and the wind joined me

did warmup
A flat business
Peter and the Wolf, with the mute, very fun, also the stomping part. The grace notes are very difficult as many are more than an octave below the actual note. I need to ask Rick if I should try to play these or not.
Did very nicely on the bottom of Petite Waltz
and, very pleased with the Berlioz. I am doing the fourth movement and have to ask Jack if that is the only movement we are doing.
I stopped at measure 154, almost done, but my mind was getting tired.

CHOPS HELD OUT THOUGH FOR THE WHOLE HOUR!

While I was practicing, the wind blew up, and suddenly there was another musician joining me, the wind vibrating around the bottom edge of the window. Startling, almost eery, but then it made me smile.

BPU Day 12 intent

When I was in college, I hung out a lot with Arabs. There is not a difference between "b" and "p" in Arabic, and they would sometimes confuse the sounds in speech - maybe like calling a puppy a bubby (I can't remember any specific examples; that was so long ago). The moral of the story, though, is that I made fun of my friends when they did this (we were very good friends), and my karmic result is that I often confuse "b" and "p" on the keyboard. Hence, typing BPU sometimes takes me multiple tries before I get it right.

I want to go for my full hour tonight, but I will relent if my chops start to die. I was extremely otherwise engaged today (my class, lunch out for a colleague who is retiring, a sight singing lesson, plus ... oh, I MADE AN OFFER TO BUY A HOUSE). So, I am trying to put the whole practice in one session.

Goal:

• Warmup
• A flat major scales (notice the pattern here?)
  
• Peter and the Wolf (to cement what I learned last night and to work with the mute a bit; my first real experience with the mute)
  
• Petite Waltz bottom part
• Berlioz
  

Broke my hour

Well, I gave myself 10 minutes for student symphony and that estimate is likely low, since I warmed up and played a LITTLE, at least, in the hour the brass was there. It will be a very fun piece and the trombone does get to do a little low stomping around - so I need to be sure to practice this little bit.

Then I came home and practiced for 17 minutes - ha! - for a total of at least 1 hour and 2 minutes. Broke through and right past the hour.

I told myself - just play around, play what you want to play, so I played Red River Valley and worked on a scale exercise ... and now I am contented and made my goal.

I am a fiend!

35 minutes!

did warmup, G major 2 octaves w/vibrato, then worked on Peter and the Wolf since I have rehearsal for that tonight (student symphony), then the Beeler Allegreto bottom line.

1 hour & 18 minutes total, for BPU Day 10

oh-hoh ... I so made it through all of my goals, the Hexenritt, Mahler, into the Beeler exercise ... and thought I was going to make my hour and a half goal. But, my mouth got crabby at the end and I decided to LISTEN to it - or listen to what my mouth was telling me, to STOP. But that was a solid 48 minutes of practicing.

What a great weekend of practice. For tomorrow, as a placeholder because I will be racing home at lunchtime, I want to:

• Warmup
• Key of G major two octaves & vibrato
• Beeler Allegreto
• Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique 4th movement

I am sure that will be my limit due to time.

Off to see Mr. Squirmo the cat upstairs.

witches ride!

As practice motivation, I am listening to YouTubes of Christian Lindberg and Joe Alessi - my, oh my.

Goal tonight:

• Warm up
• Hexenritt - play through what I worked on earlier today, and work through the rest
• Mahler 3rd Movement
  
• Beeler bottom line of Allegretto duet
  
• If I make it that far ... Hexenritt might do me in!

I want to do at least 40 minutes.

Then, I still need to study some more and pay a visit to Squirmo the cat, upstairs.

G flat

40 minutes! Once I got to Hexenritt, the chops work-out calmed down as I had to really work at getting the rhythm (which is actually quite nice and exciting sounding), and interpret the tenor clef. My chops definitely had a workout, though - I think they need a good 6-hour rest now.

My accomplishments in my 40 minutes:

Warmup. I think if I play up to my desired 1 1/2 hours on weekends, 1 hour on weekdays, I will make faster progress on getting my high notes. Also did G flat scale, 2 octaves, vibrato practice on the scale.

Petite Waltz top part. Worked quite a bit on this, finished by playing it through and circling the parts that I need to work on.

