Author: vboboe
Date: 2006-04-14 00:49
PREAMBLE
Still building my general playing skills, so here's how it looks for me just now -- not ready for intensive work on major oboe works yet -- had a good look at Mozart's Oboe Quartet recently, amazed at high notes up to F written for baroque oboe of the time ... wow (hard enough on my intermediate Yamaha 441) ... way out of my league just now, fingering, intonation, leaps & bounds, rapid scale & arpeggio runs, 32nds, ornaments ... long playing time!
ON THE TOPIC
<<How do you divide your daily practise time?>>
<<What do you practise?>>
15 mins reed wet & oboe warmup (long tones, scales, technical exercises)
30 mins assignments (lesson etudes or more technical exercises, band pieces)
15 mins own choices (easy pieces, good psychological finale for difficult, daunting and discouraging practice session!)
<<How do you work on particular technique problems?>>
1. Slowly, concentrated mental effort, multiple ACCURATE reps, 3-10 times, for several days, until body complies readily (fingers, tongue, lips, breathing, whatever)
2. Each day do multiple ACCURATE reps and work it over and over and over until mind doesn't have to concentrate on telling body what to do, body just does it on auto pilot
3. Pick up speed and play to desired tempo, accurately
4. Play it musically
5. Play it faster than tempo, accurately & musically
6. Play it as fast as physically can do it, accurately
Keep practising above as long it takes (years!) to complete all steps
<<What method books do you use?>>
For lessons - Gekeler I & just recently moved into 2, and First Book of Practical Studies
For scales - Practical Hints on playing the Oboe (Clemens), and Complete Oboe Scale Book (Boosey & Hawkes)
For band (last year) Essential Elements 2000, Books 1 & 2 for Band (Book 3 still too hard)
For band (this year) Swearingen's Technic for Band is everybody's standard warmup & Hovey's Technique for Band is used to challenge us further
On the side, waiting in the wings at home, is Ployhar's I Recommend warmup technique book, mostly too difficult just now
Our band had a summer practice group for fun last year, we did easy Movie Favorites (Sweeney / Hal Leonard)
For myself -- wide variety of tunes i personally enjoy, taken from many sources, including Festival Solos (Pearson & Ellege), Classical Instrumental Ensembles for All series (Ryden), easier pieces from Classic Festival Solos (Belwin) and Oboe Solos (Arnold)
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