This is going to be an intentionally short post. I had an epiphany the other day while working with my best student. For the first several years of his playing, we focused on getting the right notes. Now that he has the basic fuctionality of the horn down, I now have to get him out of the mindset of "the right notes." Sometimes, you can tell that he's focusing so intently on the right notes that musicality takes a back seat.
When I work with him, and also in my own practice sessions, I have definitely found that, if I work for musicality and for the ability to repeat something (articulations, dynamics, inflection, etc.) then the right notes generally take care of themselves. However, if we focus on only the right notes, the performance sounds miserable.
This may be one of those "no duh!" type posts, but I believe that all too often, we're so fixated on the right notes that we do leave other, more important things out. As long as the fundamentals are down, musicality should obviously be a priority.
Just a short thought.
Playing with the Richmond Symphony
After 3 years of struggling and fighting every day to rebuild my face, I decided last fall (2009) to send my resume to a few area orchestras. Fortunately, I must have sent it at just the right time. Within 2 days of sending it out, the personnel manager at the Richmond Symphony called and asked if I could sub on a pops concert. I was ecstatic! I was also terrified beyond belief. I have played with pro orchestras in the past, so it wasn't a complete shock, but I haven't dared play in a group like this since my chops broke. Fortunately, given that it was a pops concert, there wasn't near as much pressure. Of course, I still had to go get a massage because I was so tied up in knots over it!
So, I went to the first rehearsal. My first impressions - MAN this orchestra is young! The vast majority of this orchestra was below 40. Many of the players were below 30. The conductor, Erin Freeman, is a pretty well known conductor and a great one at that. She was very efficient at running the rehearsals and managed to pull out every bit of musicality from the Harry Potter Suite and The Composer Is Dead. The pieces weren't difficult, but there was plenty of exposed horn stuff. The principal, Rachel, is a GREAT player. She's young and has seemingly invincible chops. The guy playing second, Kelly, is another great horn player who plays in one of the service bands in DC (he's also the guy who sold me the Kuhn pipe that I now use on my horn). The guy playing forth, Matt, another service band guy from the Norfolk area did a great job carrying 4th.
The job was not that challenging and ultimately, I played fine. Of course, the proof isn't in whether I can actually play the gig, but whether I can get a call-back. Well...fortunately, the call back came. (Thanks Rachel! You rock!) I got the call to come play 2nd on the Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet Ballet with the RSO and the Richmond Ballet. The show is 3 hours of solid playing with 9 total services. The first day was a single rehearsal. The second through 4th days had 2 services each.
The piece isn't terribly difficult, but it's highly romantic in harmony, melody and rhythm. The conductor is a very nice guy, but very difficult to follow. It's hard to tell where the downbeats are as well as what pattern is being conducted. However, he is very consistent, so I've gotten used to it after a few rehearsals. Sadly, I've made my fair share of mistakes in these shows, most of which have been counting (which I partly blame on the difficult-to-follow beats and partly accept for loss of concentration). However, I'm playing the parts fine. Tuning is working out well, blend is good and balance is great. Rachel is again playing principal and leading the section well. She's quite easy to follow.
On top of the wonderful experience, I must say that everyone that I've met and talked to while here both for this most recent concert and the previous concert have been wonderful! There doesn't seem to be an over-inflated ego in the bunch. They're great musicians and genuinely kind and funny people. I could see myself with a group like this!
The good news is that there's a vacancy and there's an audition coming up in just a couple months. I haven't decided if I'm going to audition or not. While the spot would be a dream come true, there's no way I could replace my existing job with the symphony job - not if I want to keep my house and my car. The pay is great, don't get me wrong. If I were a few years younger and hadn't gotten used to the wonderful pay of the government contracting world, I wouldn't hesitate. On top of that, there are some great players auditioning for that spot too. I simply wouldn't stack up to them. However, my yearly goal is to audition successfully - perhaps I need to try, despite my hesitations.
At least for the foreseeable future, I hope to get more call backs and continue to sub with this great orchestra.
So, I went to the first rehearsal. My first impressions - MAN this orchestra is young! The vast majority of this orchestra was below 40. Many of the players were below 30. The conductor, Erin Freeman, is a pretty well known conductor and a great one at that. She was very efficient at running the rehearsals and managed to pull out every bit of musicality from the Harry Potter Suite and The Composer Is Dead. The pieces weren't difficult, but there was plenty of exposed horn stuff. The principal, Rachel, is a GREAT player. She's young and has seemingly invincible chops. The guy playing second, Kelly, is another great horn player who plays in one of the service bands in DC (he's also the guy who sold me the Kuhn pipe that I now use on my horn). The guy playing forth, Matt, another service band guy from the Norfolk area did a great job carrying 4th.
The job was not that challenging and ultimately, I played fine. Of course, the proof isn't in whether I can actually play the gig, but whether I can get a call-back. Well...fortunately, the call back came. (Thanks Rachel! You rock!) I got the call to come play 2nd on the Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet Ballet with the RSO and the Richmond Ballet. The show is 3 hours of solid playing with 9 total services. The first day was a single rehearsal. The second through 4th days had 2 services each.
The piece isn't terribly difficult, but it's highly romantic in harmony, melody and rhythm. The conductor is a very nice guy, but very difficult to follow. It's hard to tell where the downbeats are as well as what pattern is being conducted. However, he is very consistent, so I've gotten used to it after a few rehearsals. Sadly, I've made my fair share of mistakes in these shows, most of which have been counting (which I partly blame on the difficult-to-follow beats and partly accept for loss of concentration). However, I'm playing the parts fine. Tuning is working out well, blend is good and balance is great. Rachel is again playing principal and leading the section well. She's quite easy to follow.
