial evaluation it was important to change 

as few variables as possible. 

The tailpiece was installed, blending beautifully with the 

instrument’s varnish. Immediately, the bass was projecting 

from the lower register in a way that was far beyond 

the age and maturity of the instrument. The first octave 

of the G string produced a clear fundamental and even 

hints of a sub octave, depth that is often found on much 

more expensive instruments. The tailpiece modified an 

unusable wolf tone on the A string octave harmonic into 

a manageable small wolf on the Bb on the D string. The 

pizzicato tone was thicker, with more thump than the bass 

was previously giving, and with a nice flexibility even 

on Bel Canto strings. Results were comparable between 

the rosewood and brindle tailpiece options. 

The most important aspect of a big change like this is 

evaluating how the bass settles in the days and weeks 

following. The Shank bass has maintained its newfound 

depth and clarity in the low and high registers. Further, the 

tailpiece (without making any additional changes) seems 

to have made the left hand feel of the bass more supple 

and the strings feel easier to depress. These effects are in 

a way similar to the Martin wire tailpiece, but without the 

drawback of added brightness and wolf tone resonances. 

Although trying a wide variety of strings, bows, levels of 

humidity, and hosts of other basses is of course the ultimate 

test of any equipment, we were sufficiently impressed with 

the increase in quality from our test bass to recommend this 

product. Overall, we say take a look. Frirsz also offers a 

money-back guarantee on its tailpieces, which are available 

at frirszmusic.com for $ 299.00 


Leigh Mesh 

A View from the Pit 

As a 20-year veteran of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, head of the bass department for the Verbier 

Festival, and bass faculty at Bard Conservatory, Leigh Mesh offers perspectives on maintaining a high 

level of commitment, inspiring himself and others, and living a fulfilled musical life. 

I wouldn’t be where I am today without the 

help I received from a lot of incredible players 

and supporters in my life. I’ve always believed 

that you have to give what you can because 

you’ll get it back. I’m a pretty optimistic 

guy, I think. Musicians can easily drift into 

cynicism, and I’m not immune to that either, 

but you have to try to maintain a positive 

mental state. It’s especially important to maintain 

some balance in your life. I personally am 

fortunate to have the rich life I do! 

When I graduated from Curtis, I had some 

talent, a good ear, and so many problems in 

my playing. My path to getting the success 

I have today was a very long path. I had to 

work incrementally to find out how to get my 

playing a little more clear, a little more solid, 

a little more in tune, pull a better sound, be 

more consistent. It took me a long time and 

that’s why I think the way I do. I feel human 

and humble because I have spent so much 

time breaking apart my technique to improve. 

I’m grateful for the experiences I have had in 

working toward these goals. I’m also grateful 

to work in the place that I do - the pit is very 

close quarters and you’ve got to get along. 

It’s helped me as a musician and a person to 

develop communication skills that allow me 

to maintain my enthusiasm with a demanding 

schedule. 

Teaching 


These days I have a studio of 5 college-aged students at the 

Bard College Conservatory. I don’t typically teach high school or 

beginning students - I don’t believe that it’s my forte. Every once in a 

while, people come to me to play through repertoire and get coached 

before auditions and other big events, and I’m happy to do that. Bard 

Conservatory is a small and intimate setting, the school being the size 

of one orchestra with some other musicians in and around that. 

As the only bass teacher at Bard, I want to talk about what I’m looking 

for in students. As far as a high level of technical development, it goes 

without saying that teachers want to see somebody with a solid 

foundation, but it’s perhaps not the most important thing in these 

auditions. Somebody who has a good ear and somebody who seems 

engaged when you make a suggestion or connect with them is ultimately 

somebody who stands out. School auditions (though more 

expansive and personal than professional auditions) are a very brief 

affair, and I like to find out as much as possible about a prospective 

student’s goals. I would say that desire and commitment rank the 

highest in my assessment. 

One of my goals as a teacher is to pass along my intensity and love 

for music to my students. Fortunately, I don’t have think about it 

consciously, I’m just being myself and allowing my innate enthusiasm 

to come through. You have to allow that to happen whether it’s in 

an orchestral setting or teaching. Teaching excerpts can be far 

more exciting when you’ve performed the piece yourself. Take the 

Goldenberg and Schmuyle excerpt from Pictures at an Exhibition - 

this is so much more vivid and exciting for me because I have played it 

with Valery Gergiev at Carnegie Hall, one of those moments where we 

blew the roof off the place! That performance changed my perception 

of the piece, and now I have that power to draw on in the studio. 

I also bring a lot of enthusiasm when teaching Wagner’s Ring Cycle, 

which is like a bass concerto. It’s uniquely demanding, because you 

need to play expressively for 20 hours! I just try to talk about the music 

I feel really passionate about in an honest way. 

