A Healthy Conversation Leads to Self-Realization

I practiced yesterday and didn't blog.  I didn't practice today, so, naturally, I'm blogging.  Funny how that works.

Keith and I had a nice heart-to-heart about where I'm going with this flute project.  He told me he's sensed I'm not happy in my career, which is true.  I create a pattern of which I'm quite aware that when I become serious about playing the flute again, I begin to see my career as this miserable interruption that won't allow me to play the flute.  This happened when I enrolled in grad school for music performance for a short time, and it's one of the reasons why I quit.  Leaving medicine isn't something I'd seriously consider.  First of all, there are parts of my job that I enjoy quite a bit, and, of course, the money is far more than I would ever get as a musician.  And the work is steady, always available with no end in site.  One can't say that for music jobs.  Keith did say, though, that if I were willing to undergo a big lifestyle change, he'd support me if I decided to change careers.  This evolved into a long discussion that led to this conclusion - I don't want to make any drastic changes.  I want to stay with my job for the forseeable future, and I want to go through with the move to the condo in Shaw.  I want to continue this little project and get myself out there, perform, play in a community group, take lessons, network.  If I get some chops to the point where someone might hire me for something, then that's just icing on the cake.

I sent in payment to the Adult Music Student Forum for membership.  I think I may have mentioned this organization in a previous post, but for those who don't remember, it is an organization for amateur adult music students to find performance opportunities.  I want to continue working on the Bach Partita in A Minor and perform it during one of the Forum's recitals.  I think it would be a great way to get my feet wet.  The NIH has a community orchestra that I'm considering joining, but one thing at a time.

Yesterday's practice session was fruitful, I must say.  I played long tones in my own bastardized take on De La Sanorite.  I really do need a bona fide tuner, as I still don't trust this iPhone app.  I'm noticing clearer attacks and more evenness in sound already.  I practice long tones without vibrato currently, but I suspect I will add some vibrato studies in the near future.  For technical warm-up, I played T&G EJ 1 and 2, second pages of each exercise, both octaves, slurred, 60 beats per minute.  I know, dreadfully slow, but I am working for evenness in sound throughout register and perfectly even rhythm.  The speed will come.  I then worked through part of EJ 4, from Gb major through C# minor, all slurred, 60 beats per minute.  Careful, dear reader, do not judge.  My goals are lofty but they have to start somewhere.

And next was a bit of etude practice.  Cavally's Melodious and Progressive Studies, the third etude.  Technically simple, there are some wonderful style points that I astutely noticed.  The balance between the soft dynamics and the sforzando that occur seemingly out of no where can be played crassly if one doesn't consider that sf marking written during a soft section is not meant (usually) to be the "cymbal crash" that would work well in a different style piece.  I think of it a warming of the sound, more of a color change than a change in dynamic, putting an extra spin on the vibrato of the accented note.  Also, one could learn a lot about phrasing with this exercise, moving the line forward while not sounding tedious.  Finally, it's a good exercise in maintaining quality of sound throughout the registers.  All in all, I learned got a lot out of playing this study, as simple as it is.

Finally, I ended with the first section of the first movement of the Bach Partita.  I am still digging the method of dividing the piece into arbitrary sections and focusing on one, or two sections at a time.  I can't wait to get a handle on this Bach (pun intended) so I can perform it.  It shouldn't take too long.

I get two Yamaha flutes sent to me from Flute World tommorrow.  I'll keep you updated on how they do.

I must title this Untitled Project.  Any ideas out there?