Week of 1/11/16

How to Practice!

For the next couple of weeks we will be using a specific practice technique to keep track of the quality of your practice. This comes from an excellent blog about performance performance anxiety, among other things. Here is what we will do:

The “Work Place” Practice Protocol

Step 1: Choose a “work place” Identify a section of the piece that is giving you difficulty or doesn’t sound quite right.

Step 2: Find an error-free tempo It’s probably too fast. Slow it down until you find a tempo at which you can play it more smoothly, without errors.

Step 3: Use a metronome Figure out what that tempo setting is, where you can play it without mistakes.

Step 4: Play the tricky spot twice in a row without mistakes You can aim for 3 in a row or 5 in a row (or whatever) if you want, but with two, at least you know that the first time wasn’t just a fluke.

Step 5: Play the tricky spot twice in a row without mistakes – with expression Adding in the musical nuances, shaping, etc. makes things more difficult. So it’s sort of cheating to move on if you can’t play the passage with expression. Plus, how fun is it to play totally straight and dry, like a computer?

Step 6: Increase tempo Try to increase the tempo and continue to add expressive details until performance degrades again. Take baby steps.

Step 7: Decrease tempo as needed If you get stuck, it might be helpful to take a step back again, so you can do some more troubleshooting ensure that you solidify your mechanics, get in some correct repetitions, and set the stage for another step forward.

Step 8: Put the “work place” back into the music It’s one thing to play the passage in isolation. It can feel very different (and be more difficult) to play it in context of a larger phrase or section.

Step 9: Note the final metronome setting It’s ok if it’s not totally up to tempo by the end of the practice session. But write down where you left off; it’ll give you a good target to exceed tomorrow, and like a bookmark, give you an indicator of where to start.

(Full article: http://www.bulletproofmusician.com/what-comes-first-the-notes-or-the-music-a-chickenegg-problem-in-the-practice-room/)

Weekly Listening

This piece is called Syrinx, written by Claude Debussy in 1913. The flutist in this recording is Emmanuel Pahud who is an international soloist, chamber musician, and Principal Flute of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

Listen to the piece twice - once watching the video, and once with your eyes closed.

1. Do you like Syrinx? Why or why not?

2. What do you notice about the way Pahud plays? (embouchure, hand position, movement, tone, dynamics, etc)