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Re: Okay, so it's only at 60--but I couldn't play it at all yesterday (for JohnT)

Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2008-05-17 16:09

I use the "backwards" method a lot.The cool thing about it is that, once you have the first (last?) few notes or phrases mastered, you are always moving from less-well-known to more-well-known material, which creates a sense of confidence and relaxation as you proceed, rather than a sense of anxiety about the unknowns that are coming next.

I would go so far as to say that this phenomenon is one of the reasons we have issues with sight reading -- worrying about what is coming next prevents you from being totally aware of the thing you are playing now.

Which leads me to another little mind trick that I use: convince yourself that you actually only ever have to play one note at a time (the joy of wind instruments!). One note is easy. Whole gobs of notes aren't. Focus on the note at hand; play it as completely well as you can, dynamics, articulations, and all, as if it were the only note on the page. Then move on. Do this systematically, and the next note will be there when it needs to be, no matter the tempo.

The Zen of wind playing? Or a page out of the 12-step program book?

Susan

Susan

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