You're a fine clarinettist Appassionata : you do yourself down...

What have I been playing today : clarinet quartets. Fun!

On flute...

Bach - Siciliano (3rd movement from Sonata in E)

It has too many sharps in it.

I'm sure Bach won't mind if you miss some out

So you keep saying

I speak the truth Claudia

You could always transpose it into the enharmonic equivalent and have flats instead.

could I be controversial and suggest Poulenc mvmt 1 for list B...... I didn't like it at first but it grew on me.

I agree about doing the Brahms though - it's lovely.

I can't remember what I did for list C though - it's been 10 years

Thanks, Little Elf, but I'm really not sure about the Poulenc... if it's an 'acquired taste', I always wonder whether it's worth the trouble of acquiring it! I still haven't managed to like Stilton cheese

Having said that, I might borrow my teacher's copy of the Poulenc just so I can remind myself what I don't like about it

there is a youtube video of the first movement here.

I was advised to do this for list B to contrast with the lovely tuneful Brahms so that I had a good variety of styles. I'm not normally a fan of things that aren't conventionally tuneful..... although it does get better the further you get into the movement. the beginning seems a bit random.

personally I liked the other movements a bit better. I think I did the 2nd for grade 7. The third used to be an alternative for grade 8.

p.s. I don't like stilton either

A quick refresh of Brahms Sonata no. 2, largely for St. Albans purposes.

Thanks, Little Elf. I might learn it on the grounds that it might be good for me (like eating one's greens) but I'm not sure that I like it enough to want to work on it for enough time to bring it to exam standard

I'm thinking of Bach and Finzi to balance the Brahms

the Finzi is good. I never played the Bach so I can't comment on that one, sorry.

good luck with whichever ones you pick..... and if you haven't already played the Weber concertino make sure you play that one too

I spent today's practice time deconstructing and reconstructing the Finzi Fughetta. It's such fun - a really sparky piece! I haven't told my teacher yet; she's a very good pianist but it will be interesting to see her face when I shove the Finzi onto the music desk and say 'We're playing this...'

I played that for my Grade 8! However I did the old Guildhall syllabus and for that you had to play both the Romance and Fughetta. It's a great piece, but tricky in places.

I had a lesson today and we worked on the first movement of the Brahms E flat sonata. I thought I had got most of the notes under my fingers but I found otherwise this morning....
And I have been persuaded to look at the first movement of the Malcolm Arnold Sonatina

Oh yes, do! It's fun, I'm currently refreshing my memory on it

It's good fun!!! i enjoyed having a go at it - I actually prefered movt 3 - there are a couple of tricky bits - I seem to remember they involve difficulties in fingring where Bbs are repeated in the motif...

It's a fun piece - even if not instantly appealing to every audience.

I impressed my teacher with my attempts but it never got perfected. Maybe some day.....


I'm working the Weber Concerto no 1 amongst other things at present.
Still trying to get the concertino to a performable level too in the hope that I can air it a little later in the year.

Would be good to hear you play that sometime this year

Thank you barry and DawnF; that's now three people who have described the Arnold as 'fun' so I am feeling a little more kindly disposed towards it

It's nearly there from my side I think. Needs polishing and possibly the use of a little Rhubato in places Not ready to perform yet but with a little more work and practise with the accompaniment and Oldnotes and I are aiming to air it as early as May......

Today I've actually been reminding myself of another Arnold piece...the Pre-Goodman Rag. An ex-pupil of mine was invited to perform with the music service concert band and it was up to me to find her something fun. One listen and I couldn't persuade her to do anything else!

I also love the Sonatina, particularly the first movement. I encourage my pupils to do it for their grade 8s!

Still practicing double-tounging. Trying to get this Köhler-Etüde to 100 bpm. I still have a hard time with it. Then I kept working on my Eb. It should be warmer. And practicing the first movement of Eb-major Sonata for two flutes from Wilhelm Friedemann Bach.
I also took a look in "Selected Flute Exam Pieces 2008-2013, Grade 6" just tried a little bit. Still don't know, wich piece to pick for my exam.

More Finzi. And the Arnold Sonatina

Flying trip through about half of what I'm currently working on.

Some stuff for band alongside scales.

Anyone played Big Country or irish washer woman? but (and I play second clari)

Big Country, yes! Very easy to tangle the fingers up in that bit that comes up at the beginning, and about two thirds of the way through...

Where it changes from B natural to Bb catches me if I'm not concentrating fully And we still have C#s. The RH side trill keys appeared a good option here but it's also VERY flat on my instrument - any other alternatives?

