Friday, July 27, 2012

The Overall Plan

Alright, so I've been working on a master plan for the year. It's undergone several revisions, and has now reached a reasonable state.

I'm going to be spending a large amount of time of this year restructuring my playing style and embouchure. It's very critical for my long-term success as a professional that I get the (mostly minor) issues that I have under control. Along with this will be plenty of articulation and finger technique, which I will use technical exercises (Taffanel & Gaubert, DeLorenzo, Moyse, etc.) and etude books (Boehm, Moyse, etc.) Along with the general technique mentioned above, I plan on having certain weeks where I will focus on "special" topics: trills, multiphonics, etc.
 Next is repertoire. I'm only going to work on a few pieces a quarter per instrument. The exact number will vary, and I'll be starting with some vaguely familiar or very important works and move towards works that are brand new to me.
 I'll also be working very diligently on orchestral excerpts. Like with repertoire selections, the exact number per quarter will vary depending on a number of factors.

In order to make the execution of this whole process more manageable, and to help myself in keeping track of my goals, I've divided the year into four 13-week quarters.The first quarter is Aug. 1 - Oct. 30.  I'll plan out each quarter in advance, and then plan daily practice sessions for each week in advance of the start of the week. Once I have a typed up version of my plan for the first quarter I'll post it, and I'm considering doing the same thing with weekly practice sessions. I'm also going to try and make some posts where I review my practice from the day/week, as well as some audio or video recordings as possible.

If you have any suggestions or comments along the way, please share them with me!

No comments:

Post a Comment