hi guys,

I really would like to come to the forum users' concert, but have no idea if I will make it. I had a thought, that maybe it would be less complicated if I aimed to play something unaccompanied - then no one needs to learn a piano part "just in case Sarah makes it"...

I've just started learning no. 6 from Russell Stokes's Jazz Singles book... anyone know it/played it? It's set as a study, but it's actually quite groovy (well I think so at least...!) I wondered what anyone's opinions on that as a performance are if you know the piece. It has the added bonus it's less than 1 1/2 minutes long (well, at the speed I'm playing it - don't know if I'm playing at the right speed, I've only had it 3 days!) so it's well within the time limit...

any thoughts?

I have the book - not played that one as yet - I was working on no.4. Sounds like a good idea to do an unaccompanied piece. Will have a play through of it later (slightly incapacitated at the moment as I burned my right hand thumb quite badly afew hours ago & still can't leave an ice pack of it for more that a few minutes without the pain coming back)

Oh no! That's horrible... *sends finger healing vibes*

It's quite fun number 6. I had a look at number 4 and it seems quite deadly - I'm sure it must be terribly good practice technically with the double and triple tonguing, and the leaping about everywhere - but I couldn't bring myself to like it... maybe I was just playing it reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally badly! Is it me or the piece???

I'm quite keen to try the others that are swung... I don't find it very easy but it is fun to play something so different from my usual classical fare.

I do hope your finger gets better soon andy!

I think it sounds like a good piece to play, I don't know it, but it sounds really interesting and funky! So play it

APF - I hope your fingers get better soon.

It would be a great concert piece. I really like it.

Sorry to hear about your thumb, Andy-piano-flute. Hope it gets better soon.

A-I-C: Sorry, a bit off thread, but don't worry about your Grade 8 recorder! From your posts you sound like an excellent recorder teacher and I am sure you are a talented recorder player yourself (What do you call a recorder player? E.g flute player - flautist?)

QUOTE (andante_in_c @ May 22 2005, 03:11 PM)

It would be a great concert piece. I really like it.

I'm glad someone else knows it and likes it. The more I play it the more I like it! & I'm pleasantly surprised how well I'm getting on with it considering it is a grade 6 piece and I've only had it 3 days - better than either of the two list A pieces (have the music for the CPE Bach and the Leclair, now I wish I had the cd to get an idea of them (ie cheat ) but I'm having to use my brain - oh dear! have to find it first...)

I just hope that my teacher doesn't listen to it and tell me I've got it all wrong!

I'm playing the grace notes slightly lazy which I think sounds good... the only bits that I really can't decide how to make them sound convincing are the mordent in bar 13 and the triplet semis in bar 23, but out of a whole piece that ain't bad... speshly for a definitely-not-a-natural-jazzer like me!

Thanks for the encouragement, Nicki. I've asked for the beginning of July for the exam, so I've still got some time to go. The scales are the worst thing - for those of you who know treble fingering they are utterly confusing because I know them so much better on descant with its similarity to flute. For example, the dreaded G# minor is actually the E flat minor on a descant. Add to that the problems of some going up to the twelfth and some going down to the dominant, as well as the chromatics starting on any note and turning on top and bottom F, and you'll get some idea of the scope of the problem.

The pieces aren't going too badly, however, so that's good news.

And as for being an excellent recorder teacher - well, I'm lucky that I have a very talented 11-year-old pupil. I just find her the right music, and she does nearly all the rest. She will outgrow me before long, I'm sure, but I've just bagged her as a flute pupil as well.

Sarah - I'm sure you won't find you're playing the Stokes all wrong! I tend to treat the mordent and the triplet as more-or-less the same thing, but I'm not really a jazzer (is that a word?). My own teacher did go through it with me when the new syllabus came out, but I can't remember everything he told me about it. I find the dynamics the hardest thing about it, with those forte low notes.