ASAP please if you do as I have band tonight.

And what's that all about at the end when 2nds suddenly have to drop down the octave ?????

can't believe the high tuney bit is the same right accross from top claris to 2nds though. Top F#s ??? in 2nds???? I like it though

I suspect I've missed you, and I haven't got the score to hand, but if we're thinking of the same section here Dawn, I can't think of any other decent alternatives, I'm afraid.

ok thanks. just spotted this post. didn't play it on monday in the end. Gives me a touch longer to practise. which is what I'm going to do in a bit.

Today?
Scales (of course)
Finzi Bagatelles 1 and 5 (serious hard work practice)
Various other things (fun practice with intermittant work) including Bach 5 and 18 from 21 Pezzi, Mendelssohn 2nd movt from Sonata in Eb, Bartok Rumanian Dances.
Should have been practicing for band but I'll put that off till tomorrow.

Bach


... on a clarinet.

Some serious concentrated work on the Weber concerto 1, movement 3 and some targeted work on another piece I'd like to perform at some point.

Also, some (from memory) scales, chords and dominant 7ths in 4+ sharps/flats. Trying to think in the enharmonic equivalents made me like this

I can think in B but thinking in Cb
Likewise - I can think in F# but find thinking in Gb makes the mid boggle too.


Do I need to think in both variants or just recognise that if i'm asked to play Cb major I play the scale or whatever of B major?

Personally I don't think it matters. If playing scales etc from memory the key tells me what the starting note is and whether to use the major or minor pattern of tones and semitones.

Nope, I don't think you do. I have Db major as one of my 'current' scales, and my teacher said 'oh, it's not that bad, it's just C# major'. Which I suppose was meant to be helpful But he said just to think of whichever one is easiest for me.
Indeed, on the G6 syllabus TG actually say "G#/Ab minor (one octave)" - so I suppose the examiner could ask for 'either', and if the examiner said G# but you actually played Ab, how would the examiner know the difference?

..which often works surprisingly well! There are pieces by Bach transcribed for clarinet which make very good fingering/technical studies.

In fact I am getting to the stage on the oboe where my fingers just "know" what to do without me having to think about each individual note This is providing I start on the key note - my teacher tends to ask me to play all scales starting on bottom Bb or B and ending on top F# or G.

However, when sight-reading I think it is necessary to read in both variants and I spend a couple of minutes each practice session playing a few lines of things in obscure keys. Actually I think this might be more of a problem for oboes than clarinets as wind-band music seems to be more friendly towards Bb instruments

Lots of Bach is gorgeous on clarinet. It wasn't his fault that the clarinet wasn't invented when he was a young man. If it had been he would surely have written for it.

The only problem with most of the Bach that I'm playing is finding enough time to actually breathe. Maybe one day I'll start a clarinet choir to do more complex Bach pieces. That would be lovely.

My thoughts exactly!

...and you can even manage that with a bit of ingenuity

Through the ears isn't it?

possibly!...

The FLUTE!!!! :0

In fact I'm taking both clari and flute into my daughter's class this afternoon to play. It's in conjunction with their science topic "sound".

I only have a few mins but I'm hoping to include, how the vibrations to make the sound, The fact that longer tubes make lower notes than shorter tubes and how this corresponds (in simple terms) to more fingers on makes the note lower, less higher etc (Let's forget about the upper octaves/registers for now.... It might get a mention, might not) a bit of playing and a bit of letting one or two have a go with the mouthpieces.

Oh cool! DawnF on a flute! Did you enjoy playing it?

Given I haven't played for many years, am ageing considerably (disgracefully), and the only thing listening is the empty house.. I'm just missing out the odd half-bar just to get enough air back into my lungs

Sneaky trick : you can breathe in places by judicious use of rubato at the ends of certain phrases, then taking a breath. Bach wouldn't mind.

Did I keep that one quiet?

I did enjoy it but I'm very much a beginner. Albeit a beginner with a sister who plays so I had sneaky goes as a child.

Cool Hope you continue to have fun with it

First movement of the Brahms E flat - trying to get my paws around the arpeggios on the second page

And my three accompaniments for Teddington

I haven't done ANY work! I haven't played any scales or worked on any new pieces, I haven't practised altering my intonation using my lip and my tuner didn't even come out tonight BUT I've just spent an hour playing Fever, Hit the Road Jack, Fly Me to the Moon (you get the general idea!) along with my backing CDs and thoroughly enjoyed it! Back to work again tomorrow!

Good on you clarijo. We all need a bit of that every now and again. In fact it was ALL I did for rather a long time