What do I do if?

I spent this last week in Lansing for a MasterWorks cycle with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra and every time I am there I tend to really think back on my time at Michigan State and how much I have (or in some respects haven't) grown since being there and what exactly might be in my future in terms of my career. I was lucky enough to see Avenue Q while I was a student here and this whole week I have been thinking of the song "Purpose". It starts; "Purpose, it's that little thing that lights a fire under your ass. Purpose keeps you going strong like a car with a full tank of gas!". 

I consider myself to be enthusiastic, optimistic and am constantly reaching for the next thing. I have my down moments of course but my ability to keep working towards my big goals no matter what happens is something that I am very proud of. Given the current status of my art in society though I must admit I have been wondering lately "at what point might this not be feasible? Should I explore other options?"

By no means am I ready to throw in the towel. I had a conversation with my friend Katie recently and she was telling me about how she is gearing up to start her own Music Therapy Practice. She cited me as being a constant source of inspiration for her because of the way that I have been able to start to make something out of literally nothing in terms of my career. I moved to Detroit with no students, no gigs, and no guarantees but have since been able to gain all three. Although I could not support myself the way I am currently working, the potential is there and I am young enough that desperation in terms of financial security has not yet set in. On self reflection though I do worry about how I might be able to make this career full time considering the way a large portion of the public views me and what I do.

Becoming a classical performer took a lot of thought and, frankly, guts. I understand that I will most likely never be rich, famous, or "in demand" so to speak but hopefully I will still be able to live some kind of comfortable and secure life. I don't do this for the recognition. I play because I have to. I need to. I can't live without doing so. Fingers crossed that it all works out in the end but until then I still will be wondering; "What do I do if?"

Efficient Practice Time on a Busy Schedule

If you're still in school you know this scenario: "I'm performing on two friends recitals this week and we have an orchestra concert this weekend and my big audition is coming up and my recital is a week later and now this composer is asking me to premiere her piece but only has half of it written and it's hard! I don't have time to practice!!!!"

If you're not in school perhaps it looks like this: "I open at the coffee shop every day this week and I'm simultaneously trying to prepare for this and next weeks orchestra concerts of Tchaikovsky and Bernstein and I have a quintet performance coming up as well and between work every day and rehearsals every night I just don't have time to practice!"

We ALL have these moments no matter how life is going for us outside of music (aka if you are a full time musician yet or not) and it is a real problem that seems to have no good solution...but fear not! I have a few suggestions that just might help to lessen the stress of "too much music, not enough time" syndrome!

First you need to prioritize and plan out when your practice time will be. Although we would all love to block our practice time so that we can get a majority of it done all at once life brings in obstacles making this virtually impossible on a day to day basis. This means that if you have 20 min, use it! If you have 10 min use it! A lot can get done in a small amount of time and physical face time with the instrument is not the ONLY way to practice. Score studying, listening, going over tricky fingerings are all things that can be done any time any where. If you have to be at work by 9, wake up a bit earlier so that you can get in a nice warm up before you leave in the morning. That way when you come home you can just play a few notes and get straight to the meat of whatever it is you need to really get done that day. By playing first thing you are also making sure that your instrument stays on your brain all day and when you get home you are more likely to pick it back up again no matter how tired you are because you have become consumed with needing to hear its beautiful sounds again. If you can take leisurely time to practice, do so! Enjoy your instrument and feel free to intersperse things you enjoy with things that need to get done. We tend to forget that we don't play or sing only because we have to but also because we LOVE to. I recommend that at least three times a you week play something that brings you pure and unbridled joy or else the spark will start to sputter and your passion will begin to stale. Write out a schedule each week and include a minimum amount of practice time. If you do more great but at least you have a place to start at.

My battered "Bach Bible" is always within arms reach while I practice

List out how you will use your practice time. Break down all the music you have to learn into what is hardest and then order it by what is coming first, second, etc. By keeping in mind what will be most difficult to learn (even if that work is not being performed this week) you will always be ready to start rehearsals on the piece when the time comes. After piling up your music like this on the stand take the time you have set aside for practicing and actually assign how much time you will devote to each individual piece, movement or even measure. This might seem a bit extreme but if you are on a crazy time crunch it is really helpful to break it down this way so you don't spend too much time on a passage or work that could be looked at later or is a bit easier to comprehend/nail down in the fingers. I have also heard that after about 10 minutes of work on one thing the brain starts to cancel out what you're doing in order to better process what you were doing before. Typically I set aside 10/15 min per passage depending on its length. 

