Contrabass Conversations

279: Round Two with David Allen Moore


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When I got the podcast going again in 2015, I knew that I wanted to do "round two" interviews with past guests. Los Angeles Philharmonic bassist and USC Thornton School of Music professor David Allen Moore was at the top of my list.

I had David on the show back in 2009, which has been one of the most popular interviews from the first-generation podcast episodes (nearly 14,000 downloads at the moment).

A lot has changed for David since we last spoke:
  • He took a sabbatical and, after analyzing Edgar Meyer's technique, developed the concept of fractal fingerings.
  • He wrote a book on Fractal Fingerings.
  • He became an ultra-marathon runner.

Several of my former students have studied with David over the years.  When I asked them who had the biggest impact on them as a musician and as a person, David was the first person they mentioned.

I headed down to Los Angeles and we met up at his USC studio. Here's a shot of us along with bassists Fernando de la Fuente and Dan Carson (another former student of mine!).

We dig into all kinds of topics, including:

  • building an internal map
  • how bass pedagogy is still catching up to reality
  • analyzing Edgar Meyer's bass playing
  • the concept of framing
  • Rabbath's approach and the German bow
  • how practicing is a creative process
  • how running changed David's approach to various aspects of life
  • fractal fingering
  • peak performance
  • raising your floor as well as your ceiling
  • reveling in your successes

...and much more!

Links to check out:
  • David's previous podcast appearance
  • Videos on Musaic (New World Symphony's great service)
    • Bowing exercises for clear sound and articulation
    • Building a technical and musical foundation
    • Learning a new piece of music
    • Organizing practice habits and learning how to learn
  • Domaine Forget (David teaches there in the summer)
  • David's LA Phil page
  • David's USC page

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This episode is brought to you by D’Addario Strings! Check out their Zyex strings, which are synthetic core strings that produce an extremely warm, rich sound. Get the sound and feel of gut strings with more evenness, projection and stability than real gut.

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Contrabass ConversationsBy Jason Heath

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