43, What do I learn in practice?

43rd day of practice, straight.

I was relaxed in my practice, tonight. I want to be relaxed in my practice.

It sounded good and I was very tuned to the sound. I played 42 minutes and had all kinds of technical thoughts to log, for improvement. Then my landlady Kay called and told me there was a very dangerous poltergeist at large in the house and I should be very, very careful ... so I took my trombone and a glass of wine downstairs to scare it away on this Halloween night. I played long and loud and low tones down the dark staircase. And Kay, with her dark glasses and hat and long incisor tooth mask, in the dark with candles. We had a lovely visit and she fed me apple pie and ice cream, and I suffered through Fox News, and we talked politics and life and parents, and her moving to Yakima ...

I had a lot of thoughts about what I learn in practice but they are gone, for now, to return another day

practice, practice

Tonight I went out with the gals for drinks after work ... but still got in a little time on the horn when I got home. I played "we all need somebody to lean on" - what is the name of that? - in a couple of keys, poking around, for fun.

Yesterday I worked on my Beeler exercises ... so this week, I am still practicing every day, but WAY scaling back while I get my feet back under me in the rest of my life.

;) I met with the banker today about the house ... playing the horn in that big space is that much closer ...

September 6 to October 26 - what did I learn?

I started this practice blog on September 6 and the final concert was October 26. That's 7 weeks of very focused, very intense practice and playing. What did I get out of this?

I believe my ear improved during this time. I attribute this chiefly to
1) playing between two very skilled trombone players and really listening for my sound with them, and their identifying notes for me that I was out of tune on, and my following through and really working with the tuner to lock myself in on the notes I was having trouble with;
2) the sight singing lessons I am doing with Rick - I feel that I am gaining a huge amount from these lessons both in hearing and singing pitch and in rhythm, which is surprising to me because I have had no time to practice in between the lessons; and
3) just all the time on the horn both in practice and rehearsal.

I learned that an hour a day on the horn on weekdays and an hour and a half on weekends is a lot of time allocated from my life to playing, and not at all a lot of time in the sense of what I could actually use on the horn in order to improve significantly.

I believe that my overall playing ability, articulation, sight-reading, and legato tonguing is better, again from playing so much, from working on the material one-on-one with Jack, and from playing between such good players. Also from concentrating so hard on trying to play this material just as well as I could.

That's all the lessons learned I can think of for now ... except that I need to get out my clef books and start working methodically on reading tenor clef!

Still quite exhausted

I got up at 4 am and worked for almost 3 solid hours on my class projects. Then work; I am very focused and productive at work these days. Then home, a good, good stir-fry for dinner, then cranked hard to finish and post my class projects by the 8 pm deadline (midnight EST). :) Made it, though.

I did an easy warm-up, found myself just getting annoyed at working on the high range, and worked on some scale exercises in the Beeler book. Enough. I practiced; I am exhausted.

BPU Day 39

Keeping the focus, ever so slightly.

I am exhausted from the emotional intensity of that concert.

But I did practice a little today, practiced Peter and the Wolf with Ken (tuba) at work before going to student symphony rehearsal (where I played my small number of notes). That was just fine, just about the right amount of practice. I actually just need a little space around this, need to spend a day or two getting in some practice but not driving myself so hard around it.

I also have a big assignment due for my class tomorrow, and I worked on it tonight and will get up early tomorrow to work on it, but just have to give myself some space around it as well.

Coming down ...

Whoooooo ... a whole evening now to come down off the long build-up to this concert. That was intense. I didn't play as well today as yesterday - and actually played a note a measure early once - gack! - but still OK. I'm so happy to have been able to play, and so motivated to improve, in order to do better next time:

• Learn tenor clef
• Continue my work on my ear. It's gotten better. It has to get much better.
• Play with confidence. When I am afraid I will play the wrong note, I play cautiously. That means I don't come out. Why else play? Play with confidence and do everything I can to get the right notes.
• And now just relax ... I've done all I can.
  

Watching Men in Black and toying with my plan for how in the hell I am going to get my assignments for my class done by Tuesday. Notice that I am not working on my class, just planning when and how I will do so.

What Fun

The concert was fun, great drama, I did not play perfectly but acquitted myself well enough, and I am happy and relaxed and pleased about it. I think overall we put on a really nice performance with good music.

The crowd was good, too, very responsive. Kyle was wonderful, as always. Herb (my dad) came, and he and his friend Jack Kelly specifically talked about how much they enjoyed Chasing Light - which is very cool, for a brand new piece. It was such a treat for me to have my pop there - the first time he has seen me perform (though he couldn't see me - ha!).

