On Wednesday night I arrived at orchestra rehearsal late. The group was already in the midst of going through Tchaikovsky's String Serenade (in C Major, Op. 48). My double bass had been unpacked and tuned. The music had already been placed on my stand--it had my own pencil markings from the last time I played it with the group. If I recall correctly, back in high school each of the three orchestra groups I was playing with chose the piece so I had about six months of playing it straight. But now it has been a few years. Getting back into a piece is different than picking up a bike again or getting behind the wheel of a car. The fingers remember that run of eighth notes, that grand pause, and that cue, but the notes being produced don't necessarily sound right.
The problem was that my G-string (no jokes, please) seemed horribly out of tune. Every time I played on it was just wrong sounding. I tapped the seams of my bass in case any had opened but none had. So you grin and bear it, and hope no one notices. Especially those cello players--they always want to pin wrong notes on the bass section. After the rehearsal I played some passages alone and the notes all sounded fine. I'm going to blame the young bass player next to me. He sat down a lot during the rehearsal which is a sure sign he's a bad egg. And I hear he is the ringleader of a fencing club. Yes, it was definitely him.
