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September 1, 2006 at 11:32 PM

I have an audition this coming tuesday. The excerpts for violin are from Wagner's "Lohengrin" (specifically the prelude to Act III) and Beethoven's "Fidelio" overture. I'll also play the first page of Bruch's Concerto No. 1.

Also, I had a lesson on Tuesday. My teacher gave me some insightful ideas for my excerpts... mostly phrasings. I've been working on the excerpts on my own for about a month while my teacher was out of the country, so I have most of the technique down.

Also, we went over Bruch again. Thankfully, it was only phrasings and intonation, two things that can be fixed relatively quickly.

I am feeling confident. I've spent many hours practicing this material, and I know all of it very well.

Now, I just have to hope the sight-reading poses no problems. Ha ha ha.

A three-day weekend is a nice break. I like Labor Day. This will give me even more time to clean things up.

This brings me to a question. How long can you safely practice? My teacher worked with me on my set up a few months ago, and now I can practice for long times (with breaks) and not be uncomfortable or end up with pains the next day. This really helped for summer music camps where we would play/practice/reherse all day. But, how much is too much? I think Itzhak Perlman said that you should not practice more than five hours a day, and Leopold Auer said that 3 hours was enough?

Greetings,
Charlie, wa sgoing to have a shot at your question here, but you have given me the theme for a new blog.
Thanks,
Buri