 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarinetwoman
Date: 2015-10-21 00:27
How much does someone like Ricardo Morales or Mark Nuccio or Richie Hawley practice? Just wondered if anyone on this board had any opinions or experiences about any of them?
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Author: kdk
Date: 2015-10-21 03:14
clarinetwoman wrote:
> Just wondered if anyone on this board
> had any opinions or experiences about any of them?
None of those specifically, but I don't think there's likely to be a consistent answer for "someone like..." because players are all different from each other. Keep in mind that players in principal or even section positions in a major orchestra on any instrument spent long hours as students building their skills. I have heard two or three such players say that once they're in a job like a major symphony, their playing schedule alone (typically 8 "services" each week - in the U.S. mostly 2-1/2 hour rehearsals and 2 hour concerts) gives many of them enough playing time to "stay in shape" physically, and the demands of their positions preclude the luxury of getting lazy or sloppy. Their practice time would be mostly dedicated to learning new material outside their orchestras' standard repertoire (unfamiliar works, chamber and solo music) and for reed players some time needs to be allowed for maintaining a reliable reed supply. So the amount of time a player practices on a daily basis might, depending on the individual's needs, be variable over time. I certainly haven't polled a significant number of major players, but I suspect there are times during a season when you might be surprised at how little individual practice time they put in away from their concert halls.
Karl
Post Edited (2015-10-21 06:48)
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-10-21 08:00
I don't think anyone really counts "rehearsal" as practice. It is a different skill set entirely and one that is dependent on........practice.
I would say that you probably could get away with 2hrs per day for maintenance (that is given that you have achieved a certain level and you're happy with that level). This was a minimum mentioned to me many years ago by Walter Wolwage and over the years seems to be about right.
I would quickly add though that most really fine players are ALWAYS improving their technique and adding to their repertoire, so they would be adding time to that base number.
.............Paul Aviles
P.S. I wanted to add that practicing "hours a day" may seem high to civilians, but you have to keep in mind that for professional musicians "playing" is their life, both what they love and what they do to earn a living.
Post Edited (2015-10-21 18:45)
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2015-10-21 21:47
It should also be mentioned that highly successful musicians of all types don't practice to fill a time, but to fulfill goals.
It isn't as if an alarm went off saying "ok that's 4 hours" and any of them thought "ok! That means I'm done!"
James
Gnothi Seauton
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2015-10-21 22:15
Ricardo plays all the time.
When he was in "audition mode" and probably younger than that, he was practicing 8 hours a day.
I taught a student this Summer from Juilliard who was practicing 8 hours a day when he was living in Korea.
He was 10......
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2015-10-22 16:43
Well I only studied with a few top sym players and most of them had limited students, 4 to 6 students. Iggie Gennusa was still playing. He seemed to always practice the technical parts like more than playing through entire pieces. Think of the hardest pieces and thats what he'd play around with.
A player that should pop in and say hello would be Eddie Palanker. He always sounded great at the concerts with the BSO on both the clarinet and the bass clarinet and he had a lot of students. I went to a lot of BSO concerts. I know he took his practicing seriously because I went to his house a few times for lessons and his chair was a perfect chair, you sat straight up and there was a large mirror next to the music stand. However, I don't know how much he practiced. He was very dedicated with teaching.
Mitchell Lurie's house was a bit different. The accoustic's in the living room were pretty much perfect. His wife by the way, was a heck of a pianist and recording with him a lot. There wasn't a living room setup as in most homes, it was more of a recital hall with high ceilings and wood floors and a grand piano. When Mitchell was in his very late 70's he made his last 2 quintet recordings. They were pretty incredible. The Brahms and the Mozart. Recorded at Welsley College outside of Boston. He was famous for playing on reeds for a long time and this reed was 6 month old. When he returned to LA I played on the reed and it sounded just fine. It took about 2 weeks to do these recordings so I'm sure there was some serious practice going on. but Mitchell always sounded good.
Gennusa'a house was the same as Mitchell's. His wife played in the BSO along with Eddie Palanker, the violin. Their home also had wood floors in Pennsylvania, I never went to the home in Baltimore. They didn't play together very often, but I was treated to short concerts once in awhile. Iggie actually played the piano fairly well. Mrs. Gennusa did have a Strat. violin. Wonder what happened to it? I think they had 2 kids, so I'm sure the kids found a nice home for it, or Iggie did, he outlived her by 8 years or so.
So in my opinion the greats that I knew back in the day always practiced. Even when they were in their 70's and 80's. I don't think the greats ever stop playing.
Oh, Even though Bob Marcellus went blind, he still played! He came out with a mouthpiece and he actually tested some German Steuer reeds for me.
I was shocked to read above about the players that were dedicating 8 hours of practice a day at such an early age.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
Post Edited (2015-10-22 16:46)
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2015-10-22 18:18
David, you have some pretty talented players on your facebook page! Pretty cool!
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-10-23 07:18
Just a slight clarification on Marcellus. He retired from the Cleveland Orchestra due to pressure exerted upon his optic nerve. He was limited to how much he could play by the threat of going blind because the pressure created by playing increased the severity of his condition. Once he completely lost his sight, Marcellus no longer had that constraint on the amount of playing he could do.
.................Paul Aviles
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2015-10-23 17:39
Everyone has their own practice schedule depending on age, talent and need. Ricardo Morales studied with me for five summers at EMF and he practiced all the time. I even had to make him put his clarinet down one Sunday to come out and play soft ball. ( he hit a home run off my pitching too. ) I can't speak to how much anyone else actually practices, verses playing, but when I was in my 2nd year at conservatory and decided to go from a woodwind doubler to an orhestra player I set a schedule of 28 hours a week even though I had to travel over an hour a day each way to school and played in every ensemble where ever I could and how often I could. I think most players that "make it" pracitse a lot because not only are they driven but they enjoy it. So it depends on your goals, talent and ambitions. I encouraged my studets at Peabody when I taught there to try to practice at least three hours a day whenever possible and more on weekend. Some did, some didn't. Some because really good players, some didn't.
PS. Thank you Bob.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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