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 Welcome to the 2012 Wabass Workshop!
Have you ever gone to a summer camp, gotten dozens of pages of hand-
outs and advice, and at the end of the camp stuffed them all into a box or folder
somewhere, never to look at again? Or worse, do those pages slowly get lost one
by one? This supplement to the Wabass Workshop will make sure you have easy
access to the materials Joe and Ranaan cover this week, all bound together as a
companion you can keep on your stand, in your case, or anywhere you need it!
As bass players, we are always watching our fellow string players go to camps
to play string quartets and other chamber music, working with some of the best mu-
sicians on the planet. Plus, let’s face it, bass players tend to have a lot of different

in with our fellow musicians, or our fellow bass players. Until now, the only way
to beat that was to study with a great teacher, talk to lots of other players and ab-
sorb every piece of information available until you came out playing the best you
could. Wabass Workshop is a chance for bass players to do exactly that, and in
one of the best cities for bass playing in the world! Ranaan Meyer and Joseph
Conyers are at the top level of bass playing out there, and they are part of the cut-
ting edge of bass technique. There is nowhere else in the world you can learn the
things you can here, and that is because Wabass Workshop is all about sharing
the unique skills you bring to bass playing with your peers! So enjoy the awesome
new Curtis building, enjoy bonding with some of the hottest bass players in the
country, and check out some great articles by our faculty on musicianship, prac-
ticing, and an article on getting your body to work around our massive instrument.
- Brent Edmondson, Editor

Wabass Camps Founder

Ranaan Meyer

Faculty & Artistic Directors

Ranaan Meyer Joseph Conyers

Teaching Artists
Nate Paer Tim Dilenschneider

Editor & Administrator

Brent Edmondson

Copyeditor & Layout

Jessica Arnold

“I’m practicing for 4 hours a day, and I’m just
not seeing any progress.”
“...Every effort should be made to have
every note on the page heard clearly
and in tune — every single one. This
is best accomplished by taking things
slowly, being honest with yourself as
well as what is coming out of your in-
strument, and working from there.”
- Joseph Conyers

Some Tricks to Practicing

Useful Reading

The Double Bass Workbook

couldn’t Boardwalkin’ Strokin’
Strokin’ and
Boardwalkin’

Strokin’
Sevcik School of Bowing Technics

Boardwalkin’
 always

slowly

Double Bass Workbook

Strokin
 Y ou know
the lesson
you’re about
tended arm and bow to
move freely with no pos- “A lot of great bass playing comes
sibility of hitting any- down to two things: eliminating
to learn is a thing or anyone. (I real-
little differ- ly can’t stress this point tension and taking risks.”
ent when, in- enough. You don’t want - Brent Edmondson
stead of play- to damage your bow,
ing bass, you your instrument, or your furni- careful with both motions that your
have to clear ture!) Once you’ve created enough body doesn’t stop your arm from
all the fur- room, take a few practice strokes on moving, but that it helps make the
niture out of an open A string and get a feel for
the room and drawing a full bow. After you feel
move to the center. at ease with this, the fun begins. Once you have a sense of freedom
with each direction of the bow and
Ranaan Meyer taught me Now take a down bow at a comfort- your follow-through is a natural re-
just such a lesson back in my study- able mf dynamic. At the end of the sult of the bow motion, it is time to
ing days. It was based on an exercise stroke, suddenly and vigorously begin reining in the motion. While
he adapted from a masterclass with swing your arm, fully extended, as allowing your body to pull the bow
far around behind your back as you off the string as if making the full
Paul Ellison, bass professor at are comfortable. Take care not to motion, stop yourself just before
Rice University, and I’ve been pass- your arm is fully extended. On
ing it on to my students ever since. motion here should feel like throw- each stroke, stop yourself a little
A lot of great bass playing comes ing a frisbee — plenty of follow- sooner. Care must be taken so that
down to two things: eliminat- through with your arm and wrist you do not hold back at the end of
ing tension and taking risks. This breaking their position to create the stroke, only after the bow has
is easy to keep track of when it momentum. With each repetition left the string. If you are success-
comes to our bow grips, our left of this motion, the bow stroke and ful, you will have the same sound
hands, musical phrasing, et ce- the following arm motion should as you did when following through,
tera, but how often do we think become one motion, a smooth but but without the risk to furniture
about the way we actually use the still forceful arc from down bow and other people in the room! Ex-
bow and change directions from to fully extended arm. Allow your tra consideration can be given by
up bow to down bow and back? body to move with the motion, your trying this on bow strokes that
When it comes to playing the bass, upper body pivoting on your hips to don’t use all of the bow’s length
we sometimes relate more to base- accommodate your arm extending. because once you integrate this,
ball players than we do to violin- even your shortest spicatto will
ists. To get the huge orchestral Next comes the up bow. At the frog, be the same motion as your fris-
sound out of a bass, we have to rely lift the bow just enough to for the bee throws or your sword thrusts.
on the tried-and-true method of frog to clear the string, and then jab
follow-through on each bow stroke. at the air in front of you like you are Good luck!
stabbing a sword into your worst
Now it’s time for you to clear your enemy. Allow your whole arm to
room of furniture (and people) and extend and let your body move for-
make sure you have enough room ward, your shoulder following the
in all directions for your fully ex- motion your arm is making. Be
 Hand separation

