#pracrastinate

[supermarioboe]

it’s jury season :-)

[violapianolife-blog]

You ever get those days when you’re practicing and everything is going perfect? Like your tone is crystal clear, you’re full of energy, you’re making loads of progress and you’re confident about your musical career?

Yeah me neither.

[supermarioboe]

I had an epiphany yesterday.

I read something about how we need to learn to practice for ourselves before anyone else. And it wasn’t until yesterday that I realized that, ever since I started studying at a conservatory, I haven’t been doing that. I stopped playing for my own benefit. It’s so easy to do this, especially when music is no longer just a hobby or something you did in high school; it is now your career and you have so many people you want to impress. And it’s stressful, frustrating, destructive even. I push myself too much, even when it isn’t doing anything helpful for my playing, and my body hurts.

But yesterday, after I thought about this, I felt significantly better. I was able to relax both my brain and my body and enjoy the art I was creating. I had a good attitude about what I was doing even an hour and a half in. I spoke to an older colleague about this later that night and she agreed with absolutely no hesitation, which made me think: why didn’t I realize this sooner? It is so unbelievably important to practice for yourself.

This recording is from the last few minutes of my practice session yesterday. You can tell I am starting to get tired and my embouchure is starting to fail me, but I kept pushing and it finally benefited me. (More specifically, I was primarily focused on relaxing my tongue and keeping my articulation light and quick, which is essential for the fast movements of the Mozart concerto. You can really hear that my articulation was getting heavy and punchy so my focus is mainly on endurance and being able to have the same accuracy of the tongue even after a long period of practice or performance.) 

I think yesterday was such an essential milestone in my career as a musician, and I really hope this inspires someone.

[supermarioboe]

A short recording of Barret melody #30. My professor and I work through one of these per week for fundamental practice. Oftentimes the small nuances of our playing go away when we think something is too easy. My goal when playing any etude is to fight that and make the exercise sound as beautiful as possible. This means using my best tone, vibrato, phrasing, and a constant stream of air. I always make sure to remind myself that etudes aren’t an exception and should sound just as polished and sophisticated as anything else I play.

[supermarioboe]

happy new year folks :) i had a refreshing and successful reed session tonight

i’ve always hated long breaks from school because the days get long and monotonous with no structure from academia. summer break is the worst but winter break comes in a close second. i love that i get to go to school and study my passion, and even though i am stressed and exhausted most of the time i wouldn’t trade my education for anything. but when i don’t have commitments entered into my calendar i struggle a lot. i’m looking forward to going back to conservatory next weekend to get back into the swing of things.

on the topic of practicing and reed making, i am definitely starting to feel more inspired and motivated to study and work again. i’m planning on going to a coffee shop tomorrow morning to spend time listening to my rep and solidifying some of my practice goals for this coming semester. i will have plenty of lessons, orchestra/chamber rehearsals and concerts, as well as my sophomore jury, a studio recital, and hopefully a casual sophomore recital to prepare for, so i feel like i need to come into this semester feeling as confident as possible.

this year i want to be more dedicated to my education. i’ve always been a good student but i still feel like i can push myself even more. i want to confidently practice 5-6 days a week with 1-2 days off for both physical and mental rest. i want to do some amount of reed making every day, even if it is only a few minutes. i would love to go to more concerts and listen to more music, classical or not. and i want to expose myself to culture and other forms of art as much as possible.

2018 is going to be a great year. i can feel it. i hope you can too.

[supermarioboe]

planning my week of practicing tonight; thanksgiving break starts on wednesday (thank god, currently being suffocated by life) but I still have a lesson on Friday so I have no excuse not to be at least semi-productive. barret, bach cantatas, excerpts from Bartok’s concerto for orchestra, and the first two movements of the Strauss concerto are currently on my plate

though I’ve always known I need to practice more, I think I just had the official moral realization, so we’ll see where this takes me.

[supermarioboe]

oh boy do I love what I do ❤️

[supermarioboe]

review before my second theory midterm tomorrow, plus a little Brahms 3 in the background to keep me company