Blog's on hold for now

I've tried to pull references to my blog off ... but you never know. It's on hold for now; I just bought a house, taking another class, life is full ... still playing though. :) I love my trombone.

building my chops again

Back at some regular practice now, finally, after moving and work travel. I like where I am at with my playing and my practice routine. Work on it one day, it's a little better the next. I'm playing in student symphony this fall, and not symphony, and am looking forward to playing that music just as well as I can. Rehearsals start a week from tomorrow. I'll have to start looking at the material.

Two practices are the best of methods

Moving over the last 2 - 3 weeks has aced out most of my practice time. Today in my new house I returned to two practices: meditation and trombone.

Totally grounding. Both of them. I love them both.

new trombone, new house, new car

I drove in my new (used) car to my new pink house today and played my new trombone in the living room and I loved it loved it loved it.

I'm gonna roll around in the space, it's so big (for me). The trombone sound just resonated.

I've been having trouble with this instrument with C, C#, D - I get this vibration. Jack was wondering in my lesson if the slide lock is loose or the nut on the slide is loose. So today playing in my new pink house I really kind of cranked 'em down and I didn't get that vibration. Man, if I could solve that problem with this horn the jury might come right back in, because I like the sound of it a lot, but can't stand that bad thing on those notes.

When I go back out I'm going to bring my stand and practice some of my student symphony music. I have a lip trill thing that I need to try to do, and there are a few of the pieces that I have not even played yet because I've been hitting rehearsals spottily.

I think my practice space in the new house will be the living room. I walked all over the place playing and so far that space has it. Fun, fun, fun.

Sweet rehearsal

When I started typing Sweet in the Title line, it brought up a couple of other "sweet" titled postings I'd done. Sweet's a word I like associated with playing my trombone because it is a sweet thing. It is a sweet sound when it is what I want.

It was really interesting playing tonight in student symphony rehearsal.

1. I liked my sound (when I hit the right notes, of course). You know, I've said that my jury's out on my new instrument still, I still am not real sure about it, but tonight, playing it there in the church, I liked what I was hearing on my end and I could hear myself blend. It sounded good to me. It made me want to record myself on my new instrument and also on my Yamaha and listen to myself. I liked the sound there and I have been a little bit worried about it here in my apartment.
2. I thought in rehearsal about something I read on the Trombone Forum, I can't remember who wrote it or where I read it, but it was about performance anxiety. It was about putting our focus on the music and the time. Subdividing the time and putting all of your mental energy on that, that if you do that you don't have any room left for anxiety. I focused on that tonight. It's true. And it is also true that anxiety and fear of failure crowds in all the time and you just have to frigging ignore it.
3. I sang stuff in my head before we played it as much as I could and it works.
4. I was bold and courageous as I could be and pushed myself into the notes and passages.
5. I love playing in student symphony because I don't feel intimidated by all the good musicians around me, so I can be bold and courageous.
6. Jared's a really good little musician and he is just plain fun to play with. He really, really likes music and likes playing and likes his instruments. He is bold and courageous, and interested. So if I can play in this pops concert and help in whatever way to support his growing musicianship, what better additional reason for playing?!

OK, that's enough for tonight ... it was a good rehearsal.

tiny practice

Had a symphony board meeting tonight and got home late, so just got in a little warmup and practice.

I'm going to play in Student Symphony for the pops concert but won't make all the rehearsals, so it'll be manageable.

Fine playing tonight

I played a lot tonight, in two separate sessions. I stopped at 9:30, figuring I had better take pity on Tim upstairs. The new instrument is way easier on my hand though it hurts now - but it seems to stop hurting much more quickly.

I'm still getting used to the new instrument and my jury's still out on it. The C (middle C), D, Eb are ... edgy. But I want to work on them, work on my embouchure with this horn to see if I can bring these notes into shape. I just feel like it is worth it.

frustration not

I used to get really frustrated trying to work on a piece, not being able to play it, and just playing it awfully. I'd quit my practice a lot in a frustrated state.

That's not happening these days. I'm just slowing it down and it makes it work. I really can play it better the next day. I'm working the passage and the area around it. I'm working the piece and hitting it each day. I'm not taking on too much, but I'm playing quite a bit, working out of three books simultaneously, but two or three things from each book.

I like it a lot. Frustration goes nowhere because it makes you play worse, so it's this vicious feedback loop. Plus what's the point of feeling bad about yourself? None. None that I can see.

Having frequent lessons is great, too, because my feedback is coming quickly and I have motivation right in front of me to work on my material. Wow, if I can play it well in my lesson! Great if I get a couple of pieces marked off and the next ones marked to play!

I told Rick that if he doesn't have his low brass section, I can fill in for him for his summer pops concert, maybe not make all of the rehearsals. It's really a gruesome rehearsal schedule and I know it's kind of designed for the kids, returning from vacation and headed off into school. It's every evening for two weeks. OUCH.

a little bit out of shape

I haven't played a lot for the last couple of days, just a few scales, because I have this crazy mountain climbing challenge going on. I just grabbed up the horn as a break from working on this final exam and I like how I'm playing but I am a little out of shape. I put it down when my notes started falling apart but I want to pick it back up later on tonight.

Now, back to the exam. Sigh.

transition

It happened so gradually that I didn't see it. I don't know when it occurred, actually. Sometime in the last six or so months, I guess.

I've gone from needing to find motivation to practice every day, to needing to play every day. Instead of having to find time to play every day and making sure I can fit it in, I just - play. I pick up the horn just as soon as I can in each day. I listen, listen to myself. I work hard but I listen and I love it.

Something's changed and it is cool.

Love those lessons

Just had a great lesson tonight. Some of the stuff that I've been working really hard on, I need to keep working on, with specific tips. Some of the duets I did so well on that I surprised Jack - he was delighted! How utterly gratifying!

I'm getting much better at hearing what the piece should sound like and then emulating it. It pleases me. My ear keeps getting better but oh, it has so many lifetimes to go before you could call it good.

I need to play my notes whole. It's hard to describe what I do but I know exactly what it is and Jack knows exactly what it is. I start them timidly and then build them, but I do this note by note. Jack's calling me on it whenever I do it, though, so I'll get past this.

So. Work on legato. Play my notes whole. Don't play my E natural and A natural (2nd position) flat, which I tend to do. When it says dolce, play it beautifully. :)

feedback - sweet sound

I ran into Leona at the store and she told me she can hear the difference in the instrument and that my instrument sounds sweet. She says she likes the sound. COOL, UNSOLICITED FEEDBACK!

It will be interesting to hear what Jack thinks. I have a lesson tomorrow.

3 practices

I picked up and played three times today. My chops feel it but I like building them up. What a great way to practice. I am working thoroughly on my material, slowing it down, working and repeating my tricky passages. Spending this time is making me happy though I still wish my high range was a little more reliable. :)

Technical stuff

Tonight with my new horn, I stopped mid-practice to put grease on the tuning slide. I haven't greased the tuning slide and it needed it; it was stiff.

I really like this aspect of playing an instrument, the painstaking, almost obsessive care you take of your instrument. I like the way we trombonists are with our slides (well, should be, except for the time that I dropped Larry Walsh's slide!), with holding the instrument. You develop an utter sixth sense for the space it occupies. I like being in tune with the needs of the instrument, cleaning the slide, learning and then knowing the techniques for caring for it.

I like caring enough about the instrument that I take that kind of care.

Off to DC

I am off to DC for a few days so I won't be posting.

But I will be trying trombones at Washington Music!

Maybe I'll come home with a new trombone ...

okay, just some scales again

Damn, life intervenes sometimes. All I did was some sweet slow scales last night, but listening listening to myself, trying to play each note right and holding each note, trying to retain integrity throughout the note.

I didn't even pick up the horn until after 9 (it's the mountain's fault, I had to go up it again) so didn't play long ... just think, in less than a month I will be in my own place if all goes according to plan, and I can play at any time I please.

just scales

Just ran through all my major scales tonight. Got home late. I want to get to where I do them all fast with good legato. Got a bit to go. :)

Breakfast!

Got the CD and book "Breakfast" (Intonation practice for trombonists) by David Schwartz a few days ago and today after my regular practice I started playing with it. Played until my hand and lips feel like falling off!

It's really interesting. The point of the whole thing is to improve your ear by playing with drones on the CD player. I'm totally intrigued and I can't wait to keep doing it and keep listening myself. I can hear when I'm wrong!

beautiful little practice

I'm doing this hiking challenge, so I'm not getting home from that 'till about 8 each night, which does not leave a whole lot of room for practice. But I'm practicing every night, working on my material and just loving it. I really want to work hard on my technique. I am working hard on my technique. There's so far to go! So much room for improvement! But I'm seeing it, day by day. I like this time away from a performance commitment, a lot, but I know myself, I'll be itching soon to get back in the game.

good practice ...

I've been sick for the last two days! I couldn't believe it, but as friend Carey said, It's not a character flaw, after all.

I came out of it at about 6 tonight, in time to get in a great little practice session. I worked on a lot of material and I am happy with the way I am making progress. Steadily, no pressure, but I'm motivated. Making steady progress.

Don't be afraid of fast passages

This was the parting message from Jack in my lesson yesterday, or at the least I remember it as that. Just because it is fast it doesn't mean I should play it sloppily.

I'm taking just a tiny little break from practicing, and I must say that I am having a wonderful time playing today and loving the sound that's coming out of my instrument.

Now, back to practice those fast passages - slowly to get them down, then faster. :)

It is a long, slow process

I am doing this challenge of hiking up Mt. Roberts for 30 days, and today I was comparing hiking with music, with my hiking buddy on the shoulder of Mt. Roberts. You make progress, but it is incremental.