technical examples
By Ranaan Meyer

The Goal: These exercises are for the individual to take from and create his/her own examples to achieve personal musical
phrasing ideas. This is just one formula to help in your personal musical discovery.

Observe what you notice about your playing while putting it under this hand separation microscope.

(Cont’d on Page 8)
Sing the phrase while playing the lower staff line.
FACULTY PROGRAMS
Terell Stafford, Chair, B.M.: Performance
Instrumental Studies Department B.M.: Composition
B.M.: Music Education
Eduard Schmieder, B.M.: Music History
L. H. Carnell Professor of Violin, B.M.: Music Theory
Artistic Director for Strings B.M.: Music Therapy
M.M.: Performance
Luis Biava*, Music Director, M.M.: Composition
Symphony Orchestra M.M.: Music Education
M.M.: Music History
Double Bass M.M.: Music Theory
Joseph Conyers* M.M.: String Pedagogy
John Hood* M.M.T.: Music Therapy
Robert Kesselman* D.M.A.: Performance
Anne Peterson Ph.D.: Music Education
Ph.D.: Music Therapy
*Current or former member of Professional Studies Certificate
The Philadelphia Orchestra
ENSEMBLE OPPORTUNITIES
> Temple University Symphony Orchestra
> Opera Orchestra
> Sinfonia Chamber Orchestra
> Contemporary Music Ensemble
> Early Music Ensemble
> String Chamber Ensembles

For more information, please contact:

215-204-6810 or music@temple.edu
www.temple.edu/boyer
Philadelphia, PA
So out of all the instruments in the orchestra
(and those not in the orchestra, for that
matter), you decided to play the bass — you brave
playing notes in quick succession to the amazement
of your peers, I’m talking about attaining the ability
to turn a phrase in a way that brings tears to the
soul. It’s funny — I picked the bass because I eyes of your listeners. I’m talking about the ability
wanted to be different. As a kid, I loved the to create a feeling of joy among your audience or
fact that the family had to buy a new car. I conversely, have them reflect inwardly. This is
loved the “oohs” and the “ahhs” I received what music-making is about. The ability to
whenever I traveled with my instrument. translate emotion through sound is what
I would invite people to my con- has always attracted me to this art.
certs, and they would get there with Much can be said in the absence
great anticipation of all the amaz- of words -- that’s powerful stuff,
ing things I would do with this and in turn, it makes us power-

Bass
ginormous monstrosity, only to ful people.
see me play I, V, I, V, with the
occasional IV thrown in there So how does one do this?
for good measure. I would talk Music is a language. And just

Players
to these friends after the show as no one actually speaks like
and ask, “Did you enjoy the “Siri” or the voice on any An-
concert?” droid device, music should never be
played without inflection and care to

are
“Is that all you do?” they would re- direction and phrasing...Ever. And
ply as if they felt sorry for me. “The when I say “never ever,” I mean like,
violins looked like they were working never ever. How does this mani-
really hard...” obviously implying that fest itself in the music we play?

