Orchestral Etiquette by The Entire DSO Flute Section

At this link is a great article on orchestral etiquette that applies to all sections of a professional orchestra.

When you're still in school and in a student orchestra, you are more likely to be in a situation where asking questions as a non-principal is OK and even encouraged. In a professional setting, it is indeed the case that speaking out is not appropriate. All of the suggestions in the article are the normal expectation for orchestra rehearsals and concerts.

These are a great reminders to me even though I've played professionally for years. It's easy to develop funny little habits that may be annoying or inappropriate, and it's a good to re-examine the rules before this season starts again.

Link: Orchestral Etiquette by The Entire DSO Flute Section (Flute Specialists July 2015 Newsletter)

12 Reasons Why You Should Use a Metronome Every Time you Practice.

1. No excuses. You can download the app for free if you have a smart phone. Even though I have a drawer full of stand-alone metronomes, I almost always use Pro Metronome on my iPhone. It's convenient, simple, and offers everything I need, including the ability to listen though headphones if I want.

2. It trains you to listen outside of yourself while playing, thus making you a better ensemble player. 

3. It keeps you honest about your rhythm and tempo, and helps you find errors in your playing. We all have a tendency to rush or drag with certain types of playing. We all have the potential to be lazy about correct subdivision of beats. You can improve and overcome these tendencies. 

4. It helps you know what you can and cannot do at certain speeds. We all need work on both faster and slower playing. Keep track of progress as you set goals and work to push your playing ability on both ends of the spectrum. Work to make your scales faster. Work to make your long tones slower.

5. It is a necessary tool when learning challenging syncopated rhythms. Slow it down and really listen. Don't stop listening when you speed it up.

6. Being prepared for performance is all about consistency. Practicing with a metronome reinforces consistent rhythm, tempo, and the ability to play through the piece or excerpt to completion with no mistakes.

7. It makes practice more efficient. Set goals. Play things at both slower and faster tempi than your final goal. Keep track of your progress and write down the speeds at which you have played the excerpt/piece and check them off as you accomplish them.

8. It prepares you to play with backing tracks/click tracks. Playing with that external click takes some getting used to. 

9. For rhythms that you're having a hard time figuring out,  put down your instrument and clap/sing the rhythms along with the metronome before you add in the extra challenge of playing them.

10. It builds in a sense of tempo markings, so that if you are away from the metronome and see a marking of quarter=140 vs. quarter=132, for example, you understand what speed that is.

11. You can fool most of the people most of the time if you have rock solid rhythm even though you've wigged out about playing the all the correct pitches. Good rhythm comes before correct pitches when it comes to a solid, convincing performance.

12. Techniques such as trills can mess with your sense of time. Always always practice with a metronome when you've got trills....especially long ones. 

Please see the original blog article here:  www.artsjournal.com

Nobel medicine winner says: I owe it all to my bassoon teacher

October 9, 2013 by Norman Lebrecht 54 Comments

Thomas Sudhof, who shares this year’s Nobel Prize for medicine and physiology, told The Lancet in August 2010 that he owes his powers of analysis and concentration to studying a musical instrument.

What apart from your family is the passion of your life?

I always try to understand everything I encounter—not only in science, but also historical and political events and music and movies—get to grips with the content, meaning, and process. This is immense fun, as strange as that may sound.

Who was your most influential teacher, and why?

My bassoon teacher, Herbert Tauscher, who taught me that the only way to do something right is to practice and listen and practice and listen, hours, and hours, and hours.

How do you relax?

Drink wine and talk to the people I love.

What is your favourite book, and why?

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust, because it is a microcosm of the world and Goethe’s beautiful language expresses all of our potential and contradictions.

You can have dinner tonight with a famous person—who would it be?

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, so that I could try and find out if his creativity was conscious or inherent.

h/t Gerhard Veith

Practice Guide: from Practicing for Peak Performance, by Debra Richtmeyer

A Practice Guide

(adapted from Practicing for Peak Performance, by Debra Richtmeyer)

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Practicing is a matter of Quality, not Quantity.

Always practice with a purpose. Never just “play through” your music.

You can accomplish a lot in a short amount of focused, well-used time.

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 1. LEARNING HOW TO PRACTICE EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY.

·  FIND THE OUTLINE OF THE PHRASE SHAPE. Play notes slowly and hold on every  eighth or downbeat in phrase until you can hear melodic/harmonic structure.  Play with and without filler notes.

·  PRACTICE SLOWLY IN SHORT SEGMENTS. Gradually increase tempo until you  have phrase or passage as close to tempo as possible in that session. Then  move  on to next phrase and repeat. Whatever you practice becomes habit – try  to incorporate all elements of music in every repetition.

·  VARY RHYTHMS IN DIFFICULT PASSAGES to improve evenness of technique.

·  USE A TUNER – practice frequently with tuner sounding key pitches  in phrases.

·  PRACTICE CRESCENDOS AND DECRESCENDOS WITH VIBRATO AT VARIOUS SPEEDS  AND DEPTHS – WITH  A TUNER. Sit on key notes in musical passages until you find the vibrato  speed and depth that give right character for that moment. Support with  a round embouchure.

·  USE YOUR METRONOME IN ALL SCALE PRACTICE

·  USE A TAPE RECORDER. When you think you like how you played a phrase,  listen to it and keep playing and listening until you are happy with what  you hear  on tape. Be your own teacher as much as possible.

·  PRACTICE A VARIETY OF THINGS EVERY DAY – tone-building exercises,  scales, etudes and melodies. The more the variety, the more interest and  longer you will  want to practice. It will also keep you from focusing too long on a problem  that cannot be solved overnight.

2. STUDY THE SCORE: Do not underestimate how much time you need to spend  studying scores.

·  HEAR THE BIG PICTURE – from phrase to phrase and movement to movement.  What is the style, the pacing, and the emotional road map?

·  BE ABLE TO SING THE COMPOSITE RHYTHMS OF ALL PARTS. If you cannot, the  accompaniment will confuse you and you will not be able to play effectively  as a duo (or  ensemble).

·  WRITE IN CUES as much as possible before the first rehearsal. This will  save you much time and money.

·  LISTEN TO RECORDINGS of the music you are playing after you have practiced  it enough to form some of your own opinions. Practice making your own musical  decisions – don’t just copy other performances.

 3. UNDERSTAND THE ATHLETIC ASPECTS OF BEING A MUSICIAN.

·  PRACTICE GOOD POSTURE AND STRETCH FREQUENTLY. Properly stretched muscles  will have more strength and endurance and will be less prone to injury.

·  TAKE BREAKS - every 30-50 minutes to increase endurance and avoid injury.  Muscles need periods of rest to regain strength. Insufficient rest periods  can result in decreased endurance and increased risk of injury.

·  DON’T ALLOW SMALL INJURIES TO BECOME BIG ONES. Use ice during the first  twenty-four hours whenever you experience lasting pain, and decrease or eliminate  technical practice until the problem is gone. Use arnica gel or sports crème  to speed up the healing process. See a qualified muscle therapist for problems  that last longer than a few days. The longer you ignore a problem, the  more difficult it will be to completely heal. You can always play long  tones,  vibrato and articulation  exercises, and study scores while recovering.

·  PRACTICE REGULARLY. It is much better to practice an hour every day  than four hours twice a week. It is also better to practice 2-3 times  per day  rather than  in one long session.

·  TAKE A DAY OFF WHEN NEEDED. You will come back stronger and fresher  for having had the rest.