You can discuss all the technical issues 

in trying to achieve a goal but everyone 

wants to play things that are enjoyable 

and challenging. It’s vital to express what’s so great about playing this 

instrument and the vast range of great music out there. Playing great 

music all by itself is inspiring. Even if your part is a few quarter notes 

leading to a simple downbeat, doing that beautifully and perfectly in 

unison with your colleagues can still be immensely satisfying. Play as 

well as you can! It may not be as challenging as playing Salome, but it 

can still make the night worthwhile. 

There’s an illusion floating around among bassists about legendary 

players who loom far above others. There aren’t a lot of people out 

there who have it “all” together - mastery of the instrument and 

musical expression on top of that. I will never feel like I have it all 

together, because that’s part of being a musician. No matter what 

the level of a student, if I can get them to sound better in a tangible 

way, that’s the magical moment in teaching for me. Students are so 

fortunate to have those “light bulb” moments, where one recommendation 

can make the quality of their tone might improve, or a phrasing 

speaks to them and suddenly everything is easier for them. That makes 

me very happy as a teacher! 

Specific Approaches 

It seems as though my approach is becoming more recognized, 

and sometimes my reputation precedes me when I work with a new 

student. I don’t subscribe to etude books. I like simplicity, and I am 

always seeking simplicity. When you’re a bass player on a career path 

like auditioning for orchestras, there is a lot of information and grey 

areas between being good and great. How do you get that extra 10% 

to get you in the job? I have found that there are hundreds of etude 

books out there that can pass along bits of information and skills, but 

it was too much information for me. Even after I had won a job with 

the Indianapolis Symphony, I found myself in need of a more unified 

approach to my playing. Tim Pitts was a great supporter when I was 

in Indianapolis, and he said a few choice things to me at the right 

moment to take me to the next level. His thoughts on creating a solid 

left hand position and ensuring that the intervals between your fingers 

are correct completely changed my thinking. He told me that Janos 

Starker had exercises in double stops to train your hands, and I 

adapted that for myself - I won’t take the credit, but it’s been huge. 

Many times when someone comes to play for me, they have goals 

of tackling a really challenging concerto or Bach suite, which makes 

it difficult to focus on the most simple things. Breaking down basic 

technique with a little exercise that you memorize, little patterns that 

strengthen the building blocks of your playing - these are real ways 

you can change your muscle memory. It’s incredibly difficult to teach 

someone technique when they’re attacking the Arpeggione sonata! 

There are two sides to that coin, of course. I had a high school student 

recently who I really wanted to set up correctly. I found that if you 

give these exercises to a new student, it’s not really fun and can turn 

them off. I find that older players that have gone through university or 

conservatory programs have the maturity to understand the value of 

going back through this really simple repertoire to fix or advance their 

playing. It’s always funny to mention one of these elementary things to 

an already advanced player and the lightbulb illuminates above his or 

her head - for them, it’s clearly the greatest thing ever! 

Everybody’s different, and everyone has so much to offer in unique 

ways. Time and time again in working in the various high-level 

environments I’ve been lucky to teach through, I come across fantastic 

players that in my opinion are missing one or two very small yet 

crucial things. Body position, mechanics of movement, tension in one 

or another place - when these players find a way to overcome these 

minute physical restrictions on their playing, there’s almost nothing 


Tutor and Collection 

for Double Bass 

The Sassmannshaus Tradition · 

Early Start on the Double Bass 

Bass method 

for children 6 years and older 

Eds. J. P. Close, H. Sassmannshaus 

Book 1 BA 9661 



Includes many bass duets and new 

original compositions by B. Furtok; 

vol. 3 with a 16-page insert with 

piano accompaniments. 

More: www.sassmannshaus.com 

Concert Pieces 

for Double Bass and Piano 

Bärenreiter’s Double Bass Collection 

Eds. J. P. Close, H. Sassmannshaus 

BA 9696 Bass part and enclosed 

piano accompaniment 

The edition contains 19 easy to moderately 

difficult yet effective pieces from 

the Baroque, Classical and Romantic 

periods. In addition there are newly 

composed works by the Polish bass 

player Boguslaw Furtok (*1967). 

Bärenreiter 

www.baerenreiter.com 

that can stop them. 

Maintaining Your Drive 

Time management is an issue for all players at every level, no matter 

what circumstances we are in. Nobody in the world has all day to sit 

in a practice room, and perform, and maintain a fulfilling social and 

family life. Realizing that you’re capable of rising to the challenge is 

a major step towards actually doing so. I work in a very demanding 

orchestra, and our schedule can be very grueling. I might get 

home at 1am after playing Die Walkure feeling destroyed, and be 

awoken by my child crying only to find a 5 as the first digit on the 

clock - sometimes you wanna die, but you do it anyway. Ironically, 

some of my colleagues in the Met are among the busiest musicians 

outside the pit too! When you’re your own master and you don’t 

have responsibilities outside yourself, you can take some of those 

free days to sleep in or relax. When it comes down to it, you realize 

you can do all that stuff, and you’ll survive. Nothing’s going to solve 

your problems for you, so you get up and power through! 

