Up for Elimination

Wednesday marks the end of my trial period with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra as well as the end of the 2013/2014 concert season. I feel so honored to have been able to spend this past year with such a wonderful and fun group of musicians! For me, though, the stress is really on now. The end of the season and my trial also means that I am up for tenure and possible elimination. In all honesty I will be surprised if I am not offered core membership but you never really know. Did those couple out of tune notes or slightly off entrances make a big impact on how the conductor or my section mates viewed me? Maybe I am too eager. Maybe they don't like the way I dress. Maybe I don't engage with them enough in conversation. I didn't laugh at that one joke...the list goes on and on.

What I do know is that I have spent the last few months trying to stay as true to myself and my musicianship as possible while also trying to be the best section member I can. I have tried to hone my blending and soloistic playing (I am piccolo after all) while also trying to make sure my intonation and reliability were both impeccable. If you can count on one person I want that one person to be me. I show up to every rehearsal early to tune/warm up and I do my best to always have a smile on my face. Those things hopefully do not go unnoticed.

Personal skills are more a part of the music industry than schools would give them credit for. We are tricked into thinking that flawless playing gets us jobs but in all reality although you might "win" with that type of musicianship, keeping the job is another story. Remember to keep a smile on your face and be the best team player possible.

Happy Practicing!!

Brandon's Audition Warm Up

Last week I wrote about my regular "stay in shape" routine but mentioned that when I get down to the wire for auditions I have a shortened warm up and technical routine so that I am ready to go with as much time as possible left over to prepare the excerpt list. Starting a month or so (4 weeks min.) before the audition I switch over to this routine exclusively and it is so short I am also able do it the morning of the audition allowing me to really solidify in advance what I will be doing before I have to perform behind the big scary screen. Without further ado I give you "Brandon's Audition Warm Up":

1) Long Tones!!!! Yes ladies and gentlemen I said it again. I really believe in them. They warm up my sound, body, and mind, and give me reassurance that I am in tune and sounding full, pure and beautiful. I do the same long tones I do every day and detailed in my last post. DONT FORGET THE TUNER!

2) Scales!!!! Here is where I deviate first. I go directly into Taffanel and Gaubert's (T&G) "Daily Exercises" and do no. 1 and 2 varying the articulations each day at either quarter note equals 120 or half note equals 60. I do all of the Major exorcises in the piano dynamic and the minor ones at Forte. On the morning of the audition I do them either slurred or tongued (no crazy articulations to try and keep me sane). I find this gets my blood pumping and further helps my sound to settle. Always have the tuner on your stand and as you finish each scale hold the note to make sure you're on the green.

3) "Excerpt Technique", Bach, "Tim's Specials"!!!! I've broken this portion down into three different sub categories. "Excerpt Technique" is the one that I do every day leading up to and including the day of the the audition in question.  

        "Excerpt Technique" refers to the technical passages in the excerpts that I have a particularly difficult time with (such as the last arpeggio in Peter and the Wolf or the 3rd measure of Firebird). I take the bits and pieces that I have a hard time with and do them 5 times each at a slower tempo all in a row. This forces me to play these passages every single day and solidify them into my technique. Don't be afraid to go way under tempo for this portion. Slow practice in this case is about muscle memory.

Bach refers to the "66 Studies" book that Richard Sherman swore by while I was at Michigan State. I refer to it as my Bible and have it on hand ALWAYS. They make me feel great to play and keep me from resenting the anal amount of attention to detail that excerpts require. I sometimes play them at the end of my warm up but often times use them to warm myself up after a short break before I dive back into the task at hand.

"Tim's Specials" refers to Anderson Op. 30 no. 1, 2, and 3. He made every single new student work on these with him and they really help me to ground myself and my sound (specifically across hard to do leaps) and have become so engrained in my body that I don't have to think too hard about the notes while I am playing them. Much like the Bach I keep it close at hand in case I need a mental break from the monotony of "excerpt hell".

Guess what? ...that's it!! You read correct the above takes anywhere from 15 - 45 min depending on how much you do and really gets me going in the morning. It is my perfect routine to keep me in shape while also allowing me to do it the morning of an audition without getting fatigued. Try it out and let me know what you think!

Until next week...Happy Practicing!!

Brandon's One Hour Catch all Guide (a daily regiment for the freelancing flute player on the go)

Once each of us reaches a certain point in our musical training we typically have devised our own specific routines for warming up, technique, general practice, etc. It is my experience, however, that many musicians do not easily make the transition from these ideas as "Music Students in Training" to "Professional Musician". As students, these things function not only to get us ready for our day but to improve us at an accelerated rate to be performing at the highest level possible by graduation. By no means do I think that the function of warm ups and technical exercises changes after school BUT often times the 2 - 3 hours a day that a student may spend only on sound and scales is no longer always a viable option considering things such as part time jobs, new time limitations placed on you by practice spaces in the home (aka living in an apartment that implements quiet hours) and the amount of music that often needs to be learned at an alarming rate to support a hopefully lucrative freelance career. This is why today I bring you "Brandon's One Hour Catch All Guide (a daily regiment for the freelancing flute player on the go)".

