Tag Archives: Altès studies

Day 58 – November 27th – Thanksgiving

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I was surprised to find myself the only one practising at the new dairy today, but got on with it anyway – I tend to find days after class are the most productive! I still need to keep reminding myself that the goal with Reichert exercises and sequences is improvement not perfection. Some of the keys in Reichert No. 2 were fast and accurate the first time round, which is improvement. Others still need work!

I spent quite a bit of time on Altès studies this afternoon, particularly making sure that the rhythm in no. 5 is accurate. So long as I’m disciplined and practise the study in small bursts over the weekend, I should be ok.

Trevor trying to take credit for Dot's yummy cake!

Trevor trying to take credit for Dot’s yummy cake!

This evening we celebrated Thanksgiving for the American girls, giving Trevor an excuse to have us round for dinner. I had my misgivings about the whole thing – everyone’s descriptions of typical Thanksgiving meals seemed to suggest that the whole thing was a celebration of excessive eating. While we did end up with a lot of dishes, though, the evening turned out nicely. Trevor had some wine for us to taste, including two bottles of very nice Penfolds from South Australia, and everyone had contributed a dish to dinner. I roasted parsnips and carrots, and we also had ham (for the meat-eaters), twice-baked potatoes, sweet potato, salad, and both pumpkin bread and an amazing meringue cake (made by Dot) for dessert. All was very yummy, though I’m also very glad that we walked afterward.

Off up to London and Hilton tomorrow, first to vote in the Vic state election and then to spend the weekend with some friends. I can’t wait for the break!

Day 55 – November 24th – A change of outlook

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For a few days now, I’ve been mulling over some feeling of frustration with myself and the course. Some of them are unavoidable, but frustrations with my lack of progress in some areas of classwork need to be changed and I think I’ve worked out the solution.

I think I’ve had the idea in my head that by the end of my time here all aspects of my playing need to be ‘perfect’, and as a result am really down on myself if I don’t see improvements from lesson to lesson. The reality is that in an environment such as this I am going to improve a lot, and already have. However, music is never perfect and nor should it be. By thinking in this way, I’ve failed to see some of the changes that have already taken place, and probably played worse in class on several occasions as well.

So today I went into class trying to keep this in mind; I’ve improved a lot already, I’m working hard, and I’m also on a path for which there is never really an ‘end’ per say. Some things still weren’t amazing, but I was surprised by how much a positive outlook did improve things. Reichert still needs work, but I got through the major/minor scales plus shortened Reichert quite well at Trevor’s brisk speeds. My sequences were congratulated on being much improved since last week.

Unfortunately Altès studies still need a bit or work, with the dotted rhythms in no. 6 still giving me a bit of a headache. However, the Andersen study went well, and I now have a much clearer idea on how to fix the Altès. After focusing on expression in Moyse Little Melodic Study No. 13, the exercises instead became about dynamics, with Trevor asking me to play it fortissimo. Point taken, I still need to remember to play with a bigger dynamic range!

This evening the temperature dropped to around three degrees, and our walk back from the Old Dairy was chilly even with scarves and gloves. The sky, though, was stunning – cloudless and expansive, it twinkled with a patchwork of stars, and the Milky Way cut a streak right through the centre. It reminded me just how little of it I’ve seen living in Melbourne, and just how much there is beyond that isn’t visible to the naked eye.

Day 47 – November 16th – Sequences

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I’m still struggling to memorise the sequences that Trevor proposes in our warm-ups, and so today played them in each of my hours of technique practice. Hopefully the focus will make them stick a bit more, because I’m a bit sick of getting flustered in class as soon as the tempo goes up at notch. On the other hand (as I was reminded by a friend in Australia the other day), it’s not about learning it all right this minute, but about the improvement – if I can play them a bit faster in class tomorrow then I’m getting somewhere!

This week’s etudes are something of a mixed bag. I’ve done a lot of work on Andersen No. 6 before, and ended up winning the open study section of the Lesile Barklamb Scholarship (Victorian Flute Guild) with it in 2011. I feel like it’s come back together relatively easily over the past few days, but that Trevor will have a lot to say about ornaments, trills and expression. I’ve been trying to play grace notes and mordants as fast as possible, and to make sure that all dynamics are observed. After last week comments, I’ve also spent some time thinking about the large-scale picture, of harmonic direction and the overall structure of the piece.

