Contrabass Conversations

Contrabass Conversations

double bass podcast

1009: Susan Hagen on her new edition of BASSics for Bass

Susan Hagen is a Boston native and is extremely active in that city’s musical scene.  She serves as principal double bassist of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, teaches bass at the Berklee College of Music, and is a regular substitute in the Boston Symphony.

She recently updated her remarkable book BASSics of Bass, and we dig into this and much more.  Enjoy, and be sure to check her 2023 August Recital for some inspiring bass playing!

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Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio – The School of Music at CMU highly values each and every individual who wants to be a part of an innovative fine arts community immersed in a top research university. 

Every week each student receives private lessons and participates in a solo class with Micah Howard. Peter Guild, another member of the PSO, teaches Orchestral Literature and Repertoire weekly. They encourage students to reach out to the great bassists in their area for lessons and direction. Many of the bassists from all of the city’s ensembles are more than willing to lend a hand. Every year members of the Symphony, the Opera and the Ballet give classes and offer our students individual attention. Click here to visit Micah’s website and to sign up for a free online trial lesson.

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866: The “rules” of double bass fingering

Today’s solo show is a deeper dive into this week’s video topic of bass fingering “rules.”  Enjoy, and you can download a PDF of these rules here.

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Check out our Online Sheet Music Store with 100+ wide-ranging titles for bassists.

Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle.

Check out my Beginner’s Classical Bass course and Intermediate to Advanced Classical Bass course, available exclusively from Discover Double Bass.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio – CMU is dedicated to helping each student achieve their goals as a musician. Every week each student receives private lessons and participates in a solo class with Micah Howard. Peter Guild, another member of the PSO, teaches Orchestral Literature and Repertoire weekly. They encourage students to reach out to the great bassists in their area for lessons and direction. Many of the bassists from all of the city’s ensembles are more than willing to lend a hand. Every year members of the Symphony, the Opera and the Ballet give classes and offer our students individual attention. Click here to visit Micah’s website and to sign up for a free online trial lesson.

Wabass Institute – Wabass Institute, a part of the Honeywell Arts Academy, is a unique full-scholarship performance institute.  Wabass uniquely fosters an inclusive, supportive environment where ideas are freely shared from teacher to student and vice versa.  Check out Wabass behind the scenes here, and be sure to apply by February 15th!

Contrabass Conversations production team:

865: Remembering Inez Wyrick

Inez Wyrick, one of our young bassist pedagogy pioneers, passed away at the end of 2021.  In this episode, we rebroadcast our interview with her from 2016 and reflect on her impact on countless bassists across the globe.

About Inez (from Tribute Archive):

She began performing music in the 8th grade with her father, and taught music and served as a psychic consultant for the entirety of her adult life, never fully retiring. She served on the Board of Directors for the International Society of Bassists who awarded her the “Young Bass Ambassador” award in 2001, and which, starting in 2022, is naming the Under 14 Solo Prize the “Inez Wyrick Prize,” in her honor. 

She was also Co-founder and Co-Artistic Director of the Bass Coalition Summer Workshop. In addition to teaching music privately, she also served on the faculties of Shenandoah Conservatory, Indiana University’s String Academy, Amarillo College, Odessa College and Texas Tech University’s Orchestra Camp. She founded the Amarillo Bass Base, the first organization of its kind for young bassists, and members of her family of students over the years teach and hold professional positions in ensembles, music businesses and educational institutions worldwide. 

An active lecturer, clinician and adjudicator, Inez appeared regularly at the Richard Davis Bass Conference, Golden Gate Bass Camp and International Society of Bassists conventions. She has had over 500 arrangements/compositions published for Double Bass Ensemble.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to either the ISB or Bass Coalition:

Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

Check out our Online Sheet Music Store with 100+ wide-ranging titles for bassists.

Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle.

Check out my Beginner’s Classical Bass course and Intermediate to Advanced Classical Bass course, available exclusively from Discover Double Bass.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio – CMU is dedicated to helping each student achieve their goals as a musician. Every week each student receives private lessons and participates in a solo class with Micah Howard. Peter Guild, another member of the PSO, teaches Orchestral Literature and Repertoire weekly. They encourage students to reach out to the great bassists in their area for lessons and direction. Many of the bassists from all of the city’s ensembles are more than willing to lend a hand. Every year members of the Symphony, the Opera and the Ballet give classes and offer our students individual attention. Click here to visit Micah’s website and to sign up for a free online trial lesson.

Wabass Institute – Wabass Institute, a part of the Honeywell Arts Academy, is a unique full-scholarship performance institute.  Wabass uniquely fosters an inclusive, supportive environment where ideas are freely shared from teacher to student and vice versa.  Check out Wabass behind the scenes here, and be sure to apply by February 15th!

Contrabass Conversations production team:

480: Yoshi Horiguchi on George Vance

Yoshi Horiguchi is a Baltimore -based double bassist and educator as well as a faculty member of Maryland’s thriving Bass Works program.

In the fall of 2017, Yoshi got in touch with me about putting his analysis of George Vance’s Progressive Repertoire Book 1 online.  We got it up on the blog, and it has proven to be a popular resource for bassists worldwide.

In this analysis, Yoshi interviewed Nicholas Walker, Tracy Rowell, Johnny Hamil, and Martha Vance about the pedagogy of George Vance.  We dig into details about using this teaching resource and what Yoshi has learned through this research.  Enjoy!

Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle!

Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by:

Upton Bass String Instrument Company

Upton’s Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long “Karr neck” has even become a favorite of crossover electric players.

D’Addario Strings

This episode is brought to you by D’Addario Strings! Check out their Zyex strings, which are synthetic core strings that produce an extremely warm, rich sound. Get the sound and feel of gut strings with more evenness, projection and stability than real gut.

Contrabass Conversations production team:

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