Personal Narrative: Double Bass Player

It was the summer of 2011, following my 2nd year being a double bass player. My conductor had told me I have an innate talent for classical music and playing the bass. Originally, I didn't even want to play the bass! I wanted to play the viola than the viola, but I couldn't rent an instrument so I had to be placed on the bass. As soon as I held the neck and started the pluck my fingers on the thick metal strings I just immediately fell in love. I always loved the higher pitched stringed instruments and listening to various periods of orchestral music. So when I first walked into my orchestra class in the fall of 2009 I was dead set on playing the viola or violin. But, all the music stores in the area were all rented out of violas and violins …show more content…
Music theory, sight-reading (playing a piece without having read it prior), and leading and maintaining a rhythm all came naturally to me. It was like I got in the driver’s seat of a car and turn the ignition and pressed on the gas. However, little did I know that I was about to be served a fresh slice of humble pie with a tall glass of self-reflection. I have and probably always will have a competitive attitude when it comes to anything I involve myself into. Be it sports, cooking, or school it doesn’t matter how trivial it is I want to be the best at it. Something people sometimes forget about musicians is we’re extremely arrogant because you’re always having to prove your superiority over another player. Even if you’re not that competitive you still have to try your best to beat out that other person because if you don’t then you not get that spot in the orchestra that you wanted, or even worse you might lose your …show more content…
Adams was a well-connected woman and told me about various camps and events I could go to over the summer that would help me improve as a musician. She told me about this one summer camp called “VCU Orchestra Project” that basically grouped the different skill level of all the players into different orchestras. I was interested in going because I thought it was opportunity to keep playing over the same and to improve. The first day of camp generally consisted on everybody auditioning and hanging out getting to know everybody else. The audition only consisted of a one octave scale of your choice and a two octave scale chosen randomly and a sight-reading piece. I knew all my basic scales by then up to one octave but I didn’t know how to play two octave scales back then, also I wasn’t aware that I had to play one either. When I walked into the audition room I greeted the judges and played the first scale perfectly, but I was stunned when they told me that I had to play another scale but with two octaves and in a key I didn’t recognize then. I played so horribly when I was told to play. I just froze up and all my confidence and moxie left my body and along with what felt like my soul. So, after bombing the audition I was placed in the lower orchestra

Show More

Related Documents: Personal Narrative: Double Bass Player

Essay on Music: Johannes Brahms