double bass player looking for a college fit

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>I'm a senior and I'm looking to either double major in music and something else or take music as a minor .. I know that most colleges have orchestras and symphonies .. but I can't find information on double bass private teachers ...</p>

<p>...or anything about double basses ... or at least not as much info as violin and the cello .. </p>

<p>the colleges that I am looking at are Stanford, Pomona, Wash U ST Lous, Macalester, and university of Rochester</p>

<p>Ive played for 3 years .. made all state a couple of times .. play around the city and teach private lessons</p>

<p>my questions are</p>

<p>1) does anybody know of any universities (including the ones i've listed) that have resources for double bass players?</p>

<p>2) could this be a hook in applying to colleges?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Jenuine,</p>

<p>It is hard to steer you in the right direction without knowing more about your level of playing, the style of music that interests you most and what you hope to do with music in the future. </p>

<p>If you can fill in the details a bit, I may be able to offer some advice. What is in your repertoire that you feel you play well enough for audition material right now? Which pieces are you working on that you find challenging, but think you will have well in hand in the next six months? Are you primarily interested in classical orchestral material, jazz, popular music, musical theatre, or some mixture?</p>

<p>Do you play French or German bow? Are you pretty strong into Simandl technique, or have you checked out the Rabbath methods? Are you studying with a professional bass player right now? What does he or she have to say about the possibility of your studying bass in college?</p>

<p>The teachers at some of the schools that you mention are:</p>

<p>Stanford - Bruce Moyer - Plays with the San Jose symphony - <a href="mailto:bmoyer1@sjsu.edu">bmoyer1@sjsu.edu</a><a href="he%20also%20teaches%20at%20San%20Jose%20State">/email</a> - I don't know much else about him.</p>

<p>Pomona - Fred Tinsley plays with the LA Phil and also is very interested in jazz. Fred is pretty well-known and there is going to be some stiff competition to get into his studio. I don't have his contact info, but you should be able to reach him by calling the Pomona Music Dept office at 909-621-8155</p>

<p>WUSTL - I don't know who they have right now and nobody is listed as the bass teacher on their web site. You would have to call the Music Dept at 314-935-5581 to get more info.</p>

<p>Macalester - Same situation as WUSTL. Call 651-696-6808.</p>

<p>U Rochester - Unless you have done a phenomenal amount of work in three years, you are not likely to get into Eastman, so I assume we are talking about the Rochester music department. Once again, I do not know who teaches there, so call 585-275-2828 and ask.</p>

<p>There are a lot of colleges out there with orchestras, but without regular bass teachers. They list bass lessons in their catalogs and then try to find an adjunct to teach if they get sufficient interest. The teachers they hire range from poor to excellent, so you want to try to pin them down before bothering to apply.</p>

<p>Playing bass can be a hook, but only if you are at a pretty high level and are applying to a school that happens to need bass players that particular year. Unfortunately, the best teachers will always be in high demand. If you are looking to study at a level that will position you to play professionally, you can't think of it as a hook. If you are looking to continue playing as a hobby, differentiate yourself from lots of others with similar academic credentials, and perhaps score some scholarship money in return for playing in an orchestra that may or may not meet your musical expectations, then you might be in luck.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the reply!</p>

<p>I plan to audition with Konzert (Koussevitzky) and Viola Concerto in G transcribed for string bass. I am going to focus on classical music rather than jazz. I am studying with a professional bass player whose last student went to curtis (WAAAAYYYY above my level .. not even going to try to get into those music conservatories)</p>

<p>I play French bow and I prefer simandl technique over rabbath simply because I learned simandl first. My teacher knows that I don't want to become a professional musician and was the one that suggest that I try a minor in music if the college offers it.</p>

<p>I play mainly as a serious hobby, but I would realy like to find a college that offers good resources for bass players. I cant accurately judge my level of skill because around here, I would be the big fish in a little pond. So I could be very skilled, or just lucky enough to be minutely skilled in a small community.</p>

4

<p>just a side note : I played cello for 4 years before I switched to the bass .. so I had a leg up when I began playing</p>

5

<p>If you can play the double stop sections of the Koussevitzky Op. 3 Concerto in tune and up to speed, you should have no trouble getting into a very good bass studio. My daughter was accepted into Oberlin, NEC and Peabody auditioning mostly with that piece and the Eccles Sonata. On that basis, Pomona might be the best choice among the schools that you listed. You might also have a shot at getting into VanDemark's studio at Eastman if you go to Rochester.</p>

<p>Which Viola concerto are you talking about? I don't know of any by Koussevitzky, so perhaps you didn't mention who composed it. Does it have a nice, lyrical slow movement? The Kouss is great for showing off some technical prowess, but you will also want something that demonstrates musicianship and a clear concept of getting the most out of a phrase.</p>