I warmed up a little this morning - just about 15 minutes ago - practiced a rough spot in Hansel and Gretel, and worked a bit on Hexenritt, which I just got two days ago (because I swapped out the 3rd for the 2nd trombone part with Mike). Then I put my baby away in the case, so my lips will be good for our 3 pm performance. I always play better in a day when I have already played once that day already.

Now to try to get in a little work on my class before this afternoon's performance. I have an assignment due Tuesday and as far as I have gotten on it is to log in to the class and open the reading. Too much energy going on this weekend for me to concentrate.

clean slide, will travel

I cleaned my slide, oiled my trigger, and I am good to go. My father is coming to this concert, the first time he's seen me perform. Thrill, fun, this makes me happy.

last rehearsal

We had our last rehearsal this morning and now I am home, trying to catch up on all of the this-and-that that has escaped me for the past some days - washing clothes, cooking up a late lunch, munching on a fresh apple landlady Kay brought back for me from Yakima - YUM!

And listening to the rehearsal tape. I love how much more meaningful music becomes when you've played it, a lot of times. The music for this concert is really quite beautiful, and dramatic, and fun. Kyle said today that the winter concert will be Shostakovich's 5th symphony, and that it is hard. I am not sure I'll even be playing in that one.

So - it was a good rehearsal and I feel happy and relaxed about the music. Mike and I swapped out the Mussorgsky last night and I'm playing the 3rd trombone part now. The third trombone part is in bass clef. I was just not carrying the second trombone part well enough - it's got some important little runs and I could do them when practicing alone, but just can't keep up playing it with the full symphony. It was a good switch. I'll be able to handle the 3rd part.

I came out of the rehearsal feeling the way I usually do after a good rehearsal - big smile on my face, just feeling happy! Since I rarely do rehearsals at this time of the day, it was odd for me to have that elated post-rehearsal feeling right there in the middle of the day. Usually it's at 10 pm or so, and I don't get to sleep until after midnight because it takes time to come down ... so it has been a sleep-deprived week for me this past week!

Now I just need to have a relaxed time for the rest of the afternoon. I have several big assignments due for my class this week, so I'll work on that some today, but won't drive myself too hard on the class. There's only so much of me to go around.

great rehearsal tonight

Fire! in Chasing Light

The kids concert was a blast, even though I played just terribly in Batman. I don't know what happened, but at a certain point, I think I just need to give up on analyzing everything and roll with it. It's over, let me do better in rehearsal tonight, let me do my best in the performance tomorrow.

The kids LOVED the costumes, especially movie characters. They loved Jared as Dumbledore (I think?) and they LOVED Bill Paulick as Darth Vader. They LOVED The Simpsons! It was a great choice to start off the concert! Kyle was wonderful talking to them, teaching them in little snippets, introducing the instruments - he is just amazing.

But - partway through Chasing Light (which I don't play in, so I was offstage), the FIRE ALARM rang! We all had to file out, then the kids all went home, then all the slightly dejected musicians went home :( ... but still, in total, it was so worthwhile.

Of course there were the expected jokes about Chasing Light being too hot, etc.

wonderful to play between two such good players

It is a treat to play between Jack and Mike ... they are not aggrieved when I don't play as well as I am sure we all wish I would, and give me little hints for little nuances in a very nice way. The B natural that I was flat on, on Tuesday, and have been working on - I got it right today right off and Jack noticed and commented on it. The D in 4th that I was playing sharp - I played it sharp once in the first run through of Batman today and Mike was VERY nice in noticing something was wrong - "I'm not sure what it is, maybe it's me" kind of thing - then I just played it in 1st position and it was great, he liked it.

Anyway, they are both such good players and they are both such very gracious people.

stop while ahead

23 minutes .... oh, that's right, I'm not going to count this week.

Interesting lessons. On Hansel & Gretel, I played the second page nicely, it was pretty, but on the first page I was rougher. Then I went back to the first page and played it and it was good the second time around. Yes, you could say it was because I was warmed up the second time around (though I did warm up before I played), but I think more than that, I was more relaxed and thinking more about the song, the whole music. I want to carry that memory into rehearsal tonight. Get myself out of the way as much as possible.

Here also is the technique I want to bring into rehearsal tonight: warm up, then carefully tune my tuning slide. Play my troublesome B natural and D in 4th position. Listen for them and feel for them. THEN I will be ready to play.

Incidentally, I NAILED the B natural perfectly just now, right out of the blocks.

Leak! slight delay in lunch practice

This howling storm has created a leak downstairs, and my landlady Kay is out of town! I put a bucket down and called someone to come look at it. Minor lunchtime excitement.

Since I was focusing yesterday and playing beautifully - and why else would I want to play? - my little lunch break will be on just that. I plan to not bring myself to the point of almost fainting like yesterday, but instead have a relaxed but focused practice ... I'll play on the Humperdink and also on the Batman ... then rehearsal at 7 tonight.

