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sevenhelz at 05:38pm on 27/01/2007 under learning journal
sevenhelz at 05:38pm on 27/01/2007 under learning journalNo lesson with D again. It being reading week, I spent some time frantically working on an essay, then realised I had missed some practise and had to get my lip back in. The first day, after nearly an hour of exercises my lip was very tired. I came back to it in the evening though, and I was fine. I've been doing an hour to two hours since and sound pretty good again.
I think my euph could do with a bit of cleaning, maybe the valves and slides and not particularly the main body. I stuck a pull-through down the mouthpiece tube and found a surprising amount of fluff such as my towels give off. That could explain my fluffy tone, budum-tish.
Looking back through my jearning journal, and at the exercises I've been doing, I can actually see progress - hurrah! For instance, on pages 42/3 of the Arban there are lip flexibilities which I've worked on fairly regularly. At first I couldn't manage to play semiquaver lip slurs any faster than crotchet=60; I have a note saying 69-72, which I wrote when I got stuck trying to hit 80; now I can quite easily play the normal semis at 80, and I'm trying to work the sextuplet semiquavers up to that speed. I now have a note saying 69-72 above them, which is pretty fast.
I still have that chin wobble to sort out - it's much less noticeable, but it's linked to the lip flexibilities in a way because if I do it, I have no chance of playing the sextuplets even at 60. If my chin wobbles, I don't get a direct sound; it's a bit like glissandoing onto the note, checking that you know where it is before committing to it, and I must stop.
In general, my embouchure is much more secure than it used to be - no pulling sideways, and generally a good sound. I can still tweak it, opening a little more on high notes for a better tone for instance, and I should eventually be able to do that all the time without thinking about it. I'm still playing the "boring" exercises, and still feeling the benefit in my breathing and tone - also I no longer get dizzy, which can only be a good thing.
Once again this week I spent some time with a pianist going through Andante et Allegro. My bass clef reading is now quite fast, though by no means perfect. I'm still effectively transposing, but I'm starting to be able to just read it as the note I need to play, which is encouraging.
I also have an opportunity to play with an adult band again; Grangemoor have just moved up to first section, and they'd be happy for me to play pretty much any position on the euph/bari line. They rehearse Sundays and Wednesdays, which is not ideal, but they are friendly. I've signed up to play for the regionals contest.
I think my euph could do with a bit of cleaning, maybe the valves and slides and not particularly the main body. I stuck a pull-through down the mouthpiece tube and found a surprising amount of fluff such as my towels give off. That could explain my fluffy tone, budum-tish.
Looking back through my jearning journal, and at the exercises I've been doing, I can actually see progress - hurrah! For instance, on pages 42/3 of the Arban there are lip flexibilities which I've worked on fairly regularly. At first I couldn't manage to play semiquaver lip slurs any faster than crotchet=60; I have a note saying 69-72, which I wrote when I got stuck trying to hit 80; now I can quite easily play the normal semis at 80, and I'm trying to work the sextuplet semiquavers up to that speed. I now have a note saying 69-72 above them, which is pretty fast.
I still have that chin wobble to sort out - it's much less noticeable, but it's linked to the lip flexibilities in a way because if I do it, I have no chance of playing the sextuplets even at 60. If my chin wobbles, I don't get a direct sound; it's a bit like glissandoing onto the note, checking that you know where it is before committing to it, and I must stop.
In general, my embouchure is much more secure than it used to be - no pulling sideways, and generally a good sound. I can still tweak it, opening a little more on high notes for a better tone for instance, and I should eventually be able to do that all the time without thinking about it. I'm still playing the "boring" exercises, and still feeling the benefit in my breathing and tone - also I no longer get dizzy, which can only be a good thing.
Once again this week I spent some time with a pianist going through Andante et Allegro. My bass clef reading is now quite fast, though by no means perfect. I'm still effectively transposing, but I'm starting to be able to just read it as the note I need to play, which is encouraging.
I also have an opportunity to play with an adult band again; Grangemoor have just moved up to first section, and they'd be happy for me to play pretty much any position on the euph/bari line. They rehearse Sundays and Wednesdays, which is not ideal, but they are friendly. I've signed up to play for the regionals contest.