Guessing Games: Focusing in those late night rehearsals

An average story of most of our lives: We’re up at 8am and run to a bunch of classes, and by the time it’s 4:00 in the afternoon, the only thing we feel like doing is going home and collapsing on the couch…but orchestra is later that night and doesn’t get out until 10.

By that time of night, my mentality for playing is usually along the lines of, “Okay, I have to play this the best I can and try to play it better than last time. I practiced it a lot, so I know I can sound better here.”

Which is alright. I’m trying my best, and I came prepared.

But that’s so generic. “Play it better”? If we just try to play it “better,” what should we focus on? Tone quality? Breathing? Articulation? Dynamics? Intonation?

…All of them.

But I’ve started to think about this from another perspective: why do these evening rehearsals seem to be so tiring? Because I know that we’re only going to get through about 10 or 15 measures of this piece (that I really want to play straight through because I like it) before the conductor stops us.

Ok, we’re starting rehearsal. I already know we’re not going to play the whole piece through the first time, so let’s play a little game. Let’s play “Guess What the Conductor is Going to Say to Us Next.”

The baton is up; we’re starting at the beginning.

You know…this little fast triplet accompaniment thing we have is kind of like that other piece we played last year…then he told us to play the notes as short as we could so it didn’t sound muddy. He probably wants us to do that here, too.

Sure enough, after we play the opening a few times, the conductor says, “Flutes, can you play those a little more staccato?”

Hey, look at that. I was right!

I didn’t even have to think “Maybe I should make my articulation better here.” It just sounded better.

Since that seemed to work for me, I kept guessing and before I knew it my phrasing and intonation in ensembles was getting better. I tried to remember what things we had worked on in the past and did my best to fix them in my own playing before they became a problem.

So this little game does a few things for me:

1) it keeps me more focused in rehearsal when I’m tired,

2) it forces me to think and use what I already know, and

3) instead of trying to focus on everything at once, I focus on what’s most important for the section we’re working on, and everything else starts to fall into place.

I find that instead of thinking about separate aspects of playing, I’m listening first and making adjustments according to what I hear. It’s a reverse way of thinking that I think in the past few days has really made my playing sound better without necessarily thinking about what “sounding better” means for that piece. Even at the end of the day.

So that’s my little thought for the week. Have another good focusing strategy that works for you? Feel free to post it in the comments! ♫

NFA Convention 2015!

As usual, summer went by fast again this year. But it was not without some adventuring! This past August I had the opportunity to go to the National Flute Association’s annual convention. They held it in DC this year (within driving distance!) and my flute teacher highly recommended that I go, so it was the perfect opportunity to spend a few days checking out the convention.

And it was a LOT.

This was my first convention (aside from the NAfME event back in April), and I was there all by myself, so it was a lot to take in. After spending weeks beforehand on the NFA website trying to map out what workshops and concerts to go to, getting through the whole registration process, and navigating the metro stations in the city (it was a project for someone from a farm town), I made it.

Now if you’ve never been to one of these, the first thing you have to know is that it’s overwhelming. There are flutists from all over the country. You walk past these huge fancy ballrooms and hear flute music everywhere. Every single event in the program grabs your interest and you want to go to all of them, but you can’t because there are always a million things happening at once. Workshops, lecture-recitals, concerts, masterclasses, showcases, exhibits…everything related to flute in this one building.

It’s a lot to take in. But I managed to fit as many cool sounding events into the day as I could. (The problem is, I got so caught up in the flutey things that I almost forgot to leave myself time to eat. Oops.) It’s also a lot of information overload if you’re not prepared for it, so heads up: you’ll learn a ton. Bring a notebook and a folder for handouts, because you’ll want to remember as much as you can. I took something away from every single event I went to, whether it be a fully printed exercise or just a new way of thinking about posture. It’s sort of like a whole summer of flute lessons packed into a weekend, but you’ve had a different teacher for each lesson.

Another heads up: the exhibit hall is crazy. It’s loud and crowded, but it’s fun! Ever wanted to try a wooden flute? Gold flute? Irish flute? Native American flute? Alto or bass flute? It’s here. (I tried the contrabass – I’m about 5’6’’ and it’s taller than me. It’s huge.)

 

You also meet a lot of people (I finally met the woman who does all my repairs after 3 years of only contacting her through email), and some of the exhibitors give you free stuff, like cleaning kits and flute stands.

