Tag Archives: studies

Day 161 – March 10th – 20 days to go

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Yes, it has got to the point of counting down days. At the moment, no matter how hard I work in preparation for class, Trevor’s feedback is consistently negative. Today, I anticipated the negativity by getting nervous, and then played some studies quite well and some really poorly as a result.

There are only three weeks of the course left, and I need to keep trying to learn rather than let the negativity and bullying get to me, but at the moment it’s tricky. I’m looking forward to being free and being my own person again!

Day 160 – March 9th – Practice, practice

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After a weekend with some free time, today was the day for pulling out all the stops and doing some serious practice. Not only do we have studies for class tomorrow, but also several pages of Doppler’s Airs Valaques each. Throw in flute history project and our weekly trip to Tesco, and I feel like I’ve been on the go non-stop since 8am!

It’s my turn to do the tune in class tomorrow, and I spent quite a bit of time this morning on Greensleeves making sure that it was both expressive and rhythmic. I keep getting distracted by trying to achieve a homogeneous tone across the whole flute range and through the different keys – I’ll play the tune in G minor and get it sounding really good, and then moving up to G# minor find that it sounds totally different! While I do like the idea of each key having its own character even in equal temperament, I don’t like it when certain notes stick out for all the wrong reasons. For the purposes of class, though, expression and good use of dynamics is key.

Studies are a bit hit and miss this week. I’ve got a handful of the Drouet set sounding quite good, but am still struggling with Altès no. 24 and all the mordants. I feel at once so close to and so far from finishing this book. There are only 26 studies, but both nos. 24 and 25 are tricky. While I can play most of no. 25, the second page is full of trills and I know that I need to play each one evenly with a perfectly timed turn at the end. As for Andersen no. 16, it has had a late surge of improvement, but I’m not totally sure whether that will all carry into class tomorrow. We’ll have to see.

Day 158 – March 7th – Fatigue

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It’s only 8pm, but once again I’m feeling exhausted and this won’t be a terribly long post. I’ve been spending a lot of time over the last few days weighing up some things about the next step I take on my musical journey, and the process isn’t easy. I feel like it’s taking up a lot of mental energy, energy which I should probably still be spending on the flute. But decisions need to happen some time, and better sooner with less stress than rushed right at the last minute. 

I did get in some good practice today, especially on technical work. As I was tired, I noticed I was playing semiquavers unevenly in some of the scales and technical exercises. I haven’t done this for a while, and think it’s probably to do with being tired. However, I think the difference now is that I notice it quickly, and once I’ve noticed I can revert back to nice even playing quite easily. 

No class until Tuesday this week, which means I have another (very welcome) day to work on studies. 

Day 153 – March 2nd – Tempo

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We had a bit of an unusual Monday class today, and spent the morning working on Doppler’s Airs Valaques rather than studies. One of the pieces on the list for Juliet Edwards’s class on Friday, Trevor was keen to work through it in more detail. Now we all have to learn sections of it by next Monday! The notes aren’t terribly difficult, but there are a lot of them. One more thing on the to-do list.

When we did get onto studies, we rather powered through them. I finished off the Moyse 25 Melodic Studies with only a few comments – mostly that my articulation still needs a lot of work. I got through three Drouet without too much trouble, but Altès No. 24 wasn’t fast enough and I need to do a bit more work on it. The main feedback on my playing today was that I don’t always start out at the right tempo, tending to end up on the slow side even when things are marked allegro. I think some of it is that I’m erring on the safe side and trying to make sure that I get all the notes right! Trevor wants both correct notes and correct (fast) tempos, which I’ll keep in mind when preparing all the studies for next week.

This evening we got together to rehearse pieces for the Bodsham Primary concert. While it was only a first read-through, it was great to notice how much our intonation has improved as an ensemble since December.

Day 137 – February 14th – Fish, Chips and Mrs Brown

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I got a bit more done today than yesterday, and enjoyed my practice more, which was a relief. This coming week of classes is thankfully going to be a bit of a break for me. Trevor heard so little of what I’d prepared (not brilliantly) last week that I’ve been able to sit back and consolidate on the same studies over the last few days. Andersen No. 14 is now sounding quite good, which is exciting!

After a short run in the afternoon, I headed over to the Hastingleigh village hall again for fish and chips, and a film. The fish and chips were yummy and top notch, though with not one but two pieces of fish I’m still feeling rather full! Then they showed the film Mrs Brown with Judy Dench and Billy Connolly, which I rather enjoyed. It was lovely to get out, do something a little different, and take a bit of a break from my flute.