Co-host John Grillo and I are interviewing Cleveland Orchestra Principal Bass Max Dimoff this week on Contrabass Conversations. Before winning his job with the Cleveland Orchestra, Max served as Principal Bass of the San Antonio Symphony and Section Bass for the Grant Park Symphony and Seattle Symphony.
In this first segment of our interview with Max, we delve into his approach to technique on the double bass, focusing on his warm-up exercises for the double bass. You can download this packet through the following link and follow along with the exercises as we discuss them with Max.
Max’s Warm-Ups
Max Dimoff Warm-Up Packet (PDF)
In addition to serving as Principal Bass with the Cleveland Orchestra, Max is on faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music along with Jeff Bradetich, his former teacher from Northwestern University. Max and Jeff team teach the CIM bass studio in a very interesting arrangement which we discuss during our interview.
Max’s colleague Jeff Bradetich recently appeared on Contrabass Conversations as well. Here are links to Jeff’s interview, which may be interesting to delve into for listeners as well:
More interviews co-hosted by John Grillo:
- Lawrence Hurst – Indiana University
- Barrie Kolstein – Kolstein & Sons
- Jack Budrow – Michigan State
- Owen Lee – Cincinnati Symphony
- Ranaan Meyer – Time for Three
- Dan Krekeler – Metropolitan Opera
I really enjoyed this interview and am especially enjoying this warm-up packet! It’s more like a workout to me, but it’s good for ya! Since I use my third finger quite a bit starting around the G-string ‘E,’ I wanted to adapt the exercise dubbed “Max’s Magic or Ring’s Thing” to use all four fingers. In the interview, Max talks about using the exercise in the upper octave too, but I thought it might be expandable both above and bellow the octave break. Anyway, I wish I could notate this for anyone interested, but I’ll just give you the fingerings, and know that everything is chromatic and moves just like in the warm-up packet. Here goes: 123432 1324 3243. I slur them in those groups of 6-4-4. Be wary, it’s in 7/8 time, (playing 16th notes) but it flows easily enough, even with a metronome ticking away. I start with 1 on D then move up from there. I’m going to try it on different strings, too. Hehe, I hope there are other bassists as geeky (in a good way) as me out there!!!
I was wondering what happened to this first part of the interview? I wasn’t sure if it was still available and/or being hosted elsewhere. Thanks!
Great warm up exercise. Although different, the finger exercises look pretty good for a guitar… anyone tried them?
Joe
http://www.wildplanettours.com/