Example of how I break down my music per min.

Keep a journal! Lets say I'm working on a technical passage. I used to write the tempo I ended at in the margin of the music...until I realized that there were so many numbers there I had no idea which one was the one I should start with! By keeping a journal I can see exactly where I was tempo wise the day before or even the week before and also how much time I spent on it so that I can adjust each if need be. The journal also reminds me that although I sometimes feel I did not get much done I put in the time and the effort and did indeed succeed for that day. An improvement (no matter how small) was made and that makes that days worth or practice worth it. If you miss a day the journal also keeps you organized and on task so you can come right back to the music as if you didn't skip out on your duties. (Perhaps I will do an entire blog on this topic...)

My journal is small and easily portable

I date each day and separate hours practiced by short lines while separating each day by a long squiggly line.

Hopefully you find these tips helpful! I am more than likely going to continue on with these more kind of "advice" blogs now that I have some experience in the "real world" under my belt so if you have any suggestions for future topics that you would like me to touch on please feel free to let me know! 

Happy Practicing!!

How to Make a Practice Space

I had hopes of actually making this topic a YouTube video but I don't have a great camera still and the time it would take to edit, etc. would be just a bit much given my schedule over the next couple of weeks so instead I present to you now and here the topic: How to Create a Practice Space.

If you are anything like me then a practice space is a sacred place where you can focus and leave the distractions of the outside world behind the closed door. When you're in music school it's easy right? They give you rooms in the building where you spend time rehearsing and taking classes and those rooms are specially designed and set up for the purpose of doing NOTHING but practice. You trick yourself into thinking that a space such as that will always be available and open for your use. Then you graduate and you think to yourself "well shit". Many musicians who don't win jobs or go on to other degrees will never truly practice again without the comfort of a school sanctioned practice space and this is the WORST thing that could happen considering you now need to worry even more about keeping your chops up without school related events to keep you performing and playing. 

Now believe me I totally understand that practicing at home is difficult for most of us. I have never really been able to focus my energies at home what with the internet, television, fridge...but I am here to tell you that you can create a space for yourself in your home/apartment that serves as a practice room. The only catch is that you need to be ready and willing to first; give up a space, and second; follow a few simple rules. Here are my 3 quick easy steps to creating your very own "Practice Room".

1) Select your Space

If you're lucky and live in a house like I do than you might actually be able to devote an entire room to this (which is what I have done) and maybe some apartments have this option as well. Many out of school musicians though are living in tight quarters with other persons and may not be able to afford an entire room just to themselves for the sole purpose of practicing. If you are living with other musicians, many of them probably feel the same way you do about having a practice space so my first suggestion would be to devote a shared space in your apartment to a practice space that you then can each "sign out" for use throughout the day. This way you are all working together to keep yourselves accountable for practicing and may be able to share such amenities as metronomes, tuners or even music. This still may not work out and then we need to revert to the age old "my bedroom is also my practice room". My solution to this problem is to simply devote a corner of your room to a music stand and small bedside table upon which you can place your "practice materials of choice" and make sure you keep it devoid of things such as laundry and trash. That way when you are facing your stand you are seeing a clean slate and can trick your mind into thinking it is not in your bedroom. 

My music stand in my corner of the room (as you can tell my practice room is also the laundry room)

I keep all my reference CD's in here as well

2) Make it look like a "Music Room"

Now we have a space but it still looks like just another room in your home. Try practicing there and you will find that since it doesn't look or feel like it is devoted to music the distractions will creep slowly back in and soon your instrument will end up laying aside while you watch YouTube videos of cats on your phone. FAIL! Once again I offer up a few ideas on how to solve this problem and keep the focus:

First bring your crate of music into the space. In my practice room I have my small file cabinet of music off to the side so that if I need something out of it I don't have to leave the room to get it and become trapped by something in the "outside world". The cabinet itself also serves as another kind of "table top" to store music that I might not need at the moment or an extra metronome, batteries or for me (hopefully soon) a CD player/I-Pod player so I can do listening projects or play along with recordings from time to time.

