Bass Playing

The Italian population have always been known as a passionate people, with a friendly and family oriented lifestyle. Some of this passionate outlook on life flows over to their musical tastes; both in listening and in playing. It could be argued that the bass guitar is one of the most passionate of musical instruments, with its low register and rhythmic functions giving it a sexuality and emotion all of its own. Bass playing is a popular activity in Italy, as it is in a lot of nations around the world. Italian musical tradition has often had a fascination for the lower ranges of the male voice spectrum, and now other bass instruments are becoming popular there as well. While the bass guitar may not have as many famous musicians as many other instruments, there are always those who are drawn to the low and physical side of the musical frequency spectrum.

Italy – like a lot of the nations in Europe, has to live with the challenges of translating a lot of the information that is released in the English speaking world into its own language. This applies to all sorts of information in all spheres of life, including music documents and publications. The Italian translation (Übersetzung Italienisch) of music literature and notation is absolutely crucial if the Italian musical community is to remain connected to and informed about what is going on in the rest of the world. There are so many nations in Europe that speak different languages, that translation often needs to take place between many languages at the same time. It would be very helpful to bass players from Italy to have access not just to English documents, but also to documents from other large population centres such as Spain. A lot of musical documentation gets published in Spain that could enrich the Italian musical landscape if it were translated and released effectively to the Italian people.

Italy has a rich musical past of its own, with a unique musical heritage that is sometimes not translated effectively outside of its national borders. The translation of English documents into Italian would certainly benefit Italian musicians; however the English translation (Englisch Übersetzung) of some Italian musical material could also be beneficial to musicians in the English speaking world. There is a rich tradition of opera and bass singing in Italy that is not always available to English speaking musicians. Music is a universal language that has similarities no matter where in the world you go. However in order for some authentic national musical traditions to cross pollinate with each other and give birth to new musical ideas, the translation of musical documentation across international borders is crucial.