I've been practising a lot today

Lots of stuff for the concert tomorrow,
especially the high bits in Dambusters and Magnificent Men
and the bits where the top line is very exposed: Sandpaper Ballet, Souvenir, as well as a variety of fast bars in various pieces.

Kitchen Garden
Weber Concertino
Hermann Clarinet on the Town
Baremann's adagio...


What about you??

Inported from another thread to allow it to go back on topic



No - Played it years back and thought I'd pull it out again. Wondered about giving it a go with a pianist sometime. My fingers didn't get round it too well today though, particularly the over the break bits A-B-A-B etc.

yes : the A to B bits can be awkward...

I'm working on the Weber concerto no.1, and the Rae Southwold Sonatina. Next project : Copland...

Just been playing 'I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to Be Free' with my backing CD! My top C# and D are sounding fab, so I'm actually feeling rather smug just now! Just had an hour playing mainly Guest Spot stuff - I have a lesson booked next Saturday (first for 21 years!) and no doubt I will then have to stop all this self indulgence (very loud backing track tonight - especially for Baker Street!!) and get on with some real 'work'!

I'm also enjoying my selection of new reeds... will post on the other thread soon - I've just about made my mind up now!

Best of luck with your concert, Dawn!

Scales and arpeggios and scales and arpeggios.
And then the slow movement of the Mozart quintet as a little light relief reward

I've been playing some of my flute diploma pieces; Chaminade, Concertino and the Hindemith Sonata.
Been going over grade 6 piano scales (ughhhh, damn fingerings!!! ) and then played some jazz clarinet for fun.
I also dug out my recorder that I haven't played in years and surprised myself with the fact that I actually quite like playing it! (I used to hate it with a vengeance when I was younger )

On Clarinet:
20 scales from my scale jar, Finzi's Baatelles 4 and 5 (especially the tricky bits from 5), Brahms Sonata op 120 no 2 (1st bit), and Selections from Chicago for band.

Bach: Minuet in G Major from Anna Magdalena's notebook on my harpsichord (electronic keyboard).

Doesn't look as much written down!

Out of interest, which bits in 5 do you find trickiest? Am wondering if your difficult bits coincide with the bits I found tricky when I was learning it...

Hurlstone's four characteristic pieces,

Arnold Cooke sonata fourth movement

Bartok Roumanian dances

Need to practise those scales again

The dynamics in bars 22 and 23. I can play the notes but once I put dynamics in they go all over the place.

The downwards run in the third bar of (3) (bar 33)

and the runs just before and after (4) ( bars 40 and 41.) my runs tend to get quieter and sloppier as I go up.



I did the Scerzo for my exam. I loved it.

Interesting The bit that got me when I was learning it was the bit at bar 5 and 6 (repeated just after figure 6)...

Yes that got me too at first but I think Iv'e sorted that now. I assumed when I started that they would be the hardest bits so I thrashed them and neglected the rest.

Think it's those top Gs that do it : they stand out rather!!!

Ha , yes. But its a great fun piece isn't it? I really enjoy it especially when I get to play it (still much too slowly but getting better all the time )with the piano. It's very exciting, Mr Finzi knew what he was about.

I adore the Bagatelles Clarimoo : and I will have a proper go at the Concerto one day...

I love all of the bagatelles especially no 5 , but how do you get rid of the donkeys in Forlana ?

I take it you mean the bit at figure 1! Ease back on the first dotted crotchet of each bar, and put a gentle emphasis on the second dotted crotchet, but not a huge great accent, is what I'd do.

I love all the Bagatelles too. It doesn't seem to matter what sort of mood I'm in, one of them will fit the occasion perfectly.

I look foreward to hearing you play the Concerto. I heard Sarah Williamson play it last year, she was wonderful.



Ha, my donkeys are just after (4). I can do them nicely or I can do them forte but both!!!!!!??

I'll see if I can get it into a playable state, along with the Copland, during the course of 2010

Little hint : the top Bs are the ones to look at. Try playing them a little quieter than the middle line Bs : the effect will be rather good, all being well...

I've been lent a contrabass recorder - it's an ugly beast, being a Paetzold, but it is a hoot (literally...).

Unfortunately, I don't have any contrabass music. I do have a heap of other music with some continuo parts, but no soloist to play me the solo line to continuo to. Soooooo......I found a suitably silly piece in my Jacob van Eyck collection, one called "Boffons", which I have always thought of as meaning clowns, or fools, and did a transposition for F instrument in bass clef from C instrument in treble*, and am pfarping my way through that, though it's hard not to giggle whilst doing so .

Later today () I'm playing down at St Cecilia's Hall for Doors Open day, or at least that's the plan at the moment. Probably not contrabass though, as I still can't do the octaves reliably.

