De Lorenzo's L'Indispensabile, No. 4

The fourth exercise of De Lorenzo's L'Indispensabile is designed to iron out irregularities between pairs of notes, working within a pentascale. Each bar is framed within a repeat sign, with directions that it should also be practiced without repeating each bar.

When beginning practice of this oeuvre, I recommend focusing your practice on #4 before moving on to #5-17, which are all some sort of variation on #4. Maintain focus on evenness of fingers and sound. In the early weeks of practice, it is advantageous to move through minor finger blips or irregularities in order to focus on success through the whole exercise. Often these minor issues sort themselves out over time, or they can be addressed with a bit of focused practice. I began my practice of this exercise at eighth note = 60. As with the beginnings of any technical development regimen, speed should not the highest priority. Rather, prioritize fluidity of motion with minimal tension. Speed will come with time.

Practice all of #4 in one key per day. Begin in C major, followed by C# the next day, then D, etc. This allows for regular practice of differing finger combinations. If desired, you can alternate by playing the first half of #4 (ascending) in C, second half (descending) in C#. Next day continue with D/E-flat. 

After establishing a familiarity with this exercise, you can begin to build agility by playing the first time at your regular tempo, and the second time at double speed. Only continue this as long as you are able to play fairly cleanly and without excessive tension. Do this on the ascending portion and then begin the descending portion by playing at the normal speed for both repeats. Then, when you reach the point where you had stopping doing the double tempo on the way up, resume adding the double-time repeat on the way down. You may even find that you can begin the doubled tempo at a higher pitch level on the way down than you could on the way up.

As far as range goes, I recommend beginning with the printed range of two octaves and fifth. As you ascend through each key, continue to maintain that range as much as you can without the technique falling apart or increased tension. I usually find that high B-flat is usually my limit at first, but it's perfectly reasonable to stop at any note that you decide is most comfortable for you. This means that as the tonal center ascends, the overall range of the exercise will decrease. I wouldn't recommend starting lower than whatever the pitch center is, but if you want to include the bottom of the range, I would do it in the following manner. I will use B-flat major as an example. Begin on third line B-flat and ascend to high A or B-flat as normal, then descend back to the starting point (the set that covers from third line B-flat to top line F). Then, continue the descending pattern until you reach low C. From low C play the ascending pattern until you have returned to third line B-flat. 

Once #4 is firmly under your fingers, exercises 5 and 6 are the next to work on.

Building and Maintaining Consistency When Doubling

I've recently begun preparing music for four concerts between now and the end of June, and I'll be doing a lot of doubling. The first concert is only alto and sopranino recorder, the second is both recorders and flute. The third is going to be my first multiple woodwinds recital (piccolo, flute, clarinet, alto sax, and alto recorder) ever, and as the woodwinds professor at NSU.

The main concept I have to remind myself about - which is not earth-shattering - is that you must carry over as many concepts as possible when doubling. It's so easy to get wrapped up in the differences between instruments that basic concepts fall by the wayside.
Concepts like:
- consistent airflow
- swift, relaxed finger motion
- clarity in tone and articulation
- intonation

It's far too easy to let yourself think "Oh, I'm just running through this, I'll worry about intonation(tone/fingerings/etc.) later."

The issue here is that by allowing yourself to essentially drop your guard this one time you're setting yourself up for inconsistency in performance later, which is a much steeper price to pay than to just focus in on an issue when it springs up. I remember once when I was still in school I was playing clarinet in the pit for "Annie Get Your Gun." I hadn't prioritized clarinet, and wasn't practicing properly or enough. In the middle of the show one night I went to play an exposed solo - and completely blanked. I simply couldn't remember which key to press! If I had just been practicing the tiniest bit, I really doubt that would have happened.

If you're getting back into the routine of doubling, try this:
Set aside some time *before* your practice session starts to plan out your practice session. Incorporate some time to work on fundamentals (tone, articulation, scales) before delving into repertoire. I also strongly recommend that you work toward a "standard warm-up" for each instrument. Whenever I practice other woodwinds, I start my practice the same way and it always helps me "settle" into the new horn quickly and easily. Even something as simple as five minutes at the beginning of a session will an immediate impact on your practice session and, perhaps more importantly, will set you up for long term success.

Summer Plans

Originally, I had this grand idea that after my recital I would hit the ground running and would plow through at least one more technique book plus etudes and new repertoire, but as the dust settled I realized that I want to use this "down time" to refocus my efforts as a performer and teacher. I want to approach my practice in a more holistic manner. This will help reduce muscle tension and pain. Instead of seeing how much ground I can cover this summer, I want to take this time to reevaluate how I've been achieving my goals. While I am proud of the work I've put in this academic year, and of the progress I've made, I want to make efforts to tweak my habits toward a more healthy approach.

The longer I've been teaching keyboard the better my playing has gotten, but I'd like to spend some time this summer working on really becoming a more well-equipped pianist. Part of this will require me to just squeeze in a little extra practice time here and there, but I'll also be doing a lot of reading. I've currently been working my way through two texts that a colleague at the university loaned me (A Symposium for Pianists and Teachers: Strategies to Develop the Mind and Body for Optimal Performance edited by Kris Kopff, and The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher by Marienne Uszler). It's great to be able to say that I've recognized some of those pedagogical approaches or encountered the same issues as I've been teaching, but it's strangely even more exciting to see how much of this field I'm just not familiar with as I keep investigating.

I'm also working on a couple side projects, including a scale book geared towards woodwind doublers and general woodwind teachers like myself (but more on that later).

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...