LONG TONES!!!!  Did you think that because my time was limited I would skip this step? Because if you did you are wrong. Each and every day no matter my time constraints are or when I need to start practicing I start with a healthy dose (10 - 15 min) of long tones. I am partial to a mix of Moyse's boring half step exercises and an exercise prescribed by one of my Mentors Jeffry Zook of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Don't forget your tuner!! Always shoot to be on the green and if you're not...stop and fix it! On a typical day I start with the first line or so of the Moyse going in half steps (the rhythm being quarter to dotted half note once forte repeated piano) from B above the staff to G# in the staff. Jeff's exercise starts on the C above the staff and extends to the C inside the staff (pictures of this one below **I forgot to add slurs! You would slur from the starting C to the held note each time). The goal with these exercises is a relaxed, open embouchure and increased flexibility of the lips and airstream while still playing absolutely IN TUNE. I find that by really honing in on the middle register I am able to ground myself and my sound in a way that will last throughout the day and makes it so that I don't have to do long tones after each extended break I might have to take in my practice day.

As with Moyse you repeat each doing once Forte and once piano

SCALES!!!! I move immediately into my first round (yes first round) of scale work for the day and it takes about 10 min depending on tempo marking, etc. By this point most of my readers probably have their own favorite methods memorized and selected but just in case I will include what I am currently using in my first leg of technical work (this does change from time to time). While at Michigan State University, Richard Sherman gave me a great way to work scales on a weekly basis staying on one key for an entire week. Lets start with C Major and a minor. First you do the scales in sextuplets, two octaves once through slurred (including all three variations of minor) and then again through tongued. Since I will be spending a week on this I use the following metronome markings; M- 60, Tu - 72, W - 80, Th - 80, F - 92, S - 92, Su - 92/100. Broken chords follow (always in the same tempo as the scale) and pictured below are how I play them. The progression is; I, vii, iii, vi, IV V ii, V7, I. Strive for smoothness between notes. Lastly to complete this particular process I use Maquarre's "Daily Exercises for the Flute". You are to do every single exercise in the keys you are working on that week (all the C Major and a minor ones for example) and the chromatic exercise every single day. Metronome markings are (in eighth notes typically); M - 60, Tu - 72, W - 80, Th - 80, F - 92, S - 100, Su - 100.

Slur each group of 4, start on lowest note of chord but do full range.

ETUDES!!!! Guess what? Now that we have started our week in a general key area we have a pre-prescribed key to do etudes in for the week! This can be done however you choose but I tend to use one particular book at a time. Right now, for example, I am working out of Boehm's etudes since they are easy enough to work up in a week with minimal time. The metronome markings vary but each day the goal is to increase in time so that you are at performance tempo by Saturday or Sunday. I only do two actual etudes a week on this regiment but considering the amount of music I am preparing weekly I feel that so long as I am making an improvement off of them that is more than enough.

MORE LONG TONES!!!! That's right after a short couple min break I go into another leg of some kind of sound work. This could be two of the Moyse "Tone Development through Interpretation" exercises (done of course with the tuner on the stand) or any other tone and intonation specific exercise you like. Right now since I'm trying to really learn how to control my new flute and its tendencies I am obsessing over Moyse's low register exercises that start on p. 10 of De la Sonorite. Whatever you choose just make sure you hold yourself to the highest standard of intonation and general sound that you possibly can. Now that it is warmed up use it appropriately and do not give in to laziness!

MORE SCALES!!!! To finish out my regiment I make sure to hit all the scales so as to leave no stone unturned. Once again use whatever method you find most fulfilling but I prefer Taffanel and Gaubert's (T&G) fourth exercise from their infamous scale book. How I do this exercise varies but either I pick a tempo (often at the half note such as 66) and use a different articulation from the top each day OR I pick a tempo (often at the half note such as 72) and do them completely articulated. I also do the chromatic exercise (which I believe is the 10th) in between the flat keys and sharp keys and the articulation is opposite of whatever I am doing with the fourth exercise (meaning if I do all articulated on 4 than I do mixed articulations on the chromatic, etc). The key here is to make sure that you have no "halfed" notes or "cracks". If you make any kind of mistake, stop and fix it. This will help your technique to continue to grow in leaps and bounds and give you a great sense of consistency across the entire instrument.

And there you have it! This regiment takes me typically one hour (although sometimes the slower tempo Mondays may take a bit more) and as long as I take a nice break after (since this is very intense) I am totally warmed up and ready to tackle anything else that my day has to throw at me. This is not how I warm up for auditions but perhaps that deserves its own post another time.

If you have any suggestions on how I could edit the way I do things that you feel would benefit my playing please let me know! This regiment took me a few years to really figure out and solidify but it is ever changing and I think that variety and change is necessary to keep your playing fresh and constantly improving.

Until next week...Happy Practicing!!