Random Notes

An audio of the Taize service I mentioned a few days ago is now posted.

March 18, 2009 Taize Service

Just a word of warning – it’s a large file so be prepared.

At some point, something rather strange has happened to me. I think I’ve become something I never set out to be … a musician. I know, that sounds a little strange. I did, after all, spend over 10 years of my life earning a doctoral degree in music, so of course I became a musician, even if I don’t make a living making music, right? How could someone with a music performance degree say he didn’t set out to become a musician?!?!? Well…… for this to make sense, I have to back up a bit.

When I started studying the saxophone (and music) seriously, I had one goal … to be the best saxophonist I could be. Everything else I did was in some way centered on that goal, either to actually play better, or to position myself to find a way to make a living centered on the saxophone.  I studied music history because they made me if I wanted to stay in school; music theory because I thought it might help me get a job; flute and clarinet because… umm… well, because. Even though I was doing all those things, they were on the periphery. My focus was always the saxophone. In short, I had tunnel vision. Although I was going through the motions of a lot of musical activities outside of the saxophone, I didn’t really enjoy it, and I didn’t fully appreciate much music outside of the literature for the saxophone.

Last week, I had the opportunity to play for a Lenten Taize Service. Nothing really out of the ordinary for me at this point to be playing at a church service – it’s pretty much a part of my weekly routine at this point. The Taize music wasn’t new to me, either. We’ve been using several of these as part of the Eucharist for the last couple of years, at least. It wasn’t even strange that I was playing them on flute; I’ve been begrudgingly pulling my flute out for these (and a few other things) from the time it somehow got out that I could play the silly thing. Two things were different — the first is that we were able to recruit a really good violinist to play for these services. The other thing that was different — I caught myself having fun. Fun, playing flute, with violin and organ?!? What? After the initial shock and shame, I realized that this has been going on for a while now. I’ve been enjoying being a choir director, choosing to listen to things like Yo-Yo Ma playing the Bach Cello Suites instead of something on the saxophone. It really has happened … I’m no longer just a saxophonist, I’m a musician.

Where am I going with this? I have no idea (remember the blog is, after all, Random Notes!) Just a thought that’s been going through my head  In the meantime, I’m bummed that I have to miss the second Taize service tomorrow, but am looking forward to the third one on April 1st. Who knows, maybe I’ll even practice my flute!

How embarrasing! I wrote this final entry back in late October and thought I’d published it in early November… Obviously, I’ve been avoiding my blog for some time, but I did at least think I had published this. Oh, well….

So, the Rousseau Celebration has now come and gone. It was an incredible event, great to see so many great saxophonists and old friends and spend a weekend playing, listening, and talking about saxophone! I’m very happy to be able to say that my performance of the Heiden Solo went quite well. The performance itself, however, is not all that important. What is important are the final steps I took to be fully ready to perform.

First and foremost, know that what I do and how I practice the last week or so prior to a performance really is not all that different than what I do the first few weeks. The reality is that, if good practice techniques are being used from the start of preparation, there doesn’t need to be a major change in strategy in the last week. One of the best parts of practicing smart throughout the entire process is that, usually, there isn’t much of a need to panic at the end. That panicked feeling that can set in a week or so prior to a performance — you know the one where you don’t feel you’re going to be ready in time — often comes from using poor practice techniques early in the process of learning a piece. That’s not to say that poor practice is always the problem — issues such as misjudging the difficulty of a piece or simply not having enough time available can be a significant part of the problem. But, if the assessment of the difficulty was close and something like oh, the composer not getting the piece finished until the 11th hour don’t interfere, practicing correctly from the start also means no cramming, no desperate avoidance of everything except the literature, and a week of being able to fall asleep.

For this piece and this performance, if anything, I allowed more time than was necessary, so I was able to continue my normal practice routine, with a few exceptions. During the last few days of practice, I did not stop doing things like scales, long-tones, and other literature. For the most part, I also continued to practice the Heiden as I described earlier.

Some things that I did do differently, though. First of all, I spent more time playing from beginning to end, without stopping to correct mistakes. These practice performances were also done at my desired performance tempo. The goal of doing this is to practice maintaining concentration for the duration of the piece, and to get better at recovering from mistakes that invariably happen during a live performance.  The ideal way to do this would be to be able to work with your accompanist, but that rarely works out. When this isn’t possible (translation … until I win the Powerball….) I find other ways to model playing with the accompaniment. Using Smart Music is sometimes an option (if your piece happens to be one that has a Smart Music accompaniment). Another option is to play along with a good recording, or to have your accompanist record just the accompaniment for you.

The one other thing I find helpful during final preparation is to record myself practicing, and the practice performances are especially insightful. When I go back and listen to myself, I then have a realistic idea of any passages that are muddy, or any fundamentals that could use some work. It’s also really helpful in evaluating the musical content … basics like the pacing of dynamics, articulations that need attention, accents … all those details. Recordings never lie…

The last steps I take have little to do with actually playing. During the last 24 hours, I make sure I know exactly what the hall looks, and if possible, I go stand on stage so that I can visualize myself in the space. I try to get a good night’s sleep the night before, and on the day of the performance, I make sure to eat no matter how I may feel, but I keep it light.