<p>How are your academics? Would you have a legitimate shot at a top school like Stanford or WUSTL without a hoped-for hook from the bass playing? Would you prefer to be a big fish at a school with a mediocre orchestra, or do you want to find somewhere where there is likely to be at least a couple of other students above your level?</p>

<p>PS, was the Curtis student fairly recent? My daughter took private lessons there while in high school and we know a lot of the people who have been through there in the last few years.</p>

6

<p>My stats are decent enough that I'll be considered but by no means is extraordinary compared to everybody else</p>

<p>SAT - 710m, 720w, 750cr
gpa- 93 unweighted
+ leadership in community service and city wide projects etc.</p>

<p>so I suppose my bass audition/recording may count as a hook if any of the colleges I'm looking into need one.</p>

<p>I would like to attend a school where there are students above and below my level .. so that I won't be too overwhelmed yet I'll be challenged .. especially because the community orchestra I play in is not very good .. however, the most important thing for me are the private lessons, so I'll probably have to research that myself.</p>

<p>I can actually play the double stop section in tune and up to tempo .. the hardest part for me is the intonation of lyrical section before that ... I have no idea why .. my teacher says that the "easy" parts are always harder for me than the "hard" parts. However, right now, it is competition/performance ready</p>

<p>just wondering, but are the music programs (orchestra mainly) at the colleges I listed fairly decent?</p>

<p>I've heard that the Stanford music department in general is very weak and right now, it is my top reach school.</p>

<p>The guy who went to Curtis was Joseph Conyer (i may have spelled that wrong). He was from Savannah, GA, but I think he graduated already. He's a musical legend around here. </p>

<p>thanks so much for all of your help! =]</p>

7

<p>That's an astonishing coincidence - Joseph Conyers was my daughter's teacher at Curtis for two years. He is an amazing bass player and a great guy. He is now the principal bass of the Grand Rapids Symphony (after coming in second in the auditions for the principal spot in San Francisco) and teaches at a couple of lesser-known colleges in Michigan.</p>

<p>Now that I know a bit more about you, let me think a bit and get back to you. I can't tell you a whole lot about the orchestras at the colleges you mentioned because I have not heard any of them myself. Stanford is generally known more for theory and musicology than performance, but that could work to your advantage.</p>

<p>One thing that comes to mind immediately is that you should have no trouble getting into Oberlin College with your stats. Students in the College can audition for lessons with the Conservatory faculty and there are a few there right now who are taking lessons from Scott Haigh and Tom Sperl, both of whom are Cleveland Orchestra members. You would have the option of pursuing a degree in any subject that is taught in the college, plus either double majoring in the college music department, or auditioning for the Conservatory and going into their double degree program. Check out <a href="http://catalog.oberlin.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=10&poid=980%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://catalog.oberlin.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=10&poid=980&lt;/a> for more info on how the College music department and the Conservatory work together.</p>

8

<p>I tried to edit that last message a bit, but time expired. I may have overstated the case when I said you should have no trouble getting into Oberlin College. Actually, you would have a very solid chance of acceptance and I would place it more in the match category than among your reaches. On the basis of academics alone, it is an easier admit than Stanford or WUSTL, for example.</p>

9

<p>OK, here are some places you may want to look into in addition to the ones you already mentioned:</p>

<p>Bard College (Marji Danilow) - you could either apply to the college or to the conservatory where double majoring is not only available, it is required. They are in the process of building a conservatory that looks to eventually be in the top ranks and have quite an impressive faculty list already.</p>

<p>Boston University (Ed Barker, James Orleans, Todd Seeber and Larry Wolfe) - although the music facilities are getting a bit run down, the faculty is superb and the resources available in other parts of the University are considerable. Barker is an incredible teacher, but doesn't take many new students, particularly non-performance majors. Seeber and Wolfe are also quite good. I don't know Orleans all that well.</p>

<p>Carnegie Mellon University (Tony Bianco and Jeff Turner) - excellent bass faculty and a top-notch school if you are looking to coordinate in a scientific or technical area. Tony Bianco is the grand old man of the bass world and has been teaching for something like 50 years. He may retire soon. Turner is also excellent.</p>

<p>Northwestern (DaXun Zhang) - a highly respected school with a very good conservatory attached. Even if you do not enroll in the conservatory, you may be able to take applied lessons there.</p>

<p>Oberlin College (Pete Dominguez, Scott Haigh and Tom Sperl) - another great LAC associated with a top conservatory, as mentioned in previous posting. They go out of their way to make double major and double degree programs possible to complete.</p>

<p>Rice University (Paul Ellison and Tim Pitts) - another superb faculty, although I have heard that coordinating a double major may be even more difficult than at most other places. Ellison is among the top in the profession but does not take many new students and perhaps none outside of the conservatory. Pitts is also excellent, but you should ask whether he takes students who are not performance majors.</p>

