minibasses

Howdy!

I'm posting this mainly so I can remember it when we're ready to launch a minibass program at the Eastman Community Music School....

http://mini.bassico.eu/274?l=en

Caroline Emery, the wonderful educator from the UK, spoke highly of this company at her lecture this past summer at the ISB Convention in Rochester.  I still don't have much experience with children under the age of 8, so I'm not certain yet if we'll delve into this area.  There is a tremendous surge of interest in very young beginners at the ECMS recently and the strings faculty has done an excellent job developing the curriculum for the Eastman Beginning Strings classes.

Friends, if you work in Suzuki bass or the Minibass program, I would love to hear from you!  What age do you find is appropriate for starting them on the minibasses?  In the past, anyone under the age of 8 (ish) I would start on a 1/2 cello, re-strung to be in fourth, but up an octave from normal bass tuning.  This always worked out ok and I would transition them to a 1/4 or 1/8 bass once they grew large enough.  However, now that my daughter (5 years old) is starting on Suzuki violin lessons, I'm way more open minded about how early it is possible to start learning the bass.

Happy practicing on your mini or maxi bass!
Gaelen