The concerts and recitals were amazing. I heard a few different flute choirs that had such an incredible sound. This was the first time I’d ever heard a professional flute choir, and after hearing them, I want to be in one :) The Young Artists Competition was wonderful to hear as well. You can listen to videos on youtube all day, but it’s a completely different experience to hear different flute players all perform right after one another live.

Moral of the story: go to a flute convention!!! Unless you don’t play flute, so in that case, just go to a music event like this. It’s worth it. ♫

Remembering James Horner

So I mentioned before that I’m a bit of a film score fanatic. But today is a very sad day for the world of movies and music.
This morning, it was confirmed that musician and film composer James Horner was killed in a plane accident.

 

Even if you haven’t heard the name, you know his work. He has over 150 composition credits in film. Some of his most well-known work includes scores from:

·         Titanic

·         Star Trek

·         The Amazing Spider Man

·         Glory

·         Avatar

·         The Land Before Time

·         Apollo 13

And many others (Click to see his full filmography)

 

He even wrote that little tune that you used to hear every night at 6pm when the CBS evening news started (when Katie Couric was the anchor).
I know that James Horner will be dearly missed by many, and I wanted to take a minute to remember him and his influence in the world of film music. He was truly one of the greatest modern American composers. But what I think is beautiful about these composers is that they continue to live on through our favorite films and their gorgeous music.

Rest in peace.

 

Photo credit: https://20greatsongs.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/james-horner-collage.jpg

Song as Old as Rhyme

Last night I went to see the Hartford Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Disney in Concert at the Bushnell – and it was AWESOME!!!

If you know me, then you know I’m not only a dedicated Disney fan but also an extreme film score fanatic (favorites include Alan Menken, Hans Zimmer, John Powell, Alan Silvestri, Joe Hisaishi, and many more) so this concert was definitely my cup of tea. Not only did it feature all of my favorite songs from when I was growing up, but they also projected some of the scenes from the animated films. With all the craziness of the last semester these soundtracks had sort of evaded my playlist for a while, so it was great to rediscover my love of Disney music.

It was also fantastic to see all the kids that came out to see the show with their families. Normally working music events at college, I rarely see children in the audience, so I’m glad this was an opportunity for kids to experience the sound of a live orchestra.

The program included excerpts and songs from:

The Little Mermaid
Pocahontas
Beauty and the Beast (one of my favorites, but I started having flashbacks to my days as a dancing spoon my junior year of high school)
The Jungle Book
Mary Poppins
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Frozen (an addition to the million and one versions of Let it Go I’ve heard, but I could deal with it. First time I’ve heard it live I suppose)
Aladdin
Pirates of the Caribbean
And Last but not least,
The Lion King

…Let’s just take a moment to appreciate the sheer genius of all this music. Especially Alan Menken, the Sherman brothers, Hans Zimmer, and Klaus Badelt.

…
…
…

Ok moving on,

It was all great. Disney adventure, no expensive trip to Disney World required!

And while the guest vocalists they brought in were very talented and entertaining, my favorite parts of this concert had to be the parts where it was just the orchestra playing. Namely, the suites from the Hunchback of Notre Dame and Pirates of the Caribbean. It doesn’t get much better than Disney and a live orchestra.  

 

One of the reasons that this music means so much to me is that as a kid when I first started playing the flute, these were the melodies that I practiced in my free time (you know, when that was still a thing). Solo for a concert? Disney. Christmas presents? Disney solo books. This is the music that inspired me to play. I still remember playing Pirates of the Caribbean at our 6^th grade band concert. It was the first piece we played that had a trill for the woodwinds and we thought it was the coolest thing ever. We loved the piece so much that we begged our high school band directors to play Pirates for three years in high school, and our wish was finally granted in our senior spring concert.

And for me, that’s what makes Disney music special. It sticks with you and inspires you no matter how old you are. Adults will love it, college music students love it, teenagers love it, and kids won’t get bored sitting in the concert hall for 2 hours.

And then after you come home whistling “It’s a Small World,” you’re that much more inspired to get practicing that Mozart concerto. ♫

Surviving Sophomore Year

So, sophomore year happened.

