Saturday, August 18, 2012

Practice Notes and Reflections, Aug. 18, 2012

Today's practice was a bit disorganized, and I was having some focus issues. Those issues stemmed from two sources: my lack of concentration and willingness to really focus, and the lack of a clear plan of action in light of the melee that has been my life.

Despite these issues, I still feel that today was a nice step forward. Here are some notes I took and some ideas I'm trying to keep in mind:

My goals were to keep working toward a smooth sound that maintains connection from note to note and the try and remove negative tension and energy from my body.

I've been noticing a tendency to roll in, especially when moving into the second octave. This isn't a new habit for me, but it's (thankfully) been from being an all-around problem to one that only arises in specific situations. It happens mostly when I ascend (as I mentioned before), but I've also noticed that I roll in when I'm feeling insecure.

I've dealt with a lot of insecurity issues surrounding my playing, which is almost ironic because I'm pretty obnoxiously 'hey-i'm-a-fluter!!!!'-y, but it's true. That's been brought to light recently because we now live in a middle apartment (neighbors on all sides) and our lease has a clause that basically says "Thou shalt not practice any instrument that annoys thine neighbors." As a result, I'm a little worried that someone will complain and then I won't have anywhere to practice. But I digress...

I'm also trying to work more slowly, and play smaller chunks for the many small successes rather than muscle through a technical exercise just so I can cross it off of my to-do list.

I'm really bad at this blogging thing still, but I'll get there. One day...maybe...

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