one thing on my mind

Today I'm working up a heavy Classical program for next week: Beethoven first symphony, Mozart Symphony 40, Larsson trombone concerto (very classical in writing), and a lot of single movements from things like Marriage of Figaro, Mozart first symphony, a Leopold Mozart work, ..... you get the idea.  A heap of notes and strokes to obsess about.

So I find myself coming back to this one lesson I had with Jeff Turner where I felt like EVERYTHING was a problem.  I began the lesson by telling him I felt that way, which wasn't much guidance or a very specific question.  Before I even played he asked me to think about a few basic things:
1. is the string coming down to the fingerboard?
2. is the hair flat to the string?
3. is the bow travelling straight?

Those simple questions cleared up 90% of the issues I was having.  I had just allowed some sloppy technique to creep in, and without realizing it was there, was trying to figure out some higher level math equation about why my sound was inconsistent and rather, um, .... less-than-stellar.

So today I was thinking about those basics, and how, when you're preparing a ton of music, you sometimes need to pick one battle to fight.  Not all of them at once.  So today is: clean attacks.  I find in Classical era music, we need bright, crisp attacks that start from the string.  Not always easy to execute, given the very fast tempo of Mozart 40's last movement.  I'm scrolling through the simple questions Jeff gave me, then just keeping "clean attacks" as a koan for the whole practice. When thinking about attacks, it's partly the set of your right hand - firm but not death-grip.  I generally advise "strawberry picking fingers" for how loose to hold the bow, but in the case of quick tempo and crisp starts (that will then become spiccato), a firmer set in necessary.

When we play our annual run of Nutcracker here, it's a long week of double performances every day, and I use an idea like this to keep my mind in the game and keep myself playing well.  I might make one show all about string crossings, another about width in my shoulders, etc.

happy practicing!
Gaelen