The Penny Game

I use this "game" with students of ALL ages as a way to work through difficult sections.

  Gather 5 pennies and put them on the left side of your music stand.  Play the difficult passage.  If you play it correctly,  then slide a penny across to the right side of the stand.  Play the passage again.  If you play it correctly once more, then slide another penny across to the other side of the stand.  If you make a mistake on any of the passage,  then ALL pennies go back to the left side and you begin again.  Once you can play the previously difficult passage 5 times in a row well,  then try at a faster tempo, etc. This a a great study in patience,  focus,  and most importantly...accuracy.

Or,  if you REALLY want to LEARN a passage thoroughly,  put 10 pennies on the stand. :)

This is great preparation for orchestral excerpts and scales.  Maintain awareness of good body use at all times and you'll really build positive habits for a life of great playing.

So, check for spare change in those couches and get practicing!

Oboe and Out,

The Oboist

Joy---is it in you?

While on a 22 mile bike ride this morning, I got to thinking. Everything we do is better when we bring some aspect of joy to it. Take for instance the ride: while we were physically exerting ourselves and tackling some sizable hills, it was a great chance to notice and enjoy the beauty of the countryside. Bringing the joy of the moment to those hills made them an exhilarating experience instead of an exhausting experience. It's all in the perspective we bring to things.

So when practicing through my scale exercises today, the same idea struck. (And YES, I still practice my scales and daily strive for a bigger range, work on fluency, pitch, upper register ease, and tempo. Some days are definitely easier than others!). For some reason the A# and F# harmonic minor scales were particularly difficult today. Instead of focusing on them thinking "ugh, I gotta get through my scales, " I turned them on their head and brought a playfulness and joy to the practice, singing them, imagining how they should and *could* sound, then created the best scales I could and repeated them until satisfied.

Take the hard stuff and play with it. Find your sense of joy and bring it to your music. You'll be glad you did!