 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Clarinet35
Date: 2002-06-14 14:07
Hi! I'm a freshman clarinet player with an upcoming audition. Trouble is, I have been preparing for this audition for, it seems, way too long, and I have become so fed up with the piece I'm going to play that I do not enjoy playing it and therefore do not play it well. I loved the piece when I first started on it--first and second movements of the mozart clarinet concerto--but now I really kind of hate it after hammering every single note to the ground for a month...(figuratively...)
So, I need to play this piece well for my audition, but how can I when I'm just not motivated to play it? Any suggestions? Please help!
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Author: James Garcia
Date: 2002-06-14 14:21
I have felt the exact same way. Infact this happened to me not to long ago. I had played the concerto with an orchestra in the past and have played it for many competetions. Playing it over and over, it can really get to the point were you don't want to do it. What got me motivated to playing mozart again was buying a few new recordings of the piece, I purchased the ones with Robert marcellus and then the one with sabine meyer. They both have great but very different enterpretations of the mozart clarinet concerto. Hearing these different idea's, it made me want to practice mozart again, and apply some of these idea's to my own playing to make mozart newer, more refreshed for myself and it worked, and honestly I don't think I have ever enjoyed playing the mozart clarinet concerto k622 than i have now. Try it becuase mozart is what everyone wants to hear for every single audition. It has to be the piece we can play the very best. Good luck
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Author: William
Date: 2002-06-14 14:27
Apparently, you have not learned this piece of music well enough to appreciate it's musical content and sublime beauty. Once you are able to get past "hammering the notes" out and get to the wonderful music Mozart put into his Concerto, you will never grow tired of playing it. For starts, listen to the Marcellus recording--no outside distractions, just put the headphones on, lean back and listen. If that doesn't "do it" for you, then perhaps the trombone would be a good choice.
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Author: Kristen D.
Date: 2002-06-14 14:38
Come now. Let's not make snap judgement calls.
I have to say that it took me a while to really appreciate
Mozart. What is difficult about "pulling off" the piece is making
it sound easy. In order to do this, it must be played calmly and
evenly with great ease and clarity. I came to know the piece
better by conducting some in-depth research. It actually turned
into a presentation. I have a lengthly annotated bibliography of
sources concerning the concerto. If you would like a copy, I
would gladly e-mail you the file. Let me know.
Another thing you might try... Put the concerto away for a week
and practice something completely new. When you come back to the
concerto, you may have some fresh ideas to apply.
Good luck with your audition.
Kristen D.
buffetbaby2000@yahoo.com
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Author: Bob
Date: 2002-06-14 15:11
View the movie "Amadeus" and read something about his life and appreciate his genius and legacy.
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2002-06-14 15:35
I find listening to someone's recording of this piece really helps to inspire me to play it. It is a significent piece of music that you will always need to practice in order to improve. If you go to Barnes and Noble's website and look up music, then do a search for clarinet and this specific piece you will probably find a large selection of artists who have recorded it.
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Author: ron b
Date: 2002-06-14 17:16
When you get to a point where you really love listening to other performers and are serious about doing the same for your listeners you won't see 'hammering' quite the same again, Clarinet35. I feel you may be there already but aren't fully aware of it yet. You need to think about this some more.
Try looking at it from the audience's role. Put them in the foreground, you in the middle, weeks, months, years of preparation behind you. Several replies to this thread so far indicate that people love listening to good music played well. They love to play but, they also love to listen... and appreciate. We're not all going to be in the category of Marcellus or Meyer but, so what? We're all going to play as well as we can, if we're at all serious about making good music and, realistically, that requires 'hammering'... no way around it. It's part of the job and it's work. You wanna take the family or friends out for a nice Sunday drive in the country this weekend, you gotta get out there and wash the car now :|
My point is that the Marcellus and Meyer class of performers do their share of hammering before they persent their product for public enjoyment. Did they, do they, have moments of burn-out, discouragement, repetitive motion sickness, sorely in need of a break? Just need to get away for awhile? Betcha they do. I can guarantee, though, that the thing that gets them through it and keeps them coming back and going on is the love they feel for their audience, and not dwelling on how much hard work it is to get it together.