Hexenritt. Just made it through the first two and a half lines, but it is an important part and I worked hard on it. When I come back, I need to start with this.

Now, off to study and clean house ... it is raining dreadfully, which is keeping me in.

Testing those chops

Goal:

• Warmup
  
• Top line of Petite Waltz
• Hexenritt
• Beeler - Bottom line of Allegreto piece

Since my chops were good for about 35 minutes yesterday at a shot, let's time and see if I can go at least 35 minutes straight.

Practice 3 - 5 more minutes for a total of 1 hour, 9 minutes

I tried to work on the Petite Waltz but my chops are done in today. So, I did not make my goal for an hour and a half but not for lack of trying. There is no point in trashing my mouth trying to achieve an artificial goal.

Carey asked me what I had learned from my practice today:

• I learned that I have about an hour and five minutes of chops in me right now
• I learned that were I to actually have an hour and a half of actual "face time" (as we brassy types like to call it) every day I think I would make tremendous progress
• Having very focused intent, both on exactly what I am working on, and on the time frame makes for a very good practice

It was really a good practice day, and I got some good studying done, and I got in a good walk and did a bunch of errands, and I cleaned house and did laundry, and I am going to a party tonight! What more could a person ask for!

Day 9 practice 2 - 35 minutes

Oh, this timing is very interesting. I actually get a lot less done in terms of pieces I work on than I would have expected.

Carey was telling me her strategy for studying: set a goal of x minutes - say, 15 or 30, study in a very focused fashion, then allow herself to bounce around. So that is what I am doing here with the practice.

I ran through the top line of the Allegretto piece again, still needs some work, then finished out the Hansel & Gretel Prelude, than played it again in tenor clef. Finished this session with work on the top line of the Petite Waltz duet. Oh, and began the whole session with just a B flat scale for warmup, a bunch of times.

Now, off for a venture into the world to do all kinds of errands, plus get me a cappucino, methinks.

29 minutes

I warmed up and worked on the Beeler Allegreto top part and 29 minutes into it started having trouble getting what I wanted. STOP. Embouchure needs a rest. This timing is going to prove quite educational.

It is also interesting in that it makes me realize how much I am jumping up to race off and do other things while I am "practicing." Cleaning my slide - I made myself do it before I started, as I knew as soon as I started playing it would bug me and then that would eat into my practice time. I had a stray thought while playing that I needed to email Roger about Billy from San Francisco - made myself jot a note rather than jump up and send the email. Had a stray thought that now that I have the Zeno slide back I need to restart on the Blume F-attachment exercises (this and the email about Billy are related in the nether reaches of my brain as Billy is the one that told me that I need to be using that trigger) ... but I made myself stay focused on the exercise at hand.

Hmmmmmm.

Good ol' Engelbert

I just cleaned my slide and oh, it is so beautiful and so smooth. I have a Yamaha Zeno 620 and it is one fine instrument, let me tell you. And the work that the Slide Dr. did on my slide - oh, it is a joy to play now.

I'm going to rotate exercises with symphony pieces. Beeler - work on 4 exercises until my next lesson, rotate those or the duet pieces with symphony pieces. This morning, my goal is:

• Warm up
• Beeler Allegretto duet, top part
• Hansel and Gretel, picking up from where I left off
• If I get through Hansel and Gretel, Petite Waltz top part

I will time myself. Oh, I am listening to Wynton Marsalis and I have to turn that off now to play, and that is a minor tragedy in my life ... oh, how does he play that so outrageously?!?!?!

Hours In

I want to set a goal for time on the horn for this week, calling this week Saturday to Friday. I agree that it is not just the time you spend practicing, but the quality of your practice - you can practice the wrong thing playing the wrong way, and then you are just reinforcing bad playing.

But. My experience has been that the more I play the better I play. In large part, it is truly a physical thing - my embouchure is just plain in better shape. Then there's the memory of the pieces, etc.

Here's my goal:
Saturday (today) - 1 1/2 hours
Sunday - 1 1/2 hours
Monday through Thursday - 1 hour on the horn each day
Friday - play, but no time requirement ... at least 15 minutes to get a good warm-up in.

Let's see how I do.

day 8 - 34 minutes

Warmed up, my troublesome 4th position G is still a problem but while I was fishing for it, I popped out the A and the B above it, loud and clear.