And we survived! But if you haven’t been a sophomore yet, people aren’t kidding when they say it’s the hardest year of college. Especially for music. Not only do you have that “sophomore slump” thing going on, but you also have an ever-increasing workload so it almost seems like the more you work, the less motivation you have to do it. It’s not a good combination.

But I’m looking back at the whole year now and I’m thinking that if I had to do it again, there’s a few things I might do differently to make it less stressful. So a few bits of advice I wish I took (which I guess really apply to anything):   

1) Don’t over-schedule yourself. It’s great to always want to volunteer for things. It shows a level of commitment and passion for what you do. But remember that time for you is just as important. So do volunteer, but don’t over-volunteer. Learn when you have too much on your plate and devote yourself to doing a few things wonderfully instead of many things at a mediocre level.

2) Limit worrying. We’ve all been there. It’s a stressful week, we’re all tired, and we still have so much work to do. What does the hallway sound like? Worries and complaints. And while most of them are probably justified and we need an outlet for our frustration, I learned something this past semester that I think will apply to everyone:  Let’s not waste our energy complaining when we could just do whatever it is we’re complaining about and get it over with in the amount of time we would spend complaining about it. Let’s use our time wisely.  

3) Be mindful. I was fortunate enough to have a few counseling sessions as an extra credit part of my educational psychology class, and the wonderful woman I met with taught me the importance of mindfulness. This basically means that when you’re doing something, invest yourself completely in it. Either you’re doing something or you’re not. So when you’re in class, you’re in class, and when you’re on break, you’re on a break. You’ll tire more easily if you worry about class during your breaks and thinking about your next break during class. Keep those separate.

And most importantly…

4) Don’t forget why you’re doing this. In the midst of all the stress, remember that you’re doing something you love. Don’t let the 4 (or 5 or 6) years you spend in college scare you away from a lifetime of getting the job you’ve always wanted. Tough as it is, it would probably be harder knowing you gave up something that early on. If you want it, stick with it!

Hope this helps! I know it will help me next year! ♫

Concerts and Conferences

(Post from April 12th. I had this post saved on my computer, but forgot to publish it…ooops! Anyway, enjoy.)

          One of the best things about RIC is that even though it’s mostly a commuter school and pretty much nothing happens on campus on the weekends, it’s still close to downtown Providence and all the artsy events that happen there. This weekend’s events: performances by the Rhode Island Philharmonic orchestra, and the National Association for Music Education All-Eastern Conference 2015. I actually was able to go to both of these, and wow was it worth the time.

The Friday night Rush Hour concert was such a nice way to end the week. For starters, the program was fantastic. It featured music by the French composers Ravel, Saint-Saens, and Berlioz (Coincidentally, I had just taken an exam on a few of these in my music history class that morning – yay for connections!). As a flute player, I’ve come to really love French music. There’s just something about it that’s so gorgeous. The first piece, an excerpt from Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite, also featured musicians from the Rhode Island Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. The Rush Hour concert only features a portion of the Saturday night program, so we only heard the fifth movement, but it was so magical and fairytale-esque even on its own, just short and sweet. Berlioz’s Queen Mab Scherzo from Romeo and Juliet followed in the same fashion. We also got to hear this amazing cello concerto by Saint-Saens, performed by Mr. Alban Gerhardt; again, we only heard one movement, but the performance was absolutely stunning. Watching Gerhardt perform was sort of mesmerizing – I could hardly believe the sound of the cello and how fast his bow moved! The concert finished with the Ravel Bolero, which was done beautifully (Props to the snare drum player who took on the 15 minute long ostinato!)

Our view of the Phil before the concert started

Oh, and another great thing about being a student is…DISCOUNTS! Seriously, if you have access to these, TAKE THEM!!! For example: we can pay $25 for a college card for all RIPO concerts at the beginning of the semester, show up at the will call window the night of the performance, and get front row seats!

I kid you not. Front row. Pretty much free.

...So yeah, take advantage of those discounts!

So after leaving the concert and singing the Bolero for the rest of the night, I got up bright and early and headed to the convention center for the NAfME All-Eastern Conference. And if you’ve never gone to one of these conventions, you should. Because if you’re in music and you’re a nerd like I am, this is the place you want to be. Not only do you get to go to all these great workshops and presentations about various music topics, but you get to see all these great exhibits.