The weather is absolutely hideous.

for not measuring time ...

Wow, I practiced another 46 minutes tonight, for a total of 1 hour and 20 minutes today.

I do like goals.

Tonight though, I really, really needed to feel relaxed. The midterm last weekend, working up to the concert, tying up various symphony business related to the auction, not to mention work, which is very demanding right now - I've had so little time to relax. So tonight, to start my practice I played around with scales, just played around, for my warmup. Then I worked on my B natural and my D, then I played pretty music for a bit - from my little solo book, Liebestraum and Bist du by Meir. It was beautiful and I liked really working just at making beautiful sounds come out of my horn.

Often practicing for this concert or that, I am so focused on the technical aspects, driven to get this rhythm right, to hit that note right, that I don't focus enough on just what a good sound is, so it was nice to play easy music for a while just listening for it to sound good.

By the time I got to "working" on symphony music, I was in the right state of mind. Played my little bitty Mahler bit, then I worked quite a lot on Bald Mountain. I backwards practiced this as it was the second page that gave me trouble last night. Worked very hard on some rhythms there. Syncopation is just hard for me off the page, though when I can hear it with others I can fall into it. But it is so hard for me to just read it and play it off the page. My brain can't quite get the signals right, it feels like.

I have to say, though, that as an adult learner of an instrument like this, the analytical side of me is utterly fascinated by this challenge. I think there are some things that I can't learn, that I just won't be able to get - and isn't that a tough one to face for an adult that is accustomed to just trying harder and you'll eventually succeed. But then with aspects of playing that seem impassable, I will work at it from this angle, that angle, try, try, try, then have a breakthrough of sorts and be able to do it - just a little bit, but a little able. Always giving me that tease that there's more out there for the seeking and trying.

So, my lunch practice was the workout and my evening practice was the deep breath. I needed it.

That was one 34-minute workout

I am still light-headed. I thought I was going to faint doing the pedals (which I can just barely start to get, but you have to start somewhere).

I worked Batman through measure 23 and the 6 measures from 319 on. Really worked hard on the tuning, really paid attention to that B natural. I think I have been playing it flat, the one in 4th position below middle C. After 39, worked on the D in 4th position, and I have been playing it sharp. It sounds much better played correctly! HA HA.

Back out in the howling storm, to work. Will it never stop?

Batman Lunch

My goal for is to do a very good warmup, including the pedal exercise, and then work carefully and methodically on Batman. Paying particular attention to my B natural and D being in tune.

First I must eat, I think I can nuke up some rice and beans. Such a good standby.

time does not count during rehearsal week

Enough of keeping track of how much time I play each day, except for tomorrow as there is no rehearsal tomorrow. Otherwise, rehearsals every day, very full schedule. As much as I can play, that is what I get. Like Carey said, there aren't two of me.

It was a fine rehearsal tonight, just lovely fun, and I am hearing where to play much better, hearing how I fit in, learning how to watch Kyle ... he was kind of in the dark today so a little hard to see, and Todd was in front of me playing the bassoon, so I was looking around him just slightly - I will make sure I am better arranged on Thursday.

I'm playing a couple of notes in a couple of spots out of tune. The B natural in Batman, which is a long held note. Jack says that after I am well warmed up, with my tuning slide adjusted correctly, to work on getting this note in tune. I need to hear it better. My ear is not the best but I know that it can slowly improve, because it has. These sight singing lessons I'm taking from Rick, I think they will help my ear. I think they already have, and I've only just started.

Also a D - where's the D ... I think it is in Batman, too, after measure 317. I need to double check on Thursday, but I think Jack and I play in unison for the 5 measures starting at 319, and I think that is where my D is out of tune ... actually, Mike thought I might have been out on the D in Symphonie Fantastique, at the very end where we play the note a LOT (exciting finish). I was playing that one in 4th position so I need to try it in 1st and see if I can nail it. Again, like the B natural, I need to get the sound in my head.

So these two notes are a high priority for my practice tomorrow. I also want to work the Simpsons WITH THE METRONOME to force myself to keep up. This piece moves so fast and as soon as you get through one little part another one is upon you. I just need to turn on the metronome and rip through it.

I'd like to work on Batman and Hexenritt if I can fit them in tomorrow, but like Carey said, there is only one of me. What I must do, however, is work on Bald Mountain, particularly the second page ... in fact, I am going to sit down with the music right now and write in enough letter cues so that I won't get lost with the tenor clef. The first page is fine because I have the music in my head, but I kept getting lost in rehearsal tonight on the second page.

