For musicians on an academic schedule, summers are often wide open. This can be a great opportunity to get ahead, or a bottomless pit of procrastination and idleness. Here are some ideas for staying motivated to get some summer practicing done.
Year: 2017
Quick flute switches and embouchure problems for woodwind doublers
Lots of woodwind doubler horror stories have to do with quick switches to flute or piccolo. (“Twenty minutes of hard-driving R&B tenor saxophone, then two bars to switch to flute and enter pianissimo in the third octave…”) Doublers in this situation often beat themselves up about perceived deficiencies in their flute embouchures, and commit to even … Read more
Interview: Jonathan Tunick, Broadway orchestrator and more
Jonathan Tunick is a show business legend: a composer/arranger/orchestrator/musical director for stage and screen; a collaborator with Stephen Sondheim, Placido Domingo, Barbra Streisand, and too many more to mention; and a winner of many awards. Needless to say, I was thrilled to hear from Mr. Tunick a few years ago, when he contributed some information … Read more
Favorite blog posts, April 2017
Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, April 2017 edition.
Confident entrances
It’s deceptively difficult to make a correct entrance after a rest. Here’s what I recommend for maximum confidence and security:
Being a beginner on your doubles
I’ve mentioned often on this blog the idea of “being a beginner” on your woodwind doubles. Here’s what I mean by that.
When I was a college saxophone major just starting to get serious about doubling, I arranged to take some flute lessons one summer. At my first-ever flute lesson, the teacher told me she knew that I was an accomplished saxophonist already (a generous assessment) and therefore wouldn’t need much more than some instruction on embouchure. That made sense to me, so she sent me away with my first repertoire assignment: a Mozart concerto.
Reedcast™ version 2.0
A couple of years ago I introduced my Reedcast™ tool on this site, which uses my proprietary software code to predict reed quality for oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and saxophone based on environmental factors: I have spent the past few months compiling and studying as much research as I could gather about environmental factors’ effects on woodwind reeds, … Read more
Favorite blog posts, March 2017
Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, March 2017 edition.
Priorities and patience
Student: I really just want to improve my sound.
Beautiful tone is a nice goal, but it’s subjective, and it’s inextricable from less-sexy pursuits like consistent tone, solid intonation, and reliable response. Let’s expand your focus to your overall tone production and make sure you do lots of listening to the great players. Then you’ll be equipped to play beautiful ideas, not just beautiful notes.
Advice on graduate performance study and university teaching careers
My university students are mostly undergraduate music education majors, but many at some point inquire about graduate school, including a performance degree path and eventual university teaching. Here are some things you should know about graduate performance studies if you’re an undergraduate music major.