Next Level Bassist Musicality Issue

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