Those moments when they're producing something wonderful, a work of art, connecting, feeling, make the hammering all worthwhile. When I think of it that way, I imagine how bored and tired Michaelangelo must have been at times, hammering away, dusty, weary, sick of it - moments in his life we don't often think of - his practice sessions, all the preparation - but look what his effort produced. He had the plans, sketches, the skill - you have the score, recordings, the skill. No, we're not all Michaelangelos or Meyers or Marcelluses but we, if we're willing to hammer away, can make something wonderful happen for our audience just the same.
At least half the audience may be hearing your piece(s) for the very first time, Clarinet35. It's brand new to them and they deserve the very best presentation you have to offer.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2002-06-15 00:51
...and that concludes today's lesson by ron b.
Class is now dismissed...
(ron b. - very nicely worded) ...GBK
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Author: Jim E.
Date: 2002-06-15 03:36
Listen to the (Mozart) Requiem, K626, and especially the "Lacrimosa." (Though the entire requiem is well worth a listen.)
Concentrate on making the concerto "sing" like that.
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Author: LaLa
Date: 2002-06-15 07:41
Whenever I get tired of "THE CONCERTO" i take a break from it and revisit it a few days to a week later and listen to how much fresher and alive it sounds. While i'm not playing it however i am listening to well performed recording of the piece, however i find that listening to other things by the composer, in this case mozart, helps me get a better understanding of his musical tendencies. I absolutely LOVE listening to all of Mozart's Wind Concerti for flute, oboe, bassoon, and horn... but most of all, i love to listen to his Serenade for Winds k.361 It's beautiful and it always gives me the passion and desire to be just as musical as well as gives my ears, mind, and eyes a break from the piece i'm working on!
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Author: DLE
Date: 2002-06-15 14:21
For the modern teenager (Sorry to put you into that category, but it seemed the obvious way to start), I would go with Bob, and watch 'Amadeus' if you have not already seen it. Despite the fact it is not entirely historically accurate, everyone I knew who loved mozart from my school, had watched this film. If after that you are still sick of his music, then bury yourself in a completely different genre for a week, then come back to going through the mozart the week before the audition. I know that sounds crazy but it actually worked for me once under more severe circumstances.
SHORT STORY: I had an exam in which the first mandatory piece was the first movement of the Krommer Concerto. After having done it to death, I was sick of it quite literally - I got a throat infection! I had no choice but to not practice for the 2 weeks before the exam, after which my throat still hurt like hell. During the exam, I got some pain killer, almost overdosed myself with it, and walked into the exam. I played through the piece and I loved it for the simple reason it was the first time I had picked up my clarinet in 2 weeks. Once the examiner could see I was enjoying playing the instrument no matter the difficulty or techinque of the piece, he automatically said I had passed, even before the aural part of the exam...
--------
Good luck with the audition.
DLE.
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Author: Gretchen
Date: 2002-06-15 19:04
I agree with anyone who says to put the piece away if you're sick of it. There's no point in playing it over and over again when you don't want to....You'll just get more sick of it, and hate it even more. Take a break - take out a piece from a different time period or play etudes, scales, etc, and sooner or later, you'll miss your mozart!! Plus, you'll come back to it with new and fresh ideas. Getting a recording of it is incredibly important, and if you can, play along with it by using headphones or a stereo...you'll learn what the player in the recording is doing to make it sound so easy and fun to listen to. But don't quit!!
Good luck!!
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2002-06-15 23:41
Even a whole book can be written for the concerto:
http://www.pelicanpub.com/music/mozarts-clarinet-concerto.htm
(Pelican is a big company. Reading this is too late?)
I wonder whether it is true that in these days many audition nominees do not or cannot memorize the scores thoroughly before playing.
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