Musicians
I did not. Keep reading, and you’ll get
a sense of where I’m com-
We bass players sometimes ing from.
get a bad rap. Just be-
cause our part may not Just as we develop the
seem quite as interesting
as our colleagues’ parts in
the orchestra, it definitely
does not mean that bass
Too! nuances in phrasing and
gesture in our speech
naturally, there are many
places in music that we
players are any less impor- should always feel the
tant. The bass provides the
harmonic and rhythmic foun- By Joseph Conyers inclination
Where?
to
How?
gesture.
Well,
dation to any ensemble. In this, my friend, is the rea-
fact, I boldly say that the bass son we learn musical theo-
is the most important instrument ry and counterpoint in school.
in any symphonic or chamber music With the study of these musical
setting. While the bass can sometimes techniques comes the discovery of the
feel like the “ugly duckling” in the hierarchy of musi- rhyme and reason to music-making. Many times it is
cal instruments, I have to stop the madness and say, not nearly as difficult or abstract as it may first seem.
“Hey, hey, hey! Hold on a minute! Bass players are Don’t worry, this article won’t turn into some high level
musicians, too!” collegiate theory course. I will attempt to break some
of the concepts down in a very simple way, starting
I’ve been playing the double bass for 20 years, and in from early music.
my relatively short career, I’ve seen the level of playing
— the facility on the instrument — develop at astonishing The Baroque Period
speed. However, no matter how proficient one gets
as a double bassist, one’s technique only allows for The Baroque period is one of my favorite periods be-
the opportunity to make the greatest music possible. cause it is the epitome of gesture and nuance.
And when I say “great music,” I’m not referring to
Much of baroque music is based on dance rhythms. corsets. The world has become more polished and
Think of the Bach Cello Suites where each of the six elegant. Musically during this period, one of my fa-
movements (with exception of the “Fantasia”-like first vorite nuances develops fully and establishes itself as
movements) are dance movements. Where possible, we one of the cornerstones of western music making — my
want to have as much of a “lilt” as we can in much friend, the appoggiatura. Literally meaning “to lean,” an
of the music of this era. What I mean by this is that appoggiatura is defined by Merriam-Webster as “an em-
without actually seeing music on the page, one can bellishing note or tone preceding an essential melodic
ascertain a piece’s time signature, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, or 6/8,
note or tone.” What this basically means is that a “dis-
etc. I use the word “lilt” because it’s less suggestive sonance” occurs on a strong beat, and resolves usually
than the word “emphasis” or even “downbeat.” You downward (but sometimes upward) to the “appropriate”
want to “lean on” or give slight emphasis on “strong” note — usually on a weaker beat. This might sound
beats in a bar — in most instances, beat “one.” complicated, but it’s actually quite simple. To prove
that point, I’m going to use a tune that I’m sure you’ll
Note that like any fine food, nuance and subtlety are all find familiar as an example: “Happy Birthday.”
everything. You do not want to overdo these gestures
because ultimately they might come off as sounding
forced or unnatural. What you want to do is listen to
any good string playing or singing from your favorite
performer, and hopefully they will be your guide in
execution.
Notice how the rhythm of the words actually coincides
Physically, how do these gestures manifest them- with the notes (in regards to emphasis). All the words
selves? Actually, it’s quite simple. When you “lean” in caps indicate the occurrence of the appoggiatura.
on these downbeats, you actually use a bit more
weight and bow speed at the front of the note, then So what does this all mean? Well, at its core, the
quickly back off while maintaining the decay of the note that occurs on the word “birth” does not need to
sound under your stick. With most of my students, I exist. As a matter of fact, the note on the word “birth”
call this making a “fake” acoustic. This is very helpful doesn’t even belong to the chord on that downbeat.
when playing Bach. The “fake acoustic” also provides What the composer could have done was kept the tune
a nice taper to notes so that they resonate even in on the same pitch. Try singing the song that way. No,
the driest of acoustics. It provides care to the ends really, right now...Try singing “Happy Birthday” on that
of notes and phrases which we musicians can always same pitch. Yeah. Pretty boring isn’t it? Instead,
work to make better anyway. the composer writes a “dissonant” note — a note that
does not belong in the chord — a note one whole-step
A great example of decay, lilt and fake acoustic would above our starting pitch that when played at that mo-
be in the Double Movement from Bach’s B Minor Or- ment, ultimately sounds as if it must resolve or move
chestral Suite No. 2.: somewhere...and voilà! You have an appoggiatura.
Musically, an appoggiatura is where the stress occurs
in the musical phrase. This shouldn’t sound com-
pletely foreign to you because all western languages
are based on this strong-weak pattern. Take for
instance the word “pattern” itself. No one says “pat-
TERN” (with the emphasis on the second syllable)
any more than one would say “birth-DAY!” Thus,
the STRONG-weak pattern that occurs in many west-
ern languages also exists in music! Coincidence? I
think not. Music is indeed a language.
“Lean on Me” -- The Classical Era Look at the following example (Fig. 1) of the Vanhal
Double Bass Concerto. It is a delightfully charming
Ah, the Classical Era of music. Nuance and finesse classical concerto that like all the concertos of this time