Today we shaved one minute off our time up the mountain to the tram, from 61 minutes to 60 minutes. It's just like practicing a piece. You play through it the first time and it is so bumpy. You come back the next day and a few of the rough spots work, and a few of the other rough spots are just a little easier. You keep coming back and little tiny bits at a time, it gets better. You get better. That's it, by working at it just enough, you get better. That "just enough" is key, 'cause you can only do one little bit in a day to get better. There's just plain nothing you can do to make the leaps, it takes diligence. But it also takes enjoying the mountain so you keep wanting to come back. It takes loving the music so you want to come back.

I had a lesson tonight and I was actually physically tired from hiking and all the ancillary walking I had done today, but it was a good lesson. I am so grateful to Jack for squeezing in the summer time for the lesson. It keeps me on track.

Jack gave me some solo pieces to work on. I am stoked.

Where is this coming from?

I am just loving my sound, but I do not know quite where it's coming from. Look behind me - is that me playing that horn?

tone

My tone surprised me tonight. It was rich and deep. It made me listen to it and pay attention. It made me think about my embouchure and what I might be doing differently to get the tone I have now vs. other times ... as in, yesterday.

Charlie has moved out and I have a new neighbor upstairs. Before I went on my mountain hike tonight, I squeezed in a little practice. I kind of felt it was important to break in the new neighbor with the sound of a trombone downstairs. I don't want him to get the impression that trombone playing is an anomaly in this neighborhood. I did my warmup and worked on my material, then I played some of my simple beautiful pieces. There has to be some benefit to the neighbors and I hope I can play one or two things that sound good through the floors.

I did shut the windows before I practiced, however.

Now I am home from my hike and listening to Pink Martini playing Brazil. Goddamn that trumpet player knocks my socks off.

quiet scales

I got home kind of late, ate, and just played some quiet scales after 9. Very gently, listening hard to the sound. Very nice.

I'm loving taking the time

I am really working thoroughly on my music now. When I hit a spot where I am messing up, even just a little, maybe the transition between two notes is not clean or I'm hitting one note badly half the time, I'm going back and working that little area carefully, carefully. Then expanding my area to include the notes around it. I backwards practiced one whole little piece today - didn't want to practice it from the beginning and leave off the end, and by backwards practicing I made it through the whole thing.

Having this much time to work on things, I can really see the improvement over time, even from day to day. I want to carry this with me into this next year. A little bit at a time. I have been taking on way more than I can chew, and right now I'm chewing it really, really well - it's digested music. Yum.

The other lesson from the day to day improvement is to give myself a break if I can't play it right the first time through. If I can't play it right the second time through, that's fine as well. I know that if I keep working on it, IT GETS BETTER. Like magic.

This program's working

I played "played" tonight. I focused on playing right and taking my time. I played again things that I had worked on yesterday and they were better today - imagine that. I played new things and they were rough so I took 'em really slowly and just left them in their imperfect state because I know I'll come back to them tomorrow and they'll be better tomorrow.

Then I worked on playing beautifully and my window was open and I hope it sounded as nice outside as it felt to me inside. It's not perfect and I actually am starting to realize that it probably rarely will be, but I liked it.

There is something to this program of taking it slowly and making my simple things sound good, rather than always feeling in over my head. It was very cool and it really, really was playing, playing for fun.

a little anxiety, a little music

Had a little anxiety over playing tonight. Then I let it go and practiced some more. Down with anxiety.

Play!

Well, the parades were a great success yesterday and we had about the most smashing 4th of July possible. Incredible weather and an entire city filled with happy and excited people just having fun.

I wore myself out completely and collapsed at home at about 5 o'clock yesterday. I was just totaled by the day - marching in Juneau, walking over to Douglas, marching in Douglas, and right in the middle on the way to Douglas, I got sunscreen in my left eye that took almost an hour to clear. Was that ever painful! And no water on the walk over.

So tonight, now with no rehearsal pressure whatsoever, I played for a long time, my practice broken up in the middle with a break for my lips. First long scales, very slowly, listening listening, playing everything slowly for the sound. When I came back after a housecleaning break, I played practice material. But I didn't work on it, I played it. It sounded good. Then I worked on played beautiful music, little solo pieces, Liebestraum, Bist du bei mier, On Wings of Song by Mendelssohn. Miss Marple was on in a mystery on TV and dead blackbirds played into it. I picked out the blackbird song. :) My horoscope today said: "It's not always about production; sometimes the most significant experiences are the transient ones that have no apparent tangible value."

kids and cartoons and the 4th

Sharon and the kids stayed over last night to watch the fireworks. The kids are awake now watching cartoons while I work on my exam at a relaxed pace ... lovely morning.

Parade today, march march march, play play play. My sense from the stupendous weather and the crowds downtown yesterday evening for fireworks, and the presence of our governor in town (in the parade?) is that there will be BIG CROWDS for the parade. There are 80+ floats and it's supposed to be a mile long! I really hope we get in the front ...

Getting the chops in shape

I've been trying to push myself a little playing as my chops will get a bit bashed up tomorrow. I definitely do not have the marching walk down where my mouth doesn't get banged up by the mouthpiece. So I'm trying to build up some chop strength.

It is is sunny and warm. I am playing with my windows and doors open and I like to think of my march tune practicing floating around the hillside. :)

Sit-down concert a SUCCESS

We played our second sit-down concert yesterday, in Marine Park. The first was on Sunday in the JACC due to rain potential. Both concerts were good, for different reasons - the Sunday event was all about history, our 50th anniversary as a state, speechifying, etc. Yesterday's was just about playing the music and it was a BLAST. LOTs of players, great audience (repeat, great audience), we played well and we were just plain playing fun music.

As we were setting up yesterday, a woman off the ship asked me when the concert would start. I love the way that people know that something's happening and just start gravitating toward it. When we played our first song, the National Anthem, yesterday, we started the song with a small audience. By the next song, the Alaska Flag song, we had a big audience. Just like that.

I have the thought sometimes when I'm getting set up for a concert, and playing it, of the long history in humankind that I am a part of. For how long have musicians, performers, set up to play, people see them setting up and know something's going to happen, then the event is there and we are making the music and our audience is loving it, and we've all just transformed the space for that little chunk of time. It's hard to describe, it makes me emotional thinking about it - this is such a human thing to do, and now I am part of this long, long, long line of people throughout history who have come together to play for people like this.

I am so ridiculously lucky to be able to do this that I can't even find the words.

relaxed

I didn't make a practice yesterday, and tonight I was unfocused. So I just played and worked on material and sounding beautiful, with no driving force, not even working toward anything in particular, just exercises and pretty songs to sound nice. I could not even practice my marches because they are in the van. Concert in the park tomorrow, I'll get the marches then. I'm getting better at sight reading. :)

2nd practices

stiff hand

lovely music

2nd practice of the day

hard work

payoff

gulps of air

At about 1:30 or 2:00 today, I felt that I was finally up for air. I broke through the surface and started sucking in big gulps of air. With my mom here house-hunting last weekend (Friday through Tuesday), with work at a manic end-of-fiscal year pace, marching band rehearsal, marching band music organization, lesson, house-buying paperwork and meetings ... I could only just move through it minute by minute. Kind of hanging on by my fingernails.

Finally today I got home from signing another offer paperwork, ate lunch, laid down and took a brief but oh-so-delicious nap ... and woke as if waking from being underwater for the last two weeks. I ignored my messy house (I really need to vacuum) and opted to play. But today, I decided that there was no time pressure. I cleaned my slide very carefully. Even cleaned the inside of the inner slide. It was really grody! Ewww. But it was lovely taking as much time as I wanted to cleaning the slide. I wanted it to be perfect when I played. It was.

I worked a lot on Stars & Stripes, and some on Washington Post. When we practice marched at rehearsal on Wednesday, National Emblem went pretty well but Stars & Stripes and Washington Post were rougher. I am so pleased that I want to giggle, that I can play these marches as well as I can this year. It's my fourth year of playing in the marching band and my first year of feeling confident playing the marches.

My mouth started to wear out on a G in Washington Post so I am taking a break.

Oh, and I had just a great lesson last Thursday.

7:30

My evening was mapped out. There was not much time between getting home, cooking dinner (beautiful halibut with rice and salad, beautiful), eating, working diligently on accounting problems, and then heading out to my lesson. I have my transit time to the Hodges' timed well - it's almost a 25-minute walk, maybe about 22 minutes.

I left in perfect time. My walk over was glorious. I love this daylight and I want it to last forever.

Aside:
I've been sleeping with my curtains open this year.
The daylight wakes me all night long.
I love waking at 2:00 am and seeing how light it is.
When it was warm last week I was leaving the window open at night.
The birds were waking me at 2:45.
I'd wake, smile, and go back to sleep.

I got to my lesson 1 minute before lesson time. I got there at 6:59. But my lesson is at 7:30, has been for a very long time. My perfect calculation was off by 30 minutes. I think this might be a sign that I am a little too busy, though it made for a very good laugh at myself.

Great lesson, great lesson. I am going to scale back a little on playing in concerts this summer and focus on practicing. I want to get better and I am getting better, I am, but constantly jamming in material for the next concert means time away from working on technique and away from productive lessons.

I have another lesson in a week, this one at 7:30. :) I'll miss having dinner with Cindy when she's here from Anchorage, but Jack's leaving town again on the 30th and I really want more continuity between lessons; I need to take advantage of the opportunity. He thinks it is important as well. I need someone to point out what I am doing wrong, or my bad habits just reinforce themselves.

