Ethan Alexander's Blog (14)

Well, clearly when I say I'll try to be more active on the site, I clearly meant "See you guys in August!"

Well, my theatre gig winds on, opening night of Guys and Dolls tomorrow.

I've been playing the show unamplified on my upright, and today I'm going to jerry rig my Fishman pickup to work. I lost the clips to keep the pickup onto my bridge, but I figure with some felt, clothespins, and several finger crossings.

There is an older gentlemen playing one of the parts:… Continue

Well, hey. Long time no type type type. But I've been doing a lot of headwork today and avoiding doing any practicing whatsoever, so I'll catch up on my blogging.

My summer started about two weeks ago, and I ended my freshman year at the University of Colorado College of Music with an A- on my jury, and the highest seated freshmen in the symphony. My GPA was high enough for me to keep my academic scholarship, and I'll be returning in the fall to live with two of my best friends from thi… Continue

i have no recovered from halloween, so i feel a bit more capable of blogging responcibly. in orchestra, we're working on brahms 2. it is probably my new favorite symphony, and brahms has held a spot in my heart for his "ein deutsch requiem" for a bit, so now i am pretty much enamored by him. i'm having so many problems in the practicing department lately, but i'm doing my best to try to fix that. i've programmed practice time into my schedule, which i am finally keeping track of in a handy lit… Continue

hey kids. got my internship at bleemusic, and have been learning a lot about the business end of the pop music industry. i suggest you all check out the colorado based band paper bird. they are a sort of folk outfit that i am enamored with and represent. http://www.myspace.com/paperbirdband i'd have more to say, but today is the day after halloween, and i'm a college student. i have, uh, other things to do. Continue

A long blog post- Current rep being worked on; Vivaldi #1 Bach- Allemande from cello suite #2 Etudes being rendered; Montanari Sturm The teacher at CU has all of his students work through the same rep at the beggining- me and the other new bass students are all working on the Vivaldi, and hopefully finishing it soon to work on newer pieces. I am going to have an interview soon to add a BME to my BM degree. Wish me luck, I'll have a f-ckload of word to do. Pardon my vulgarity. I applied for… Continue

i am finally settled into my dorm (which resembles what i can only imagine a post-tornade motor home looks like once the debris has been burned to the ground and thrown into a dumpster...), made some musician-y friends, had a few dates with a nice boy, and went to my first symphony rehearsal. :deep inhale: my first studio class was on saturday, just an official get together than dr. erhard organized to go over the audition music. we just ran the pieces as a group, and dr. erhard gave us some s… Continue

i love playing chamber music. i've never especially wanted to try to forge a career as a soloist in the string community. i'd much rather be in an ensemble, whether it be a full scale orchestra to a duo. unfortunately, i play the World's Most Inconvenient Instrument. (my bass is less than five feet from me, i hope it can't read keystrokes. he'd be pretty pissed that i'm talking sh*t about his kind.) other than the size of the instrument, the most inconvenient part of it is the lack of literat… Continue

my books came in the mail today (a shout out to Woodbridge Books and Music, LLC for selling high quality inexpensive used books! www.manwithamission.com) so i started going over the brahms and mahler. the mahler solo is excruciatingly easy, so i've been youtubing various orchestras and watching how the principal bass players handle fingering, bowing, all that good stuff. as long as i get my intonation perfect and do a fresh take on the romance of the solo (and by romance, i mean frere jaques va… Continue

i am a terrible musician, it feels. i haven't practiced this summer save for a couple bursts, and i am about to be a full time performance major. i am so worried that i am not cut out for music college and that i will be miserable and drink myself to failure. i am terrified to leave, also. i am moving from the middle of nowhere in maryland to boulder, colorado, over 1500 miles away from my family and the life i know. i am ending things with the boy i've been dating for over a year (which, for a… Continue

So far, I've only had a few rehearsals with the pit orchestra I'm involved with for a local production of Suessical the Musical. First off; the music is fun and nonstop. I'm actually having a rather spectacular time. The other musicians are respectable and actually PRACTICE, which is a refreshing change from the pit musicians I am used to working with. My musical director is experienced and a very sweet lady. She's an elementary music school teacher (and it shows in her mannerisms) but is so m… Continue

i had my senior recital on sunday. all in all, it ran alright. i definitely had some shaky moments intonation-wise, and i had a few moment where, out of nerves, i would shift upwards and have a real clusterf**k of a finger placement, particularly moving into base thumb position on my g string. but, c'est la vie. tonight i sat down with the chart for seussical and some etude and method books. the seussical chart is comically long. over a hundred pages, even in the sloppy rehear-score format. w… Continue

i am going to play my first full solo program in about a month. i am pooping my pants, it is so scary. (i have an incredibly filfthy sailor mouth. i am watching it so much on this. why? i don't know. i feel like y'alls are colleagues, so i'm keeping it remotely professional.) Sonata in G- Willem de Fesch (1687 – 1761) 1- Prelude 2- Allemande 3- Sarabande 4- Minuet Harlequin Concerto- Armand Russell (1932) 2- Romance Goodbye Porkpie Hat- Charles Mingus (1922-1979) with Chad Will, guitar Kol… Continue

i have done pit for my high school's musicals since freshman year. that being said, i have only done one show that was really fun to play. if you ever get the chance to play little shop of horrors, do it. you will have fun, and it will be awesome. needless to say, i play electric bass for those shows. this year, for my final musical, we're doing back to the 80's. and i'm actually having a good time. the best part (musically, anyway) of playing in a pit band / orchestra is having to work as… Continue

i read about this in strings mag today, and decided to start my presence. i'll save this blog for music related stuff. i'm an outgoing senior in highschool going to CU Boulder College of Music in the fall to play some serious bass and reach enlightenment. that's all for now. Continue