How to Handle the Pit

Sunday was the first concert of my chamber series "Concerts at St. Mary's" and after months of planning and scheduling and stressing having it finally come to fruition is an amazing thing! I want to take this space to thank again Michele Williams and Nathan Hubbard who performed with me today for rolling with the punches and time restraints and helping me to put on a great show!! I also want to thank anyone who might be reading who came out. It means a lot to me how much support I have!!

Sometime soon I hope to do a post on putting together a concert series (part 1) but I want to see the aftermath of this past concert and how it effects the next one (regarding audience size especially). I am very hopeful that I can generate a strong following for years to come!

Currently I am also in the middle of the rehearsal process for Elektra with the Michigan Opera Theatre. The opera is great but a bit insane and I am so excited to have been given the opportunity to perform it! This leads us to todays topic of discussion; opera pit do's and don'ts.

Victor Borge compared the Orchestra Pit to a ditch on the side of the road calling it the "orchestra ditch" and this sometimes is exactly how it feels to be part of a production where you are cut off from the action happening on stage. I love this comparison also because when being told you will be in the "pit" you never really know what you're up for. Right now with MOT for example I am in a proper pit (uncovered) but this is not always the case. Sometimes you are in a totally separate room with microphones feeding in the sound to the theatre and sometimes you are sitting in plain view in front of or to the side of the stage.  Once while I was in San Francisco I was even in a pit that was us sitting in the front row of theatre seats! Talk about awkward...we were all staring the vocalists in the face the entire time and the conductor was facing away from them!

Having said this I am not ready to make point number 1. Make sure that the "pit black" you own also looks nice! You will never show up to a gig having not known what kind of pit you will be in but I have been totally appalled showing up to performances when we are in plain view, have been told to wear "pit black", and musicians show up in a faded black polo and black jeans. WHAT?! I mean come on you are looking into the eyes of the patrons and it is so disrespectful to them and the vocalists that you came dressed for beat poetry in a bar that illegally still allows smoking inside. "Pit black" sometimes does include black jeans, etc but please also make sure you have on hand black slacks and a black button up with a black tie. It's simple, comfortable, and looks great.

Point number 2; DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES IN THE PIT!!!! There is always that one person who thinks "oh my feet don't smell" or "I need to air these puppies out". Typically it is a musician who doesn't need to breathe as part of playing and let me tell you this is MURDER for the wind players! Your feet? The DO smell. They ALWAYS smell. Don't do it!

This brings us to smells in general (point 3). Don't wear perfume or cologne. Someone might be allergic for one thing and for another when you're in a small underground type pit the smells all combine together and make it hard to breathe after a while. This is especially true if you are a smoker because the smoke scent will follow you no matter how much you spray yourself after break and then you bring not one but TWO smells into the pit and I don't want to feel queazy while playing Mozart y'all. Lastly, please wash your performance attire before and between performances and runs of the show. Sometimes 25 musty tux jackets make the difference (and not in a good way).

My final point is keep talking in the pit to a minimum. You might feel that because you aren't seen it is ok but I find this to be exceptionally distracting while I am playing or counting rests. Also most pits now have microphones in them to help to get a better "mix" of the orchestra and chances are you will get picked up and be heard in the audience. It is not always audible but be careful...you never know what might be overheard!

Hopefully this sheds some light on life in the ditch! If you are so inclinced the performances for Elektra are; 

Satruday October 18th at 7:30 pm

Wednesday October 22nd at 7:30 pm

Saturday October 25th at 7:30 pm

Sunday October 26th at 2:30 pm

The Elektra set from the pit

Blah!

Sometimes it is hard to care. Sometimes it is hard to want to work hard. Sometimes the idea of getting up is so daunting that we pretend the alarm never happened.

I am the first to admit that although it appears that I am always optimistic, always trying to move forward, and am "doing it" that I have my days as well where I wish real life could pause itself. Sometimes I want to wrap myself in a blanket burrito with Netflix and eat chinese food and pretend that I am 12 years old again (cough cough last night). This has been a lot of the past week for me honestly. The spark has fizzled out a bit.