Enough. Nice practice. Wonderful people to play with. It is dumping cold rain outside and I got soaked on the walk over, but Jack gave Mike and I a ride home.

And another 45 ...

I think if I had 4 hours a day to practice, it would still not be enough. This is an interesting exercise, to just up and decide to learn the trombone as an adult. What was I thinking? Not to trivialize any other instruments, but the trombone seems to be a particularly odd choice. I mean, it is so noisy when you play wrong! Which I do with astonishing frequency!

I hope I get this house as I am so looking forward to being alone in a big house just playing out ... though I must say, I play pretty loudly here, too, and I have endlessly patient neighbors.

Well, I finished my backwards practice, including some repetition of the work earlier today, on the Berlioz. Then moved on to Hansel & Gretel and I think I played the part I was focusing on nicely. Though I am still making some mistakes, and this is so not a complicated piece to play. Most of my mistakes, I would say, are arising from me playing it in tenor clef but I want to keep doing that to enforce my recognition of that clef. I have other pieces in tenor clef and I must keep carving those little neural tenor clef pathways in my gray matter.

Then I finished with Hexenritt, backwards practicing it too (I forward played Hansel & Gretel), all the way. I like this piece!

Then 9 pm happened, the witching hour (no pun!) ... and a glass of Malbec and a little mindless TV before bedtime, and do it all over again tomorrow. Sigh.

Exam is done

My exam is drafted - it is due to be posted tomorrow so I'll review and edit it tomorrow morning before work - so now, deep breath or six, quick warm up, and play. I'm going to finish my backwards practice of Symphonie Fantastique, work on Hansel and Gretel and getting my notes in that first passage to come cleanly - I have been tending to slur between the D and the C in one measure and I need to be very attentive of that, and making it clean.

Then I will just work through material until 9 pm, my cutoff time. Charlie's back in town (Squirmo is one happy cat, you can bet!) so I don't want to play late.

what's more important - the "A" or playing well?

The juggling! I must finish my midterm exam (IT Acquisitions Management, for my master's) tonight and I am forcing myself to do it before I practice. I even just turned off Jon Stewart to force myself to concentrate.

My goal is to finish the first draft of the exam (I'm 4/5 of the way done already but it is a long exam) within one hour, so that I can play from 8:15 to 9:00 pm.

BPU Day 32, and backwards practice

Rick has always advocated "backwards practice," where you start at the end of a piece and work backwards through it in segments. The reason for doing this is that it is more typical to start at the beginning and then run out of time or energy before the end is reached, resulting in the end of the piece being short-shrifted.

I did this today with Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, starting at Rehearsal Mark 58, doing that and 59, then bouncing back up and doing 56 and 57 ... got halfway through the piece working backwards in my little 30-minute lunch practice.

First, though, I did my warmup, adding the pedal practice Jack gave me yesterday. I'm hardly getting any pedal notes now, but I know I have gotten them before and am confident that if I perservere, they will come, they will come. I have two pedal notes in this Berlioz, actually, B flat and A, and there is just no way I'll hit those reliably for this concert ... so will take them one octave up.

got my time in, and plus

I had great sectionals today, worked on student symphony material at 1 and symphony material at 7:30 pm. This is the final week before the performance and there will be many rehearsals, and I need to squeeze in practice time, too, whenever I can. With the very specific caution by Jack, to not practice much outside rehearsal after Thursday, to save the mouth for our concerts Saturday and Sunday.

I like playing such a physical instrument.

evening of 44 minutes

OK, I finished the Batman, did the Simpsons, and the first page of the Mussorgsky ... just the second page shy of doing all of the music today. My total practice time today was 1 hour 44 minutes. Now for a leetle sip of wine, and on into the evening.

1 full hour, post 101

I just noticed that this is my 101st post in this blog. I must say that keeping this practice blog has indeed been a productive motivator.

Though I wish my motivation had magically created hours and hours more of practice time earlier! Oh, that I could play as well as I want to.

I just spent a full hour on the trombone, warmup (I think I'll quit saying that since I always do it), E major scale in two octaves starting with the trigger, finished working through the Berlioz (ow) and got through Batman to measure 340. It was a very good practice but I wish I knew this material better. There is just so much material to play for this concert!

I had to completely reconsider the tuning of my F-attachment for the Batman. There is a rapid A-B-C, then an F (at the bottom of the staff, bass clef) -E. I have been tuning my F-attachment so my B natural is right in line with the A just below it, for ease of playing the B natural. But this means that the F at the bottom of the staff doesn't come in with the F-attachment (ironic I suppose considering its name) ... anyway, to get this quick run, I tuned the F-attach so the F plays true in first position with the F-attachment ... it works, I just now need to retune my brain for the B natural. I might try this for a while and see if I like it better tuned to the low F.

