Author: d-oboe
Date: 2005-11-12 13:07
propspony....
Don't worry about where you are, worry about where you are going! Obviously, at this moment, you can't make your mouth stronger, you can't make your fingers move faster, and you can't play any longer than your body is physically able to. But you CAN practice to improve things.
The most important thing when practicing is to be your own teacher. You have to learn to listen to what is coming out of the oboe. I don't just mean listening for tone quality, but listening for note beginnings, endings, pitch - the list goes on. Once you figure out how to listen and really examine what you're playing, you can then construct a logical plan on how to improve it. And things can *always* improved, don't worry!
Many people "practice" simply by repeating the same thing over and over. Unfortunately, all this does is engrain a mediocre result into one's brain.
So?!? "How do I do this fancy thing you call listening?!?" you might ask. All it entails is
SLOWING IT DOWN, SLOWING IT DOWN, SLOWING IT DOWN
Practice slow enough that you can play everything perfectly. No gulps, blips, honks. It's going slow enough so there should be no reason why everything isn't possible.
Practice it correctly, and SLOWLY five times, and then move on to the next chunk of music.
So again, don't worry how far along you are, as long as you are improving. And you must be happy with what you have - as much as you might be frustrated with reeds and difficulties that arise with the mouth, fingering notes, etc.... try to be satisfied with what you can do. Better learning/practicing will take place when you are not having to measure yourself against someone, or something else.
If there's any secret to staying sane in the music business, that's it....I think on a daily basis I have to say it to myself!!!
D
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