A word about Bass Bites
By Renata Soares Cáceres, producer and creator of Bass Bites
The idea for Bass Bites came from a collaboration with Dr. Stephen Fairbanks, professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where I pursued my DMA.
In 2021, Dr. Fairbanks, a group of upcoming string pedagogues, and I presented a PechaKucha-style session at the Illinois Music Educators Conference and at ASTA National Conference, called “String Pedagogy Express: A pecha kucha medley”. A PechaKucha is a fast-paced presentation, of about five to six minutes, in which the slides change automatically and the presenter needs to match their talk to the automated slides. My role in this PechaKucha was to present two segments on double bass pedagogy: a short double bass history, that explained similarities and differences of the double bass in relation to the other string instruments and their implications to double bass pedagogy, followed by a hands on presentation in which I demonstrated several aspects of bass teaching and playing for string teachers.
After this, an idea was born to create two-minute videos on double bass pedagogy for string teachers. Something that wouldn’t take too much of their time to watch and that would give them enough information to understand the basic concepts of double bass playing. This idea have been in the back of my mind since then.
In 2022, I did a solo presentation at ASTA National Conference, in Atlanta, for a standing room only audience. “The Elephant in the Room: Addressing the Double Bass in the String Classroom” was an expansion of the ideas presented in the PechaKucha in the previous year, and showed me how much space there is for more materials regarding double bass pedagogy.
Also in 2022, I came up with the name, “Bass Bites – Bite-sized Double Bass Instruction”, but only in the summer of 2023 I was able to actively start working on this project. In August, I sent my first few videos to a few selected people for feedback. With a very busy fall in 2023, I had to push the launching of Bass Bites to the spring 2024. And it’s finally here!
Bass Bites is 100% developed and produced by me, from the video content, recording and editing, to the website. The content of the videos is fully based on my personal experience as a double bass teacher and my personal teaching style. The ideas contained here are not unanimous in the double bass community, but are my personal way of explaining how the double bass works.
About Me
Originally from Brazil, Dr. Renata Soares Cáceres has worked, performed, and studied in the US since 2013. Having started as an electric bassist at the age of 11, Renata is familiar with many different settings of music ensembles, in both classical and popular styles. She holds a Master’s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi, where she studied double bass with the virtuoso double bassist Marcos Machado and jazz with Larry Panella; an Artist Diploma Certificate from Texas Christian University, with Yuan Xiong Lu; and a DMA degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she studied with Michael Cameron. With extensive experience in teaching double bass for all ages in the American school system, Renata has developed a passion for teaching. She has worked at the El Sistema USA program B Sharp Youth Music, in Fort Worth, TX, and at the Illinois String Academy at UIUC, in Illinois. She is regularly involved with festivals in the United States, like Illinois Chamber Music Festival, International Society of Bassists’ Young Bassists Program, and the Chicago Bass Festival, and teaches masterclasses in Brazil periodically. She has participated as a clinician at the ASTA National Conference (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), the Illinois Music Educators Conference (2021, 2022), the International Society of Bassists’ Convention (2021, 2023), the Chicago Bass Festival (2022, 2024), and the Paul Rolland Pedagogy Workshop (2022, 2023), among others. Renata is fully certified in Paul Rolland’s String Pedagogy, and currently works alongside the Paul Rolland Society developing further materials for double bass teaching based on Paul Rolland’s pedagogy. She is the adjunct professor of double bass at Illinois Wesleyan University and has a private studio in Urbana-Champaign.
To learn more about me: https://www.renatacaceres.com