August 5, 2005 at 2:35 PM

Ok, it's been about a week since my last entry (possibly more). Let's do a quick update.

Practice has been going well, I'm getting a fair bit done every day. I can basically run through the Brahms, though I have a major issue that I will discuss in a bit.

Composition - haven't done much, still trying to find that piece of inspiration. I'm pretty sure I will use butterflies as a theme, but I'm just not sure how to write it. I've got a general outline, just not the notes.
I'm also thinking about writing for a Philharmonia Composer's workshop. The run a Composers Workshop each quarter, each time with a different combination of instruments. This quater, it is a mixed ensemble comprising of Oboe, Clarinet, French Horn, Bassoon and Percussion. I have an oboe piece that I'm kinda desperate to get some comments on, so I'll send that in, but I'll try get a piece for that ensemble as a challenge for me.

Today, I played in string class. It was a small class, only 4 of us there, plus the lecturer (A harpist, as we haven't got a permament strings specialist just yet). I played a bit of the Bach C-Major, and Tony really had a talk to me about intonation. It's something that I've been wanting someone to say "You need to work on it, here's some ideas on what you can do" He told me to focus on intonation for a while, playing the pieces through slowly, listening to the intonation and whether they are in tune or not. He's also suggested speaking to the aural teacher at uni (who was a strings player) for some suggestions on how to get this under my hands.

I'm also going to ask in here for some techniques that you guys use to get your intonation spot on. You can either leave a comment here on my blog, or wait for the question to come up on the discussion board.

The good thing to come out of that (apart from Tony telling be basically exactly what I had been wanting to hear for a long time), was that he was pleased with my musicality, and sense of rhythm. His comment was that I had put a lot of work into it, but it would be lost on the audience if I didn't play in tune.

I've got Project week next week, with only some stuff on opera up till 11:30 each day. I'm hoping to get in a lot of practice this week, and have decided to spend each day on one of my pieces, focusing solely on intonation.

But for the rest of tonight, I'm gonna set myself up infront of the telly, turn the cricket on and start reading "The Inner game of music"

From Charlie Caldwell
Posted on August 5, 2005 at 6:35 PM

Intonation is the most important part of playing a string instrument. It's good that you are going to work on it.

From John Lanceley
Posted on August 5, 2005 at 10:18 PM

Slow, focussed practice is a neccesity for any player wanting to play a piece through with perfect intonation. If you can play it slowly and perfectly, thats it, youve got it. Maybe your rushing? Or if it is an aural problem, I used to find that playing along with recordings helped a lot. Learning relative pitch and finding the absolute centre of a note is a real skill, it took me a fair amount of time and practice! Be patient, you will get it, im sure.

From John Lanceley
Posted on August 5, 2005 at 10:30 PM

Ps I am from England but my grandma lives in the same city as you!

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August 5, 2005 at 2:35 PM

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