become even more refined. Men are wearing tights, period, has appoggiaturas written everywhere! (The
and wigs. Women are wearing elaborate gowns and arrows denote appoggiaturas.) (Cont’d on Page 12)
Fig. 1
In addition to the appoggiatura, when I think of a
word that best describes the classical period, “crisp” is
what comes to mind. As I mentioned at the begin-
ning of this section, everything is pristine and perfect.
Rounded and neat. Tidy and graceful. In this era
of music-making, cleanliness is a must. That is one
reason why so many find this era one of the hardest
to play. The right hand cannot wallow on the string,
but must begin to bounce, or “spring,” for crispness
and clarity. As a matter of fact, the bow was evolving
during this period, from convex to concave, allowing
the bow to be “agile” instead of stuck on the string
all of the time. And thus “spiccato” enters the world
of music making.
Spiccato is a “controlled, uncontrolled stroke.” That
might sound very complicated but once you experi-
ment with spiccato yourself, this description will make
a lot more sense. Spiccato is a must in the Classical
period. The repetition of notes (8th notes) occurs fre-
quently in classical writing to accompany the charming
melodies of this period — especially if you play with
any other section than the first violins.
In addition, unlike many examples of Baroque playing,
diction (consonants at the beginning of each stroke) is
of utmost importance. Instead of starting notes with
“m’’s” or “b’s” which are softer, more nebulous note
beginnings, we learn to incorporate a cleaner more
direct start to notes with “d’s”, “t’s”, and “p’s.” Physi-
cally, what this entails is instead of starting notes by
elongating the scoop in the string, one is more likely
to start strokes from the string -- think of it as a mini-
explosion at the front of the note. However, after this
“mini-explosion” we immediately lighten, and let the
bow glide on the string.
Figure 2 is the opening to the Dittersdorf Concerto
in E major (or D Major if you play in orchestra tun-
ing). Here is very thorough analysis of the first
few bars:
an immediate release that should allow the string
to ring. This first note should instantly propel the
piece forward. This is achieved by dropping one’s
weight into the string, achieving some resistance/
tension, then releasing that tension while letting the
string vibrate. To assist in the execution of this, I
like to start this opening passage “up” bow and in
the lower half of the stick.
would call an “on-the-string flex.” What this basi-
cally means is that these notes are played from the
string, but the stick of the bow is allowed to bounce
while the hair stays on the string. This is for opti-
mal diction and clarity without sounding too pecky or
too short.
duration have a bit more length, but are never
played long. These notes should be played with
“sweep” in the bow — speed — once again starting
from the string probably in the middle of the stick.
Once you release the note, allow the bow to “scoot”
along the string for an “uplifting” sound. You’ll no-
tice that you probably feel inclined to use more arm
in this stroke. This is okay, as it will help in the
execution of our “sweep.”
again, despite being full quarter notes, these are
not played long (sustained). Instead, supply the
“front” to the note, then allow for the note to decay
(like the fake decay mentioned in the Baroque sec-
tion).
“a” in bar two is allowed to (and should) be played
long — but always with direction going toward
the downbeat of the next bar — never static and
never boring. What this means, is you should
crescendo the “a” in this bar so that it leads
to the “a” of the next bar. Despite the note’s
written duration, it is expected that a breath or
“comma” take place before the downbeat of bar
three.
is both bars, the whole first bar should played as of late Beethoven, late Brahms, and late Schubert.
a crescendo (or with direction) to the second bar — Think Mahler.
and the second bar should be played with crescen-
do and direction to the third bar (the long “a”). Just as vibrato becomes heavier and juicier, many
times the spiccato stroke becomes heavier, and
Whew! That is a lot of instruction for two bars of goes from machine gun fire in the classical period
one piece of music, but as you continue to learn to “hammer strokes,” a heavier spiccato that is what
the musical language including the vast vocabu- I like to call “thumpy” and growls. In more lyrical
lary of “words” and “phrases,” many of these these passages, unlike the classical era, once you start
instructions will come naturally and without extra playing from the string, many times the bow is more
thought — the same way you communicate with any- likely to remain a lot more on the string, as you
one of your friends using English. play. This is for depth and body of sound -- your
sustain. Here are a few examples of excerpts
You might have noted that many of the directions where that is the case:
above are given to the right hand. That’s
not because the left hand is not impor-
tant, it’s just that often times we don’t
give our right hand its fair share of credit.
Think about it: 100 percent of sound production
comes from the right hand. The left hand, in con- Brahm’s 4 Second Movement
trast, adds the color, the spice, the ornamentation to Here the “b’s” are completely legato and sustained.
each note that we play. In a word, espe-
cially in these earlier periods, keep the activ-
ity in the left hand: simple. More specifically,
I’m speaking about vibrato. For the Baroque
and classical periods, it’s perfectly fine to use
vibrato as a tool to add color to notes (par-
ticularly in orchestral playing), but the left
hand often times plays an accompanying role
here. Generally, you want to save some of
your most energized vibrato for a more ap-
propriate period — the Romantic Era.

