 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: moolatte
Date: 2010-02-18 01:30
Now that all-state is over, I have nothing to do. There's no one around who wants to be in an ensemble.
My evenings used to be filled with endless practicing for the all-region, area, and state auditions. Now... With the exception of solo and ensemble in a couple of days, nothing. (I'm playing something really easy due to the short amount of time I had because of state)
Lesson teachers. What do your students usually do? I don't want to not practice anymore. Heh.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Clarimeister
Date: 2010-02-18 02:00
I'll be in your shoes in a couple weeks after my final audition for universities. After that it's just my two performing ensembles and that's it. Luckily, I'll hopefully be starting up my lessons with my private instructor and getting going forward as I'm starting to hear from my universities I applied to.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: clariknight
Date: 2010-02-18 02:07
I'd say now is a great time to go back to the fundamentals. If you don't have a lot of music that needs a lot of work, you can easily spend your extra time on scales, etudes, etc. to build your technique. You'll be very happy when things start picking up again and pieces are easier to learn.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: vin
Date: 2010-02-18 02:27
1. Get Baermann Scales.
2. Play through the whole book. Every note. It might take you an hour if you know your stuff, but more likely three, four or five. This will show you how little you actually know (we've all been there).
3. Go back to the beginning and set a metronome goal for each exercise and do it until you can do it in a relaxed manner with a beautiful tone. Take breaks frequently and listen to recordings of great clarinetists.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: ww.player
Date: 2010-02-18 02:31
Unless they have changed the rules recently, you can change solos between region and state. Get a I at region S&E and then pick a real workhorse for state. You can even pick a concerto and enter some concerto competitions. That should keep you busy for a while.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: xpedx7342
Date: 2010-02-18 02:34
I am a sophomore in high school but please dont disregard my opinion.
First off, you should definitely be in a youth orcehstra whether it is something local or something big like Chicago Youth Symphony. That will keep you occupied.
Also, if you youtube some clarinet pieces and they sound fun or hard, try to play them. If you can't sightread it perfectly, then theres mroe practice to be done XD. http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Composers
That site has a lot of sheet music to keep you occupied.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: EEBaum
Date: 2010-02-18 02:48
Find something other than competition to keep you going. How hard have you looked for people to be in an ensemble? Perhaps you could broaden your definition of ensemble. Any fledgling metal bands in the area that could use some winds?
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: tdinap
Date: 2010-02-18 19:12
I had this problem every year in high school; my school ensembles were quite low-pressure, and I had no external force to really push me as a musician or to highlight faults in my playing once the region/all-state season was over.
The easiest way to solve this is to get a private teacher (which is incredibly important anyway if you really want to improve). If you take lessons regularly, you will have something to motivate your practice as well as someone to give you things to work on.
However, if there is some reason you cannot take private lessons, that doesn't mean there's nothing to do. If you really take a critical look at your playing, there will always be plenty to work on. The suggestions above are great--ideally, you should see this as a great opportunity to work on your playing without the pressure of having to prepare much for performances.
Additionally, if it starts to drive you nuts that you can never play a "complete" piece due to a lack of accompaniment and other ensemble members, you're not alone--this always bugs me in long stretches like this. I'd recommend a couple of things: 1) subscribe to SmartMusic, which is a computer program that provides quite good accompaniment for the purposes of practice and fun; and 2) pick up some pieces for clarinet solo, that way you're always able to play the piece in its "fully orchestrated" setting.
Tom
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: NBeaty
Date: 2010-02-19 03:12
After state, then solo and ensemble, I would take a good week off of practicing. Let your mind settle and your face relax. A week really isn't very long, especially if you don't have anything pressing.
Then do as someone above said, get the baermann book and take an exercise, or a key, and work through for an hour or so a day. Spend another hour learning new solo rep. or new etudes.
Working on technique and learning new music after a brief break from intense practice can allow yourself to realize how much you learned during the preparation for state\s&e and slowly and methodically apply it to your playing.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Philcoman
Date: 2010-02-19 19:54
Oh, and now that you have a few minutes to breathe, look up from your music stand now and then and see what else is going on in the world.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: bmcgar ★2017
Date: 2010-02-19 20:03
How about just enjoying playing and letting music talk to you.
Music wasn't invented to be an Olympic sport.
If you find yourself getting bored because you "need" competition and "need" something to do, you've totally missed the mark about what music is about.
(Friendly, though brusque, advice.)
B.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: bmcgar ★2017
Date: 2010-02-19 22:03
Jeff,
No.
I just sent you a message using my "regular" account.
B.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: moolatte
Date: 2010-02-19 22:32
I would really love to do some solo work, but I can never do any suitable justice for the pieces. Plus, I just hate being alone in the endeavor called summer break.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: EEBaum
Date: 2010-02-20 01:04
I'm tellin ya... find some other people that are enthusiastic about making music, whatever their area, and put a group together. Classical, rock, metal, some bizarre genre you invent, whatever. Do covers, arrange some pieces, write stuff yourself!
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Pappy
Date: 2010-02-20 02:54
"Competitions are for horses, not artists". - Bela Bartok :-)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: mrn
Date: 2010-02-20 11:35
moolatte wrote:
Quote:
I would really love to do some solo work, but I can never do any suitable justice for the pieces.
Can you explain what you mean by this? It almost sounds like you think the only thing you're cut out to play is exercises and etudes!
If you haven't been happy with your past work on "real music," it sounds like that's precisely the thing you ought to be working on.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
