Klarinet Archive - Posting 000154.txt from 2002/04

From: "fred.sheim" <fred.sheim@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] memorization
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2002 15:33:26 -0500

I guess 3 months is not a lot of time. I know that I know a lot more than
I did 3 months ago, but when I try to play the piano accompaniments from
the works in my (extensive) clarinet library I get quite stuck. Actually,
I can't start! I know that will come in time, but I can't wait!

Fred

At 03:25 PM 4/3/02, you wrote:
>"fred.sheim" wrote:
>
> >
> > That is true for me too- if I mess up, I can't just start from the mess up
> > point-
>
>With practice (a lot) you'll be able to do just that, along with not looking
>at the keyboard when making large arm movements (never mind little finger
>movements!). One of the things one of my piano teachers made me realize was
>that to make "music" I had to lose my fear of making mistakes. I spent years
>being tentative about my playing - which means that I couldn't have the
>dynamic range I needed for just about any kind of music. She'd hold a piece
>of cardboard between my hands and my eyes so that I couldn't see the keyboard
>- kind of like getting an instrument rating as a pilot - and would make me
>play. Both pieces I knew and sightreading. That was my breakthrough - I
>started losing the crutch I had and was able to start sightreading and
>playing music that I'd never heard before - something I always wanted to do,
>rather than having to run to a record store and seeing if there was a
>recording of what I was attempting to play. I never was terribly good at
>playing piano (I started at 35 and stopped taking lesson due to time
>constraints when was 45), but losing the "fear factor" sure helped a lot,
>and not just in music.
>
>Mark C.
>
>
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