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Old 02-09-2013, 04:10 PM
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Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
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Join Date: 01-18-2007
Location: Perkasie, PA
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Lightbulb practicing..

The way I get thru learning hard passages is to find a tempo that I can play it at or almost play it. Then I work at that tempo till I can play it several times over, 3 or 4 minimum, without a mistake. Then, I raise the tempo a notch or two at a time, same rules, 3-4 minimum times in succession without erring. If I make a mistake, the count starts again until I can play it 3-4 times or more.

Last week in one orchestra we did Mozart 36. The 1st movement has a few fast parts in it and each time, the note patterns are slightly different. Like scales and thirds thrown in a blender and poured out a different way each time. The tempo the conductor sent out in his notes a few weeks before the first rehearsal was quite brisk. We get the music in the mail about a month in advance at most, then rehearse Mon, Thurs and Fri., and play the concert on Sat., 4 services in total for this job. Prior to getting the music, I printed out my own copy from a disc of bass parts I have and played along with the Vienna Phil., U-tube recording, two different period recordings.

Each time I play along, I note in my head the areas I miss notes in for what ever reason. Then, I might stop the recording or continue it but, marking that tempo, I practice it till I think I am ready and then try again until, I can play along without a mistake. I also do this with several basses that I have here to make sure I actually KNOW the passages rather than just getting lucky.

Last week practicing with another Orchestra that's doing Mahler 4 and Mozart Con.mass, I brought a LARGE bass just to 'take it out for a walk' and found that in passages I worked on, I could play it despite playing a 4/4 body from a 3/4 the week before.

I also take the tempo up past the required speed when practicing to make sure that I have it under my fingers and again, not just getting lucky a few times through. Another thing I heard on a Hal Robinson video was to use ONE fingering and never change it. Play it the same every time. I did that on the Mozart fingering and then tried it on other basses and found that on some basses and some tempos, another fingering for some of the notes was easier. So, a few days before the job, I changed my fingering for that part and re-learned it. If the tempo had been faster, I might have used the first fingering with more string crossings than shifts. This is something you need to figure out for yourself or with a teacher that will know what you can do better and/or easier.

Several years ago I did Beeth. 5th and used one fingering for the concert on a particular passage only to learn a better way a week after the performance.

Practice carefully like your job depends on it and you will improve.
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