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Re: Question on practice time

Author: mschmidt
Date: 2006-04-06 22:05

Those are indeed interesting articles. I must admit, as a returning recreational oboist, I found Niblock's article a little intimidating. If I was up for that kind of regimen, I wouldn't have quit oboing way back when.

The only way I got back into playing the oboe and enjoying it was by starting very slowly and being very selfish. I was only going to play what I wanted to play. So for weeks, no scales save the chromatic that I used for trying out reeds. I focused on playing easy music and sounding as good as possible. The moment I felt tired or frustrated I quit. Oboe was only for fun. Gradually, I branched out in my repertoire and went back to Barret and Ferling--and scales. I "worked" more on things. But only because I realized what I had to work on to get what I wanted out of playing. I played for longer sessions.

I think I was close to the spirit of Niblock, though, in being disciplined in my own way--it's just that I had different goals. For someone who grew up always doing what I should be doing, not what I wanted to be doing, it might have been easy to slip into a preprofessional mode. But I'm not a preprofessional! I play for enjoyment! Insisting on enjoyment is its own discipline and ultimately leads to the same musical goals as the preprofessional focus--but it takes longer to get there. But I'm in no hurry. Better to master Barret at the age of seventy than to stop playing oboe at forty-five because I get tired of playing Barret every day.

Mike

Still an Amateur, but not really middle-aged anymore

Post Edited (2006-04-06 22:07)

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