F major 2 octave scale plus vibrato

William Tell - it is getting better and better

Hansel & Gretel - pick up next time at 8 before K. My E was falling apart when I held it for the 4+ measures and it may be that my mouth was going.

lunchtime timed practice

I am highly motivated from rehearsal last night. Bro and sis & niecelet and nephew are coming over to watch the debate tonight, so I actually took time off from work to practice at lunch. My goal is to practice until 1:15, which could be 45 minutes, except that I think I need to clean my slide first ... so I am off!

day 7 & Symphony Rehearsal 1 & I am in love with this instrument

Damn, I love playing this thing. I love the feeling in my face when I have been playing hard and my face tingles. Sometimes my face tingles all the way up into my forehead.

I love playing with people. Maybe that is the best part. I just love being in rehearsal and playing with people who all have the same intent. I like it when we have all been counting rests and as if by magic, we all lift our instruments to our faces to play, at perfectly the right time. Today we had a lot of rests in one piece and a fellow player was even reading a magazine, and it was so cool how we were all relaxed there in our corner in the back, then we got maybe 10 measures from playing and we all started doing little things, sitting up straighter, emptying the water key, and as we got closer and closer to coming in, we just all came together as if directed, choreographed. I just love that.

I'm an Alaskan Bush kid, and a lot about Alaska is antithetical to orchestral musicianship. We pride ourselves in our fierce independence. We don't take orders from anyone. We know how to do things ourselves and we do a fine job of it, thank you. Growing up in the Bush, I just never did anything like this at all, actually, nothing at all in that life was like sitting in a room with 50 other people all tuned to the conductor and the music, and that intense collaborative thing that happens with your fellow musicians nearby, where you help each other keep track of where you are in the music and you learn how to cue each other, and you just enjoy sharing the little funny things that you think of or that come up, but you have to share them real quietly so as not to be disruptive ... I just love it, just love it.

Anyway, I have my notes that I took during rehearsal:

• I need to practice my tiny bit in the Mahler third movement - so small a part that I can't let it slip, it is easy but I have to make sure I nail it;
  
• the Berlioz 4th movement, play it through, play it well, play it loud (quit pussy-footing), and it is in tenor clef so make sure I can read it and play it easily;
• Hansel and Gretel, got to watch the key changes, and Jack said since they give it to us in both bass clef and tenor clef, play it in both clefs, it is a good way to learn tenor clef - WHAT A GREAT IDEA
• Hexenritt, they don't give it to us in bass and tenor, just tenor. I need to play through the whole thing without getting intimidated by the tenor clef and the eighth notes, practice it.

But overall, I am not ashamed of how well I did for the first rehearsal and I know that now that I have the sound in my head and know what I need to do, I will do it. I love this stuff.

Tenor Clef

bpu day 6 ... just played scales, a scale exercise, muddied through a bit on William Tell, then quit, as it was 9 pm.

Looking at the rest of the music I got today and ow! Hexenritt (Hansel and Gretel, I think this must mean Witches Ride) is in tenor clef and so is Symphonie Fantastique! Well, the only way to learn to do this is to do it. Buckle down. Now I am notating this with letter notes here and there so at least I know what note to play.

goal ...

scales, william tell, Mussorgsky, look at the rest of my music! this is my goal.

quick lunch practice

Warmed up, played just 12 minutes total, worked on the Beeler Allegro duet.

Great Lesson. Remembering why I am playing.

I had a most excellent lesson tonight. It's too late for details, but suffice to say that I got a STAR by my scale exercise #4. Great lesson and I feel happy about first symphony rehearsal on Thursday. Maybe not exactly ready, that alto clef takes interpretation and there are some HIGH notes.

Anyway, happy little musician tonight.

BPU Day 5 - 32 minutes

I have my Zeno slide back (oh frabjous day, callou, callay) and I made myself take the time to clean it before I started, but then I assiduously stuck to timing myself: 32 minutes of actual playing.

Warmup, vibrato scale of G major, two octaves, Beeler Allegro exercise, William Tell, top and bottom of the After a Trial duet, top of Petite Waltz duet.

