Klarinet Archive - Posting 000258.txt from 1996/03

From: Fernando Silveira <fersilv@-----.NET>
Subj: Re: PLEASE HELP - WEBER 2ND CONCERTO
Date: Sat, 9 Mar 1996 11:15:35 -0500

At 14:40 08/03/96 UT, you wrote:
>Olivia,
>It sounds like a tension problem in your fingers ,and nerves for the impending
>concert. You indicated that you know how to practice with rhythmic variations
>(a la M. Moyse) to learn the notes. The next thing to do is to RELAX when you
>play those difficult passages.
>Too much tension in your hands will slow you down, and make even simple runs
>difficult. The book "The inner game of music " by Barry Green with T. Gallwey
>(Anchor Press,Doubleday Publisher) is really helpful on the Psychology of
>Playing (thats one of the things that Leon Russianoff was so successful in
>teaching to his pupils).
>Also you could place a mark (I use an upside down V) over the 2 or 3 notes
>that you find especially uneven or difficult so that your mind focuses on
>those notes when you are playing that section. I can't stress too much on the
>importance of relaxation when you play. Major competitions have been lost due
>to the players being too stressed out to play accurately. I taught the 1992
>2nd prize winner of the ICA Young Artists Competition in Cincinnatti. My
>student was the only High School student accepted into the Competition. His
>success was due to the fact that he could relax and play accurately what he
>had worked really hard on learning. There were other monster players in the
>competition, but many skidded out by being too tense and playing errors that
>they probably made when they were first learning the pieces.
>I'll end with an analogy- A centipede would probably trip if asked which one
>of his 100 legs goes first when moving. Don't overanalyze yourself while
>performing.
>David C. Blumberg- Phila. Pa.
>
>----------
>From: Klarinet - Clarinettist's Network on behalf of OLIVIA HOUNSLEY
>Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 1996 8:33 PM
>To: Multiple recipients of list KLARINET
>Subject: PLEASE HELP - WEBER 2ND CONCERTO
>
>Hi! I've been a very passive listener on this list now for about a
>month and a half. I have read most all of the interesting topics on
>this list and now I have found that I have a question to ask of anyone
>with knowledge on Weber's 2nd Concerto - 3rd movement.
>
>I've been working on this movement for a while now and realizing that my
>recital is in a week, I am panic stricken. When I first picked up the
>piece I was able to play the more difficult spots with somewhat ease
>(areas like the 64th note downward rips in the beginning and the
>sextuplets in the end - just after the last theme statement). About 2
>weeks ago something happened and now I am having so much difficulty
>playing these areas evenly up to speed. I've tried swinging the phrases
>in both directions and then trying to play it even and I've tried taking
>it real slow and speeding up but nothing seems to be helping. What else
>can I do that might help? I've found that even after all that
>experimenting, I can only play the phrases evenly and cleanly when I
>play them real slow. How am I ever going to get it up to speed within
>the next week at this rate? Please help!!!!!!!
>
>Extremely frustrated,
>
>Olivia
>
>
Olivia,
My Name is Fernando Silveira, and I'm Principal Clarinet from
National Symphony from Brazil.
Recently I play that concert and had some dificulties.
I only finished it when I stopped to try to play these passages and
change to tranform that passages in siple arpeggios.
When you have the follow note A C F G G# A, transform, first in A C
F A, them A C F G A, and the slow A C F G G# A. And still you have to start
for the end, like A G# G F C A.
I hope you can end your problems and plays beautifully.
Fernando Silveira
fersilv@-----.net