Monday 28 May 2012

It's warm...

It's been very warm this week - practice has happened in the evening's when  it has been marginally cooler.  I've been continuing with articulation exercises though not really seeing a huge increase in speed yet. I need to keep going though.  My study this week (Luft no 18)  is in F#minor and is also good articulation practice.  I need to focus on stamina, breathing and tuning for the rest of the week. 

Telemann Fantastia No 8: I've been working on articulation in the second movement nad trying to get accuracy and dynamics too.  The last movement is getting there.

Hindemith movement 1:  Still working on the basics - notes, rhythm, articulation.  I still need to work through the second half of this.  First half dynamics, phrasing is improving.

Mozart Oboe Quartet Movement 3:  Bits are OK, other bits are very ropey.  There is some ornamentation I'm struggling to get the rhythm to - it doesn't help that it comes very soon after a change from 6/8 to cut common time.  Articulation speed is also slowing me down - but that is something that I'm working on.

Extras: I'm working on the tricky bits for Gershwin.  I'll have another You tube run through next week to see if it's any better.

I had a play through Rendez vous and Causerie from French Suite yesterday.  Total time was 5 mins and 17 seconds which is slightly longer than my time slot for the play day so may need to only do one.  I've sent music to my accompanist - the first one is quite tricky so it maybe that I have to change my piece anyway.  Hopefully he can simplify it a bit to let me play it as it is a really fun piece.

I'm waiting for a piano exam date - 15th June would be my ideal date, so let's wait and see.

Thursday 24 May 2012

Run up to holidays

Well Summer seems to have arrived  - for this week anyway.  My lesson last night was rather warm, to say the least.  I thought it went OK though - Luft, Telemann Fantasia and a start on the Hindemith Sonata. I  need to add in my own articulation and some ornamentation for the Telemann. I'm also still working on the Mozart - so more than enough to keep me busy at the moment.

There seems to be a lot of things coming up over the next couple of months - leading into the summer holidays.  I am trying to take them one at a time.

This week was my final orchestra rehearsal till September.  We just had a bash through some things for fun.  I nice way to finish off the term.  I really appreciate the summer break from orchestra.  By the time the first September rehearsal comes round I will be raring to go again.

I am still waiting for a date for my piano exam, which could be any time from 11 June.

On 16 June I am doing a play day with a professional orchestra - those pieces need LOTS of practice!

On both 17th and 24th June I am playing piano in the morning sevice at church.

14th July I am playing in an Adult Learner's Concert - I think I am going to play a couple of movements from French Suite.  I'd like to be able to have a go at them with an accompanist - and it is Bastille Day so it feels appropriate.  I'll also be accompanying another performer though don't know who that will be, or what they will be playing yet.

18 July - last lesson before summer holidays

21 July I've been asked to play a couple of pieces at a Garden party in aid of a local charity.  Still trying to sort out accompanist for this - I may do the French Suite pieces again, or may give the first movement of the Mozart Quartet a go.  I may also do Italian Dance by Dring.  Depends very much on how things go with the accompanist and what they can manage.

Then it will be summer holidays and hopefully a chance to take things slightly easy.  Having said that, there has been talk of chamber music sessions with Orchestra colleagues...

Monday 21 May 2012

Concert, Gershwin, Reeds

The concert on Saturday went well I think.  The venue was lovely, my reed worked and we had a good turn out.  One of my friend's came to see me and she really enjoyed it, which was lovely.  I quite enjoyed it in the end but I didn't really engage with the pieces in the same way I had at other concerts and it did feel as if we hadn't really had enough weeks to practice.  Some of the pieces still felt slightly unfamiliar, which was rather disconcerting.  I think - aside from the Elgar - my favourite bits were the second movement of the Arnold Suite and the Britten dances.  We have two more rehearsals before summer break, though I can only make the first one.  I am looking forward to seeing what we do.

On Sunday I felt a bit overplayed so I didn't do a proper practice session.  But I did have a look at Gershwin's American in Paris which I am playing in an Orchestral playday in June.  I have been looking at bits of it but I had a go playing it with a You Tube recording for the first time.  It really is very difficult.  It actually made me feel rather stressed about the whole event because I know that there are bits that are just beyond me.  I think I need to make this a priority for practice over the next few weeks.  But one of the biggest problems is the speed of articulation required - which I have been working on but is not a quick fix.

I also picked up my reed making again.  I had a go at sharpening my reed knives - reasonably successfully I think.  I began scraping the three reeds I tied on a couple of weeks ago and very soon had 3 cracked reeds.  I'm not sure if it was a problem with tying on, not soaking enough before trying to scrape or just a bad batch of cane. I probably need to do the initial scrape immediately after tying on though when I know that the cane is well and truly soaked through.    I will do some more tying on later this week.

Friday 18 May 2012

Summer concert

Tomorrow my orchestra has it's summer concert - not that it is particularly summery at the moment.  This is our last concert before the summer break and we will start meeting again in September.  The actual concert seems to have come round so quickly that I've not blogged anything about this program so far.   So this is what we are playing:

Suite In E flat - Holst
Suite of Dances from Gloriana - Britten
The Merry Wives of Windsor - Nicolai
Little Suite for Orchestra - Arnold
Sea Pictures - Elgar (with guest soloist)

Crown Imperial - Walton

It is a very British program - presumably due to the Jubilee.  It is also a program I am struggling to get excited about.  There is nothing I particularly dislike....well, maybe the Walton...but there is also nothing that I particularly love either.  There are no pieces that I am really looking forward to playing - which is a first for me.  But sometimes it is like that, and many people in our orchestra really didn't enjoy the Russian pieces we played last time.  I am sure the concert will be fun.  The Elgar sounds very good with our solo singer - I have very little to play in that so I will enjoy listening to her!  But I am also very much looking forward to finding out what we are playing next!

Wednesday 16 May 2012

Taking on too much...

I thought I ought to write something as it has been a while

I went on holiday for a week, which was lovely, but meant a break in practising.  Since then it has been a struggle getting back into it, mainly because work and life has been so busy.  I have still been practising most days but it has often felt like a tick on the list of things to do.

I've also, possibly foolishly, have entered  myself for ABRSM Grade 8 Piano this session.  I haven't talked about piano here as it is something that usually bubbles along in the background.  I play when I feel like it and I play at church occassionally.  I don't have lessons but I work on things at my own pace, I don't feel guilty about not touching it for weeks at a time but will have times when I find I play a lot.   Last year I decided I wanted to retake Grade 8 to see if I could pass it properly - to see if I could improve on my "scrape through by one mark due to being good at sight reading" effort when I was 15. My piano teacher at the time said that I shouldn't really have passed which has always rather a sore point.  So, when I realised that I could actually play 3 pieces on the list, I thought I should maybe just get it out of the way.  So far so good.

The problem is  that now I feel I have to practise properly and regularly - which takes time and energy.  While I enjoy the actual playing, I find that after practising one instrument the thought of having to start all over again with another instrument makes my heart sink.  It is all just a bit too much.

However I know that it is a temporary problem and the end is in sight - the exam will be possibly as soon as 1 month away and then I can go back to focussing on my oboe exlusively.   I will also have finally learnt the lesson that working full time and trying to learn 2 instruments at this level really is not possible for me.  I need to make my choice and stick with it.