Educational in that being rigorously timed and sticking very straight to practice, I was only able to do this much in that 32 minutes.

lunchtime intent

Play for 30 minutes, minimum.

Warmup
Beeler exercises switching off with the duets. I have a lesson tonight and I want to run through these since the last couple of days have not been so completely productive. And, tonight I want to focus some on the Mussorgsky, so I will work on those high notes then.

Off to go at it.

Post about BPU Day 4, a day later

I practiced just a smidge yesterday, time- and tiredness-limited. I'm playing in Student Symphony, Peter and the Wolf, which Tyler figured out has trombone playing in 6 % of the measures - I am surprised it is that many. Not much, to be sure, but the rehearsal took two full hours and I lost all of that time for practice.

So all the practice I got yesterday was warming up and playing a few notes in Peter and the Wolf. It's ok, it's a calibration; now I know that I have to reserve my Monday lunchtime for practice so I get some solid practice in at lunchtime. In fact, I just did that, on my calendar, just blocked out 1 1/2 hours to go home at lunch to practice every Monday until our student symphony concert.

I love solving problems.

intent & practice all rolled up in 1 - BPU Day 3, already

A full day, indeed, so I did not get to practice until well after 8 pm, and I still have not eaten, oh my.

After I studied assiduously for half the day on my IT Acquisitions class, almost got a free helicopter tour (but it turned out there was no room), had a beer with Leona at Squire's Rest, shared champagne with Woodie after he watched Brideshead Revisited and had to buy champagne because they drank it all through the movie, tended to Squirmo the cat upstairs, talked to Herb about his WWII war ship painting, I finally turned to playing.

I played my #4 Scale exercise - just MUST get it in my head before I start blowing! - played the "slowly" exercise at the bottom of page 9, and then would not allow laziness, but made myself work through sections 7 and 8 of the Mussorgsky.

session 2, realized

:) did it

Worked on the Beeler exercise Allegreto duet top part. That's in pretty good shape, worked the bottom part and that is a little weaker.

Mussorgsky through Section 7 ... pick up at 8 next time to be sure I work through everything.

All in all, a very good day of practice.

Saturday Practice 2 intent

Scale warmup

Beeler Exercises balanced with Mussorgsky

BPU Day 2 ... so nice to be back

The Allegro piece was nice right off the bat though I still don't think I am doing it in 2 enough - I will ask at the Tuesday lesson.

On the top line of the After a Trial duet, for some reason I am having trouble with E flat-C-A flat. Upon analysis, I think the problem largely stems from my not hearing the notes before I play them.

I worked on E major scale in two octaves, with vibrato, for my scale work.

Had to take a mouth break after After a Trial. Worked on sight singing and conducting during the mouth break ... still not 100% sure of how to conduct in 3 and 4, but I can muddle along for purposes of my own sight singing.

When I came back, I worked on William Tell, then on the lower part of the After a Trial duet. Very good work overall, and this practice session has come to a close.

Saturday Practice 1 Intent

Warm up

Vibrato scales

Work Beeler exercises trading off with duet practice

Pay particular attention to clean legato

Redemption ... BPU Day 1 ... again

I played scales and played around with scales, and it was so nice to get my mouth back on the instrument, and to get my ear back with my notes. I have been working on completely memorizing my major keys so I just played around with them.

Happy redemption.

ummm the best laid plans ... of mice and trombonists?

OK.

The first night in Fairbanks (Wednesday), I left my laptop case at the office. I had put my toothpaste and shampoo and trombone mouthpiece in the laptop case so I could get it out easily for TSA when I went through airport security. Hence, I did not practice by buzzing the mouthpiece Wednesday, and, I must confess, I did not move heaven and earth to get into the office after hours to get it.

The second night in Fairbanks (last night, Thursday), I had my laptop, but I was whupped from two days of talking non-stop (though we got a LOT done at work), and did not practice, either. No viable excuse other than worn-outedness for yesterday.

So that is my sad, sad story and now I must set the BPU counter back to zero.

Fairbanks Practice intent

It is too short a trip and too business-oriented for me to take my trombone, so, for today and tomorrow (9-17 and 9-18):

I have my mouthpiece and the Beeler exercise book. I will work on my exercises with my mouthpiece.