Meanwhile, my left hand really hurts. I've developed a technique for slipping it under a pillow straightened out when I go to sleep. It's like a little brace but it is a pillow so it is gentle. If I don't, it cramps in the night and is stiff and painful when I wake in the morning (or at 2:45 to the lovely birds).

So ... what gives?

What I don't understand is what combination it is that makes playing good one day and not good another day. I wasn't real happy about how I played in the concert on Saturday - who knows what contributed. Was it my uncertainty in the setting, was it my embouchure, was it something I ate that day.

Tonight, I was tired when I headed out for marching band rehearsal. I got up at 5 am today, worked at a dead run pace all day, met for marching band concert and parade planning at lunch in the state office building atrium (a very cool place to meet, btw), had only time to heat a can of soup and eat a bite for dinner before rehearsal. I went at a dead run all day long. Then I missed the first couple of songs at marching band rehearsal because I was getting music for people (though Sandra Strandtmann is serving as our librarian now and it was wonderful to have her there tonight, it brought such calm to the process).

So I had to sneak in, a couple of songs into the rehearsal, and start playing with no warmup. I've done that before and it took half a rehearsal before I could even reliably hit the right partial. Tonight, I snuck in by reading over Galen's shoulder on Washington Post March and sure I didn't play perfectly, but I just dropped right in to the rehearsal. I just played ok, I felt fine playing. The music's not real hard, maybe that's part of it. Maybe my practice on the marches is paying off. No, no maybe about it, the practice is paying off.

Maybe the most important part is that I feel comfortable now in this setting. Actually, I just loved how it felt to drop into the playing like that and be able to pick up and play.

This is the first year that I feel confident playing the marches, too. We practiced marching and I didn't have a lyre so just poked at playing from memory during our practice march and that was cool, too. I haven't been able to figure out where my lyre was but when I got home I rummaged around in my tromboney stuff and finally found my clip-on-bell lyre. Next week I'll bring my Jupiter and practice marching with that with the lyre - cringing I was to be out marching with my lovely Yamaha but I held that slide tight.

ouch!

Rick used to say that in his practice sessions he tries to do exercises, work on something that's a stretch and requires work, and play something beautiful. That's what I did tonight, first my warmup complete with pedals and I'm starting to get what Jack's been talking about, I can bring the flat pedal note up with my upper lip - ha! it works. Then I worked on two of the three marches for the parade. I'm working hard on these. I want to keep working hard on these and it would be great if I could memorize them.

I worked on a few of the other pieces for the marching band concert as well, and then I got out my old Bist du bei mir to sound beautiful. I thought a lot about sounding beautiful while I was working on it. My tone was not the best tonight, a little ragged, but playing on Bist du bei mir I could bend it toward beauty more than I did on the other pieces. It was nice to focus on just playing as beautifully as possible.

And I have a lesson scheduled for Thursday. Happy I am.

Oh, and an edit: The ouch! refers to my hand. It hurts. Middle finger is numb. It cramps at night. But after playing next to Jenny in the concert, I am starting to use my trigger again and now I am conflicted - do I buy a lighter instrument or try to use the bullet brace again? Decisions, decisions.

capitol echoes

Charlie says that when I play with my window open, this great echo acoustic happens and my trombone playing sounds really cool. He thinks it's bouncing off the Capitol.

True to my word from my last post, I worked just on the three parade marches today. Actually, my embouchure was pretty toasted after only two, so I really only worked on Washington Post and Stars and Stripes. Let me get these marches in some shape and then I'll work on the other material for the concert.

I might circle back tonight and play a little more, but I might just have a glass of wine and have an easy evening. Enough, enough.

As quickly as my embouchure wore out tonight, I wonder if that was related to my not playing that well last night. 3 hours of rehearsal Friday night, 3 hours of rehearsal yesterday morning ... I don't think my mouth is that tough!

And - Aunt Betty called and left a message saying how wonderful the concert was last night. SO sweet! I just love living in this town and making music for people, and how much they appreciate it, and what a wonderful relationship we all have to each other. And appreciate each other.

Concert's over, moving on

It was a very fun concert, lively music and fun to play and I would gather from the audience's response, fun to listen to. Karen Paulick guest conducted Stars and Stripes and the audience and musicians loved it. Sue Kazama's piano solo on I got Rhythm was really good, and the audience loved that. It was great for me to pair with another 2nd 'bone from Anchorage, Jenny McCoy (I think) - she's a strong player, and just a nice person to play with.

I feel a need at this point to be more selective about what I play in, trying to focus my energies more in order to play better more consistently. Marching band is coming up and that's something I don't want to miss, but as the season progresses, I will become a little more careful about saying yes. I need to become a stronger player, I need to develop more confidence, I need to become a better sight reader - well, the list goes on, doesn't it? And the dichotomy, of course, is that I also need to have more confidence in performance - and to get that, I need to perform.

One last thought. Yesterday during rehearsal I realized that I knew the music much better after the rehearsal cycle, I could feel it, I knew instinctively where to come in. I must remind myself the next time that I feel like freaking out in the early rehearsals (I can't do this!) that we are all in some stage of being new to the music and we will all get better. I need to play out right from the beginning in rehearsals and make my mistakes then so I can play it right later. Enough already of this timidness!

studying!

Rehearsals, rehearsals, rehearsals. Last night from 7 till 10, the night before from 7 till 10, and today at 11 am. I'm slipping in some study time right now for my accounting class, listening to John Coltrane, sipping my coffee, chatting with friend Carey ...

This will be a very fun concert tonight. And last night during rehearsal Kyle described next season. Though I have been telling myself that I need to back off playing a little, I love the sound of everything we'll be playing and want to play in all of them! It's more motivation for me, to 1) get better and 2) improve my confidence. The two are so intertwined.

Back to the books. One more class in the fall and I'll have this master's.

late. and tired. and satisfied.

I stepped up to my role as "band manager" tonight for the Marching Band. Last week was disastrous - I was trying to play, to warm up, and to deal with missing music for people, etc. The scene was completely chaotic for me and relatively chaotic for others. Tonight I just decided that the role for me to play was not player but music librarian/manager. I just did it and then I slipped in playing where I could, and I was relaxed. I was relaxed about my playing, I was actually relaxed about being librarian, with people lined up asking for this, for that. I just did it and not warming up, having to slip in and out of playing, it was fine.

It was perfect perspective. This is supposed to be fun. It was fun.

Now I don't know how I am going to take care of all the organizing I need to do with the music before next week's rehearsal, 'cause I am so stacked up this week. Three more symphony rehearsals before the concert Saturday - and oh, yes! I have a job. I'm taking a class. But I'm meditating an hour a day right now and I think that's making this wild schedule work.

I love my trombone

Great rehearsal tonight. 3 hour rehearsal - that's long.

I focused on the music. My "neighbors" in the low brass section helped me. I dropped my embarrassment and practiced things I needed to work on during the break, and I played just as well as I could during the rehearsal. I worked hard at staying with the music. It makes no sense to feel so uncomfortable about screwing up among my fellow musicians that I'd rather play it wrong (or not at all) in performance than embarrass myself playing it wrong in rehearsal. No sense.

I'm back in love with my trombone now. Though I still want to get a straight tenor to reduce the weight. I'll be in Washington DC in July and I've got my sights on an instrument store ... but I still love my horn.

slow but steady?

Yesterday (Sunday) I was all fired up to do a warmup early in the day and have a good long practice later in the day, but the day took over and I never had my good long practice.

Today I had a bunch of errands to run at lunch so I took a two-hour lunch (there goes my leave) and part of my lunch was a sweet little warmup. Now I've been having my good long end-of-day practice - what I meant to happen yesterday on my day-off Sunday.

I worked again on Camelot tonight. Short rehearsal periods are kind of tough. If you don't know the material well (like me) it can be a slog practicing - just working on rhythm patterns, but not knowing how it fits musically. The best practices of all are in rehearsals because I can hear where my music fits. But when the rehearsal cycle is short ...

I focused again on knowing the beat, staying with the beat. I did really well until I hit triplet quarter notes, which are just plain hard for me. I know I can get them because I get triplet eighth notes, but I finally (figuratively) threw up my hands on the triplet quarter notes. I feel like a klutz with them. Like walking and chewing gum. :)

Rehearsal tomorrow. I cooked this weekend and tonight, trying to stack up the meals because I have rehearsals every night for the rest of the week.

Got my mojo back

Thursday's rehearsal was a lot harder. I didn't play well. I was tired, I was self-critical. I was worried about playing poorly and I played poorly.

I have been meditating a lot and reading buddhist teachings a good bit lately. There is a saying, I think I picked it up at Shambhala Mountain Center in Colorado:

Why are you so unhappy?
Why are we so unhappy?
Because everything you do
And 99 percent of what you think
Is for yourself
And there isn't one.

Attributed to Wu Wei, 12th century Taoist though the attribution is a bit complicated, per Google.

On the trombone forum where I go to pick up tips about playing and instruments, Gabe Langfur wrote a post about stage fright in performance. He said in response to a particular question to focus only on the subdivided pulse, not on "whether I will play well" or "I'm not good enough" (my paraphrasing there).

I think that 75% of my poor playing on Thursday was because I was focused on myself and not on the music. In my practice tonight, I worked on Camelot and I was entirely focused on the beat and the rhythm and I did well and I worked very productively where I did not do well.