Best news though of this overall good practice is that Squirmo handled it just fine. He got up and turned around in his little basket a few times when I started, but then settled in and slept like a baby. I was thinking about it in the context of a friend's newborn baby ... she brought the baby in to work and someone said, "She's hearing us like she has been all along, but without the buffer!" Which we all chuckled at - but as for Squirmo the cat, he has heard me practice every single day one floor up ... so it makes sense that he would not be too phased by a trombone playing 3 feet away from him. The sweet sense of community.

And Friday is like Saturday, and it is E flat major

I am having such a fine day off. My favorite day in the world is Saturday, and this week I get two of 'em!

I just put in 54 minutes of practice. Did:

• Warmup - good high notes, my scale was E flat major (forgot where I was in my progression of scales)
• Worked through the Student Symphony commissioned Sinfonietta part and gave feedback to the composer, Thomas Reiner
• Did Hansel and Gretel - in tenor clef, of course! I am feeling better and better about my ability to read tenor clef.
• Hexenritt. I like this piece.
• Tiny Mahler part. We are supposed to really rock on our little three-note spot (as in, LOUD), so I want to hit that every day.
• Berlioz through Rehearsal Mark 54. Pick back up here at 55.

I want to get through all the music today, but I look at the clock and my busy schedule - gack! I don't know how. Must return to it tonight. And I don't think I will even begin on my midterm exam today - gack! How can I be so busy on a day off!

Now, I am off to pick up a print from the Pop for our silent auction, and then to arrange for Squirmo the Cat to move downstairs with me for awhile ...

BPU Day 28. Three day weekend!!!!!

We played Hansel & Gretel, Hexenritt, Batman and (they) played Mahler tonight at rehearsal. (We didn't make it to the tiny trombone part in the Mahler.) I did not play too well, but for some reason it did not crush me tonight - I KNOW I can play better and I haven't played for three days, and I have a THREE DAY WEEKEND coming up in which to practice like a maniac.

I think the best thing I can do is play at least 1 1/2 hours a day for the three days coming up. I'm meeting Jack on Sunday to work on our material, which is good as I can take detailed notes of anything that is a problem or that I have questions about. Then we rehearse Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (morning). Perform Saturday and Sunday.

I also really need to touch every single piece every day. Wow, I don't know if I can do that very effectively in 1 1/2 hours. So much to play, so little time.

good. good.

Warmup, Hansel & Gretel, Simpsons, a little on Mussorgsky.

Back to work.

save the chops!

I get my first real practice since Sunday here in a few minutes. My goal is 30 minutes, working fairly quickly through our rehearsal order (which I just got in an email from Val!). I am EAGER for a practice, but must control myself in order to keep my chops in order for rehearsal tonight!

buzz buzz buzz

When you don't have your instrument or you can't play due to lateness of night, you can blow on the mouthpiece to keep your mouth somewhat in shape. This is called buzzing the mouthpiece.

This is what I did for the last two nights, on a work trip to Anchorage. Tonight, I didn't actually get back in the house until almost 10:30, so I buzzed again tonight (don't want to wake up landlady Kay). That makes Day 27 of Bonnetti Practice Uninterrupted. Sorry, I won't take any arguments, buzzing has to constitute "practice" as sometimes the trombone is just too difficult an instrument to schlep around.

Sandy and her son Toby gave me a ride home from the airport, after I'd waited around for a cab at the airport, with a cheerful Juneau crowd - complaining mildly about the lack of cabs but completely unfazed by the howling wind and rain.

high notes ... is it a discovery?

I have been having trouble for a very long time with my higher notes, starting in particular with the G, the G that sits on the second line up of the treble clef, the one right there at the swell of the round part of the treble sign. I have worked and worked and worked on it. I work on my high notes every day in my warm up, playing octaves that start at low C to middle C, on up. When I get to G, the octave up is very hard in 4th position; I can get it more easily in 2nd, but it still is a thin note. I am almost driven to distraction because although it is getting better, and I can play the A, B flat, B, and C above it, I am just having a dreadful time with this note.

Well. Tonight, in my warmup, I just did something a little different and I am almost scared by how much better my high notes came - scared because my question is, "Was that an anomaly that will never happen again?"

I kind of pushed more of my lower lip in the mouthpiece and the result was that the high notes came out sounding entirely differently, not necessarily fuller and rounder, but different. Try though I may to not do it, my tendency has been to get the higher notes with my upper lip, but whatever I was doing today had them coming right out through both lips ... and they were almost effortless! And now I want to try it more, but it is too late to practice, and then I will be up in Anchorage tromboneless for the next three days!

I might have gone this route today because in my last lesson, Jack was talking about how to get pedal notes and the relative position of one lip versus the other. I don't know, I just tried it and something worked.

there's music, and then there's business

Ah, how to fit it all in!