I have my sight-singing book and notes from a lesson with Rick on sight singing yesterday. I will work on the rhythm patterns - oh, and I will take the tuner so I can hear pitches to work on scale exercises. I will also work on conducting patterns.

Mary Had a Little Lamb

OK, so all I was able to pull off was Mary Had a Little Lamb, but in multiple keys, just poking along picking it out, played for about 20 minutes and it was a nice little practice.

Enough.

Tired intent ... but already BPU Day 11

I dearly love my family and friends, but oh I am tired tonight. I did practice earlier, B flat scale in two octaves practicing vibrato, William Tell (getting more methodical about the messy parts), #4 scale study.

A little later tonight, I plan to just play a little bit, just to work at it a bit ... Mom just left for the ferry and we had a wonderful visit, but BOY am I tired ... I leave the house before 6 am tomorrow to go to Fairbanks for work - but will take mouthpiece!

BPU Day 10

My intention was simply to practice and practice I did. My mom's here and she was such a good Mom - cracking the crab while I practiced - "Oh, that sounded good," "Oh, I didn't hear one mistake in that one!"

I did my warm-up, worked on the Mussorgsky beginning (high notes) (warned Mom, this will be painful for you), William Tell, the Allegro piece which sounded even better, the #4 scale study (good), and the piece with all the weird accidentals at the bottom of p. 9.

Short practice but practice I did!

Squeezed in just a little more

I squeaked in a bit more practice time, worked all the way through on the top part of the Allegreto duet a good couple of times, worked both parts of the After A Trial duet - make sure to get this in my head before I charge into playing it. Started working on the Mussorgsky and this is the one that I need to work on every day. It is in tenor clef and the notes are high and if I play them every day I should be okay with it but I must work on this piece every day and must be sure to play those opening high notes every day to keep my embouchure in shape!

Nice to sneak in a tiny bit more time on the horn!

Important Discoveries

OK, in the Allegro piece on that last line with all the low notes that I have been having trouble with, I made a ... let's call it a rediscovery. It's got all these 16th notes and they bounce low G to B flat, A to C, B flat to D, etc. I keep messing up here. I get confused and play the wrong note, and they all go by so fast.

But the whole piece is all 16th notes and while I mess up occasionally elsewhere, I mess up consistently here.

It gets back to what Rick always said, If you can sing it, you can play it. I don't have the sound in my head at this low end. I focused on one shift that keeps sounding bad, C to E, I keep playing the E flat. So I worked with the tuner on the C and on the E. Got them right and then started playing the notes around them and started to get the SOUND of what this should be sounding like, how this sounds melodically on this line. It's still not perfect and going to need more work, but I will stop on this piece today and take this realization with me.

It pays to stick with something even when it annoys the (%$^@ out of you.

And my high notes were still bad even after I ate (rice and beans and cheese, delicious Amy's bean soup) so I figure maybe I pushed my mouth a bit yesterday and I will just go easy on the high end of things today.

Worked once through William Tell - it's getting better.

Started on the Allegreto but I need to work on the rhythm on this piece.

Gotta bolt, to go pick up Mom.

Eat first

what was I thinking, practice, then eat?

I started the warmup and starting botching the high note at F sharp ... then realized I felt shaky ... I shall eat, then practice! (with a little toothbrush swipe in between so as not to gum up the horn)

Day ? + 1 ... BPU Day 9

OK, I do not believe I practiced on September 5. I worked on the music that morning but didn't actually blow the horn. This makes September 6 my Day 1. Which makes today Day 9 of Practice Uninterrupted - PU Day 9 ... let's see, I work for the Government, I must be able to come up with a better acronym. MPU Day 9 (for Michelle's Practice Uninterrupted) or BPU Day 9 (Bonnetti's Practice Uninterrupted) ... I like BPU, it sounds vaguely like an energy unit. So be it.

I need to squeeze in my practice between working on my class (IT Acquisitions Management) and picking up my mom at 1:50. So, I need to finish working on my class by noon, and I can then practice from noon to 1:00 pm. Then, eat a quick lunch and get out to the airport by 1:50. I'll probably only get one practice in today. :(

Goal:

• Jack's warmup
• Allegro, start on last line, play as fast as can be played well, play smoothly, in 2
• William Tell, clean ta-ka on the C, take it all the way through
• Allegreto duet - work on top line
• After a Trial duet - work on top line
• Mussorgsky piece - as much as I can do before the hour runs out

Day ?