When I practice or rehearse with a rushed feeling, I practice or rehearse poorly. When I am self-conscious and nervous, I play poorly. I had a beautiful time last night watching the big band in Marine Park and I just loved the music and I watched those musicians and they loved the music, too. They were totally into it and they just played it. What is the value of this self-conscious bit? No value.

Why am I so unhappy?
Because I'm thinking about myself
And there isn't one.

Think about what I am playing and who I am playing it for.

ok, what was I thinking

It was a great rehearsal. Sure, I made a lot of mistakes but I loved playing, the music is just plain fun to play, we're all having a good time, and I'm picking it up. It was a first rehearsal, for God's sake! What was I so worried about!

I am only going to get better at this, get better at sight reading, get better at playing, by playing. I am so lucky to have this opportunity.

I mentioned to Rick how freaked out I'd been. He said, I just should have mentioned it and we could have worked on the material together, I could have played with the trumpet sectional. Of course. Of course.

rescue

After my little panic attack last night, I sat down tonight and worked on marches for the 4th of July. That music is good for the chops. I will just hit first rehearsal tomorrow for the symphony concert and get a feel for the music, which is so hard to do before rehearsal, and then I will take it from there. I'll have a much better sense of the music after tomorrow.

I got out my old Jupiter for playing when we march, and the slide's all scratchy but it was fun to play a lightweight instrument again. Not taking my beautiful horn marching.

Nervous!

I am having a fit of nerves. I listened to the practice CD today and rather than it helping me understand my place in the music better, it made me nervous about playing this material. And they are bringing in a trombone player from Anchorage to double on the second part, so in essence I am just holding the place during our early rehearsals. I am surprising myself with how nervous I am all of a sudden. Where is this coming from?

I have to remind myself that in the last 16 days I have missed 9 days of practice, with all of my travel. So I need to go easy on myself. Ouch! We are such fragile beings!

halfway through Porgy & Bess

My practice experiment worked great today. I actually broke it into 3 practice sessions, it being a Saturday. All three sessions were quite good, relaxed, I liked how I was playing, felt in tune with the music and exercises. I worked on Porgy and Bess and am quite looking forward to rehearsal (starts Tuesday). I'll just do my best. The music is very fun, very fun.

mix it up mix it up mix it up

Trying a slightly new tangent. I know it's better to practice twice a day than once. But I have a hard time doing it. Why? It's just plain hard to get home from work at lunch, practice, go back to work, then practice in the evening ... um, there's just a lot more to do in my life than practice trombone.

So, I have wondered, am I making it too hard? How about just warming up for my early practice? How about just putting 15 minutes in? How about capping it at 15 minutes, just warmup and practice activities, and then making my later practice the longer and more involved one where I work on my current material? This way I'll be getting the advantage of two practice sessions without wearing myself out trying to fit too much in, which is my usual tendency.

So, I just did a 15-minute warmup and worked on one exercise. I capped it at 15 and I intend to get back to it later. (This is the trickiest part, following up with the intent.)

I've read recently about drones, via the internet or CD, a 5-minute drone of one pitch to work with in improving your ear. There's a book/CD combo called Breakfast by David Schwarz that has these drones as well as scale and arpeggio exercises around them, that I'd like to try as an alternative warmup. Mixing it up. Keeping it interesting and productive. I want to get better.

I came into my practice with strong intent again today, and it was a good practice. I made it all the way through Showboat. This is going to be a fun concert.

About 35 minutes in, my lips were getting tired so I took a break - packed for my trip to Anchorage. I need to do that more. One reason I shy away from that practice is that when I take a break I tend to get distracted - someone calls or something comes up - and then I don't get back to my practice. But I play so much better when I take breaks, as my mouth stays in shape and can handle the work.

Now I'll be gone for three days and once again I am leaving my horn behind. It's okay. I am on a good roll with playing now and the break will be all right.

4 hours

I sorted the 4th of July parade music out into folders today. It took me four hours! But boy, I am glad I did it. I learned - how much time it takes to sort through sheet music (obviously, a lot), the music order for band music (I think I have that nailed now), how many kinds of clarinets there are! (E flat, B flat, bass, something else that I can't remember - can't they just be like trombones and be simple?), all the different percussion parts (no wonder those guys are running around all the time).

I have to say that it gave me great respect for all the volunteers, music teachers, conductors, music librarians who painstakingly parse music out into separate folders, and then even more painstakingly reassemble the music after the concerts are done. You'd think I might have been a little resentful, spending 4 hours on a precious day off carefully sorting out this music, but I was not at all. It just worked in my day, and just seemed like the perfect thing to do. Plus, like I say, it was a pretty amazing insight into how this works. Just imagine for every concert you see, how much effort goes into putting the music together.

Ok, my practice today. I had a mental map of my goals/thoughts/memories from yesterday's practice, and today's was a good and productive practice. I could so see the progress I had made on the material I worked on yesterday. I worked on Show Boat for the June concert, and I love how I can hear the pieces of that music coming out as I am playing it. My goal was to get all the way through a piece for the concert each day, and I didn't do that today or yesterday - so I need to work on that earlier in my practice rather than exercises.

Maybe the best part is how thoroughly and thoughtfully and listeningly I am doing my warmup. On my way up the street from my meditation this morning, I stopped and visited with Jim and Salty a bit. We were talking about practice and I described what Jack had told me from the brass class, about imagining the music "up here" at the top of your head as you then play it through your lips - you hear the music you envision and then you play to that. Jim told me about a lesson about scales, and making the scales beautiful, about playing the scales musically. I did that in my warmup today. I played my notes in my head before I played, and I played them beautifully in my head. Then pretty nicely in the real world, too.

I think practice is like a lot of things. If there is a lot of intention behind it, there is much more that comes out of it. If you just jump into it, you get what you prepared for.

And after the whining ...

I had a great practice. Almost an hour, very focused, really listening to myself, really thinking about what I was playing.

You know, I played this morning with the Concert Band at Community Day on Campus (great band music but cold out there). Jack says that if I can get in two practices a day, that is much better than one. I wonder if playing this morning kicked up my afternoon practice. I've read about a soft mute that I wonder if I should get, so I can do something like a 15-minute warmup in the morning. With my meditation schedule already, that'll push me to getting up at 5:00 am - am I a nut?

and back to intent

My lesson on Thursday was a little discouraging, actually. Not that Jack was discouraging, at all; no, he was positive. Just the sense, though, that there is so much I need to do to get better, and the road is so long and progress is slow.

I knew it would be a somewhat tough lesson, coming after almost a week of not playing. It was pleasing that I had good tone, good volume - which might be partly due to the week off. But I was rough on a lot, repeating a lot of my old problems and issues - maybe that is what has me a little discouraged.

I took notes again. Here is what I need to work on:

Legato. Light tongue between notes. No tongue when I am changing partials. No sloppy slide, and not too staccato either. It's such a fine touch that it is often hard for me to remember what I am striving for.

From the brass master class, Jack passed on the idea of not stopping after the in-breath before playing, but having the in- and out-breath be seamless flow with the note coming with the out-breath. I like this and can relate.

Also from the master class but from my last lesson, too, each note having the same value throughout. Not little mini-crescendos. Not <, but [___] (imagine a horizontal line at the top of that figure). The note starts the way it is played throughout, and ends the same way. I really, really need to work on this. Clean tonguing. Clean tonguing. Clean tonguing. I need to work on pedals every day. I actually finally started to get in the lesson, how to hold my lower jaw/lip more stable, and using my upper lip for the pedal. This is so I can keep them from being so flat, using the upper lip gives much more control of the note. I guess rather than both lips flapping, you just have one! I also read on the trombone forum recently that Doug Elliot didn't start playing pedals until he'd been playing for three years ... so I feel kind of in league.

From my 5-7 lesson, remember what I learned: More full lower notes in my warmup. Really be attentive to how I am starting the notes from B flat on down. Almost no tongue, and lots of air, kind of a tube of air pushing right through. Keep lips relaxed on the low notes. Make sure I do vibrato in my daily scale exercise. Pay attention to my legato in my daily scales! Okay, so for today: Warmup:

• Full low notes, relaxed, clean-starting.
• On scale, clean legato. Vibrato.
• Work on pedals using the method we worked on last Thursday.

Work one piece from Duet book, one from Beeler, at least one symphony piece throughout.

sweet sound upon return

After not playing for a week whilst off on my meditative adventure to Nelson, BC, I picked up the horn last night and just poked around. Not much time after dinner and before I headed down to the Manhattan Brass performance (fun, fun, and beautiful music).

I just played scales and Amazing Grace in a few keys. It sounded great, my lips felt relaxed, my ears felt relaxed. I ran into Jack and Molly at the concert (as well as half the people I know in Juneau; intermission was a packed visiting hour; I love these things) and we talked about how a break sometimes improves one's sound. Molly said she can hear it when Jack has been away from playing for a few days.

It was so lovely to play a bit last night, and even better tonight: I have a lesson. Jack attended the master class on Tuesday (while I was en route home on the plane) and he's going to share some wisdom in the lesson.

Oh, and the trombones were such a kick to listen to and watch in last night's performance.

'bye 'bye bone

It has been a very long time since I have done this, abandoned my t-bone, but I am leaving for a week today and my beautiful instrument will be here on its stand, alone without me the whole time. I'm going to visit Carey in Seattle and to a meditation retreat in Nelson, BC, and fitting trombone playing in with those activities sounded complicated almost to the point of silliness.

