Klarinet Archive - Posting 000731.txt from 1999/01

From: SDSCHWAEG@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] The New York weather report, tweeting birds, and music
Date: Sat, 16 Jan 1999 14:15:53 -0500

In a message dated 1/16/99 12:21:33 PM Central Standard Time,
CmdrHerel@-----.com writes:

<< I adore going into the city for my lessons. I live
near Hartford, CT, so going is an all day event. BUT... what an event it
has
become. >>

So I'm not the only one! I make an event out of my lesson day, too. I live
in the Illinois Quad Cities, and drive in to Iowa City, about an hour and 15
minutes away. I LOVE the driving time - a rare oasis of quiet in my otherwise
far-too-busy life. I usually play CDs of my lesson pieces on the way there,
and listen to all kinds of stuff on the way back. It's all interstate driving
through rural areas, so there's plenty of opportunity to watch the leaves
change, check out what the cows are up to or how high the corn is, or count
the roadkill. You do have to be careful of the semis, though! After my
lesson, there's a ritual visit to Eble Music, where I try to find copies of
whatever music Mr. Voxman has unearthed from his vast basement collection that
day. Alas, too often it is out of print. Then it's carryout lunch from
Bixby's Bagels (okay, you New Yorkers, they're probably not authentic bagels,
but, after all, this IS Iowa). I've gotten pretty good at drinking soup and
avoiding semis while I drive. The ritual of the lesson day, though, makes me
wonder about other little rituals that creep into our lives - I figure skate,
and skaters have all kinds of weird little good-luck things they do, like
always tying the right skate first, or long pre-competition warmup and
stretching sequences. Do any clarinet players have any pre-performance
rituals without which it just wouldn't feel "right"? Particular warmups, or
just little quirks? For instance, I never put my A together before my Bb - no
special reason, it just would feel weird to do it the other way around. My
dad was a trumpet player, and always used to talk about "the ritual of the
gig" - stuff he always did in the same way in the same order that helped him
get mentally prepared to play. Anybody else do this?

Sue Schwaegler

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