QUOTE (andante_in_c @ May 22 2005, 07:11 PM)

Sarah - I'm sure you won't find you're playing the Stokes all wrong! I tend to treat the mordent and the triplet as more-or-less the same thing, but I'm not really a jazzer (is that a word?). My own teacher did go through it with me when the new syllabus came out, but I can't remember everything he told me about it. I find the dynamics the hardest thing about it, with those forte low notes.

Thanks Andante - that is helpful... and encouraging to know that even you struggle with the dynamics, those low fortes, makes me feel a lot better about the fact that my dynamic contrast in it is not the best the annoying thing is really that when I'm playing I try so hard, and if I listen back to the recording I can *sometimes* JUST about work out what I was trying for... need to listen to the tape and see how I did!

I'm trying to treat the mordent as a very quick version of the triplet, and the triplet as more relaxed and taking up more of the "space", but I'll see what Suzanne says next lesson (I'll let you know if she has any helpful info!) - I had a play of it through several times rather slowly with the metronome so I wasn't tempted to rush, and it seemed to help, and gave me an idea of what I think those bits "should" be - in my head at least! I'm not a jazzer either but it is a fun piece! In the morning when I am a bit more awake (I so should be in bed, not sure why I'm not...) maybe I'll post in the Jazz forum and see if anyone can enlighten me!

Recorder scales sound even more evil than I had realised - those chromatics sound nasty! I knew about the up to the 12th/down to the dominant (which I'm sure I would find hopelessly confusing) and that is bad enough... However I am with Nicki on this one, I'm sure you will do great. Have faith in yourself - we all do!

QUOTE

Thanks for the encouragement, Nicki. I've asked for the beginning of July for the exam, so I've still got some time to go. The scales are the worst thing - for those of you who know treble fingering they are utterly confusing because I know them so much better on descant with its similarity to flute. For example, the dreaded G# minor is actually the E flat minor on a descant. Add to that the problems of some going up to the twelfth and some going down to the dominant, as well as the chromatics starting on any note and turning on top and bottom F, and you'll get some idea of the scope of the problem. The pieces aren't going too badly, however, so that's good news. And as for being an excellent recorder teacher - well, I'm lucky that I have a very talented 11-year-old pupil. I just find her the right music, and she does nearly all the rest. She will outgrow me before long, I'm sure, but I've just bagged her as a flute pupil as well.

On my limited experience on primary school recorders, which I did actually like, the scales sound horrible. The fingering is one of the reasons I didn't choose the treble (I played the recorder and the flute in the primary school orchestra), as I knew I would confuse myself. However, I would like to play the recorder again one day.
Saying you just give her the pieces, you could have the most talented player in the world, and the worst teacher and they wouldn't progress as they could. I bet she thinks you're great teacher, and it seems like you push all the right buttons. Don't underestimate yourself.

Sarah - good luck with the piece. Don't underestimate yourself either, and as it is jazz, isn't it supposed to sound rather improvised?

QUOTE (nicki_flute @ May 23 2005, 06:29 AM)

Sarah - good luck with the piece. Don't underestimate yourself either, and as it is jazz, isn't it supposed to sound rather improvised?

I guess - however it's a study and so I wouldn't want to play around with it tooooooooooooooo much in case the examiner just thought I couldn't read the music properly! It's quite a playful piece anyway, I think if you didn't know much about "real" jazz ie real improv then it could well sound improvised though I expect "in the bone" jazzers would spot it a mile off. I need to work out how to word my question sensibly and then post it in the Jazz forum.

QUOTE (sarah-flute @ May 23 2005, 10:12 AM)

it's a study and so I wouldn't want to play around with it tooooooooooooooo much in case the examiner just thought I couldn't read the music properly!

Sarah,

You're not playing it at an exam, or at least not yet, you're preparing it for the concert! None of us are going to take off marks for deviation from the printed music. Honest!

I'm really intrigued to hear you now, I hope you can get to the concert.

Cheers

Katyjay

*grin* thanks katyjay! you're right.

I do hope I can make it... I'm thinking now I have a piece, and know I don't need an accompanist, maybe I'll put my name down anyway, and if I don't make it then it's just a donation to the cause, and if I find a way to get across it isn't too last minute and having to change programmes etc.