Scott Worthington

bassist, composer, etc.

teaching

I am the Artist Teacher of Bass at the University of Redlands Conservatory of Music. At Redlands, I teach double bass and electric bass to all classical and jazz students as well as non-majors.

choosing audition rep

I encourage students at all levels and in all styles to perform music they feel confident playing and that shows their musicality off at its best. A mediocre performance of hard music is in no way better than a great performance of less difficult music. Below this is some free music on IMSLP for classical bassists, suggestions on what to play at a jazz audition, and some other classical sources for audition music.

IMSLP audition rep

All of this music is free to download via IMSLP. This list is in no particular order and has music at a variety of levels for students in different situations: performance majors, music ed majors, music minors, etc.

• Marcello Sonatas – particularly sonatas 2 and 3, originally for cello
• Vivaldi Sonatas – particularly sonatas 3 and 4, originally for cello
• Solitude by Rita Strohl – use the version for cello with a few octave adjustments
• Etudes and concert pieces by Franz Simandl
• Solo pieces by Serge Koussevitzky
• Solo pieces by Giovanni Bottesini – it's better to play solos such as Reverie, Concerto No. 1 or 2, Elegy, etc. than the duets or double concertos
• Après un rêve by Gabriel Fauré – under Sheet Music, click Arrangements and Transcriptions and find the one for double bass
• Three Pieces for Double Bass and Piano and Double Bass Sonata by Robert Fuchs
• Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns – both The Elephant (double bass part, movement 5) and The Swan (cello part, movement 13)
• Romance by Amy Beach – originally for violin, under Sheet Music, click Arrangements and Transcriptions and use the cello transcription

jazz audition rep

Any standard or bebop tune will work well, and good blues playing is always welcome. Be sure at least one of your choices swings. It's best to play the melody, walk or accompany in the appropriate style, and solo. If you're unsure about what songs are good choices, pianist Ethan Iverson has a list in this blog post of about 90 tunes that are kind of common practice standards. And any bop tune from a Parker, Gillespie, Monk, or Powell album would be great (those are just four artist examples almost at random). Fake Books (aka Real Books) will get you the basics of the melodies and chords, but be sure to get help from your teacher and listen to the masters play through the tunes to double check what the book says.

other classical rep

Barenreiter's Concert Pieces for Double Bass and Piano is an excellent collection of solo music that has some pieces in the lower positions and many that use the full range of the instrument. Oscar Zimmerman's Solos for the Double Bass Player is another excellent collection of solo pieces that are genearlly more advanced and use the full range. These two collections contain some of pieces in the IMSLP list above and there is a bit of overlap between them as well.

Publishers such as Recital Music, Liben Music, St. Francis Music Publications, the International Society of Bassists, and International Music Co. have large catalogs of double bass music for purchase. Most pieces have sample pages. YouTube can be a good resource if you want to listen first, though not all pieces will be available.