The reason I felt the need to write today (considering I also did not want to blog this week) is that I allow myself to embrace these feelings because I know that my personality will eventually take back over and kick me in the ass like I need it to. That is something that as musicians, artists, workers of any kind we need to train ourselves to be. I am naturally a go-getter but after so many tumbles and falls there is a point where anyone will break down a bit and it is only with constant diligence that we our able to train ourselves to care beyond what is natural. 

Let's face it, if you want a career in the arts that's what you need. You need to care beyond what is natural and take pride in what you produce. You do not have the privilege to waltz into a rehearsal super hung over and just kind of "keep your head down" because your tone and intonation will suffer and be noticed. "Dressing down" a bit one day is not possible when the dress code for most orchestral performances is a tux and any other time you are more than likely to be asked to wear some kind of button up shirt tie combo (if you're a guy at least). Worrying about work before you get there is unavoidable if you warm up prior to rehearsal and honestly the soundtrack in my head is enough to deafen anyone.

When life gives you lemons, sometimes you just need to bite down hard. Accept the sour taste it leaves you with. We can learn from it and we can also just let it pass. Eventually you will feel normal again. And if you don't? Play Bach.

B-Randon...OUT!

Inside the Holding Pen: A Guide to Sanity

Each and every audition has its own set of rules and regulations in regards to what time you need to show up to draw numbers, if you are pre-assigned an audition time, when the screen comes down, the list goes on. One thing that they all have in common, however, is a general "warm up" room that you will most likely go into before you are (hopefully) given your own private space before you play. Now we are somewhat prepared for this "circud" of an event but after having taken a few auditions I can safely say that no one has ever really been able to warn or prepare me for what being in this space actually means for my well being at an audition. We have all heard stories of the "fast noters", and the "loud ones", and the "death starers", and I want to go on record that...they all do indeed exist. The question is how to be prepared for this event and how to keep your  mind focused on the task at hand and how you will perform that day? For this I offer a small guide to sanity in such instances.

1) Head Phones. I wasn't sure if I wanted to lead with this one or not but in terms of being the most helpful tool to have I NEVER go to an audition without my headphones and music player. I recommend that you choose music that will help you to focus but will also partly drown out what is happening around you. I am an avid pop music lover and choose to listen to some sort of Kesha Spears-Lopez thing to transport me away. I also choose not to listen to the audition music since I am already over thinking what I am about to do and I want to keep the second-guessing of myself to a minimum. It is also a polite way to let others know you don't want to converse too much before you play so as to keep the focus on yourself.

2) Change NOTHING! There will be someone playing the Mendelssohn Scherzo as fast as they possibly can and you will think "should I play it that fast?". There will be someone playing Brahms IV at a tempo that could make turtles seem to run at light speed and you will think to yourself "should I take that a bit slower?". The answer to these questions is: "NO!". "But why?" you ask "they can do it like that so maybe I should too!". I have two answers to that. First, you have prepared and practiced and decided how these excerpts should be played based on your own taste and musical intuition. Take comfort in constancy. Constancy  (especially in a first and second round) is worth its weight in gold at an audition. The second answer is: perhaps the way they are doing it is just flat out wrong! Mendelssohn Scherzo is not meant to be played much above 92. Brahms IV is not a dirge in context. Leonore is not actually as fast as you think and should sound heroic not hurried. Daphnis is meant to be supple not garishly loud. All of these details matter more than sheer finger velocity or tonal control at a slow tempo (although don't skip those when appropriate) and knowing the context is important. Once you have accepted that you have a knowledge of the excerpts that others have glossed over, hearing these "fast noters" or "loud players" will give you comfort because you have prepared to a level that they forgot existed. You have the style. And at the end of the day style is EVERYTHING.

3) Do not take group warm up interactions at face value. You are all stressed and competing against each other for one spot that you have all been practicing your booty's off for! You don't know why someone is staring at you...or if they even see you! Maybe they see the music and you happen to be standing behind it. You don't know what they're thinking while listening to you. Maybe they're intimidated. Maybe they think they're way better. At the end of the day though, you will all play and then the claws retract and you can grab lunch and get to know those around you. I have made many friends at auditions and each time we enter a first round we might say hello when we see each other but mutually understand that until we have actually played; business before conversation. Save your judgement of a person until after the round is complete. In this business we need to band together so don't write someone off until you have given them a fair and untarnished chance.