Second, surround yourself with "musician things". What do I mean by that? Well first every practice room needs the holy trinity; metronome, tuner, music stand. Easy considering we all hopefully own one of each of these by the time we graduate college. Why stop there though? In my space I also keep my CD collection so that I always feel Pahud is watching while I blunder through technical passages. I also have a pile of music related magazines or mailings for local symphonies etc. Maybe a poster would work for you as well? We are trying to create more of a studio space that you can settle into so anything that you think will help you focus should be placed in the room. And I would recommend that if you have not yet invested in some kind of recording device or program you should...but maybe another blog on that topic altogether may be needed.

Third you need to make sure to TAKE OUT anything you might find distracting to you. To me, this is the most important step. If your computer will be tempting to you put it out of the room. If you're stuck in your bedroom, put it in the living room or ask a roommate if you can store it in their room while you practice. Same thing with your phone. Another solution to the phone is to shut it off while you practice. It takes time to boot back up again and that will make it less tempting since you have to wait that extra time to use it anyway. DO  NOT practice with a TV on. Some people claim this works but I find you aren't really paying attention to what you're doing (even if the sound is off...those pictures are moving and so can still distract) and it's counterproductive to not be giving 100% of your attention to the task at hand.

Metronomes fit perfectly on windowsills! 

My music at my fingertips

Also used as a table

Surrounded by "musical things"

3) Create and Post a Schedule

Now you have the space USE IT! I like to post or keep at hand the schedule that I come up with each Sunday for my weekly practice. Some days I even go so far as to assign time to each individual thing I need to get done to ensure I'm doing a minimum of three hours or so a day. That way as I cross things off I can adjust as needed based on things that I maybe didn't get to and I can keep myself working on the things I need to worry about most or first instead of always just playing things that are easy or that I like.

Extra table where I often also keep my practice schedule

Aaaaaaand that's it! Simple, complete and of course opinionated. This works for me to a point but afterwards the space will not make up for lack of focus. You need to be able to set goals and see them through. I find that a space devoted to this helps me and I bet you will too. If you have any suggestions please let me know and maybe I can compile any new ideas into a "Practice Space Creation Part 2" posting. I'd also love if you sent me pictures of your spaces so that when I do move I have ideas for how to create a space in a new place!

Thanks for reading and of course HAPPY PRACTICING!!!!

Summer Plans and Concert Series

After months of wondering weather or not I just might have made a bit of a mistake not continuing with school right away I was accepted to the National Orchestral Institute this week. The festival only accepts 4 flute players each summer and considering last year I was straight up denied (not even given alternate) I have proven to myself that being out of school I can still improve and make informed decisions about how to progress towards my career goals. This has also given me verification that I really did buy the great new instrument I felt I needed as my level of personal preparation for this years NOI audition wasn't up to par with how I felt compared to the audition that I was denied entrance with last year. I have posted this phrase everywhere in the past few weeks but I will say it again; the ball is rolling and picking up speed y'all!! I'm looking very forward to a month of performing with amazing musicians and conductors this summer and hope that the experience is everything I have built it up to be in my head and more. This news has made me feel so rejuvenated that I am now re-establishing goals that I let slip out of my sight due to my minor depression and am very excited about most of them!

I am most excited to talk a bit about the concert series that I am going to run out of my church titled "Concerts at St. Mary's". Since the International Low Brass Trio performance I have been trying to figure out how to best keep the momentum going and really start to establish a strong tradition of quality concerts in the church and have a plan I will be implementing either starting this summer or next school year. The goal is to have 4 main "season" concerts throughout what I as a performer would consider the "regular concert season" (September through May) and then a shorter "summer festival" which would consist of 3 concerts (either spread out a bit or even 3 days in a row with other things surrounding them). I would love to start this summer with some kind of 3 day thing in July around the second week. What I'm thinking is have a 3 day "Festival of Independence" featuring American composers, artwork, food and writings...more on that to come. As of right now the next concert will be in May (exact date tbd this week) and will feature a program of baroque and 20th century music presented by myself and my good friend Matt Nix (cello).

Hopefully I will be able to get back onto youtube! I have so many great ideas but just not enough time to get them filmed, edited, and posted. Maybe that is also a summer project...

