Hello!
maybe it's my perception, but the speed at which 2022 has passed is staggering!
A strange year, not always exciting but one that I want to remember for a small personal achievement, namely passing in early December the Grade 3 Pianoforte exam with Abrsm (grade 141/150, not bad for the first music exam of my life... me who was always terrified of playing in public 😅).
The goal now is 4th grade by summer and 5th grade in December. This at least is the plan, then clearly life will also decide... Conversely, this year I have never seen the sea and for me it is very serious, I will absolutely have to catch up!!!
Highlights of 2022
Before moving on, I also find it useful to take stock of what we have accomplished as a "firm," including how to move forward. I highlights OF 2022!
Some of the most significant activities I would really like to share with you, because it is precisely for our students near and far that we do them (and a large part of them are free), and maybe something that falls within your interests has escaped your notice:
- Music Plus Course
Completed the first 100 videos of the piano and complementary harmony course and opened the related free Youtube channel (you can find it here ==> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBTVSXtnvvHVLKWgszUYddg
- Contemporary Bassist Online
Well yes, we are recording videos of classes from 36-40 making the most of this vacation season... The biggest work will be editing, but having the footage is a very important first step.
- Certification Examination
We have published a playlist entirely dedicated to exam practice, where you too can test your preparation by playing along with Titian. Very useful! Here it is ==> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKURZlN0Aqc&list=PLnUiVmPrj9lJRgcopoJcZmRq_vxS1Q1hB
- Improvisation
Born a new series of free 4-handed videos entitled Impro Lab, with Alessio Alberghini on saxes and Tiziano on piano/bass, to provide ideas and materials for increasingly interesting and customized solos for all instruments (you can find them here, but we are planning more ==> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Qp0L9c6MZ8&list=PLnUiVmPrj9lKXNZK7aphUnDwFZXc7av1V )
- Wa-nsky Studio
With the arrival in January 2022 of our beloved baby grand piano, the Wa-nsky Studio, a center for the exchange of ideas and creation of original music, became fully operational... so many videos came out, I show you one in particular with the collaboration of Italian-American pianist Valerio Cantori (a version of "Minimized" for piano and double bass).
- Shaman Ritual
This is the title of the new show Tiziano is creating around 2 very special basses created for him by the luthier couple Marchesini/Terzi, precisely renamed Shaman Twins, and which we hope to bring live in 2023. Below you can listen to one of my favorite tracks...by the way, if you have any ideas of slightly alternative venues where to play it I'm all ears!
And so much more, including articles, videos dedicated to the double bass, videos featuring our students and new teaching materials with the intention of making musical practice more and more stimulating and creative. We hope we have succeeded, at least in part!!!
If you also want to retrace the main steps of the year we are saying goodbye to, analyzing its merits and shortcomings, I refer you to an article I had written last year and which in my opinion still remains very valid: http://www.bassistacontemporaneo.it/gioco-per-iniziare-anno-nuovo/.
My best wishes for 2023
We human beings tend to live a bit like fluttering leaves, a bit getting carried away by events and a bit constrained by the usual routines... But sometimes it takes very little to take back the reins and lead us a bit more toward where we want to be.
I think what is crucial here is not so much the great unrealistic purpose that lasts from night to morning, but precisely that little swerve about a situation that is not challenging and all in all easy to handle, but which step by step, however, makes us find ourselves the next year as different people, a little more responsible for our own destiny, a little more satisfied with ourselves.
Here, my wish for 2023 is just that.
To have the momentum to be able to make that very small decision you've been pondering for a long time, or to make that tiny change you've always put off even though you know it's perfectly within your grasp, and that at the end of the year will make you say, "Gee, I've been really good!"
A hug and Happy New Year from the bottom of my heart 🥂
ANNA
P.S.1 Once again, I greet you with the year-end promotion on online course enrollment.. From now until Dec. 31, 2022 at 11:59 p.m., you can take 20% off your monthly subscription to Contemporary Bassist Online (forever). Sign in from here ==> https://corso-online.bassistacontemporaneo.it/offers/MQuf5zQz/checkout and enter the code GOOD2023 in the Coupon field on the purchase page and then proceed as normal.
P.P.S.2 I remind you that if you are taking the online course and you would like clarification or supervision on an exercise, you can send me a video with your question and receive a video response from Titian. It works like this:
1) RECORD A VIDEO with your cell phone or tablet in which you expose your doubt, possibly helping yourself to the instrument. You can also perform an exercise, obviously trying not to exceed 5-10' maximum.
2) YOU SEND US this video by the deadline (clear that it will NOT be shared publicly).
3) RECEIVE A VIDEO recorded for you by Titian with his tablet in which he will directly answer your doubt or question, if necessary using the tool. This video may also be shared on our channels if of general interest.
How does that sound? The important thing is 1 video, NO email only or audio only. We have moved the deadline to Jan. 6, p.v., because I realized that many interested parties did not receive my previous email (my mistake!!). Let me know 🙂