4) Get there early and be prepared to tune. This is the last point I want to stress. I recently took an audition with no individual warm up room option. We were in the group room until right before we played and then were taken to a room where we could not play a note because it would have been heard while the applicant before you auditioned. I am so glad that I arrived early enough that there was no one from my round in the group room. I was able to tune and hear myself . It always strikes me as odd when applicants show up, put their flutes together, and then go to town without tuning! Don't you want to make sure? I do! If you arrive late or find that there are too many people, simply step into the hall (if possible) or find a bathroom. The moment of obnoxiousness others may experience will be worth your sanity knowing you are in tune and sound like you always do.

I could go on and on with other scenarios (don't overplay, don't play the same things as others), etc but I am going to leave it here for now. If you want me to go over how I react to a situation please do not hesitate to message me and I will either write another posting with several other scenarios or reply directly with whatever advice I have.

Until next week!

Happy Practicing!!

Did Ya Miss Me?!

Well it has been a LONG few months since I last posted on this blog! I knew going into my summer I was going to be taking a month away but as fate would have it (and a bit of laziness I must confess) that turned into 3. I am back and will (hopefully) be posting regularly again soon for the few loyal followers I might have!

Shall we talk a bit about my summer? As a flutist who is no longer a student but still much younger than many professionals and others in school I had a very mixed bag kind of summer that was 3 parts exciting 2 parts stressful. In the month of June I attended the National Orchestral Institute and Festival and had an absolute BLAST! I played an average of 10 - 12 hours a day, made a ton of new friends, worked with some amazing coaches and conductors, performed a TON of repertoire, and learned a lot of things about the nature of the business that I have gotten myself into. After five big concerts, a community engagement appearance, and a chamber marathon I was ready to take some time off and enjoy summer. I don't do well with just sitting around doing nothing though so I had a few performances here and there sprinkled throughout July and August but mostly I started working up excerpts for the slew of auditions that I have coming up. And that pretty much wraps up summer without going into a long drawn out version.

Performing as Principal on Holst's "The Planets"

Presenting to a Middle School in Maryland

Shostakovich's 5th Symphony

Having taken a few months away I was able to refocus on my career and come up with a few new tricks that I will be presenting in the coming months. The focus of this blog will remain about how I am trying to piece my musical life together in order to help those just embarking on this journey to have an idea of what works, what doesn't, what major problems I run into, and also to see if anyone has suggestions for me to make things easier. I might veer off from that path from time to time but in general that is what I am committed to doing on here.

In the coming weeks look out for posts concerning (in no particular order):

Creating a Concert Series!

Inside the audition holding pen: things we aren't warned about.

How to get asked back.

What you wear matters!

Tenure and other small updates

The end of most smaller orchestras "regular season" has come which means that many of us are getting ready to throw ourselves into "summer mode". I hope to do a blog about how to string together a lucrative summer as a freelance musician but probably will not do so until I am sure I know how. 

In other news I have gotten the official word and have been offered both tenure and a new contract with the Lansing Symphony for next season! It has been a great year and I am so thankful that things have worked out so well for me. The only downside right now is that it looks like next season will not be using very much piccolo and that means that the number of services I am being offered is less than I had anticipated...More than anything else though, I am happy to have a job (no matter how small). It also looks like I will be featured on an LSO Chamber Series concert in February! Fingers crossed that enough sub gigs come my way to supplement the rest of my concert year.

My own concert series is starting to really shape itself into something I can be very proud of! I already have one group lined up for next season and am in talks with a solo artist for the second concert. This summer will also hopefully be bringing a reunion of my wind quintet the Sparta Winds and we are planning on presenting a program of American composers in July (possibly on the 27th...more info to come soon). I am still trying to figure out a way to guarantee a small fee for the musicians on top of the donations collected at each concert. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

In two weeks I leave for NOI!!!! I am expecting not to blog weekly over the summer but that may change depending on topics that might come up...we shall see.