I had a great 33 minutes of practice and then was interrupted by an important phone call - symphony business! How to fit it in! It's too late now to return to practice (9 pm cutoff for my neighbors), but I made it well into the Simpson's - that piece is all about the rhythm and moving very fast, and I think will go just fine.

I'll have to take my mouthpiece tomorrow on my trip to Anchorage - I'll take my mouthpiece and Bald Mountain or Batman, and work on those with the mouthpiece alone.

If I get this house, I can practice whenever I want ... enticing thought, just enticing.

Silence does not mean no action

Day 24 of practicing every day

We had student symphony brass sectional again today, with Austin leading us - he is a sweetie. Rick popped in a couple of times, too, and as he was leaving, told us how wonderful we sounded from outside the studio - he spoke with his hands, gesturing to show how the sound of our practice in the studio felt to him from the outside, how the building itself was the source of the music.

My goal then for this evening is:

• Warm-up
• Next major scale in line ...
• Hansel & Gretel from tenor clef
• Mahler
• Simpsons
• If there is anything left, back to Night on Bald Mountain

Though our sectional was an hour and I warmed up before, I can scarcely even call it 30 minutes of practice as there is so little trombone playing. So, my time goal for tonight is one hour if my mouth holds up.

2nd round of the day, 28 minutes

Finished my work on Bald Mountain, ran my tiny Mahler bit, then played Hansel & Gretel through, in tenor clef. Very pleased with my progress there.

only 30

Worked hard on Bald Mountain, some tricky rhythms, had trouble with the high notes 30 minutes into it, so decided to quit and give the mouth a break.

E flat major

Goal: 45 minutes

• Warm-up
  
• Mussorgsky from before Rehearsal P to the end
• Mahler
• Simpsons
  

Care's Bear

I got home at 9:35 from the opera, Puccini's Il Trittico (2 of the 3).

I walked home, about a ... 20 - 25 minute walk. Rain throwing itself ferociously out of the sky as if to hammer every part of me that it could, wind slapping the rain in my face, my pants soaked and hanging from the weight of the water. Dark dark night like only an October night of pissing rain and fierce wind can be.

Walking past the Governor's mansion, up ahead on the sidewalk - a bear. DAMN. A small one. I am thinking, "where's mama?" I shouted at it, waved my arms, but there is no friggin' place for a bear to go there, it is all street and sidewalk and drop-off. It skittered off a bit, but there was a car coming from the other direction. A cab.

Bear decides - which way to go? Across the street in front of the cab! I'm already waving at the cab, gesturing, pointing. Cab stops. Bear crosses the street right in front of it and up the stairs of the white and blue house across from the capital. Gets out on the little tiny strip of lawn by that house. Poor bear is freaked.

Cab starts moving, slowly again, toward me. I wave at him some more and he rolls the window down, I ask him if he'd mind giving me a ride just up the street, that I didn't feel like sharing the street with the bear. He nods, I go across the street, get in, he turns around in the Governor's mansion little turnout, he says yeah, he was wondering about the mama. I told him, wait, I don't have any cash, we have to go to the ATM. He says I'll just take you to the corner, no problem. He takes me to the corner by the State Office Building, I fish around and try to give him $3, all I have, he said, NO, I told you this was on me, just call this cab company when you want a ride. I told him was a hero. He was. My little hero of the night.

Oh, and the opera was fun, too.

And I played all of my major scales tonight, as my very light Friday practice.

And, fruition

35 minutes more, actually 37, so I have my hour today.

The Mahler was fine and the new Mussorgsky is fun! I am doing pretty darn well with the tenor clef, and this interpretation is much more accessible to me. I like it a lot. I made it through rehearsal P but when I start on this again I must play into rehearsal P because the transition there is just a little tricky.

Boy, there is nothing like getting a little sleep to dispel sadness and tiredness.

Evening goal

After my lovely practice earlier today, I feel at peace with my playing. I will do:

• Warmup
• Mahler, my itty-bitty part
• The new Mussorgsky
• If I still have enough left in me, I'll practice the tenor clef Hansel & Gretel to do some cementing of what I was doing earlier today.

I've been doing symphony business this evening and have a couple of calls out, so I may be interrupted. I also must go sit with Squirmo after I finish playing. I'll bring my cup o' tea upstairs and pet the purr-ball.

Day 21 delightful

Oh, that was just delightful, delightful. All I did was my warmup, D major scales, and Hansel and Gretel. After I worked through all of H&G, I worked on it more in tenor clef to try to get myself more solid in that clef, and I am really coming along. I am solid with C, B, and the F, the G too, I guess ... anyway, it was just a lovely little practice time.