“You’re So Romantic!”

That’s what you want people to say when

you play music from this time period. Be-
cause we’re so emotional, our highs are high-
er and our lows are even lower. Saying that
you want to take your listener on an “emo-
tional roller coaster” would be most appropri-
ate. Vibrato shouldn’t just sound good, it should be
juicy. It should be fat. It’s thick and full of all the
good things in life. The difference between ba-
roque playing and romantic playing is like the differ-
ence between a light vinaigrette, very delicious in its
own right, and fettucini alfredo sauce with lots more
calories, lots more carbs, and lots more cholesterol.
So who wrote during this period? Think Tckai-
kovsky who amongst a lot of things wrote Romeo
and Juliet and ballet music to Sleeping Beauty. Or
think about Strauss who wrote Don Juan. Think
Brahms 1 First Movement -E
This passage is one of the thumpiest and fattest of
excerpts. Much care should be given to the beginning
notes at Letter E, and if anything, the eighth notes
obtain a martélé-like quality.
Strauss is the epitome of singing and line in bass
playing. The following passage from Ein Heldenleben
should be as legato and cantabile as possible. It
should not sound robotic, but instead sung. The Ro-
mantic period is basically like all of the other periods
(Cont’d on Page 14)
on steroids: an exaggeration of the “lilt,” the appoggia- doing with your right hand. Not to mention vibrato
tura, and the musical line itself. This includes depth should follow the phrase in the piece of music.
of sound, articulation, and vibrato. As a bass player, have you ever tried to play on a
cello or better yet, a violin? Generally, after getting
over how small those instruments are compared to the
bass, the first thing I notice is how obnox-
ious my vibrato sounds...Especially on the
violin. The oscillation of my hand alone
covers about three different pitches! This
holds true for the double bass as well.
You cannot use your low “F” on the “E”
string vibrato when you’re in thumb posi-
tion on the “G” string. Instead you should
practice varying your vibrato with musical
Shake it ‘til you make it! intensity and on the different registers of the instru-
ment. Generally, the lower and fatter the string,
I have not focused on the use of vibrato that much the slower and wider the vibrato, and the thinner and
in the other two periods, and for good reason. The higher the string, the faster and smaller your vibrato
Romantic era sees the most varied usage of the will be. It’s important to note that these differences
expressive technique. With discovering what vibrato are subtle, and like with everything I’ve discussed in
can do to enhance your playing will come a lot of this article so far, should not be taken to the extreme.
experimentation. Just like with anything for which In the meantime, shake it till you make it, and have
you would like to progress, there will come a lot of fun with it — it is how you will grow with this fabu-
practice. My advice: Just shake it ‘til you make it! lously expressive tool.
Well, sort of. Experimentation is key. Knowledge is
everything. Moderation is a must. An informed bass player is a smart player who will
likely be a sensitive musical player as well. I know
Let me explain: all of this information might seem overwhelming, but
as Rome wasn’t built in a day, you will not be able
Take, for instance, a car. When you turn on a car to read this article then all of a sudden master every
engine, look at it with the hood of your vehicle up. style and period of music. Let your ears be your
You can’t help but notice the violent oscillations and guide. Listen to performances. With the explosion of
technology, you have a huge selection of both re-
vibrations that can come from below — especially if cordings and videos at your fingertips. Listen to
you have an older vehicle. Without even adding any performances on different instruments. Don’t limit your
gas or acceleration, the engine is churning nonstop listening to only bass players. Listen to the great
and only gets more intense as we press on the ac- singers, the great violinists, and the great cellists of
celerator. Unfortunately, this is how many young bass history. As I mature as a bass player, my desire to
players use vibrato. Once you turn it on, there is no become a great bass “player” becomes less and less
nuance or care; It just gyrates uncontrollably as if al- -- my goal to be the best musician possible increases
most a nervous response to the music making. Don’t exponentially. Hopefully this article will encourage you
allow yourself to do this. Vibrato is like the icing on to do the same.
a cake, the ketchup on some french fries, the croutons
on a caesar salad. It is a color used to add intensity
to a musical phrase or line, and should always be
used as such.

