Waaaay back when I was studying Sociology, I was also taking guitar lessons. One day I went to my first symphony concert and fell in love with the double bass. It was love at first sight. It was so imposing, and the sound wrapped around everything.
Halfway through my degree I decided to audition for the conservatory to study it in parallel.
How hard could it be? HA!
The hard part wasn’t coordinating schedules. The hard part was the “no.” Mostly because of my age — I was already an adult, not a 7-year-old with innate talent. My classmates were 10 years younger than me. In the academic world, it felt like a mission impossible.
My teacher didn’t show much enthusiasm for explaining things to me — to put it nicely. His feedback was: “that’s not how it’s done, you need to practice more.” That’s it. No guidance on how to fix it. So I had to figure it out on my own.
But little by little, I moved forward.
And I found El Sistema — Venezuela’s national orchestra network, a parallel system to traditional academic music education where from day one you’re already playing in an orchestra. Even if it’s just open strings. Your age doesn’t matter. Your background doesn’t matter. Their motto says it all: “Play and Fight.”
For my sociologist brain, it clicked perfectly. Here, you didn’t have to be ready to play. You learned by playing.
I became a professional. I put my Sociology degree in a drawer and dedicated myself 100% to orchestras — and that’s been my life for 20 years.
The biggest lesson that journey gave me: everyone can do this. You just need consistency and the right approach.
That’s why Double Bass in the City exists.
Because what El Sistema and all those years of experience taught me shouldn’t stay with me alone. It should be in your inbox every Sunday.