D major, Hansel & Gretel

My goal for lunch. I didn't make my hour yesterday but I seriously needed the mental space that a little rest gave. I had just worn myself out.

YAY

20 minutes, I am back to myself, did D flat scales, Mahler, Hansel & Gretel.

Dust myself off

Sleep is always a good thing. The alarm woke me at 4:30 - forgot to change it - and I just turned it off. Oversleeping can also be a good thing.

After my disappointing playing last night, I'm ready to set my goals again for the day. Last night, they switched out the Mussorgsky and the Berlioz so I was sight reading these pieces in tenor clef. That I got any notes in was pleasing to me. So, all the work I put in on the Mussorgsky - well, it is not wasted especially because melodically it is the same, and practice time is practice time, building my ability - but, my time to devote to my practice is so precious that I wish I had known we'd be swapping that one out. Oh, well, at least I don't have to try to squeak out those high notes. The part that I now have doesn't have the notes that are on the edge of my range.

OK, I will practice at lunch. We have such a tiny part for the Mahler Symphonie No. 1 that I should be able to nail it every time. I'll work on it today, and to ease myself in after my disappointment last night, and because it is a short lunchtime practice, I'll work on the Hansel and Gretel.

Tired myself out

I got up at 4:30 this morning to finish a class assignment. Worked all day, watched the debate with sister-in-law Sharon and the kids, then rehearsed from 7 'till almost 9. It was a disappointing rehearsal night for me. I'm tired. You can push yourself too hard sometimes, I think.

relief to not play at lunch

I have a 3-hour rehearsal tonight, and I am home at lunch but not playing. It is GOOD sometimes to not be goal-driven.

all's well that ends well

I felt just a tiny bit crabby last night in student symphony rehearsal - I was feeling a lot of pressure from all that I have going on right now (I am a bit overcommitted) - and then it was close to 45 minutes before I got to play a note. Ha ha, the fate of the trombonist in a symphony orchestra. Then we went a little late and the kids were being kids - sigh.

But, after student symphony rehearsal I went and did a symphony sectional with Jack, and that just went great. I feel really good about the music, about my ability to play it, about my ability to figure out the rhythm patterns, etc. It's a lot of music and it is challenging, but I feel good about it.

I got MORE than my hour in yesterday!

thoity-five minutes

Good practice, warmed up, Bald Mountain, ended with just a teeny bit of Red River Valley. Now for a walk.

home today

I took the day off to work on a class assignment. I'm making great progress on that. Now it is time to take a break and play a little music.

• Jack's warmup
• C major scales
• Right straight into Night on Bald Mountain. I need to get that clef internalized and work those high notes every day
  

Peter & the Wolf on Bald Mountain

On Peter and the Wolf, I played all of my long and very complicated part (hee hee). I worked on those low grace notes - I'll just blurt them out in rehearsal in all my trombone glory and if I should not be playing them, then so be it. Actually, I'll try to corner Austin, our new brass section lead, and see how he thinks I should play them.

And then I worked on Night on Bald Mountain, my piece in Alto clef with the high notes, and that went very well.

More than an hour long practice tonight. It's feeling good.

BPU Day 17 progress and intent

I had a student symphony sectional today. Austin, French Horn player recently returned from college, led our sectional. He was young and fun and did a very nice job.

I'll give myself 30 minutes credit for that (the sectional lasted an hour), following yesterday's "reassess not obsess" philosophy.

My goal then tonight:

• Good long warmup
• B natural scales
• Peter and the Wolf, since I played it today, to cement things
• Mahler's third movement
• Mussorgsky

reassess and not obsess

Now, I think I need to reassess my calculations.

I spent two hours in rehearsal. Close to one hour getting back and forth to rehearsal (~ 20 minute walk each way).

Then I spent another 20 or so minutes at home marking my part so I can play it better. Then played for 25 minutes at home.

I think I need to not nickel and dime my time, and call that good, my hour and a half for the day. After all, there are a few other things I need to do in life ...

Day 16 B flat scale

Wow, the high notes are hard to get, but the high end of the second B flat scale is actually starting to sound good!

25 minutes on warmup and Night on Bare Mountain.

New Week

My trombone week appears to be starting on a Saturday. After my great success with meeting my goal of an hour a day all week - even though I did not make the 1 1/2 hours on the weekend, I am staying with that same goal for this week: 1 1/2 hours a day on each weekend day, 1 hour a day on weekdays, except Friday when all I need to do is "just play."

We had the second symphony rehearsal today. We played the Mahler, Night on Bald Mountain, The Simpsons, and Batman.

Mahler: Practice the dynamics. The low brass has a tiny part, but Todd wants it to be very dynamic, as written. Be "brass band" like - he'll tell us if we are too loud!

