Klarinet Archive - Posting 000935.txt from 2002/06

From: "Forest E. Aten Jr." <forestaten@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: one-hour warm-up
Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 08:15:01 -0400

Neil,

I disagree. I spend at least an hour and fifteen minutes "warming" up each
day. Add to this "practice" (at least one hour and usually more) and then
the usual 6 hours of rehearsal each day in the Dallas opera orchestra during
the season.

I know the guys in the Dallas Symphony well as I do a lot of extra work with
them. They warm-up and practice many hours each day as well.
I know the guys in the Ft. Worth Symphony as I do a lot of extra work with
them as well......they warm-up, make reeds from scratch and practice many
hours each day as well.

I've never known a symphonic clarinet player, with a job, that didn't
practice hours each day.

Regards,

Forest

----- Original Message -----
From: "Neil Leupold" <leupold_1@-----.com>
Subject: [kl] Re: one-hour warm-up

> --- C & B Sabal <jomalu@-----.com> wrote:
>
> > Wow! A one hour warm-up? I would be very interested to know what
others do
> > as well! I'm assuming that David plays professionally, so I can stop
> > feeling like a slacker (hoping he is anyway, or I guess I really AM a
> > slacker!).
>
> A one-hour warmup is a luxury not frequently enjoyed by those who make
> their living through their performance activities. It is, in fact, one
> of the chief complaints among established professional musicians, i.e.,
> amidst rehearsals, performances, and teaching activities, there is pre-
> cious little time for a consistent routine of intensive focus on build-
> ing and refining one's instrumental technique. More commonly, by the
> time a player is at the level to perform *regularly* with (or as a member
> of) an A or B level orchestra in the U.S. (e.g., one of the Big Five,
> Cincinnati, Atlanta, Dallas, etc.), the need for intensive technical
> drilling fades to an issue of maintenance. They underwent the final
> stages of their development and refinement while making their way through
> a seemingly endless series of five-concert per year regional orchestras
> and other such training opportunities. During one's years as a college
> undergrad and afterward, while a player is paying his dues, reflecting
> increasingly higher profile performance activities on his resume' over
> time -- it's during those years that the consistent daily warmup routine
> and focus on thorny technical issues resides closer to the center of the
> player's focus. There are many (many many) 20-something year old clari-
> netists in regional orchestras all over the country (often several such
> orchestras at once), and they are all engaged in that race to develop
> their abilities and rack up enough experience to make the grade at an
> A or B level orchestra audition. A one-hour warmup is no luxury in that
> case, but an absolute necessity, and is often prioritized ahead of work-
> ing on actual music. This doesn't mean, of course, that those who don't
> aspire to the proverbial brass ring (i.e., a stable orchestra gig that
> pays well enough to live on) shouldn't have the same one-hour warm-up
> routine as those who do. It depends on how technically proficient you
> wish to be, and is not welded to the idea of doing it for a living.
> Some people just love to play and enjoy the challenge of getting as
> good at it as they can.
>
> Neil
>
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> Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup
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>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>

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