On top of the wonderful experience, I must say that everyone that I've met and talked to while here both for this most recent concert and the previous concert have been wonderful! There doesn't seem to be an over-inflated ego in the bunch. They're great musicians and genuinely kind and funny people. I could see myself with a group like this!
The good news is that there's a vacancy and there's an audition coming up in just a couple months. I haven't decided if I'm going to audition or not. While the spot would be a dream come true, there's no way I could replace my existing job with the symphony job - not if I want to keep my house and my car. The pay is great, don't get me wrong. If I were a few years younger and hadn't gotten used to the wonderful pay of the government contracting world, I wouldn't hesitate. On top of that, there are some great players auditioning for that spot too. I simply wouldn't stack up to them. However, my yearly goal is to audition successfully - perhaps I need to try, despite my hesitations.
At least for the foreseeable future, I hope to get more call backs and continue to sub with this great orchestra.
Goals and practicing
Like most musicians, I find there are few kinds of practice sessions. Meaningful sessions where I work hard an achieve something; Chop-exercise sessions where I don't really focus on anything in particular but at least register some face time; Chop-wasting sessions where I don't accomplish anything except angering my chops. Compounding that fact is the fact that I'm horribly ADD. In fact, within the first 3 sentences of this blog, my mind has wandered to at least 4 different, non-related subjects. ARGH
So, I need a way to not only ensure that more of my practice sessions are Meaningful Sessions but to also keep my attention focused throughout the practice session. To do this, I whip out my trusty white board. It's a nice looking board which encourages me to keep it out in the open. On the board, I highlight 4 goals.
I try to focus on a broad concept, not something as specific as "play high C." Instead, for example, this year's goal is "Audition Successfully." Of course, the word "successfully" has many meanings in this context. It doesn't necessarily mean WIN an audition; just accomplish something. If that means making it into a 2nd or 3rd round, or even getting over the fear of preparing for an audition and showing up, prepared then that's fine. However, If I focus well throughout the year, accomplishing this yearly goal should be no problem.
Monthly Goal -
Similar to the yearly goal, the monthly goal is a broad, less-specific goal that encourages me to work a great deal towards a collection of accomplishments. In general, it may be a tad more specific than the yearly goal, but is still not focused on a single accomplishment such as "practice fortissimos." My monthly goal this time around is to prepare the Franz Strauss Concerto and acquire the orchestral parts. My hopes are that I can tie this goal to my larger, yearly goal and audition with a local community type orchestra (of which there is NO shortage in this area) to play as a solo on a concert.
Weekly Goal -
This is where things start to get more specific. In general, I try to focus my weekly goals on accomplishments that are ultimately in support of my Monthly and Yearly goals. Also, I'll list a few goals in the weekly section. These are all goals that are achievable. It doesn't make any sense for me to put goals that I could never achieve in a week. Saying "work on your cold high Ds" is useless as a weekly goal. A few weekly goals that I've listed recently have been:
Obviously, these goals get far more specific. Daily goals are what I truly hope to accomplish in that practice session. They are goals that start with "Work on," "practice," "focus on," etc. For example:
So, I need a way to not only ensure that more of my practice sessions are Meaningful Sessions but to also keep my attention focused throughout the practice session. To do this, I whip out my trusty white board. It's a nice looking board which encourages me to keep it out in the open. On the board, I highlight 4 goals.
- Yearly goal
- Monthly goal
- Weekly goal
- Today's goal
I try to focus on a broad concept, not something as specific as "play high C." Instead, for example, this year's goal is "Audition Successfully." Of course, the word "successfully" has many meanings in this context. It doesn't necessarily mean WIN an audition; just accomplish something. If that means making it into a 2nd or 3rd round, or even getting over the fear of preparing for an audition and showing up, prepared then that's fine. However, If I focus well throughout the year, accomplishing this yearly goal should be no problem.
Monthly Goal -
Similar to the yearly goal, the monthly goal is a broad, less-specific goal that encourages me to work a great deal towards a collection of accomplishments. In general, it may be a tad more specific than the yearly goal, but is still not focused on a single accomplishment such as "practice fortissimos." My monthly goal this time around is to prepare the Franz Strauss Concerto and acquire the orchestral parts. My hopes are that I can tie this goal to my larger, yearly goal and audition with a local community type orchestra (of which there is NO shortage in this area) to play as a solo on a concert.
Weekly Goal -
This is where things start to get more specific. In general, I try to focus my weekly goals on accomplishments that are ultimately in support of my Monthly and Yearly goals. Also, I'll list a few goals in the weekly section. These are all goals that are achievable. It doesn't make any sense for me to put goals that I could never achieve in a week. Saying "work on your cold high Ds" is useless as a weekly goal. A few weekly goals that I've listed recently have been:
- 3 octave lip slurs
- Expand FF and PP
- Improve staccatos
- Brahms 3 excerpt
Obviously, these goals get far more specific. Daily goals are what I truly hope to accomplish in that practice session. They are goals that start with "Work on," "practice," "focus on," etc. For example:
- Work on Bb to F slur in Brahms 3
- Focus on rhythm in Tchaik 5
- Work on 3 and 4 octave arpeggios
- Practice Fearn exercise #2
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