I want to figure out how many days I have played consecutively and start counting them. Rick said once that he had played every day for something like the last 3,000 days and that really struck me. I want to do that. If I am traveling and I practice with my mouthpiece, does that count?

Notes for tomorrow:

• Allegro piece. Doing well. Start by practicing that last line, but get the flow in my head first - in 2.
• Bill Tell, do tell ... played the whole thing, just work on it every day until I start to get cleaner down on the double-tonguing at that low C, and learn to play the coda ending.
• Played through everything else that was my goal, but my mouth gave out 50 minutes in, working on the top part of the "After a Trial" duet. Feel fine on Hansel & Gretel, and on my itty-bitty Mahler part. I was real methodical about getting the rhythm in the Mahler, it's a little bit that is on the off beat.
  

Good practice, good practice.

Suzanne asked me to play for her while she packed, so I got a little playing in earlier in the day ... played scales, Bist du bei Mier, Liebestraum, and even worked some of my exercises. The last time Suzanne heard me play was about 2 1/2 years ago after I'd been playing for about a month - that was on that Very cold ferry ride around Southeast ... anyway, I could scarcely squeak out a note then.

Goal this evening, after a busy Saturday of making jalapeno salmon boats (~110 of them) for the Symphony cruise, seeing Suzanne off, then moving my mom's storage unit:

• Jack's warmup ... you know the routine, the G, etc.
• Allegro piece. Start on the last line as that is still tricky for me. I played this earlier and it is speeding up and getting more flowing. I wan to work on it every day.
• William Tell. Work on that ta-ka, double-tonguing. Play it right, don't throw in goofy pauses.
• Then play Hansel & Gretel through. I have to be working on my symphony pieces and sometimes my exercises take all of my time.
• One of the duets
• The third movement of the Mahler! Ha!

Let's see if I can get through this ... I am starting at 7:30 pm and would like to work straight through to 9 unless the mouth gives out, or I become too starving.

ha ha, foiled myself

I played anyway ... and come to think of it, maybe I did the same last Friday. Just played for fun. Just played.

Night off

You know, I took last Friday off from playing - so tired - and I'm taking tonight off. It might be that Friday night off from playing is not such a bad idea ... especially if I can get in a little mouth time at lunch.

after lunch

Whew!

Did warmup, during octaves worked on the G in 2nd and 4th positions, I am getting the 4th position better and better. Didn't really break a lot on the high notes until the C above middle C. Good, good.

One other thing from the lesson is to start practicing vibrato on my scales, so I did that with a D major scale.

Only worked on the Allegro piece before I ran out of time (ha ha, no pun intended). I'm not too fast, did it at 40 in 2, but still very rough there.

Lesson Results

It was a good lesson last night, though I was tired from a day too full.

Good/bad news about the Mahler, is that we are only playing the third movement, which has something like 15 trombone notes in the whole movement! Ha to all the work I put in going through it.

My question about how to play the staccato half notes in Hansel and Gretel ... let's wait until rehearsal and see what Kyle says.

Lesson Results
Jack put the little mark through the Scale Etude and the Low Etude - ha, my practice paid off!

Feedback on the rest, from the lesson:

• The Allegro piece - play it faster. This will also help smooth it out. Concentrate on the style as written, leaving the different styles for later, when I've got the first one straight.
• William Tell.
  
• Really work on double-tonguing, on feeling the ta-ka-ta while I am playing. I got it once during the lesson, so I know what I am looking for.
• Play it correctly! Maybe sing it first so I don't lag in spots (which I did, embarrassingly, during the lesson).
• The little Allegretto duet on p. 8 - well, just practice it, Michelle! Top and bottom.
• Scale Study - don't slur, play it cleanly, play it cleanly
• Work on the Slowly at the bottom of page 9 - it's deceptively simple-looking, but has weird combos of notes
• Excerpt from Martha - give it a shot
• Red River Valley - don't slur, we can sound good on this duet.