I know my next statement might cause some contro-

versy, but hear me out: vibrato should change....All of
the time. This is where the experimentation comes
in. Depending on the intensity of music, depending
on how close you’re playing to the bridge, depending
on whether you’re playing in a high or low register
— vibrato should be adjusted to fit what what you’re
 S pontaneous perfor-
mance practice is one
crucial key to a performer’s
success in front of an audi-
ence. Whatever gets a mu-
sician excited about playing
is crucially important to
that artist’s development. The passion, enthusiasm
and love for playing connected to the science of
music is truly what I believe constitutes the miracle
all audiences are seeking from a performer. Impro-
visation is what got me excited about music and the
bass. To this day, I’m most excited when I can feel
the spontaneity within the musical performance I
am either creating or observing.
The following exercises will begin to give you some
tools that will help to determine your individual
spontaneous approach to music making. As you
embrace these exercises whole-heartedly you will
discover a difference in your music making that will
- about this over the course of your day as you learn,
er.
Spontaneous improvising lessons over the span of
four short sessions (1 per day):
Day 1: How to get started
Put the feeling of spontaneity in your music making.
You have to practice a “game time approach.” A
game time approach to music making is imagining
how you are going to feel mentally and physically
immediately before and during the actual perfor-
mance. Is an audience member going to sneeze or
cough during the quietest of moments in a given
phrase? Is someone’s cell phone going to ring? Are
people going to yell out “Yeah!” when you do some-
thing amazing? How will you react to these things?
Will you be nervous? Will you be hyper, anxious,
your success in performance.
Let’s begin with a few exercises that will help you
into the world of spontaneous music making:
A. Try playing one beautiful note on your instru-
ment with the most gorgeous sound you can imag-
ine. Now try changing up the vibrato. Then try
making the note sound gritty. Now try making the
note sound mean. Now try making the note sound
hairy. Sad. Funny. Tasteful. Clever. Ferocious.
Angular.
Good!
B. Now choose any 2 notes and repeat the exercise.
C. Now choose any 3 notes and repeat the exercise.
D. Now choose a phrase that you have memorized
and repeat the exercise. Any phrase will do. This
can be a phrase from the literature, a jazz riff, rock,
etc. I want to reiterate: Any phrase will do.
you need to perform music spontaneously. Think
practice and make music.
Day 2: Everyone is a composer
E. Compose a phrase and play it in these differ-
ent ways: gritty, mean, hairy, sad, funny, tasteful,
clever, ferocious, angular.
F. Now improvise in each of these emotions:
Improvise a phrase. (Make it up or create it from
scratch.) It should be gritty, mean, hairy, sad, fun-
ny, tasteful, clever, ferocious or angular.
G. Now let’s practice some metaphors. Improvise
the trees. Improvise the mountains. Improvise a
river. Improvise some love. Improvise an antago-
nist. Improvise the hero.
Choose another phrase you have memorized and
repeat these emotions/images.
(Cont’d on Page 16)
 Day 3: We are born improvising and use this
skill all the time.