Instruments! Instruments everywhere! Brand new shiny, beautiful instruments. And books! Classroom stuff! I played a bass recorder today. How often do you get to play a bass recorder? Oh and all the cute little music merchandise stuff like jewelry and t-shirts. Seems like you can never have enough of those (I bought a flute keychain :P )



^Bass Recorder!

The presentations were great and I learned a lot from them. I went to one about vocal development in young children; one on creativity, listening, and improvisation, and one about how to find resources when teaching outside your comfort zone. It also fit nicely in with what we’re doing in my practicum class right now, so now I feel super in the loop about music learning theory (yay more connections!)

So it was a very musically educational weekend. Not to mention it was pretty nice weather too. Sunny and not freezing for the first time in a long time. So my advice: Don’t sleep all weekend. Go have fun at these cool events, especially if its free or discounted. It’s worth the time.

In the Audience

Spring break is FINALLY here, after a stressful week of late nights writing papers and studying for midterm exams.  But stress aside, this past week was an awesome week for concerts at RIC. I was able to hear performances from both the orchestra and the chorus, and both were wonderful concerts.

At the beginning of the semester, I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to be up on stage with these ensembles like I have been in the past – I absolutely love the sound of the strings in orchestra and being able to sing in a large ensemble! I’m also one of those students who says “4 ensembles? Yeah, I’ve got time!” and gets involved in as many things as possible, but then ends up a zombie at the end of the semester because of all the back-to-back rehearsals. Actually, I think a lot of us students have this mindset of “I must do ALL the things!” because the way we see it, we’ve only got four years (well, in many cases, probably five or six) in which to pack as much music as possible into our still developing brains.

At least, this has been my mindset the past few semesters. But this week, I think I learned the most just by taking a step back and sitting in the audience to listen to my friends’ performances. Tuesday night, I had the pleasure of ushering for the RIC orchestra concert, a tribute to J.S. Bach. I was able to stand inside the auditorium for the entire concert which included a piece featuring two RIC professors on violin, the beautiful Orchestral Suite No. 3, and an arrangement of the Little Fugue in G minor. While Baroque isn’t my personal go-to era when I listen to music, I really enjoyed this tribute to Bach. By spending an hour listening to the music of one composer, I really began to appreciate the virtuosity needed to perform his music and the different emotional nuances in each piece. It was very uplifting to listen to, and had more variety than I realized before. While he wasn’t my favorite composer, after this concert, his music is really starting to grow on me. 

The choral concert, “Flight,” was dedicated to the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. There was a wide variety of music – everything from Renaissance music to excerpts from Mozart’s Requiem Mass to a piece by Eric Whitacre – but it all fit into the message of remembrance and respect for the victims of the horrifying events that took place a century ago. A portion of the concert also included traditional Armenian songs – I had never heard any Armenian pieces before, but it was a truly moving experience to hear the RIC chorus sing these with so much emotion, especially since some of the choir members are of an Armenian background.  The music just seemed to speak for itself, and instead of hearing multiple singers, I heard one ensemble singing together for one cause….so powerful. That’s something I hope all musicians can take away from performances like these.

Most of the time, when we’re on stage, we’re focusing on performance, but when you’re in the audience, you focus on the music. You get to just relax and enjoy the experience of being enveloped in the incredible sounds of voices and instruments, just feeling the music. As college students, we have so many opportunities to attend concerts either on campus or someplace nearby and hear great musicians. By just listening, we get inspired to reach just a little higher next time we sing or pick up our instruments, or sometimes we discover a new style of music that speaks to us. Sometimes we might forget that we need to go to concerts just as much as we perform in them, because so much of what we learn about performance, we learn by being in the audience.  

No Day like a Snow Day

I'm a college sophomore studying music education.
And today, I have free time.

...What?

Rare occurrence, but I'm taking advantage of it! Because the weather insists on burying New England in multiple feet of snow, we haven't had a full week of classes yet this semester. For once, I'm not completely swamped with endless homework. I've been meaning to start this blog for a while now, so I decided this was a good time to make it happen. Of course, this may be the only post I make for a while, considering all the makeup work I'm going to have. But if the weather is anything like it has been, who knows?

Right now, this blog is going to mainly consist of everyday ponderings, my take on things happening in the musical world, bad puns, and maybe some flute playing too. It’s a work in progress, but I’m looking forward to making this page a way to share my passion for all things music with as many people as possible.

Stay tuned for more posts!

Julie ♫