Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2017-02-23 22:59
Slowoldman wrote:
> I wonder how you all choose to warm up before a performance.
> Run scales and arpeggios to get air and fingers going?
> Rehearse troublesome parts of your repertoire? (Or is that too
> much like cramming for an exam, and doesn't work?) All of the
> above?
>
For me, some of all of the above, mostly.
A couple of scales, a few improvised licks ("noodling") to get my mouth in gear, review some of the passage work in the pieces coming up in the concert (not to get better at them, just to have them fresh in my mind), a passage or two from an upcoming concert if I have something I need to work on. Then, if I've made the mistake of going out too early I sit with nothing much to do but more of the same or yack with other players around me.
Mostly, I'm trying to do three things - get my fingers acclimated to the instrument (they're sometimes a little stiff when I first start), get my mouth acclimated to the reed, and make sure the reed itself is working. This last is less of an issue with the Legeres that I've been using recently, but I find they still react to conditions in the hall - the same reeds don't feel optimal every day.
I once played in the pit for a conductor who absolutely forbade any noodling from the show we were playing - he didn't like having us previewing the music for the audience. Since I wanted the paycheck I had been promised, I gave in.
Karl
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