Also, interestingly, I feel mature enough in my practice that I can handle a week off. I'm already eager to pick it back up, a week from now. I'm already longing to play, just a little now. This might be the rest reason for leaving the trombone behind.

analytical

I'll be busy with a picnic tonight and may not get a chance to practice later, so I stuffed in a practice at lunchtime. My goal was to practice 30 minutes but at 25 minutes my mouth just fell apart on the high notes. This seems really extreme to me. 25 minutes? I wasn't playing high the whole time, at all.

Anyway, after warming up I was very careful and methodical about "Air," the piece I ended so frustratingly with last night. Much, much, much better. I can still see what I am doing with the little crescendos on each note. I actually don't like this piece very much and I never have, so I might be playing it awkwardly as a result. So I can hear the little crescendos but I have not solved that problem yet - though, as I said, it came much better today.

But then, my mouth giving out after 25 minutes? I realized during warmup that I'm working hard at making the low notes full, and I wonder if that added workout on my embouchure is killing me on the top end. If that is the case, my guess is that a week or two of the low workout will open this up somewhat. Who knows what is going with those muscles.

Back to work.

just a bit of an annoying practice

Ow. Am I paying my dues for practice light over the weekend? I started tonight really rough, on my G (no, the one an octave below my problematic G) I kept having this flutter in the note. It took all of my patience to stick with it. I moved to a different exercise and kind of got my groove, then back to the original one and the G was OK.

So I had about 25 good minutes of practice, took a break and made my bed with its fresh sheets, then went back to practice, this time on "Air" in the duets book. YUCK. It was really hard work and it sounded like hard work and then my G (high one this time) started blatting out completely wrong. I finally played a few pedals and just quit.

Sigh.

the road ... and best intentions

My weekend was open and it laid out before me, full of endless possibilities. No classes right now, no rehearsals, lots of time for practice, time for meditation, time to enjoy the sun ...

Oops, I hardly got any practice in, BUT both Saturday and Sunday were productive practices. Yesterday I actually had a great warmup, reinforcing my low note behavior, playing my upper range well, and doing a decent vibrato on my scales, even working a bit on one of my exercises. But! It was supposed to be the first of two practices and I never made it to the second. The weekend intervened. I went on a zipline tour, of all things, on "local appreciation day" with my friend Natt (Picasa web album currently under construction). I went to the Bach Society concert - lovely, lovely - little tiny kids were marvelously cute, cousin Marie as always sang beautifully. Then in a rather startling change of character ended up at the Jazz Babies Ball at the JACC 'till midnight, but had to leave because I had to get up early to help clean an ill friend's house.

Then today my day was full from beginning to end. Family, friends, and musical cohorts. What more could you want? But - my only practice was playing "Lean on me" from my head. But it was encouraging. I sang it. Then I said, "What note am I starting from?" I sang it again, and I answered myself, "F." So I picked up the trombone and I played an F. It wasn't right, because my horn was cold so it was ... damn, the physics of this instrument always throws me, it was too flat with the tuning slide pulled out too far. So I pulled it in and played the F and it was the note I was singing as the starting note, and I played it somewhat bumpily, but not even too bumpily!

Then I played it in a different key, can't remember which, and it was even better, and went past 9 pm by about 10 minutes (thanks, Charlie) ... but, sadly, that's all the practice I got this weekend.

one quick low note blog

Before I race off to see our high school intern Ty Yamaoka star in Pecos Bill at the high school, I must post about my experience with the low notes tonight. I just practiced a tiny bit because I did not have much time.

My notes from last night's lesson on the low notes read:

Low notes more full

• low is sounding sharp so my lips need to be more relaxed
• want fuller sound low
• almost no tongue, air, tube of air

Again, me paraphrasing from my lesson.

What I did tonight:

• Right off the bat, I noticed myself tonguing the first low B flat. And it came in funky, not true to the note at first.
• I stopped tonguing it.
  
• Then, right next, I noticed that when I shifted from the B flat an octave above, after playing a long tone there but before playing a long tone on my B flat an octave down, I lifted my mouth off the mouthpiece to get air! No wonder my attack on the low B flat is so bad!
• So, I very deliberately kept my mouth glued to that mouthpiece and took in air around the corners of my mouth, and did not tongue, and those low notes came easier, came in more clean. Not perfect, but way more clean.

I also focused in my little tiny window of time before racing off to my social obligation, on playing my low notes more full, louder, more volume, but not just volume, more full. I am very eager to continue my experimentation tomorrow. I have a lesson in two weeks and I will be gone for a week of those two weeks (sans trombone - gasp), so I want to work hard on these things. I want to get better.

good tone, but the legato!

Great lesson tonight, as always. I took close notes as Jack gave me corrections. Very specific corrections, very specific notes. Specific to phrases that I am working on in my lesson material - these 16th note passages - "make them playful" - and always the work on my legato and on making my tonguing clean.

We worked on my approach to my low notes. I need to tongue less and push the air out in whole. Very very hard to describe, and these are my words and not Jack's. But I think what I have been doing is having too tight an embouchure when I start the note and then relaxing it when the note comes out a little funky. I need the note to come out right directly from the beginning, and on these low notes the aperture is larger.

We also talked about my habit of doing a little mini-crescendo on each note at times. I need the beginning of the note to be the same as the end of the note, instead of starting small and ending big on each note.

But Jack told me that I have a good tone, need to work on my legato, need to work on clean tonguing, but without a good tone none of it would be good. I've heard this enough now that I think I actually might have a good tone.

Happy chops

I practiced twice tonight, before and after dinner, and my chops feel it. It feels good to get a good workout playing.

I just worked on lesson material. It's soothing, almost. Different kind of pressure around it. It's nice, because I'm working hard on it and I know I will get very specific feedback on Thursday. So, I am forming questions, predicting what Jack might call me on and trying to correct in advance - but also giving myself the freedom to slow it right down and try to do it as right as possible - since I don't have to worry about playing it up to speed with a whole orchestra or band. It's nice working like this and it is nice having this window.

Speaking of windows, it's temporary: the first two weeks of June are completely booked, rehearsing for the symphony June concert and the Juneau Volunteer Marching Band lead-up to the 4th of July. I love the 4th of July. I love the parade, though I have to admit that marching and playing is not exactly easy.

Lesson Thursday

After a long time without, I finally have a lesson Thursday. Concerts, illness, travel have intervened. When I am working for material for an upcoming concert, I don't work on my lesson material. So that intervenes. Now I am in this tiny window between concerts, though I understand from Bill that "the charts" are in at the symphony office (I feel like such a musician, saying that).

Anyway, with the lesson Thursday, I worked hard on my lesson material, until after about 55 minutes my chops started to go. I have to laugh at myself, at how impatient I get with myself. How worried - well, I won't be able to play this right at my lesson! That's why I am having a lesson!

10 minutes after I quit, about 5 after 9, Charlie called from upstairs and told me that he doesn't mind if I keep playing after 9, he goes to bed late in the summer and I could even play 'till 10. Generous of him, generous and thoughtful. I love human society.

Eyes on the conductor

Rick Trostel, in the piece he wrote about the 2008-2009 Juneau Student Symphony season, has a picture of Robert with his eyes intensely focused on Rick during a rehearsal. It's the picture on the second page of his retrospective: http://www.juneausymphony.org/studentsymphony/2008-9%20season%20retrospective%20-%20good.pdf.

I wrote a couple of days ago about frequently getting lost, especially when I have been playing and get flustered as I pick up my count of measures. I am often a measure late or a measure early, and I think it usually stems from getting through whatever little chunk I am playing (or big chunk, as the case may be); then I heave an inward sigh of relief and get off track. Yesterday or maybe Thursday in rehearsal I focused on watching Todd as much as possible, and it helped a great deal in those moments that I had that focus. I think I've been watching the music too much, maybe with 80% of my attention on the music and 20% on the conductor. I almost always have the conductor in the corner of my eye (or the top of my vision field, to be precise) but my eyes are focused more on the music.

Do I have to have more of the music committed to memory and use the printed page as a reminder? Mechanically, physically, how do I achieve this? If I can, my sense is that I will vastly improve my ability to keep my place. If I don't keep losing the conductor's beat, then having to find it again with the risk of being off, won't this help?

CONCERT TONIGHT!

Woo-hoo! Concert band concert tonight. It' such fun music to play (though the Hindemith is a little hard for me).

http://sites.google.com/site/juneaucommunityband/

very fine rehearsal

We are sounding good. I had trouble counting and missed a little soli entrance - repeatedly. This happens enough to me that I know I need to get better counting. I do fine counting x measures of rests, but when I'm playing and then need to keep track of a few measures ... I often mess it up. I think it is because I get flustered by the playing and lose track.

I think if I hear the music more ... musically, I will do better at knowing where I am. It is all such a one big puzzle, with all of the pieces related in such curious and tangential ways. I'll get my entrances better if I relate to the music more musically. It makes perfect sense yet is not the simple mechanical answer you might think it is.

Anyway, love playing this stuff, just love it. And actually, I really like how good I am starting to sound, counting mistakes or not. My ear is so much better.

2 reasons for practicing

Well, there are many more, but here are two reasons for putting in good practice sessions close to concert date:

1. Improve my playing even by an increment on the pieces we will be performing.
2. Keep my CHOPS IN SHAPE. It is great to get in good solid practice sessions leading up to the concert so my chops are READY for all that playing come concert night. It will be good to have solid rehearsals tomorrow and Friday. 2 hours of rehearsal time on this concert band music means that my chops should be in great shape by Saturday's performance. Even tonight and last night when I had really good practice sessions, I actually didn't get in much more than an hour of playing time.