Goal for this lunch (not much time):

Warm-up
Allegro piece
Scale Study

A little warmup, and just a lesson

I have my Thursday late lesson, so will just do a little warm-up at home before my lesson, no scheduled practice today.

galloping through mud

William Tell ... muddy on those low C's! I'm trying to double tongue ta-ka-ta and I'm muddy ... but I haven't been working on William Tell this week. Really need to work the muddy C's. I played the whole piece once and didn't have it down, so I sang it through and that helped immensely the second time through.

The etudes all went great, the little allegro piece coming along though I keep messing up on the last line with the low notes - get the C and the A mixed up, the B flat and the D.

OK, I did not make it all the way through the Mahler, after all, but not for lack of trying. The alto clef is hard to read and the notes are very high for me but it sounds REALLY cool.

So, even though I did not achieve all of my practice goals tonight, it was a very good practice.

Evening intention

I am writing my intentions with the idea that if I clarify my intentions in writing (on the web, no less!), I will have a more focused practice and I will stand a better chance of doing what I said.

Tonight:

• Jack's warm-up. Pop the high note on the octave.
• The three etudes, clean, good dynamics, a little more time on the newest one.
• The little allegro piece, flowing, breathing, dynamics
• William Tell
• Finish going through the Mahler
• Run through the Mussorgsky
• If time, quick run of Hansel & Gretel

And I found my minor scales! Tucked between Hansel & Gretel and the Mahler. :)

Lunchtime Practice, actual

Lesson 1: Practice every day, even when you are tired.
Lesson 2: If you are really tired and playing badly, don't force it and keep going.
Lesson 3: When you are not tired and play with intent and thoughtfully, it goes MUCH BETTER!

Good practice, I approached the etudes by thinking the first bar or two and the pace first in my head, and carefully setting my mouth on the mouthpiece ... the low etude was beautiful the first time through, all were night and day different from yesterday. Practiced everything I'd set out, now back to work!

Lunchtime Practice Goal

• Jack's Warm-Up
• All three etudes
• Touch on the little Allegro piece
  

practice goal, ... almost realized

Ha!

• Played Happy Birthday in ~ keys. Larry says as musicians we are always called upon to play Happy Birthday and half the time we do it poorly - so learn it!
• Couldn't find my page with the natural minor scales so I just played a c minor scale from memory and think I got it right. I decided when I started to feel like crying at not finding the minor scale page, to just play the c minor scale and move on. I am indeed tired.
• The low etude. Here's what I need to do: think through the first couple of measures musically before I play them AND stuff my lips into that mouthpiece! I think part of the reason my low notes are airy and sometimes not even there is because my embouchure's not right. Third time through I concentrated on getting my mouth on the mouthpiece right off the bat and it made all the difference.
• Ok, on the etude #3, I just confessed to myself that I am just too tired. I am being sloppy. Enough for tonight.
  

tired puppy's practice goal

My friend Suzanne from Petersburg came in yesterday and we stayed up late talking, and I am dragging today. She's off to Sitka now and will be back Friday.

I played Happy Birthday for my landlady this morning before work - that with flowers, to start her special day off right.

Modest goal tonight:

• Warm up on Happy Birthday in different keys
• Practice a couple of minor scales - got to get those minor scales in my head
• Beeler:
• Low etude - dynamics, breathing
• Scale exercise - just once or twice at 40 in 4, like on Sunday
• Etude #3 - 46 in 2, like Sunday, pay attention to not rushing at end, playing the high notes fully
• Finish going through the Mahler
• Start looking over the Mussorgsky

Starting practice at ~ 7:10

Reading Rehearsal ...

True to expectation, I didn't work on my material yesterday, but did do the student symphony reading rehearsal - fun, fun, fun, fun, fun! One of my overall practice goals is to improve my sight-reading capabilities, and this reading rehearsal was all about sight reading.

practice, resumed

Scale exercise #4: 40 in 4.

p. 7 Allegro piece: Next time, work that last low line slowly, get the low notes right, get the C's right. Then play the whole thing smoothly. In 2. It went better today, though.

Duets: After a Trial by Muller, did not care for much. Played the top line of Petite Waltz by Korda, liked it better.