Thoughts on Technique 

It seems to me that all string players share a lot of characteristics in 

great playing. A great bow arm uses the same mechanics on a violin, 

viola, cello, or bass. Every string player learns to draw a gigantic 

sound with everything at his or her disposal, produce a whisper 

soft piano, employ incredible articulation and clarity, use a variety 

of strokes - there are so many similarities. We bass players tend to 

set ourselves apart from the upper strings, but we’re as different 

one person to another as we are from cellists. Tim Pitts has a very 

straight arm, whereas my arm is basically the opposite. I know that 

all of my joints are in motion, whereas his do not seem to be as 

engaged, and yet both of us achieve the kinds of sounds we’re after. 

I’m very aware of the great string players in the Met. When you hear 

a great string player just producing sound, you’re drawn towards 

that. I think of it in terms of contact. There’s no sense of somebody’s 

bow skating over the string - it’s a sense of engaging the string on 

a deep level. I had to find that sound and really internalize it when 

I was on the audition trail. You have to consistently reproduce the 

most difficult repertoire for your instrument in this competition 

atmosphere, regardless of the circumstances. It needs to happen 

all the time with total consistency. It’s one thing to play a solo in 

a practice room or even a recital hall, but to reproduce that in a 

4000 seat hall, you need to really have it in your soul. 

Passion and Intensity 

It was a huge honor to get to run the International Society of 

Bassists Orchestral Competition in Rochester for the 2013 convention. 

There are so many amazing aspects of the ISB. The orchestral 

competition is the perfect example: Anyone can participate, there’s 

a minimal amount of pre-screening, and you’re provided with a 

professional audition experience on par with anywhere else in the 

world. The level of the judges is world class, and the contestants 

have unique opportunities you just can’t get elsewhere. A week with 

a major orchestra is an experience that so many young bass players 

would kill for, and there are opportunities for cash prizes on top of 

that - it’s unbelievable! 

I felt really privileged to be involved in that capacity. 

I think that whenever you’re on the committee for an audition, it’s 


Bard College Conservatory of Music with the American Symphony Orchestra announces the 

american symphony orchestra 

Double Bass Scholarship 

A full merit scholarship covering tuition, room and board at the Bard Conservatory. 

Conservatory Double Bass Faculty 

Leigh Mesh 

Marji Danilow 

845-758-7604 bard.edu/conservatory conservatoryadmission@bard.edu 

your responsibility to give people as much feedback as you possibly can. You should be taking detailed notes. Any time I’m involved, I make sure 

I’m reachable after the audition. The worst feeling imaginable is to go audition somewhere, not get the job, and walk away not knowing why you 

weren’t chosen. I’ve had that feeling before! It doesn’t mean to take every comment literally - you need to filter them just like every other comment 

or lesson you’ve received. However, if you find something of value to your playing, you’ll have it forever. 

You’ve got to be supportive. This is such a small community, and you’re always going to run into people again, whether they were students or 

colleagues. It just makes sense to be good to one another, because good things are going to come back to you, and it works the other way too! 

Final comments 

You’re going to come across so many people in life. 

When those relationships go well, life is smooth. The conflict 

is what’s tough. Especially in music, we all strive to be working 

at the highest level where everyone is happy, but that’s 

not always the reality. Whether it is or not, be respectful, 

supportive, sensitive, and aware of what’s going on. Other 

people have a lot of stuff going on in their lives, and it’s better 

when you’re a great person to help them. Communication is 

easier said than done, especially in the orchestra, but if you 

can use it, it’s infinitely better. Sometimes those bad vibes 

you may be keeping in are completely unknown to the other 

person, and it makes no sense to damage yourself that way. 

Spending time in the pit has proven to me that it is a metaphor 

for the orchestral world, and life in general. The pit is 

very close quarters and you’ve got to get along. Life is short, 

and you have to take advantage of it, because it goes fast. 

Whatever you choose to pursue, whether it’s music or not, 

you have to enjoy it. ■ 

OBERLIN 

CONSERVATORY 

OF MUSIC 

THE MILT HINTON 

INSTITUTE FOR STUDIO BASS 

JUNE 8-14, 2014 

Performances, master classes, films, bass ensembles, and 

studio sessions for students age 13 through college. Styles 

covered: Classical, early, solo, jazz, slap, Latin, and electric. 

Featuring Oberlin faculty, Philip Alejo, John Clayton, Richard 

Davis, Diana Gannett, Rufus Reid, and Sue Yelanjian. 

Double basses available for rent. 

Scholarships available for pre-college students. 

APPLICATION DEADLINE: MAY 1, 2014 

LEARN MORE AT OBERLIN.EDU/CON/SUMMER 


Ranaan Meyer Entertainment 

Hal Robinson The Quad Volume 1 Coming Soon 

Our current catalog includes: 

Harvie S 10 Duets 

Tchaikovsky/arr. Timothy Pitts Souvenir de Florence 

Ranaan Meyer Originals, including Just One Dance, and My Irish Mother

www.RobertsonViolins.com 

Tel 800-284-6546 | 3201 Carlisle Blvd. NE | Albuquerque, NM USA 87110

Next Level Bassist Teaching and Inspiration

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