Playing in symphony, sometimes the hardest time to keep my chops in shape is right before the concert, because we have so much rehearsal time, and when there are a lot of rests for us brass players, that's a lot of time when we could be practicing, that we are counting. We're great counters, though. :)

good practice

tingling lips ... worked hard on my tricky concert band stuff.

I thought today that it would be good to try for an hour a day of practice again. A focused hour. But I just don't have that much time in me right now, with all of my other commitments (I'm trying to meditate for 30 hours a month at the moment as well - and that is a stretch, too - and I can even do that in the morning!).

smashingly fun rehearsal

We had concert band rehearsal tonight and it was just smashingly fun. I'll say it again. I can't believe how lucky I am to be able to do this. How did I get this alignment of fortunate circumstances. I just don't know, but I love it.

I also love this concert band type music. I love blasting it out on the trombone, to tell the truth.

It is also SO valuable to be playing between Paul Shannon and Bruce Simonson. I can hear how they articulate the notes and I can emulate that. I am doing that. Just playing with them is serving as a teacher.

I have to work as much as I can this week on the material. The Hindemith tonight was particularly hard for me. I've been working on this material but not at speed, and I was just completely lost today on the first page, time and again as we went through it at least three times. I know the speed because I can play the second and third pages at speed, so I'll try to play this first page during this week up to speed ... and if I can't, then I need to be able to at least count it so I don't get lost for my little one-measure solo at the bottom of the first page.

I wrote down my notes on what to practice and I'll just do my best. Our concert is Saturday, May 2, and we have rehearsals Thursday and Friday of this week.

Did I mention how lucky I feel?

tried a new horn today

I have been poking around thinking about switching back to a horn without an F-attachment. The weight, the added weight, of the F-attachment causes a numb middle finger and not insignificant hand pain ... I'm 47, it's not like I'm going to be progressing towards stronger hands just naturally. Unless I start a weight lifting hand strengthening program but I already don't have enough time in the day.

I was out at Bill Paulick's today picking up a cup mute for the Concert Band performance coming up, and I just happened to ask him if he had a large bore horn, a .525 or .547 inch bore, without the F-attach. For the non-trombone player, the F-attachment adds a whole section of tubing which drops the range down when the "trigger" opening the tubing is pulled. It gives you a lot more range on the low end, gives you a lovely B natural in 2nd rather than 7th position, and gives you a lot more weight to pack around on your left hand and specifically on the middle finger of your left hand. I've been trying different grips and braces, etc., to get around the pain that comes from packing this thing primarily on that one finger - and right now I am just tolerating the pain 'cause nothing else works without interrupting my playing.

Well he had a Yamaha Xeno 881, which is a straight (non F-attach) 0.547 inch bore (relatively large bore) instrument, and I tried it out and I liked it a lot. I am completely conflicted about getting a new horn. On the one hand, I feel like I'd have to sell my current instrument because I really don't want to afford to have a stable of expensive horns hanging around. On the other hand ... I'll have to think about it. Decisions, decisions.

I worked on my final exam today and had Leona and Jeff over for dinner, so did not practice at all, with my only playing scales and such on the 881 horn at Bill Paulick's. I did have a nice little practice last night on my concert band material. I need to practice for that, but I need to finish my exam tomorrow. So much to play, so little time.

I love some down time

I love having some low pressure time between concerts, weeks with no rehearsals at all on week nights (what heaven), where practice is just practice, not a desperate race against time to cram as much learning the music in before I play it. Tonight I did the Michael Davis warmup and then I "laid down some more neural tracks" of concert band music - West Side Story, Variations on a Korean Folk Song, and Concertina for Tuba and Band (I'm in the band part of that, hee hee). It was all just completely an enjoyable practice. Low pressure and fun. My lips are tingling. I love it.

American Overture

I worked on my concert band music tonight. American Overture by Joseph Wilcox Jenkins, and worked through a little bit of the Alaska Flag song.

I please myself with how much more easily I can tackle strange rhythms and new note patterns. Just go into them and try them, and I get the sound and feel so much more quickly these days. Sometimes they are still hard - off-beat patterns trick me - but the confidence gained from having played tricky things stands me well. Like Rick says, slow it down and figure it out, and the speed will come.

Last night, all I did was the Michael Davis 15-minute warmup. HA! 15 minutes. I probably spent a good 30 minutes or more on it, but there, too, I was so pleased at how much better I played through it than I have in the past.

The reality of hard work

I am continuing on my neural pathway journey tonight. Just laid down another groove on the Hindemith March and I am giving my chops a break.

Now that the insanity is toning down, of playing in too many groups overlaid with being very sick, with final projects for my class thrown in - now that things have calmed down just a bit, the reality of practice being a lot of work is driven home. I just laid down that next neural track for the Hindemith and indeed, it came more easily and was faster. To continue on with my neural path-making project, however, I need to do the same with the Panama piece. Then I need to lay a solid track on my next piece, probably West Side Story.

It's so much work! I can't just get bored with it. I need to stay on it, work on it, play the pieces over and over. Work!

less is more

Do less to get better.

My philosophy for the past three years is to throw myself into as many playing opportunities as arise for me. My thinking has been that these playing opportunities motivate me to practice all the more.

I am starting to think that my thinking might need to change. Being so sick over the past three weeks gave me time and perspective to think about taking on too much. Jack said, I need to get better. I do need to get better. I think what I need to do now to get better is work on playing what I am playing, well. If I keep taking on too much my practice time is spread too thin and I don't do as well as I need to on any of my material.

So. Let's see how I can do with this idea.

Tonight I worked hard at carving neural paths for Pathfinder of Panama by Sousa. I worked through the entire piece slowly in 4, which was funny. Sousa in 4. But then, I went through it faster in 2 and by golly, it just sounded like Sousa. I just love these marches.

I ended by practicing a duet that I've worked hard on in lessons for a long time. It's this nameless Hohne duet in the Beeler book. It's been hard for me to practice because of my problematic G. Which, by the way, is coming easily, not flawlessly, but much more easily to me now. Tonight I practiced it with the tuner and paying close attention with my ear. It's the top line that's been hard for me, and I think I've been having a hard time getting my E flat and my C in tune. The E flat is really out there in 3rd position relative to the C. Anyway, I worked on it slowly and methodically. Play it well slowly and the speed will come.

Now I have basic neural tracks laid for Pathfinder and the Hindemith. Itchy brain.

continued on the path

I went back to the Hindemith March today and continued on those neural paths I'm creating. I surprised myself with how well I picked up and played the areas that I had worked so methodically on Sunday night. I practiced them again (envisioning the grooves getting deeper in the gray matter) and went through the rest of the Hindemith making sure the beginning paths are laid down for every single part, even the hard parts.

I worked a little on the Sousa Panama piece afterwards, but I was tired. I am still quite sick. Very bad things are in my lungs and I need to pace myself.

Carving neural paths

Yesterday we did our student symphony boat tour, to Gustavus and Hoonah. It was a long day, 6 am to 10 pm. The concerts went quite well, but my topic of the day is related to conversations on the boat between concerts, which is almost the best part about these trips.

Talking with Dave, Paul, Paula, Ken, Anastasia, Judy - all adults starting new on instruments or returning after very long layoffs - and with Bob Hutton, the band director from Hoonah, about my experiences - us adult music learners are keenly interested in the process of learning that goes on in these older brains. Can we lay down the neural paths that we could have if we'd done this when we were young? Does it take longer? Or is it still possible? (I am convinced it is, by my own experience.)

Recent brain research seems to indicate that we keep on creating these new neural paths as we get older. Something I heard or read recently was discussing how you do something once, then you come back and do it again the next day. The memory of doing it twice now makes that path just a little stronger. Then you do it again the next day. It gets a tiny bit easier and the path gets a tiny bit stronger. The key, though, is doing it again and again, over time - as in, no easy breaks, you have to put in the time. And it takes calendar time. You have to do it over and over, day after day.

This is how I want to approach working on the concert band music. Some of it is quite challenging. I have been working tonight on Paul Hindemith's March from Symphonic Metamorphosis. It is fast, there are rhythms that are challenging for me, there are accidentals all over the place. I laid down a neural track tonight on the first and most of the second page. I focused on getting the notes right with all of the accidentals, and getting the rhythm right, but slowly, very slowly. It feels good. I can almost feel the itchy little groove in my brain.

I also set myself the objective to play all the way up to 9 pm. Sometimes I allow myself to get bored with working hard on a piece and let myself off the hook, but I know I am doing that. So I only put in about 30 minutes tonight, but I stuck with it right through.

BTW, I played a TON yesterday, on our tour to Gustavus and Hoonah, and also played two Easter programs this morning, so haven't exactly been slacking. ;)

Broke pattern

After playing every day for 192 days straight, I missed yesterday. I came home sick with a cold, took some Nyquil because I'd hardly slept for coughing the night before, and went to sleep at 6:30 or so, never finding the motivation to play when I woke up periodically through the evening.

So it goes. Will restart the clock today. Still an excellent exercise.

OK, I give

OK, I cannot keep this thing up until my crazy rehearsal/performance/class/work/travel/symphony business schedule lets up ... but I am PLAYING EVERY SINGLE DAY!

first two movements

Have to head out to the play now, but I just worked the first two movements of the Brahms, and played Alaska Flag song (I admit I don't love the arrangement) and the first page of West Side Story for Concert Band.

And I practiced my notes, and a little pedals.

Blog off hold

I am a new woman and my blog is arising from its brief hiatus. That was not even two weeks off, but I needed it. Now, the student symphony concert is done and I am practicing and rehearsing hot and heavy for the Brahms in April and the concert band concert on May 1.