Mussorgsky: Wow, the alto clef was hard to read. He started out in 2, and fast. Practice this piece like crazy. Jack and I are going to work it together after my student symphony rehearsal. I want to work on this today.

Simpsons: Wild rhythm patterns, but I think if I work it on my own, I will be able to pick up on the rhythm by following Mike and Jack. They are aces. This was the first time I had seen this music, today.

Batman: There's a lot here, and I really need to work on this one, too.

I was at rehearsal for almost 2 hours, but let's just call it 45 minutes of playing time, for purposes of my goal. The trombone section spent a lot of time waiting and counting during the Mahler.

Goal for the remainder of the day is to warm up, play my next scale (can't remember which that is), and work on the Mussorgsky. Oh, and the symphony musicians were not real fond of this interpretation of that piece, in general.

BPU Day 15

I met my goal, no hour tonight, just played a little, about 15 minutes, scale exercises.

Lesson tonight

I am always so happy after my lessons and tonight is no exception. My G is starting to come cleanly, in sharp second. It is still a little rough in 4th position, but I am starting to have faith that it will come, slowly, slowly.

I need to work on my legato. It's either too short and choppy, or sloppy and slurred.

Work on my intonation. My A was flat tonight and I am not hearing it well.

In Red River Valley, concentrate on playing the note at the same level through the note, rather than growing into it. I know exactly what Jack means in the context of Red River Valley so if I work on this on that piece I should be able to extend it to other playing.

There was one other thing I need to pay attention to, but I forgot it as soon as I walked out from the lesson.

It was blowing hard on my way home, a warm dry wind. It blew my hair to standing up, from my new haircut, and I loved it, walking home in the dark with the warm wind racing the leaves all around, with my reflectos on each end of my trombone case and my little flashlight.

My hour of playing came from my lesson. Happy camper I am.

BPU Day 13, 1 hour 5 minutes

Played for at least 40 minutes ...

I must indeed practice the Mussorgsky, particularly the first page as the notes are quite high and I need to get the sound in my brain. It's also in Alto clef, for God's sake! I played at least into rehearsal number 14, but got interrupted by a phone call so I am not sure how much further I played than that.

Worked on my little Petite Waltz top part. There is one passage where the music goes F E down to B natural C, and I keep messing it up because I don't have the sound in my head. This is why I am trying to learn sight singing, so I can hear it first in my head and then will play it right. Well, I got my keyboard out and played it through several times, then sang it several times, and played it and it sounded beautiful.

Also worked on the Mahler bit and that was nice. Ah, it is in bass clef. :)

Mussorgsky!

Wow, I have been so neglecting the Mussorgsky, and I have those high notes at the beginning. Fortunately I have been working my high notes hard during my warmups.

Tonight (happily after a yummy stir-fry dinner), I will:

1. Warmup
2. The Mahler (remember, tiny bit, just the 3rd movement)
3. Petite Waltz, top part
4. Mussorgsky - the beginning, and then move to rehearsal number 9
   

buh-buh bump, buh-buh bump, buh-buh bump-bump-bump!

:) Was just working on William Tell and I have it in my head.

I jumped right in at lunch, did warmup, A major scale w/vibrato, finished out the Symphonie Fantastique Movement 4, and bounced back to William Tell. I am still muddy on the double-tonguing on the C, but was very attentive today at cleaning it up, and having a "t" attack rather than a "d" attack.

I am noticing a marked improvement in my ability to learn and play different rhythmic patterns. The sight singing lessons I have been doing with Rick seem to pay huge dividends. I'm not scared of complicated rhythm patterns - or, at least, not nearly as scared as I was - because I am so empowered by knowing that I can break them down and break them down until I get the pattern. Of course, I knew this before but by doing the rhythm exercises in the Sight Singing book, I am completely reinforcing the knowledge experientially, so it's going into my very core.

25 minutes.

Logging my intent

This blog has been a good idea, as was the seed of it - to log my intent for each session in a practice log.

After yesterday, which was truly a tumultuous day with the offer on the house, I want to put a steady ground beneath me. I was actually too excited to work yesterday. I will get in a good half-hour meditation this morning to settle the day.

I plan to come home at lunch to play. One unforeseen consequence of logging my intent first, with the added desire to play at least an hour a day, is that my practice sessions are starting to take on a real life. It's not, "OK, what's on the list to practice next?" but instead an eagerness - I am eager to finish working on the Berlioz today, and eager to return to William Tell - I have a lesson tomorrow! And would like to have some progress there. Just as, last night, I wanted to jump back into Peter and the Wolf.

If the new house comes through, there is a big room to play in ... I can't wait to hear the acoustics. Can't wait.