 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Dan Oberlin ★2017
Date: 2020-05-20 01:58
Without the opportunity to play with others I'm having a little trouble staying motivated to practice. How about you? Any strategies for coping with this?
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Author: kdk
Date: 2020-05-20 04:28
Yes, I think about how torturous the process would be, if I stop, of re-building everything I will have lost when I begin to be able to play again in public. Besides, sooner or later some kind of opportunity will come up and I don't want to say, "I need two or three weeks to get back in shape." We almost did a Zoom performance of the Beethoven Octet a couple of weeks ago. It didn't work out, I think, mostly because no one really knew how to do it. I was only able to consider playing because I've been working to stay in shape.
I'm reading through etudes I've never played before and going through some of the more stylistically accessible (to me) pieces on the Clarinet Institute CDs, discovering a lot of music I never knew about.
Karl
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2020-05-20 04:31
As someone who has more than his fair share of faults, I find running the basics NEVER gets old, but I can sympathize with the lack of rehearsals and performances as a bummer.
Walking the neighborhood with my wife I saw a young student sitting on her front porch playing clarinet along with Havana by Camila Cabello. So I'd say anything thing you find fun can be incorporated into a sit down with your horn.
..............Paul Aviles
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Author: Tom H
Date: 2020-05-20 04:35
All I can think of is what kdk said-- the pandemic will end at some point and you don't want to slacken off and get "rusty". Look forward to that first rehearsal when it starts up.
I only play a summer series of concerts (in NY, so guess whether THAT will go on.....). The other 10 months is just practicing--daily-- unless something rare comes my way. But I will admit that it won't be any fun waiting 22 months this time (assuming all is a go in 2021).
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Author: Ken Lagace
Date: 2020-05-20 06:43
I retired from pro playing in 1986, and from a regular job in 2008.
I tried to play again but got into the same rut of not wanting to play, but...
I bought a used 8 track digital recorder and found, and made some quartet arrangements where I recorded all the parts and mixed them.
It turned out to be a lot of fun and I couldn't wait to get back into my 'cave' every day to make more music with 'like minded' players.
I now have many dozens of arrangements and recordings in a library that I can fill when in the mood.
We are in a new normal lifestyle now and we MUST find a way to live with it - or we will be destroyed by it!
It is up to you.
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Author: marcia
Date: 2020-05-20 09:56
I have set aside a specific time of the day for practise, and have managed to stick to it almost every day. What also helps is that my quintet has made, and hopefully will make more, a few virtual recordings. Out horn player is a computer whiz. He takes our individual recordings, works his editing magic, and produces a recording that definitely resembles an ensemble! ![[grin]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie5.gif)
I have gone back to some very basic exercises. You can't go wrong with that.
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2020-05-20 16:08
Hi All,
Play with others? Some days I play with the US Marine Band, Army Field Band, USAF Band, Dallas Winds, UMich Symphonic Band, and my own Ann Arbor Concert Band. You might ask how this is all possible.
I have saved copies of many of the concert band parts I've played (sax, clarinet, bass clarinet) over the years. Some of the Grainger arrangements are public domain or available on the internet. Using these charts, I crank up the surround sound in my study with YouTube or use iTunes CDs and wail away.
While it is not perfect, it's a lot of fun. With YouTube, I can often see enough of the conductor's beat pattern (to get distracted); however, with just an audio track, entrances are a little tougher but I can make it work.
What's on today's "concert"? Sparke's: Overture for a Great City; Grainger: Shepherd's Hey, Children's March, Colonial Song; and Holsinger: Liturgical Dances. I can get you a good seat for the performance.
HRL
Post Edited (2020-05-20 18:51)
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Author: ruben
Date: 2020-05-21 16:56
Dan,
Excellent question! When I was a youngster, I was very lazy about practicing. It wasn't entirely my fault, as I came from a totally unmusical family and the physical conditions of several people living under the same roof in a small space were not conducive to practicing (I hope I haven't made anybody cry! ha ha). These days, I consider practicing as a form of yoga-which I also do-and that keeps me motivated. It has developed into a physical and mental need. On the other hand, if I never played with other people or never played in public, I'm not sure I could maintain this motivation and discipline. Playing the clarinet isn't playing the piano or organ: we need other people.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Hurstfarm
Date: 2020-05-21 17:39
Some good suggestions above, and different things will work for different people. For me, it’s been useful to set some goals for practicing to replace the structure we’ve all lost without the usual succession of rehearsals and concerts to prepare for. For example, you could devote a bit more pick a few repertoire pieces to prepare to performance standard by a date, by way of a mock recital. You could do the same with pieces from an exam syllabus. If you pick pieces with online or downloadable piano accompaniments (eg from piano-accompaniments.com) then you can run your ‘performance’ with an accompanist.
If you like orchestral and chamber music, you can freely download parts for a large part of the repertoire from IMSLP, pick your chosen recording on a decent sound system and just join in as Hank has been doing.
For a limited but more sophisticated version of the same thing there‘s an app called Nomad Play which cleverly removes your selected instrument from the mix, so you won’t hear it unless you play the part. It also displays your part on the screen, which you can use if you don’t have a hard copy. They were offering a free trial a couple of months back, but it’s set to become a subscription service. There’s not much orchestral repertoire on there yet, but there are some clarinet and piano pieces and the Beethoven Septet.
As you’ve discovered you can’t play successfully with others in real time on a video conferencing app because of time lags. As Marcia says, successful lockdown ensembles have generally been recording separately to a click track, with the parts combined by someone with the software to mix them. That can be an interesting project in its own right, as many of us are finding out!
Don’t lose heart - there’s lots you can do now to keep the embouchure in trim and the fingers working that you won’t have time for when the usual ensembles are back up and running!
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Author: Wildschwa
Date: 2020-05-27 14:42
I've had this exact problem before- I moved away from my hometown and thus the quintet I'd been playing with for 6 years... and I had a hard time motivating myself without the group. (Honestly I was also a bit burnt out but that's another story).
The way I got around it was to a) set aside some time every day just for me and my clarinet and b) to set simple goals that were intrinsically rewarding- usually by finding a particular piece I wanted to add to my repertoire and then working on it until I was happy with it and then moving on. Also a great time to work on improv- the only person I'm annoying with my experiments that way are me.
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