Finally, the Mahler! Lots and lots and lots of rests. The score is in German and they have an interesting way of indicating multiple measures of rests - sideways bar is one rest, vertical bar is two, vertical bar across two spaces is four. Ah, and because it is in German, I am playing a posaune on this piece. ;)

• Is ffp like sfz? After the 25 in the first movement.
• At 33 in the first movement, melodically this will be good to go to the high notes but the A will be a stretch ... work on it, but wait until I get the Zeno back to see how I can hit it on that instrument.

I didn't make it all the way through the Mahler before my mouth gave out on me, so I did not do:

• Run through Hansel & Gretel
• Play a beautiful solo.

Student symphony reading rehearsal tomorrow evening and errands at noon, so likely no time for practicing this material tomorrow.

A little wind

Practice, interrupted.

Kay invited me down for some 12-bean soup with a marvelous ham hock from Jerry's Meats ... at the "French bistro" on her porch ... we polished off a bottle of wine with the soup while looking out at the streaming rain and discussing grandparents and national politics.

I'll have to let the alkool burn off before resuming practice, it never works well to practice after a drink or two ...

Rainy practice

Still having trouble with high G in fourth position even back on the Jupiter, but it's not too bad in 2nd.

Low etude sounds good. Pay attention to: Clean, strong low notes, DYNAMICS, breathing in the right place.

#3 Scale Etude. Worked with the metronome at 46 in 2. Start out next time with this, but also do it without metronome. I think the reason I rush at the high end is that my mouth's not on the mouthpiece correctly so I squeak the high notes out. Pay attention to this.

Sunday practice goals

The day is my oyster.

I will:

1. Do Jack Hodges' warm-up
2. Do Beeler exercises:
• #3 Scale etude
• #4 Scale exercise
• Keep the scale exercises clean
  
• Low etude
• The little Allegro piece
• work last line with the low notes first
• it needs to flow, needs to go faster
3. Work on one of the duets pieces
4. Work through the Mahler and identify any problem areas
5. Run through Hansel & Gretel
   
6. Work on one beautiful solo piece
   

debts

I realize now that I owe a debt to my mentors and teachers and coaches, and also to everyone that has put up with my bad playing as I've been learning. As I start to get a tiny bit better, I owe a debt to them to play. It's not just about me and my enjoyment of playing the instrument. They've invested in me. I owe them and our society my playing.

Sobering. But beautiful. That's what it's all about, about the people in our lives.

Michelle's Practice Log

I've started keeping a practice log ... and I'm moving it from the extremely cool little journal that Carey gave me to my new blog ... so now it is my practice blog.

... exploring variations of familiar material is what musicians do all day. In fact, what it’s about seems to me to be wonderfully irrelevant. Beauty doesn’t have to be about anything. --Douglas Adams

I got 3 of the 7 pieces of music for the October concert Thursday:

• Modest Mussorgsky - Night on the Bare Mountain
• Gustav Mahler - Symphonie No. 1
• Englebert Humperdink (hee hee) - Hansel & Gretel

I didn't play yesterday as I was flat out busy from leaving the house before 8 am until returning at 11 pm - all very important engagements, work, social, symphony business [note guilt, guilt, at not practicing]

BUT I went through the Mussorgsky Thursday night after my 8 pm lesson (late, late) and wrote in letter note cues - one or two each line, 'cause it's written in alto clef and I am a stranger to alto clef.

The Mahler has some tenor clef sections, bounces between tenor and bass clef. I went through the Mahler and wrote in some letter cues in the tenor sections Friday morning. I know I need to learn to read tenor clef. Ha, this is my chance.

The Mussorgsky stretches to the very edge of my high range. I tried it tonight and I think I need to drop the high end down an octave. Need to talk to Jack about this on Thursday.

Hansel & Gretel looks totally playable. DYNAMICS though!

So, today I did:

• Practiced wind ensemble from 10 to about noon at Salvation Army, with Community Bands
• Packaged up my Yamaha Zeno slide to send off to be made perfect
• Dusted off the Jupiter student horn
  
• After warmup and scales, worked on my Beeler scale etudes and low etude
• Had to interrupt my scales/exercises to give the Jupiter slide a bath, it was hideously scratchy
  
• Played through Hansel & Gretel. It will be fine
  
• Poked at the Mussorgsky. I don't think I can be reliable with the G# and the A by October 25.