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sevenhelz at 12:36am on 01/11/2006 under learning journal
sevenhelz at 12:36am on 01/11/2006 under learning journalThis week started well. David was pleased with my playing, though disappointed in Concert Gallop. I performed it for grade 8 and it's hard going back and cringing at all the bits I still find difficult. D went through the second page particularly, saying I needed to put more energy in, up my dynamics and basically not be afraid of it. That motivated me, especially when I played it back louder and could hear my tone improving straight away. In practise that evening and on Tuesday I simply played louder, trying to relax physically and mentally and not worry about top notes. It works, not just for sound but to improve interpretation as well - I had played Peace less confidently in front of D than in private practise, and didn't reach the top notes, but when I looked at it later and stopped worrying about the top C, I could focus on phrasing and emotion in the rest of the piece.
With D I also worked on the cadenza in Concert Gallop. Again I didn't reach some of the top Gs. David suggested working through it by slurring and putting emphasis on the first note, then going through again with emphasis on the second note etc. This has helped a lot but I've also been thinking about something he's mentioned in passing once or twice - the corners of my mouth. No-one's ever explained this to me properly but when looking in a mirror I can see that (as D has mentioned) I'm stretching out like a smile to hit top notes. It gives me a bad, tight sound and more often than not I don't hit the note or it's horribly out of tune. D also pointed out that I tend to lift my lip off the mouthpiece to breathe in; this means I have to reset my embouchure every time and I'm slow coming back in, not to mention out of tune quite often. I should be opening the corners of my mouth to breathe, creating a space there for fresh air rather than under my mouthpiece. Since I've realised that the two problems are linked I've been working on removing the habits, and learning to feel how I'm doing things wrong as well as see and hear. Hopefully this will help in next week's lesson.
The performance lecture this week was on practise. We went through a lot of techniques like which section of the piece you play first - this is something D has already mentioned and to some extent I have done, but will think about some more. I've been playing my new study (no.15) in four sections, usually two a day for variation. What really struck me was the idea that we have six modules of equal value on the course; if I do a 36 hour week, I should be spending six hours on each module. Realistically I am going to be working more than that, and most musicians recognise that a major part of the work will be on performance, but perhaps I shouldn't worry so much if about how much playing I do. It's impressive that my lip is coping so well, with ensemble playing as well as the amount of practise I'm doing. I think I'm using less pressure than I used to, and despite the problems mentioned above I am putting more air through already which does help.
With D I also worked on the cadenza in Concert Gallop. Again I didn't reach some of the top Gs. David suggested working through it by slurring and putting emphasis on the first note, then going through again with emphasis on the second note etc. This has helped a lot but I've also been thinking about something he's mentioned in passing once or twice - the corners of my mouth. No-one's ever explained this to me properly but when looking in a mirror I can see that (as D has mentioned) I'm stretching out like a smile to hit top notes. It gives me a bad, tight sound and more often than not I don't hit the note or it's horribly out of tune. D also pointed out that I tend to lift my lip off the mouthpiece to breathe in; this means I have to reset my embouchure every time and I'm slow coming back in, not to mention out of tune quite often. I should be opening the corners of my mouth to breathe, creating a space there for fresh air rather than under my mouthpiece. Since I've realised that the two problems are linked I've been working on removing the habits, and learning to feel how I'm doing things wrong as well as see and hear. Hopefully this will help in next week's lesson.
The performance lecture this week was on practise. We went through a lot of techniques like which section of the piece you play first - this is something D has already mentioned and to some extent I have done, but will think about some more. I've been playing my new study (no.15) in four sections, usually two a day for variation. What really struck me was the idea that we have six modules of equal value on the course; if I do a 36 hour week, I should be spending six hours on each module. Realistically I am going to be working more than that, and most musicians recognise that a major part of the work will be on performance, but perhaps I shouldn't worry so much if about how much playing I do. It's impressive that my lip is coping so well, with ensemble playing as well as the amount of practise I'm doing. I think I'm using less pressure than I used to, and despite the problems mentioned above I am putting more air through already which does help.