Think of a child learning to speak, crawl, walk, run,

etc. A child improvises to communicate by mouth-
ing sounds that are not actually words. However,
they are sounds that are extremely descriptive in
nature. This is improvising. Think of yourself re-
acting to what you just read or what I just said.
Your reaction is an improvisation and if you look
around at others you will notice how they are con-
stantly improvising as well. This should give you

(which in this case is an instrument).

Let’s discuss what we can call theoretical founda-

tion. When improvising, it is important to use not
just your intuition but also your intellect. To your
surprise, you may know more theory than you
realize. But do not let that word theory scare you
or make you feel any other unpleasant emotions.
Theory should be a happy word that gives you

of feeling happy, let’s call theory something else.

Let’s call it “magic.“

Okay, let’s begin building your magical under-

standing. What can you improvise over C Major? some grooves on the spot.
What can you improvise over C Minor? C Domi- Play a groove that’s gritty. Mean. Hairy. Sad. Funny.
nant? Tasteful. Clever. Ferocious. Angular.

Day 3 Examples: Now let’s practice some metaphors. Groove the

trees. Groove the mountains. Groove a river.
C Major: See example 3A. Groove some love. Groove an antagonist. Groove
the hero.

C Minor: See example 3B. Mahler 2 - 1st movement for gritty or Shostakovich
5 tutti solo excerpt from the 1st movement for an-
gular and so on. But do it in a spontaneous way!
In other words, do not do it in the way you have
been trained or think you are supposed to do it. Do
it in a unique and very individual way.
C Dominant: See example 3C.
Day 4: Soloing over the Groove

Repeat Day 3 with your same team of 2 or 3 people,

but now one of you at a time will solo (improvise)
Get together in groups of two or three and begin while the other(s) groove(s) under you.
creating a groove. A groove is any rhythmic pat-
tern or feeling that is established. Let’s dive into some more magic ;):

This groove that your mini team creates should Remember C Major, C Minor, and C Dominant?
have a life of it’s own. It should make you feel a There are different ways to look at these scale pos-
certain way. In fact, I have an idea: Let’s improvise sibilities called a modal approach.
 Mode [mohd] noun: a set of musical notes
creating a scale and from which harmonies “Improvisation is what got me excited about music
and melodies are constructed. and the bass. To this day, I’m most excited when I can
Let’s begin with C Major. Begin to impro- feel the spontaneity within the musical
vise in C Major but begin and end on D to performance I am either creating or observing.”
D in the key of C instead of C to C. Now
try E to E, F to F, G to G, A to A, and B to - Ranaan Meyer
B. Finally resolve this by landing back on C
to C. Nice release, isn’t it? This creates a different vibe depending on the way you look at it magically.
Eventually these magical components of knowledge will become second nature and you will just naturally
apply this type of approach to your improvising. Now repeat this by applying the same directions to C
Minor and C Dominant.

Day 4 Examples:

C Major expanded: See example 4A.

C Minor expanded: See example 4B.

C Dominant expanded: See example 4C.

In conclusion to my spontaneous four-day exercise, try thinking of your memorized phrases. Consider
what keys they use and what perspectives the composers may have been using when the phrases were
written.

Finally, remember there are only 12 notes in western music that we use. It should be simple to create
music. The challenge is being creative with those 12 notes and pulling from your extreme ends of magic
and intuition to really understand how to perform and make music effectively.
 A Look Back:
Wabass Workshop 2011
 A Great Many
Thanks
The
Wabass Workshop 2012
Sponsors
Curtis Institute of Music
www.curtis.edu

Robertson & Sons D’Addario & Co.

Violin Shop String Manufacturers
www.robertsonviolins.com www.daddario.com

Shank Guarneri House

Strings Fine String Instruments
www.shankstrings.com www.guarnerihouse.com

Temple University Charley Creek

Boyer College of Music and Dance Foundation
www.temple.edu/boyer www.charleycreekfoundation.org

David Gage Halloran

String Instruments Philanthropies
www.davidgage.com www.halloranphilanthropies.org