Last night’s rehearsal with the String Project was challenging, not least because it featured a batch of songs I haven’t played before with cello rather than bass parts. That means they are written at pitch rather than an octave above pitch so I have to constantly figure out where to play each note. That mental challenge, along with unfamiliar ledger lines below the stave, means I keep dropping back into reading the notes as if they were in the treble rather than bass clef, which is even less helpful. Oh, and the rhythms and pulse are often less than straightforward too.

What’s a poor little bass player to do? Answer: play along as best as possible and, today, get cracking on more music engraving (creating a neat looking score with lilypond). It is quite time consuming and definitely painstaking but at least it means that, by the time I have a bass score to play from, I know the overall structure of the song pretty well!