I am, however, finding the Altès studies less appealing. I was asked to repeat the central section of No. 5 at the correct speed, which hasn’t been too difficult to achieve. Moving on to No. 6, and I can play both the articulation patterns, just not for three pages at the given speed! No. 7 is a similar story. I’ve been trying not to get too frustrated with these studies, and to embrace the challenge of maintaining the clarity of articulation, but definitely find them less appealing to practise than the Andersen.

Today I had my first experiment with the slow cooker, and was really happy with the result. Leftover sweet potatoes, cabbage, parsnips with veggie stock and some herbs came out five hours later tasting absolutely fantastic!

Day 33 – November 2nd – Wet weather

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I think a proper autumn might finally have arrived. While I made it out for a rather blustery run at 6:45am and our walk also went ahead at 7:42pm, most of the time in between was very wet and windy. Ah well, I have a good stock of tea and plenty to do!

I feel like I’m getting through more in my practice sessions these days, partly because both scales and Moyse exercises are both happening a lot faster than a month ago. It also helps that I’m almost there with memorising the Reichert exercises – even if they’re not perfect, gone at least are the days of spending 15min trying to work out what on earth is going on in Bb minor.

My plan with the augmented and diminished arpeggios was somewhat successful, in that I think playing them at the beginning of my scales session helped with focus. There aren’t any good exercises for them in Complete Daily Exercises, though I remembered later in the day that there are a few in Exercises Journaliers which I’ll try. I ended up playing cascades of augmented arpeggios for a little while, which is easier ascending than descending.

The painful part of the day was most certainly studies and my articulation battles as a result. I am making progress, but slowly. Altes No. 2 is now up to speed, and the outer sections of No. 3 are fine, but there is a rather nasty B section in that one with lots of leaps. The Moyse studies I’ve been working on are like the Altes ones in miniature – No. 9 is an excellent exercise in making a slur a decrescendo but not cutting off the note. As for the dreaded Andersen No. 4, it is certainly better than last week in that I am playing shorter staccatos. However, I think my overall dynamic plan has suffered as a result, and I’m still not good at maintaining the super-short staccato for extended periods of time. My ideal for tomorrow would be being told that I can move on from the study for now, but need to return to it in a month or so when I’ve had the chance for the articulation exercises to sink in a little more.

Finally, various listening projects today have unearthed two very inspiring (though very different recordings). The first, as part of my flute CD listening, was a recording of William Bennett speaking on BBC radio about the history of the French Flute school and his experiences in Paris. It was fascinating to hear his thoughts on different players, and Fernand Dufrene’s recording of the Jolivet Concerto included in the broadcast was superb.

Then I’ve been doing a little searching for flute and bass trombone repertoire for a potential concert in Australia next year. It’s a tricky one, but I found this piece by Gyorgy Kurtag for piccolo, trombone and guitar. I always find Kurtag’s music fascinating, and have had this video on repeat while writing today’s post!

 

Day 27 – October 27th – Articulation

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Mixed success in class today, though no excruciating moments. I started out well, getting through the Moyse 24 Melodic Studies nos 5, 8 and the variation of no. 4 (carried over from last week) with pretty good feedback. In the variations of no. 8, I still need to work on totally equal triplets, as well as good phrase endings (not chopping) and clear re-articulation of repeated notes. Most importantly, though, I didn’t get one negative comment about expression.

Then came the trickier part in the form of Andersen no. 4, which opened up the can of worms that is articulation. The main feedback for the study itself was that notes weren’t staccato throughout, with other additional comments being made about the relative dynamics of notes and evenness, which I knew still needed work before I played it!

Articulation has never been a strong point, and this study rather highlighted my inability to maintain a short, light staccato, let alone one that allows me a good control of dynamics. It’s my own fault, I have never been a consistent practiser of articulation exercises for single tonguing, and have tended to work on it only when required. Along with re-doing the study next week (as expected!), I have been prescribed work on Trevor’s Practice Book 3 which deals with articulation. Lots of tongue-free abdominal muscle work in store for me! I need to make sure not to move anything when doing these exercises, not my lips, mouth, shoulders or flute. Challenge accepted.

My bash through Altès no. 2 was mostly fine, although there is a rather tricky high sequence in the middle that I hadn’t done enough work on. Interestingly, the class said that the articulation was better when I played it faster. In some ways I shot myself in the foot with this study, but I really had no choice. Everyone else repeated Andersen no. 3 from last week and didn’t have to do battle with no. 4, so had more time for Altès. Oh well, hopefully I’ll be able to redeem myself on that front next week.

Finally, I played the first two movements of Handel’s sonata in F major in the recorder, which Trevor approved of. So I’ve ticked that box (with very minimal practice) and can hopefully get the Baroque flute next month.