*yes, I know I could just play it with the descant fingerings, but the point of having a contrabass is to learn how to read bass clef on recorders. Can anyone tell me why it's so difficult, when I've been able to read bass clef on a piano for years?

Katyjay came up with an idea, that worked for me.

I think you're like me anacrusis : the moment you see a single stave, your mind automatically says 'treble clef'. Katyjay suggested reading from the score (so it looked more piano-like). That made it easier for me.

Having said that, I'm not going to be able to do that for 'cello...

I learned descant recorder first, when I was nine, and treble at 11. I didn't start flute until 14. Nevertheless, F fingerings are like a fluent second language for me, whilst C fingerings are mother-tongue. I tend to play treble by dots converting to fingerings without thinking of the note name in between. So bass clef F fingerings become like trying to translate a second language into a third, if that makes sense?

Well today I will mostly be attempting to play the Mozart Clarinet Concerto as the music has just plopped through my letterbox thank-you postie Can't wait to have a go

Oh and scales, scales and more scales

Lois

One of my favourites!

Give me a shout if you want any advice lois

thanks for that, Barry, I'll see if that helps - can quite see how it might ..*tries to think of way to get round that with cello, but concludes that turning the music upside down might not work that well*

Yes, it makes complete sense....now can anyone remember how many languages it is that one needs to know before new ones become super-easy to learn? Only I'm still hankering after that voice flute , which would add a further set of hurdles .

Have had a very recordery day today - after demonstrating the acoustics at St Cecila's this morning, I've been playing Telemann church cantata things, some Corelli and a Handel trio sonata with another recorder player, a bassoonist and a harpsichordist .

Two tunes to work on - "Have You Met Miss Jones" and "Nica's Dream" (a Horace Silver tune). I was taught them both by ear so I need to make sure I've got them down and properly learned and in time. I've a sneaking feeling I've learnt Nica's dream in a guitarists key rather than the most usual key, but I think I might have learnt it on tenor with the notes that would be right if I was playing alto, so that helps a bit. I need to get the chords of both securely learnt as well.

I've played some Handel recorder sonatas with katyjay (we swapped between solo treble and bass continuo parts). We also played some duets by English baroque composers on two trebles and played lots of tunes by ear ranging from J S Bach to Mike Batt (good old Wombles).

Katyjay was also good enough to listen to my singing (more English music from Dowland and Sullivan) and my flute playing (Mozart Concerto in D and Reinecke Undine Sonata).

A very enjoyable afternoon.

Not to mention the theme tune to Ivor the Engine, which sounds better on a bassoon than my bass recorder, but had to be tried....

I was practising Crussell's clarinet concerto earlier. It's a very nice piece but far too hard to sightread!

On the sax I was playing Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars and Harry Potter again!

Much the same as yesterday but I spent much longer on my scales because the neighbours were out.

I used to think that once I knew most of my scales I wouldn't need to spend so long on them but I find myself spending ever longer now I know them better and there are so many different ways to do them that I could quite happily spend all morning on them.

Is this softening of the brain or am I normal?

Nothing yet
This afternoon though, I'll go through all my current pieces, and scales I also need to learn my G5 study - Ambiguity by James Rae. It's hard and I have my lesson tomorrow, so will need to do lots of work on it!

So not all of it is hard then ?? I've looked at the other 4 but not this one yet.




oh and it has top gs!!!!! (That's one I have to work with at the moment - depends what I'm going to it from but I'm struggling if it's from say C/C# , D/D# or even E. From F or F# no probs though. This is what caught me (and my co-player) out a bit last night. Any tips for which fingerings to use from the varying notes? I tend to use 1 and 1 or From F/F# just add my two rh fingers. from C my teacher tells me just to lip it if it's very quick (like that bit in the Dambusters) Ther's also teh side Bb key fingering isn't there??? I find it all gets a bit bambozzling - Something to work on!





Have fun It's a fantastic piece You playing on A or Bb?

Brahms Clarinet Sonata no 2, I'll probably do the first two movements for my A2 performance module

Almost all of it is hard, if hard is defined as beyond my meagre abilities but thats what education is about isn't it? And Ive already learned to do lots of things that previously seemed impossible. The parts that Barry-Clari identified were terrible to start with and now I'm trying to bring other bits up to match them. The whole thing goes as an impressive pace too so it will be some time before I'm happy with it. It's tremendously exciting when it goes well however, lots of fun for both clari and piano.