<p>UCLA (Chris Hanulik) - I am not as familiar with West Coast schools, but UCLA's music department has an excellent reputation and Hanulik is a monster bassist. I don't know if he is accepting non-performance majors, so it would pay to do some research and find out who else might be teaching bass there these days.</p>

<p>University of Maryland (Curtis Burris, George Vance, Ali Yazdanfar) - a strong faculty, a beautiful new performing arts center and a wealth of choices for a second major.</p>

<p>Vanderbilt University (Edgar Meyer, Joel Reist and Glen Wanner) - don't get too excited. Edgar isn't around all that much, but the prospect of taking a masterclass with him now and again may interest you. I have little direct knowledge of this school, but any music department that has Meyer on its faculty can't be all bad.</p>

<p>Wheaton College (Virginia Dixon) - another variation on the LAC with a strong music program and a very good bass teacher.</p>

10

<p>Boy, do I wish my son played double bass! You are an incredible resource and so much help, BassDad!</p>

<p>(I may pick your brain in a few months, if it's OK, with some non-bass related Oberlin questions!)</p>

11

<p>Fire away, I'll be happy to answer them if I can.</p>

12

<p>On further consideration, UCLA may not be a good match after all. I noticed on their web site that they do not have a music minor program or a double major program in music.</p>

13

<p>I don't know much about their bass teachers, but I've heard a lot of good things about the music department at Vassar. I know the orchestra director and several students there, and it seems to offer both strong academics and a high level of musical performance.</p>

14

<p>The UCLA program is a B.A. -- no minor in music. But you are required to take a wider variety of nonmusic courses than for a B.M. degree, and the information online indicates that you can petition to double major, just like any other student, in any other major, at UCLA.</p>

15

<p>o wow thanks for all of the info!!</p>

<p>BassDad: I've been emailing and calling the music departments at the schools on my list and have been looking into a couple of the ones you mentioned.</p>

<p>this really helps a lot! =]</p>

16

<p>UCLA is a bit dodgy on the issue of a double major in the particular case where one of the majors is music. The FAQ page on the music department site has the following Q&A:</p>

<p>"If I selected another major as my first choice, can I double major in Music?</p>

<p>No you cannot. UCLA only considers the first choice major for admission decisions. You must either change your first choice to music, or if you have been admitted to UCLA, apply to music as a change of major applicant."</p>

<p>Initially, I interpreted that as meaning that a double major is not supported at all by the music department. Perhaps, as mamenyu points out, you can work around this policy after you have gotten there by starting out as a music major then petitioning for double major status once you have matriculated. Given the statement in the FAQ's, I would suggest getting first-hand confirmation from the heads of both intended departments that this is possible before sending in an application.</p>

<p>Concerning Vassar, I don't really know a lot about their bass teacher Louis Pappas, but his bio is not very strong in the classical arena. He could be fine for all I know, but I would want to hear his playing, take a sample lesson and ask some pointed questions about the success of his former students before adding his studio to the list of possibilities.</p>

17

<p>Jenuine,</p>

<p>If you let me know which of the suggestions interested you, I might be able to come up with one or two more in the same vein.</p>

18

<p>As I read the information for UCLA, if you want to do a performance degree, you have to state that as your first choice (the performance BA is offered in the College of Arts and Architecture and requires that you meet academic requirements for UCLA, which are high (although lower in that college than the College of Letters and Sciences), and an audition for admission (unlike UCSB, which admits you and then has you audition). You don't get a second choice of major -- if you are not accepted by the performance department, you don't get into UCLA. So it appears that you can't apply in advance to do a double degree and there is no minor in performance once there. I submitted a question to the department specifically about whether you could do a double major once there and never received a response (maybe you need to ask by telephone), but my experience with UC's (my own and my kid's) is that you can double major as long as your petition to do so is accepted (there may be GPA prerequisites) and as long as you don't exceed the maximum number of units before you must graduate -- that can be limiting, so you would have to be focussed.</p>

19

<p>I go to Rice as a freshman double bass performance major. Here's the deal with Rice: unless you're playing in the top bracket of high school-aged bassists in the country, you probably can't get into Ellison's or Pitts' studios. However, if you can get into Rice as a non-music major, you would be able to sign up for lessons with graduate students at Rice. The graduate students here are as good as most professional bassists out there, and tend to be winning many of the big jobs as they come open. Studying with one of them would not be a waste of time by any means.</p>

20

<p>I've been researching a Carnegie Melon and Rice and I think I may apply there not only for music but because they also have great undergrad programs in other areas that I want to study.</p>

<p>I'll most likely have to send in an audition tape though. Is there a certain way that I'm suppose to format it and does it matter whether it is professionally recorded or not?</p>

<p>On another note, can anybody tell me which would be the best rosin for me to buy (for both solo/orchestra and is not greatly effected by temperature)?</p>

<p>thanks!</p>