Holiday bass carols event - this Saturday at 3pm in Rochester

Dear Bass Community,

Dan Ziemann and I, both teachers at the Eastman Community Music School are hosting an afternoon of FREE bass ensemble fun, playing through some holiday tunes and new swinging arrangement Dan has done just for us!  The Eastman School is where we'll meet this time, in room 209 which can be reached either by elevator or taking the grand staircase up from the main hall.  We will read through the carols at 3pm, take a short break, then play them through for our friends and family.  All levels are welcome and parts are available for any ability - yes even all open string parts are available!

We really had fun at our last community event - the Open Studio Class - and can't wait to see everyone this weekend and play together.

Parts can be found here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tcq5l9qara9jlg8/AACQJj0PvAgFmkbp598qgj58a?dl=0

Feel free to browse the folders and see what appeals to you, print it off and join us Saturday!

Happy practicing!

Gaelen

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