Klarinet Archive - Posting 000340.txt from 2002/01

From: Tski1128@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Practice time and other Myths
Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2002 21:05:54 -0500

Finally a topic that really needs to be discussed. It is my opinion that the difference between 3hrs of practice and 6hrs of practice a day would be negligible. Twenty some years ago I had the wonderful luck to study with Leon Russianoff, I was in a lesson playing something like L'coq d'or, or some equally nasty little thing, he turned to me and asked how long I was practicing. I was doing 4-5 hrs a day. He shook his head and said "thats way to much." He wrote out an exercize on the excerpt showed me how to practice it, told me I was only to practice these exercises 5-7 min. at one time no more than three times aday. After going through "withdraw" I did exactly what he told me to do.
The next week I seriously wailed on an excerpt that was unplayable by me a week before with 30 plus hrs. of blowing. Maybe Leon had the magic wand, maybe I could have played it a week later without touching it at all. I seem to think that what I learned was, That I needed a better strategy than more hrs. on clarinet.
Don't run west to catch a sunrise.
Soon after I was studying with Russionoff I was in an Army Band in NY, 2hr morning rehearsals then Jazz band on Sax in the afternoon. I don't believe I could have practiced 6hrs after a day like that. But I still had things I had to learn for the job and things my own amazement. Leon taught us how to practice. This is something that is sorely lacking in the teaching that is going on in most Universities out there. I know there are clarinetist on this list who are in the major service bands and some of them sit in and have imput during the process and I would like to know if they agree with me on the following thought. When we did auditions for the U.S. Army Field band. After a tape screening we might have 15-20 Clarinetists actually show up for an audition, this was after they went through the Army stuff and were eligible to join.
They had the excerpts for about a month before and the first round was behind the screen. In the first round didn't advance because of absolute clarinet basics: sound, rhythm, articulation, intonation and basic melodic concept. It was never a Solomon's choice between two major artistic interpretations . If someone sounded like that had command of their instrument they made the second round. In that round we found out how deep their command of the clarinet was and gave them a chance to show us if they had some gig moxy. But if you had the basics you really had a great chance at getting the gig. In the well over 100 clarinetist whose auditions I was in on, there were 4 that really had it together. Most others had stopped practicing basic stuff years before. I then decided, that I had to make sure that I still touched basics every day. If you haven't found it on the web yet Bob Spring has a warm up posted somewhere I'ts been years I downloaded it. You can argue about whether it's the perfect warm up or you take the forty min. a day it takes to do it or you can try it for a month and see the growth. As assistant principal in the band it's easy for nobody to hear you alone for the hr of rehearsal. As Principal you can walk into rehearsal and be knee deep into an Agean Festival cadenza in no time, not the time or the place for anyone to hear the first notes of the day. I would show up 30-40min before the rehearsal and do the Spring warm-up. This solved just about all technique, sound and articulation problems, the rest of my practice time I spend learning and studying music. Sorry about the rant, but the thought of doing more of what didn't work seems like a real waste of time to me. Look back on your audition, recital whatever, find out what you did right, think about how your preperation time was spent. Figure out what was effective and what didn't work. Try to think of how to fix what you didn't like about your playing , then try to figure out what they didn't like about your playing. Be stingy with your time,
when you pull that clarinet from the case know why and what you're going to play better when that 10, 20 55 min of practice is finished. Take a look at Abe galpers books, I think there is alot of practice theory in those. If you can try to hook up with some of the clarinetists in the bands have them listen to you if you can manage it.

Tom Puwalski, former principal Clarinetist with the US Army Field Band, author of the Clarinetist guide to Klezmer. Clarinetist with D.C's hottest Klezmer band Lox&Vodka.

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