One Year Later

Isn't it funny how things can work out?

I didn't mean to revisit this blog, or even post anything, but I just happened to be reminded of it while reading this post. It linked to Emily Nussbaum's article, Say Everything, in which she presents a cogent argument for the way my generation behaves.

I can certainly see bits and pieces of my own behavior in each of the characters she interviews. I have a facebook, a flickr account, and obviously a blogger account. I even used to have my own domain and webspace, a livejournal, a xanga, and a myspace. More than many, I've made a conscious effort to reduce my online presence to those areas most important to me.

A Playing Commentary

I finally feel like my playing is starting to improve at a decent rate. This semester has been all about fixing the bad habits I've developed from never actually having lessons before. Which is certainly okay, even if it is extremely frustrating at times. And there's still quite a ways for me to go. My mid-low chops have really improved and I'm seeing some nice downward range extension, but I still need to nail down the issues that are hindering my upper range: mouthpiece placement, a tendency to smile, and weak air on the higher notes.

Thankfully, through all this, I've been able to maintain a nice sound. I've always felt that I've had a good fundamental concept of sound, and my teacher seems to agree. Also, working through these issues has made me even more aware of my strengths, particularly with regards to pitch and intonation. I just have to work through these things and everything else will be a walk in the park.

Yeah, I'm Still Here

Wow, almost two months since my last post here. That's okay. I never really intended for this to become any sort of daily blog, or anything. Really, it's an outlet for the occasional desire to write something when the mood strikes me. Which, obviously isn't too often.

My life has been pretty busy with school. I think I've settled nicely into the music major routine, but it's definitely still a challenge to balance everything. I find the biggest difficulty is making time to practice on the weekends. Living off campus forces me to make the most of my time on campus during the day. This usually means I'll try and squeeze in some practice between classes or before heading home for the day. The weekends, however, present a motivational challenge...practicing requires me to make the 10 minute trek to South Campus.

Yeah, right. I'm just lazy on the weekends.

I also spend some of my time working with the LHS marching band. They've grown quite a bit from the first time I saw them at band camp, but it's definitely a challenge. While, yes, they have made great strides it is tough watching that progress fall short of their true potential. But they're good kids and there is definite room for major improvement next year.

Life's Twists

It never fails, really. You set out to do something, to get moving on something you've been meaning to do for a while, and something else comes along to disrupt your flow. Something unexpected has to come along and shake things up a bit.

This past week was supposed to be a chance for me to get with the LHS band and teach. I volunteer to do it because it's something I enjoy, but also for a number of other reasons. It's a chance for me to gain some experience with what will eventually be my career, and it's a chance to give back to a group that helped me grow as a human being for four years. It's nice to see them getting bigger and better every year. I remember when they were only 25 people...that was a fun year.

Anyway...the opportunity to work and make some money before school starts presented itself and I just couldn't turn it down. I have a tendency to manage my finances poorly, so this was something I had to jump on. The downside: I had to back out of my teaching commitment. Not too happy about that one, really. Another unfortunate side effect is that my practice time has been cut into. I'm definitely not happy about that one considering I have an ensemble audition in a couple weeks.

Progress on the Horn

I can't say I did anything too exciting today, but I did spend some time with my tuba in preparation for ensemble auditions in September. My biggest fault as a student is the lack of a truly focused practice regimen. I am eager to work with my studio teacher to start to develop a clearly defined method over the next few weeks. I will say, though, I did spend a lot of time today working on my embouchure and figuring out what it takes to play more consistently throughout all ranges of the horn.

As a player, I feel like I have a very solid fundamental sound on the horn. I work very hard to play with a characteristic sound and, for the most part, I succeed in many respects. I owe a lot of thanks to the instruction I've received at Spartans over the past two years. The brass staff really push a dark, symphonic, approach to the instrument that translates well to more "traditional" settings.

While I think I have a good sound, my biggest weakness as a player, shows in my range and accuracy. I play very well in the lower tessitura of the instrument but, when I ascend into the higher ranges, my tonal focus and accuracy suffers greatly. This is more than just being able to play "really high"...I have trouble playing well from middle-line D to middle C. This is clearly a problem. After a good deal of trial and error, I think I've nailed the problem to the way I form my aperture on the mouthpiece. I spent much of the day working on a more even approach to my embouchure and placement on the horn. Results were mixed, but I think it's definitely a step in the right direction.

Setting Out...

I'm standing at the starting line, about embark on an journey I have long sought to undertake. Since my senior year in high school, I've known that teaching music was something I needed to do with my life. After several stressful semesters, I am finally beginning my career as a music major at UMass Lowell. Sure, I've had to transfer schools and I'm pretty much wiping away four semesters of study at UMass Amherst, but this is an opportunity that I cannot let slip away.

Two weeks and counting.

With the semester fast approaching, I've decided to create a sort of "creative journal" to help me through what is sure to be a stressful year. I hope to use this as a means to reflect on anything related to my progress as a musician, a teacher, and hopefully any other creative endeavors I may undertake. With this in mind, I hope to post here on a semi-regular basis (schedule permitting), and just otherwise provide a means to write and vent about something I'm passionate about.