I played for hours today - probably about 3 1/2. Two of those were concert band rehearsal and there is a little rest there for measure counts, but one of the things I love so much about playing that kind of music is that we on low brass get to play so much of it.

Lots of this concert band music needs work by me. I worked tonight on one tricky rhythm part in Hindemith's March from Symphonic Metamorphosis, figuring it out and working it very slowly - it goes fast when we play it!

Earlier today, I played through all of the Brahms. For the most part, this is easy music to play, which is wonderful because it allows me to focus hard on how it sounds, my legato where needed, cleanness of note separation, my tuning. This is in tenor clef and I pretty much have that clef now. That feels good. I worked last night on the Brahms as well, playing through all of it. I'll miss next Tuesday's rehearsal so I want to get in the best shape possible for Thursday's.

Time just goes rushing by. I traveled a week ago and I'll travel again next week and that always makes keeping on track worse. I like to be in different places but I just don't like the havoc it wreaks on my schedule and life left behind.

I went out after work last night and had a couple of martinis - mercy. I crashed on the couch when I came home (after eating some dinner - I'm not that bad) and was sorely tempted to not buzz the mouthpiece when I woke up after my 9 pm music cutoff ... but I did, so I have not blown my play-every-day track record. March 9 was 171 so today is 183 = 1/2 a year! Just like that.

Blog on hold

I'll be putting this blog on hold for a while - with class, work, playing, etc. it is difficult to maintain these days.

My goal of playing every day has been met: Today is Day 171 of playing every single day. It's gotten to be like brushing my teeth - can't go a day without playing.

broke down and bought a new mouthpiece

:)

Ha, they say you should not go seeking mouthpieces to cure your playing ills, but I broke down and got a new one, a Bach 6 1/2 AL.

I like it, it feels different. It sounds fuller.

I worked on the Sinfonietta tonight for maybe 25 minutes ... after a long, long week. It was a small practice but I just feel good about it, loving the music. Now weekend's coming and I get to RELAX a little bit!

early off comes to fruition

oooh, sore hand. I just played a lot. It feels very good. I actually didn't get off that early, but I meditated earlier, warmed up on scales, studied some, ate dinner, and now just played a BUNCH of the Beethoven runs. I'm getting a little tired now so I'll give the chops a break ... I'd like to see if I can squeeze in a little bit on the Sinfionetta tonight. We'll see if there's still time before 9 when my chops feel recovered.

I'm conflicted about the brace. I took it off yesterday because the instrument was sounding tinny. The instrument sounds better today but my middle finger is numb again.

I wonder if I need to think about going with a straight horn and forego the F-attachment. It weighs less and I was able to use a strap to help ease the pressure, which I'm not able to do with this horn. Maybe I'll give this a little time and then try the brace again. I'm taking it with me when I travel next week and I didn't know if the TSA would have a problem with the allen wrench anyway (I have to loosen the brace to get it into the case), so I'll go without it now until after the student symphony concert, then assess trying it again.

tinny

Last night in my lesson the horn sounded tinny enough that Jack commented on it, and it did again today while I was practicing. I took the brace off, examined every possible moving part ... I think it is me but I don't know why.

I only practiced for about 45 minutes as I hit my 9 pm shut-off time. That was OK, though, it was about the right amount of practice. I had some trouble with my G in the Beethoven, but I don't want to try too hard every day. I worked a lot on the Lament movement of the Sinfionetta, working over and over again the mute change ... and I think I may be able to pull that off! It was exciting to do it enough that I am starting to feel comfortable with it.

From my trombone lesson yesterday: I need to start doing my pedal exercise (where I go down by partials to the pedal) LOUDLY. It will get my lips more exercise - and I need to be able to play more loudly than I can now. I should start playing my scales with the tuner - which I did tonight, playing slow scales, finding the note first and then looking at the tuner to calibrate myself better. I surprised myself at how often I was sharp or flat when I thought I was right on.

The work on the Beethoven was not long but it was good practice. I am really coming along with those runs.

I have to go to San Francisco for work next week, for the last two rehearsals before our performance. I find it very strange to wish I did not have to go to San Francisco, but the timing is not good. I was strategizing with Rick about whether I should take my mouthpiece and he suggested taking the trombone, and that the Harmon mute without the stem will make a great mute in the hotel room ... so I tried it tonight and it does make a good practice mute. Perfect.

Beethoven & Brahms

Lesson tonight, we worked on the Beethoven bassoon part (on trombone, of course), the Brahms, and one duet ... I didn't play well on the duet.

I'm tired tonight - it's late, and I've been getting up very early these days.

Now, you can't do much more than that

I worked and worked and worked on the Beethoven. Aside from warming up and working on my G, I did nothing else, not even my pedals.

Ok, I just ran over to the trombone and blew a few pedals, because I think I said I'd do pedals every day in March, and it is March already. That's the way this trombone playing works for me, make it play, make it a game, change my targets all the time and it keeps me going.

Anyway, back to the Beethoven, I feel great about the work I did. It's a bassoon part, after all! There are a ton of fast passages!

Edit P.S. Oh, and when I first started working on the Beethoven, I almost started crying because my G was giving me such fits. I decided to eat dinner instead and when I came back to it, the G was much better and I felt no need to cry. Lesson: When you feel like crying, it is probably not the trombone playing that is the reason. :)

Blog remiss

Ah! Life has such a way of intervening in the routine of a daily blog.

Friday: Student symphony sectional rehearsal. I must practice the Beethoven more, I must, I must. I actually did not play very well but had a fine time anyway. I was simply exhausted from a long week of hard work.

Saturday: Community band in the morning - sight reading! I love the opportunity to do it but I want to be better at it. And the only way to get better at it is to do it! I am so lucky to have the opportunity to do this. I cannot believe how lucky I am.

I had Jim & Salty over for dinner Saturdy night, a lovely dinner and evening. Juneau is so fortunate to have them in our midst. BUT, before they arrived, I squeaked in a little time on the Beethoven, 2nd page, and that was very good practice.

Among all my other commitments, here's my commitment to myself and to Rick & the student symphony: I will work some on the Beethoven every single day until our concert.

Now, off to study. Today's a full day, too. I have a tricky assignment to do this morning for my class, and then my brother Jim and I are going out to Herb's to do some historical digging (he's got treasure troves of pictures and memorabilia and memories, that Jim is just longing to tap). So, I probably won't get in two practices today unless the stars align somehow, but tonight you can bet I'll work on that Beethoven. :)

Scales till my whole face tingles

Whooh! I love that. I started with my low F and played long, slow scales all the way up to my next F, half step at a time. I started with doing two octaves but gave that up round about my A flat scale.

I'm taking a break and studying a bit now, to let my face settle down.

Vows

I did all that I vowed to yesterday - but that was a lot. More than an hour.

On the Brahms, I worked the 6th movement, a Vivace movement. By then my mouth was gone, so when my notes started breaking I stopped, did a little pedal practice and an E scale, and bagged it.

I worked the 1st movement of the Sinfonietta.

Tomorrow I want to work the Brahms 6th movement and the 2nd and 3rd movements of the Sinfonietta right after I warm up, before I do anything else, to get good practice in on those. And oh, yes, I worked all the fast passages slowly in the Beethoven, on the first page. So, tomorrow, 2nd page of the Beethoven.

Lesson last night

Well, I finally got two of my exercises crossed off my list! Not because I played them perfectly, but certainly because I played them better and I've been working at them for too long. Jack took pity on me.

We worked on the student symphony and the symphony material quite a lot. Jack gave me ideas for working fast passages and we also talked about air in relation to my tricky G. The Beethoven in student symphony has that G quite a lot, and I am getting closer to being able to play it reliably but it still needs work. I also want to try playing it on the keyboard first, as I am starting to think that part of my problem may be that I am not hearing it before I play it. Because there is so little margin for error there either with the slide position or with my embouchure, I wonder if my not hearing it means that I am just taking a stab at it and hoping it comes out right - and that just ain't working.

It was very good to hear Jack play some of the Brahms, as I have a feel for what it should sound like. I also have a lesson with him next week. My goals for practice toward that lesson are:

1. Work on 1 - 2 Beeler exercises, just to keep making progress there.
2. Work on 1 - 2 duets from the duet book. I have a couple of those almost nailed so a little extra practice could go a long way.
3. Work methodically and slowly on the fast passages in the Beethoven. I need to have worked on each one by Monday's rehearsal, but I also want to work on them toward my next lesson.
4. Work on the Brahms - at least the Vivace movement (can't remember the number) and the second movement, that Jack played last night. Let's see if I can cement the sound in my little brain.

The Brahms is in tenor clef, did I mention that? I'll have that clef nailed by the time the April concert is done.

And Jack did tell me to keep thinking about clean tonguing. That is the first thing that goes when I get lost or confused in a piece, and then I sound really miserable. Better to tongue cleanly on the wrong note that to muddy them all up and be wrong to boot.

missed rehearsal

This never happens to me unless I have to travel, but tonight I missed my student symphony rehearsal. Major issues with our Reporting Services resulted in 5 programmers and 2 data processing managers working until after 7 to produce 150 reports that one of our program managers needed for a meeting that starts at 8 am tomorrow. Lots of numbers. :) 11-hour day for me, and I just never do that anymore. He has people flying in from out of town to score these applications/reports and it would have been very bad if we had not been able to do this.

