David Heyes: Scaling the Heights | 24 Scale Studies for the Progressing Double Bassist

Origin Story  I enjoy writing music for my students and many friends and Susan Hagen has been an amazing friend and supporter, as soloist and commissioner. The most recent commission from Susan is Scaling the Heights. The brief was for music that moved into and out of thumb position, always challenging for young bassists, and I realized that a short piece in each major and minor key would be the right approach - 24 pieces in all. I started with C major and went through all the sharp keys, then the flat keys ending with D minor, my favorite key. About the Studies I included musical as well as technical challenges and some of the pieces can be played on one string, or across two strings if you remain in thumb position. Each study is in a different style and finding the titles was often a greater challenge than writing the music but hopefully, the titles are accessible and effective, As I composed the set I realized that I was to write happy music for the major keys and sad music for the