I am honored that bassist Joel Braun selected my piece BaDaBaDaDa for his presentation at the Texas Music Educators Association 2021 Convention. Joel will be presenting an excerpt, but also generously made this performance video of the full piece. I love the sense of lyricism and sensitivity of dynamics he brought to the work. Plus, I’m very grateful that he shared his thoughts on the technical aspects of the work.
In my presentation I’m giving it as an example of an intermediate level piece… so maybe a 4 or 5 out of 10 on a scale? Note-wise it’s not terribly difficult. The end of the first page and second page offer some challenges because it requires covering a little more space with the intervals in the longer lyrical lines. There are also intonation challenges since it leaves the bass so naked and there’s enough repetition that if it’s not the same for each time it’s very noticeable. Otherwise, most of the challenges are musical like you mentioned – dynamic contrasts, timing/tempo, etc. So I think an intermediate player could handle it but also be challenged and pushed musically.
