Strong Bass
We had a blast singing that Menotti choral ballet I told you about and the performance went well. Oh, yes, there was one botched bass entrance, but the audience clearly enjoyed themselves and laughed at all the jokes, proof that they were, one, paying attention, and two, understanding our diction.
I admire this work hugely. The story telling and dancing ought to make it accessible to almost anyone (yet tragically it is rarely performed). I do have a few quibbles with it; I think a few places are gratuitously difficult to sing because of changing meters; I find the story a bit too melodramatic, with its misunderstood artist on his deathbed surrounded by bourgeois blockheads. and musically, I think it suffers in places from weak baselines.
But what is a strong bass line, really? What characteristics make a bass line stronger or weaker? I have ideas, but I want to hear what others think. Please, please, leave a comment.
Labels: Choral, MusicTheory, Performance
Umie the Umlaut says, "ask your doctor about the Fredösphere!"
2 Comments:
A strong Bass line is a pleasing melody heard by it self with out giving total reference to I ii IV Vi V I progressions....
Alan
Ooh! ooh! I got this one! As a bass AND a composer, I will tell you that while it depends on the style of music, bad bass lines typically are predictable, unchanging, and always in root position. Or more contemporary varieties might suffer from bad voice writing in general: odd leaps without any preparation in other voices or instruments, awkward scansion, etc. To me, a good bass line will incorporate interesting chordal inversions, embrace syncopation, make use of the full range available, and function as a melody in its own right even as it supports the rest of the texture.
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