... and this is exquisitely beautiful

I haven't been practising very much lately. I've had a really bad cold lately, and much to my dismay, this has meant I haven't really had much energy to practise. Playing the saxophone was pretty much out of the question since I had a bad cough, which mean every time I went to blow I went into a coughing fit! I have got some piano practice in and am working on some pieces for my Grade 3 Jazz Piano. Normal practising will hopefully be resumed shortly .

I've been buying some new music and also revisiting past pieces;

Clarinet; Finzi 5 Bagatelles, Finzi concerto, Mozart Clarinet concerto, Weber variations, Gilbert Winter (Song and dance)

Soprano sax; Gershwin promenade (walking the dog) and Amy Quate's Laguna Madre, James Rae sonatinas, Piazzolla's Histoire du tango.......

Flute; Suite Antique (Rutter) Ian clarke; Hypnosis, maya, Sunstreams.

Ewi; Smooth jazz playalong book with improvisation.

Piano; anything that I can vaguely get my fingers round!

Nothing !

That's exactly what I do in the Dambusters : it's quite acceptable

Nothing! I've got a cold and can't play properly! However, my Grade 2 piano pieces are getting the attention they deserve - keep getting sidetracked with all my lovely clarinet music!!

Poor clarijo

I know what you mean. Barely touched the piano in weeks

Yesterday had a dabble with teh Brahms Sonata and the Mihaud Scaramouche (but that's gonna take a LOT of work to get anything bar the second movement in shape) and then the Weber Concertino had a bit of work done on it. And of course band last night (back to second now) .... Later I think I'd better have a look at my lesson stuff....

Today scales and scales and the runs from my pieces.... and by the time I'd done what I felt needed doing I'd run out of time.

Last night we started on the Christmas Programme at band

Anyone played 2nd clarinet on the Leroy Anderson arrangement of SLEIGH RIDE???

Around section B we start with triplets A:G#:A (clarion) and then up to C# accented crotchet. Then we get this again twice more ( It's the giddy-up bit). We always find this tricky using normal fingerings. Looking at my chart last night I discovered anothe fingering for top C# which is the thumb/register key and the lower two RH trill keys (The ones you use for F#) ( I think I've got this right ) I wonder if this may be a little easier as you are only coordinating fingers on one hand.... Or are there any other ways ??? (Help Barry think we've talked about this piece before somewhere.... )

It comes again at G.

I also find the trill section at C trickier than it looks and same with the acciciatura section at F

All advice on this most welcome.

Also "Pastime with Good Company" has come back again. It has come home too for practice of the tricky runs....

Fortunately Unfortunately I don't get to do the solo as that it taken by one of our top players even though it's second part I'd quite like to attempt it. Probably wouldn't do it as well as our rep player though...

Scales, scales, scales. Loads of them. And some arpeggios, too.

And as a treat for nice little girls 10. Fantasia by Telemann. Love it. Started last week and already play it quite nicely. And the first piece of BWV 1035 and BWV 1013 complete. Getting better and better. Very pleased.

Hmmm It's ben a long time (probably a couple of decades eeeeek) since I last played the 2nd cl part to Sleigh Ride but I remember finding quite a lot of it tricky. If I make it to tomorrow night's rehearsal I suspect the Christmas music will be out and I'll nab the 2nd part and take a peak.

Which version fo Pastime are you doing?

I've been practising scales. Had a lesson this morning and nothing went right apart from one and a half of my pieces. The exam is a month away and I am feeling just a little concerned It's not for want of practice either, just pre-exam panic.

But my lovely teacher has told me to bring all my music next lesson and we will look at stuff to start work on after December 8th

I envy you playing Sleigh Ride, Dawn - it's one of my favourite Christmas tunes!

j

I played this at school band and at orchestra last year, both clarinet 2. I remember it being really hard, and being glad that I wasn' clarinet 1. I can't remember the exact points that you mentioned, but I can vaguely remember the triplet section, and that it came with practise. I just played the normal fingerings for C#. There was also quite a hard clarinet solo near the bottom of the first page (I think). I don't know if that's one of the parts you mentioned, but that too came with practise.

We asked the teacher whether we could do it again this year, as we all enjoyed it so much, but the choir have stolen it!

Don't worry Kingsley13 - it is sure to re-appear for a future Christmas. I think I 1st played it about 25 years ago and still don't need a 2nd hand to count the years I haven't played it in. Sleigh Ride and Christmas Festival just keep being played and played and played.

..... if this is the Leroy Anderson fan-club I want to join.

.... and in answer to the question, scales (of course) and Bartok's Rumanian dances and Slipstream for band.

You are correct Dawn about the C# : this is the way I manage the 2nd clarinet part in Sleigh Ride.

Thanks. It's the Philip Sparke arrangement of Pastime.




Thanks Barry - I'll tackle it this way then