Until next time!

Happy Practicing!!!!

Auditions and old friends!

It has been and will continue to be a whirlwind few months for me! Sunday through Wednesday I was in Lansing for my last Lansing Symphony concert of the season. I had a great time and have really enjoyed my time with them this past year. Now I wait...hopefully I get good news and tenure is in my near future!!

Thursday one of my best friends Heather graduated form her Master's program at the University of Michigan (I am SOSOSO proud of her!) and Friday was spent at my friend Matt's high school for their production of Carrie. The musical was intense, dark and included death, blood and dancing. It was like an opera only not at all!

Saturday I spent the day driving to Des Moines for the Principal, Second and Piccolo auditions that will be happening the day this blog gets posted. I'm nervous and excited! Possibly I will post a blog about audition processes soon... The preparation time was severely limited so at this point what happens happens and all else is up to fate. This brings me to the exciting part; I get to see my friend Jason!

Jason spent some time with me at the San Francisco Conservatory and was in the Bay Quintet with me when we gave a special featured performance of Mario LaVista's "Cinco Danzas Brevas" as a part of the BluePrint New Music Concert Series. He's such an amazing person and it is so nice of him to put me up so last min. Take a look at the pictures I took below!

Until next week (cross your fingers for good news!) Happy Practicing!!

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!!

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

Battle Creek Symphony and Weekly Listening Update

If you follow me on Facebook then you know that I spent the greater part of this past week/weekend in Battle Creek doing a couple performances of Carmina Burana. In all honesty before I got the call to sub I had never heard more than the "O Fortuna" part of this work...and there is indeed A LOT more to it! I had such a blast getting to learn, rehearse and perform the piece and I really do hope that the Battle Creek Symphony calls me back again sometime! Amanda Sparfeld (whom I got the gig from) sounded gorgeous and it was so nice to be sitting near a powerful young flutist who is also just a really nice, genuine person.  Her sound has something very special about it almost like a frosted window at Christmas that holds within it a home full of love with a blazing fire in the fireplace keeping everyone warm and merry. I could honestly have listened to her play right hand pinky exercises for the entire rehearsal! Very inspiring. The music director, Anne Harrigan, reminded me a lot of my friend Chelsea. She was very knowledgeable about the piece and also was able to bring in elements from around the world as we worked through it together. I was really nervous to throw this work together in only TWO rehearsals but under her baton we not only did that but I think (specifically on Saturday) gave a compelling and polished performance that brought the piece across to the entire audience. 

This weekend marks the end of the National Orchestral Institute's audition season and now the REAL waiting game begins. I have my fingers and toes crossed and might even just hold my breath until I get the email from them. I really want to go! The deadline for Brevard is also coming up this week so hopefully in the next two weeks I will either know where I'm going this summer or will be able to plan on staying here and figuring out how to make enough money to keep paying off this flute.

Now for an update: I will no longer be doing weekly review videos. It's just a bit too much more work than I thought it would be so instead I will more than likely be doing a "recording of the month" video each month where I review/talk about my favorite classical recording, concerts, paraphernalia etc of the past month. I will still be listening though so there will be lists posted with each Sunday blog and every day you can see on my Facebok Page what I'm listening to that day. 

Have a good week and happy practicing everyone!!

Listening for this coming week:

Monday: Bach - Cello suite no. 2
     Recording - Yo-Yo Ma

          Edgar Meyer (still for fun)

Tuesday: Jennifer Higdon - Zaka for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano & Perc.

Recording - Higdon: Summer Shimmers, Zaka, Rapid Fire, Etc.

Wednesday: African Drum and Dance

Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3D5Kt2nTEk

Thursday: Brahms - String Quartet #2 in a minor, Op. 51

Recording - Tokyo Quartet

Friday: Edwin York Bowen - Sonata for Flute and Piano, Op. 120

Recording - Jeffrey Khaner and Charles Abramovic

Saturday: Mahler - Symphony no. 2

Recording - Chicago Symphony & Claudio Abbado

Sunday: Stravinsky - Finishing of the Rakes Progress