George believed in the power of classical music to make the world better. It is one of the highest forms of artistic expression. He along with many of my other classical teachers believed in this as well. It is my hope that everyone falls in love with this music and pass it along to your friends and family. The excerpts below are ether for my students to prepare for district or state orchestra or just to widen their understanding of music. Youtube is cute a great resource for all of us.
Link to scale play along by the Sandor Ostlund Use this for your Rabbath scale cycle everyday and you’ll be a changed bass player ASAP.
Note: that I really love to use these youtube score videos to play along with the basslines so I can hear (visually) what else is going on in the composition. Sometimes this is harder to track so please know your excerpt first and then maybe finger or visually follow along with the piece.The best part of playing bass in a symphony is listening to all the amazing things going on around you and sounding like one voice in a section. Most of the excerpts are the tricky part and need a good fingering or bowing to solve the issue at hand. Using a metronome, tuner, counting outloud, saying the note names are all part of preparation for good high school level audition process. Timely preparation and confidence always pays off in the audition results. Please note that I think you need a private instructor to help you with these issues. I’d be happy to help anyone further if you need help. feel free to contact me with any questions. I also love youtube to watch the great conductors or sometimes bass sections for their great variants in style and solutions to making the music great. There is such a great legacy in orchestra playing. My kc symphony section is really something to hear in person these days (well minus covid times).
Kansas district and state excerpts 2021-22 scales are f major and e melodic minor. I suggest you use the Sandor links with f major and e major and then work on the e melodic.
It is best to start at 5:17 as there are four measures before what’s written to find the beat. This youtube video you can see the bass part on the bottom and should match you at the 5:20 but easier to hear this entrance if you read the full score the first time.
starts at 4:45
1:25 for 1st mvmt 27:09 for last excerpt
Link to Missouri state orchestra excerpts 2021-22
1:38 for this famous excerpt.
starts at 2:16. Really wonderful orchestral playing in this excerpt. Count out the rhythms and say the note names outloud on this one.
This one is a good one to see the actors on stage and how much emotion is put into Opera playing.
I’ve left previous years up since your having fun checking them out.
Link to Kansas State Orchestra excerpts 2020-21
the section starts at 6:00 (violins play theme) and basses come in at 6:15
The legendary conductor at the podium. These videos are really great to watch the great conductors style and passion for the music.
The excerpt starts at 2:14 I personally love playing along with the full score to hear the whole composition.
starts at 2:16. Really wonderful orchestral playing in this excerpt. Count out the rhythms and say the note names outloud on this one.
Link to Missouri excepts
excerpt is at 2:15 One of those excerpts that will always be fun to prepare.
excerpt and famous bass solo starts at 25:25
37:50
Other great George Vance orchestra related parts.
42:09 George once told my daughter that he put this excerpt into vol. 3 (book 6) to say if you can play all of these amazing bass solos you should start playing with real orchestras (i.e. not student arrangements of the pieces). Usually only advanced high school orchestras and youth symphonies can actually play these large works. Of course he also knew that like my daughter many would be in this book at a young age (before middle school) and some students not able to participate in a orchestra at a young age. So to me I think George was trying to lead you to fall in love with these amazing works of art. As the solos are wonderful and fun way to learn the bass nothing beats being together with your fellow musicians all putting our love of music together to make a great performance. George considered this piece to be one of the greatest works of art known to mankind. I personally loved this about George and my other bass teachers. They taught me how to love being apart of such a wonderful event.
This one gets played in solo version and in George’s book it’s almost complete like this orchestra version. In my bass orchestra arrangement I put the remaining parts on it. (note: George also arranged it in the original key of A minor instead of G minor).
5:30 is where the elephant movement happens. This piece is such a wonderful creative journey if you know the whole composition and always doesn’t sound as good without the orchestra accompaniment. 16:41 is the swan movement which is also often played on bass (made famous by Gary Karr). Such a fun piece for all ages so it’s perfect to be a great part in George’s young bassists book.
George was excited to tell me that he thought it was great that he could put a real classical composition into the first vol. “it’s a great work of art that is easy enough for me to have it in the early books”. Here the arrangement goes different than the solo part in the Progressive books. However, my students definitely need to hear so many great versions of this masterwork. Adding the Mahler solo into the vol. 1 was also a great way to have students connect with the orchestral sound.