I am whupped but we pulled it off. I'll do something on the horn tonight but not much. This is one tired puppy.

good practice, but just one

I had a very nice practice early in the day and fully intended to add a second practice later to round out what I hadn't worked on ... but oh, life gets in the way. I'd wanted to spend more time on the Student Symphony material, but oh well.

poor practice, good community band this morning

I started off the morning playing with Community Band - first spring rehearsal, with a tentative concert date set for May 1. This is very fun and nice and brassy.

I thought I'd have a great practice this afternoon, but my lip does not seem to be in much shape at all. I struggled for a while with the Beethoven - and DID NOT GET FRUSTRATED - but my sound was bad, my high notes weren't there, and I just felt like I didn't have the mouth for it. Tomorrow, tomorrow.

It was warm today, above freezing, and it didn't rain. Spots of dry pavement between the snow and ice. I love it. I so want spring. We are two months after solstice today.

Perfect Sectional

We had a student symphony low brass sectional after work. Worked on the sinfonietta a bit, and then Ken and I worked with Rick on the bassoon parts for the Beethoven. Fun, fun, fun, fun. Working like that just makes us want to do our very best. It made me so happy.

addendum, oh, and Day 153

On the Beethoven, I played further than last night, through rehearsal mark F. I worked my fast run passages quite a lot. I think they'll be OK.

Then I played on the Sinfonietta until my mouth gave out and now it is time to hang it up. 1st & 3rd movements of that.

No Brahms tonight.

Use that trigger

When I was at the Chamber Music program at Humboldt, Billy Robinson came up to me one night after our performance and told me that I was not taking advantage of the trigger. My slide was zooming back and forth and I was not taking advantage of alternate positions that are possible with the trigger. That was one of the amazing things about that program, you'd have these amazing musicians watching you and listening to you and just giving you tips, out of the blue.

So I was just working on this one goofy little allegreto Beeler exercise, and it has actually been a thorn in my side. It's not the most pleasing thing to play - not bad, but bouncing all over the place. I've worked on it for a long time. Tonight I was working it with the metronome and it was quite rough (because I'd added the metronome) and I suddenly decided to add more notes with the trigger. Wow! Much better flow of several little passages.

I do have a Blume "36 exercises with F attachment" which gets you playing notes in alternate F-attach positions, but I'm always so busy working on upcoming pieces, etc. that I have not managed to incorporate it into my routine.

Good practice tonight. I'm going to eat some dinner and then I'll get back to practicing some more.

completely successful & I even touched the Brahms

I did all on my list and more, and even cracked into the first movement of the Brahms. It feels like I have the ground back under me again. That was a long time without ground below me.

deep breath

Off to practice, and Back to goals:

Warmup. G practice up to and above. Pedal practice.

Beeler first two exercises on my list.

Beethoven for Student symphony ~ 1st page.

All done gently. No frustration. Slow it down if I get frustrated. Catch frustration before it can ripen.

Don't worry be happy

wooooooohhhh, I've been overloaded. If it's not totally intense rehearsal week, it's completely jam-packed study week. I will be so glad to finish this master's degree. Next fall.

I had a symphony board meeting after work last night, so I got home at about 7:30. I just ate, watched a little Colbert Report, played around with "Don't worry be happy" in different keys (interesting pick of a song), and fell asleep to the TV.

February - oh, it's here

Last night I had company over - my brother's 50th birthday, celebrated in this family's low-key way.

After everyone had gone home and I had all the dishes left (kitchen's too small to share dishwashing), I left them there on the counter and had just the nicest, quietest practice. I started to get just a little frustrated at one of my exercises, then took a break, got my grounding again, slowed it down.

I worked a lot on the sinfonietta. In the first movement, Innocence, I have a line of melody that I like a lot. It's been running in my brain the last couple of days.

I think I will set my February goals finally, and have a small focused practice. I have student symphony in a couple of hours but that shouldn't preclude a little practice now.

dixie

I just played Dixieland this morning ... I was going to practice tonight but fell asleep instead watching Star Wars on TV at 7 pm. We played that theme for last summer's pops concert. Talk about fun.

"low brass rehearsed together Friday afternoon"

From Rick's Student Symphony Rehearsal Report - we rehearsed together and had a grand time. Jered on his baritone, me on my trombone, Ken on his tuba. Rick commented that all of his low brass section was Alaskan-born. Maybe we're the steady types.

tinniness

I reinstalled the brace the other day and the sound of the instrument is tinny. I don't like it but I want to give myself time to adjust, adjust the way I play since I have adjusted how I hold the instrument. It's a tiny bit frustrating, and also just a little trying that I still have hand pain from holding the instrument - but the pain is different and maybe it will subside, so I need to give that time to adjust, too.

I warmed up with the Michael Davis routine, then practiced my pedals and one Beeler exercise, slowly. I played for maybe 40 minutes, really taking my time.

It's a little discouraging to have the tone problem right now, so I have to just be gentle with myself and give it space and time.

acres of time

Last night I wrote about acres of time. I am loving my acres of time. I just wrote in my journal and now I am utterly grooving on the Shostakovich CD, but I shall stop it - gasp, in the third movement - and commence to practicing.

Last night I did exactly what I had set out to do. I'll practice the two student symphony pieces again tonight, emphasizing the Beethoven tonight but touching on the commissioned piece, and I will work on two of my exercises.

I think I might have to finish listening to Shostie's third movement first, however.

Decadent time

I am wallowing in my decadent abundance of time. I left work when it was still light, went round to check the mail, now I'm listening to the news, have dinner cooking, and am going into the evening with acres of time laid out before me. Decadence.

I think I will just work on one of my Beeler exercises tonight, and then work methodically on student symphony material - both pieces. In the Beethoven I have quite a few long runs that are extremely doable, I just have to get them down.

I also have a lot of G's to play, a couple held for two whole notes, so I will work carefully on my high range. I am off to do that now.

Michelle to Self

I'll get back to my usual goal-driven self in a day or two. I just came from student symphony rehearsal where I had my usual grand time. I haven't been practicing this material as I've been consumed with symphony rehearsals, but I like it! And I feel good about working on it enough to play it well. The Beethoven bassoon part is lovely, fun, and has way more notes than the trombone usually gets. The commissioned piece is also a treat to play, and working with Rick on the rhythms in it last week in my sight singing lesson paid off tonight.

I walked over and walked back, to the high school ... it's about 20 or so minutes each way, so rehearsal times are always a great exercise program for me. It's dark, it's snowing. About this time of year I feel like I have always and will always walk around in the dark, in the snow. But my little intellect whispers, "5 minutes a day! We're gaining 5 minutes a day!" In another life I wore shorts and shirt sleeves.

I can't remember if I've already written this here or if it was something I told Carey, but another fundamental shift in my playing that has occurred is that I am just not getting bothered by not being able to play something, in rehearsals, with people I don't know; it's just not the way it was. I used to cry in frustration - literally - at not being able to play something. Now, I'm just breezing on through and I am just not getting frustrated. And I am having so much fun.

It's the way it is supposed to be, no? I'm attributing this new attitude to:

1. I'm playing better so if I mess up notes or can't get a run, I have confidence that it is there and I understand what I missed better,
2. I've demonstrated to myself that if I work on something hard very methodically, I can master it,
3. I am getting better at sight reading, and I can find my place almost all of the time now - I used to spend a lot of time completely lost, completely lost.
4. I have been meditating for half an hour a day. That just makes everything in my life easier.
5. I still think that I have gained some change in my ability to hear myself. It just trips me out that my ear can get better, but it is. I continue to be amazed at how a person learns music, learns about music.
   

Giddy

I'm just giddy from that concert. All three pieces were great, the audience loved it. I think we had a bigger house today than yesterday. I'm just plain giddy.

REALLY successful concert. Very happy audience and very happy musicians.

We do it again tomorrow at 3. The Shostakovich was just beautiful, to hear and to play. The Kodaly and the Mendelssohn and Franz on the Mendelssohn was just beautiful, to hear.

I love this music

It is hard to describe how incredibly exciting it is to be sitting in the orchestra while we are performing this music. It's both while we're playing and while we're not. Trombones rather famously count a lot of rests; we don't play a lot. In this Shostakovich, there are long sections, and in fact one entire movement (the 3rd) where we don't play. Well, rather than being a boring exercise in figuring out where you are, it's a spine-tingling exercise. The music is so interesting and tells such a story, with the main theme woven throughout, coming up here and there, surprising you with little twists, thrilling even after you know it from having heard it so many times.

I don't have the words or the musical knowledge to describe this as well as I want to. Last night during rehearsal, I just felt so lucky to be there. So lucky. It's hard to believe my good fortune in being able to do this.

close

We are close now. Tonight our out of town musicians had arrived. I had to adjust a little to the change in the sound, but I loved it! The sound was bigger.

I am tired but I feel very, very good going into this concert.

OK, I'm tired now

We rehearsed last night and I came home and went straight to bed.

Today I worked a long day, came home and did a class assignment, and just now I only played a little, picking out music on the trombone. Unchained melody and Taps in a bunch of different keys. Now I am going to eat some dinner.

Rehearsal last night was fun. This music is great. My friend Clare emailed me today and told me that her son Fu Bau is telling everyone about the symphony concert and that his friend Michelle will be playing trombone in it. Then he makes a "trombone playing impression." I gave Fu Bau an old trombone a month or so ago, because he loves music so much. He made good old trombone sounds right off the bat.

Yesterday, Day 137, Student Symphony

The only practice I got yesterday was playing in student symphony; I had to interview someone for work at lunch.

This will be a very busy week with rehearsals every day except Wednesday. On Wednesday I have an assignment due for my class, and I likely won't even start on it 'till then, because I'll be rehearsing all week!