Taught by renowned double bass player
Nina Bernat
In this course, virtuoso double bassist Nina Bernat leads us through her way of approaching playing the Bach Cello Suites on the Double Bass, with the crown jewel Sixth Suite BWV 1012. In this course, Nina uses each movement to address her musical and technical solutions to the seemingly unsurmountable task of performing this suite on the bass.
I. Prélude
The prelude of this suite presents us with a number of challenges, and Nina breaks down her solutions to these. Topics include methods for creating variety and contrast in rhythmically monotonous passages; the influence of harmony on phrasing; and the usefulness of different articulations for effective storytelling.
II. Allemande
In the Allemande, Nina takes a closer look at the fragility of time and pacing of interpretation. The extremely long bars of this movement provide us with an opportunity to express ourselves freely between the pulse of the harmonic pillars of the strong beats. Nina shows us how to keep this slow movement dance-like, and explains her creative process for arriving at this fantastic interpretation.
III. Courante
As with many of the Bach Suites, the Courantes present us with many technical challenges, especially related to velocity. Nina Bernat examines this movement with a music-first approach, giving us a pathway to learning this music in a more accessible way, giving practice advice, and also a focus on varied articulations.
IV. Sarabande
For the Sarabandes, Nina describes the dance form and how we can bring that feeling into our bass playing. There is also a great discussion on intonation, and how we can better control our intonation, especially in the many chords contained in this movement.
V. Gavotte I & II
The Gavottes of this suite are perhaps the most jolly part of this work. They also present us with a lot of choices to make as bass players - especially in how to deal with all the chords that aren't quite as easy to execute on a fourths-tuned bass as they would be on a cello in fifths, or even a five-stringed instrument that the suite was originally written for.
VI. Gigue
In the Gigue of the sixth suite, we are presented with some of the most challegning passages of the entire suite. Most of this lesson focuses on practice strategies for dealing with these incredibly difficult double-stops - what to do with your fingers, how to train finger independance, and more.
Transcription Choices for Bach on Bass
This brief lesson provides an insight to how Nina approaches playing Bach on the bass - her concept of what a transcription is; how to find inspiration; and how to make decisions about the technical realities of transcribing this music for bass from the original for cello. The ideas here are applicable to the entire series of cello suites, and transriptions in general!
Click here to download the course workbook PDF and see the full syllabus →Click below to access hundreds of exclusive cello courses, available only on tonebase.
Unlock Course →Without a doubt one of the most exciting bassists of our time, Nina Bernat has forged a path as a virtuoso bass soloist and is renowned across generations and instruments as a leading interpreter of Bach on the bass.
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