My week in music:

Monday: Bach Cello Suite no. 4

Yo-Yo Ma

Tuesday: Berg Violin Concerto

Anne-Sophie Mutter

Wednesday: Gonna wing it this week...might listen to Verdi since I have that performance coming up.

Thursday: Stavinsky Septet for Wind instruments

James Tocco

Friday: Bach Flute Sonata in b minor

Jean-Pierre Rampal

James Galway *maybe

Saturday: Mahler Symphony no. 4

Chicago Symphony orchestra

Sunday: Puccini La Boheme

Act II

Robert Spano: Atlanta Symphony & Chorus

Quarter Life Crisis?

March is a very important month to me as every single year on March 1st (whether I want to or not) I celebrate my birthday...or at least the event itself happens. This year marks the end of what some could say is the first quarter of my life and also signifies that I am soon to be in my late twenties. Growing up I always saw 25 as the perfect age. You're old enough to drive, and drink (although not at the same time), just wise enough to start to work and save money beginning to gain full independence from the parental units and more than likely done with or close to done with school. I also saw 25 as an age that I would want to either die at or stay at forevermore while the rest of the world aged around me into oblivion. Now that the first day of this ripe age has passed I realize how foolish my thoughts were! Although I am very happy with my general life up to this point I have so many goals that I have simply not achieved yet and may be working towards til 30 and beyond. I also do not feel at all that the momentum of my life is ready to slow down or stagnate. I would admittedly be quite depressed if that were to happen! 

We all have times where we look in the mirror and say "self, now it is time to really make some of the changes we have wanted to. Now is the time to make things happen!". Usually this happens around both the New Year and our birthday. Luckily for me they're not far apart so I get to re-evaluate while my New Year Resolutions are still fresh in mind and chastise myself for all the things I wanted to do but have yet to start. Here 5 things I hope to do and change as I continue to move forward with my crazy beautiful life:

1) Pay off my credit card. I have enough to worry about with my student loans and flute payment to continue worrying about how I have perpetually had money owed to my credit card as well. I also feel that I am too young to be allowing myself to continue to accrue the amount of debt that has amassed itself in my name and honestly I owe a small enough amount that I need to manage paying this off so I no longer have it looming over my shoulder like the shadow of some un-forseen monster that will bar its teeth as I age.

2) Use that gym membership! I'm paying for it...why am I so afraid to use it?! I admit that gym's are intimidating to me. I never got into the habit of going and doing it alone scares me...but I need to get over it and just go. The goal is three times a week minimum. *Fingers crossed*

3) Invest. Recently I came across "Penny Stocks" and the idea has burrowed itself into my brain and I think I'm going to follow it. I can invest a small amount for a small return...but it will still be more than I would have made otherwise! I also want to stop feeling like I'm living day to day hoping that there will be money in my account to pay for gas, food etc and this is a fun way to try and remedy that.

4) Get back to eating veggies. I was eating mostly vegetarian until I moved back home and I really do miss it! I felt better and also looked better in terms of not just my weight but my skin and not looking so tired all the time. This is the easiest one to fix so I'm going to just do it.

5) Random acts of kindness. This is something I generally try to do in the first place but I feel that since recently I have been consumed with my own life and how I can improve it the attention I am paying to things and people around me has waned. Right now I am reminding myself that no matter what is going on with me there are others who not only have it worse but could use help from me. Even something as small as a smile or actually telling the person in the grocery line in front of you that you like their hair cut, outfit, etc can make a world of difference to both of your days.

There you have it. I am also going to try to keep up my new practice schedule which has taken me from 1.5 hours a day back up to 3 minimum (in case you got this far and want to help in holding me accountable).

Listening for this week:

Monday: Bach - Cello Suite no. 3

Yo-Yo Ma

Tuesday: Griffes - Three Poems of Fiona McLeod

Barbara Quintilliani & Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

Wednesday:

Thursday: Poulenc - Sextet for wind quintet and piano

Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet

Friday: Maslanka - Duo for Flute & Piano

Kimberly McCoul Risinger, Allison Brewster Franzetti

Sonata Fantasy

Saturday: Mahler - Symphony no. 3

San Francisco Symphony

Sunday: Puccini - La Boheme

Act I

Robert Spano: Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus