Its Saturday morning in December. I got up at 6 am to make breakfast and pack a lunch for my son who takes a 7 am train into New York City to Juilliard Pre-College.  He’s a bassoonist and simply loves it.   My youngest daughter plays the piano, but not too seriously. My role as Dad can be a challenging one when there are other family members who play music.  When someone is practicing I try (but mostly fail) to resist the urge to pounce on them and sit there. Sometimes a helping hand is needed but mostly positive encouragement is whats most helpful.  We all have such busy schedules that my most common “aside” to them if I hear them practicing inefficiently or repeatedly too fast will be to simply “slow down.”  We all know how practicing slowly is the quickest way to really learning a piece and having it stick.

   Speaking of stick, just as soon as I finish teaching a student at the house this morning, I will be drive my youngest son to his lacrosse game. His lacrosse sticks are on the floor in the kitchen...almost tripped over them as I drive to the train station. My oldest daughter comes downstairs and tells me I need to make an appetizer dish for the high school dance tonight.  We are going to think of something fun to make that is not too hard. My youngest daughter, the pianist, has a swim meet this afternoon which I hope to make. I think its possible as long as I get back from the lacrosse game in time. Of course she also hopes we can get the Christmas tree today...no comment. 

   As soon as the swim meet is over I should get home just in time to teach another student. He is a senior in high school and is auditioning for Juilliard, among other schools. Helping my older students prepare for their next chapter in music and life is such an important and daunting task I find.  Writing letters of recommendation, getting them ready for their auditions, advising them on the schools I think are best for them are such crucial roles we play as teachers and mentors. When his lesson finishes it will be 5 pm.  Ill then make that appetizer I promised Id make for the party and make dinner for everyone while Im at it. 

   My son, the bassoonist, was offered two tickets to the NY Phil tonight; Dvorak 7 is one of my favorites. so muscular and exciting! I think I will give my ticket to my wife who works so hard during the week as an English teacher. She deserves a break and I think going into town and spending some time with him will be nice. Tonight, while I wait for my oldest daughter to get home from her high school dance I should have time to practice a bit...but for now, more coffee and dreaming of Monday when I can really practice and prepare for my upcoming concerts. But for now, I'm Dad and I would not change it for the world.

Sir William Walton Concerto for Viola and Orchestra

Dear friends and fellow violists,

     This blog has not only served as a place to talk about fun trips and travels with my viola but also to discuss some viola and career topics. With spring less than a month away and the snow ceasing to relent its icy hold on us, thoughts of summer come to mind.

I thought I would post a link to some master classes I have done the last few seasons that touch on some important issues I bring up during classes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn7vsHpIlec

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4k1-cTM6X0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXA_Pr6gyWM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEkhnqEm1-s

http://vimeo.com/14042638

This summer I return to the incredible heat of Texas where I will teach and perform at the International Festival of Round Top.  www.festivalhill.org 

Later in the summer I will return to Tuscany and perform/teach at Musica Horti Negli before heading to Provence where I will host my first "viola class" in beautiful Lourmarin, France.                   http://www.musicaneglihorti.it/?lang=en

I hope everyone has a great spring-summer full of great musical experiences!

Brett

Musical Practicing

Last week I was invited to give a master class at La Guardia Arts High School in New York City.
While I was struck by the wonderful talent there, I saw a recurring pattern in the way young students prepare music. Even more advanced students at festivals and chamber groups with which I work suffer from a practice method that often doesn't work.  Here is my take on the problem: 

Learning a new piece usually is broken down into two parts.

part 1: slowing learning "the notes, understanding the rhythms, figuring out the bowings, fingerings..."

part 2:  after mastering all the "technical aspects" of the piece, is the musical side: the phrasing, developing the singing quality of the line(vibrato, dynamics) and gaining a better understanding of how a piece in its totality it put together(a quartet, or a sonata, or a concerto.)

Here is the problem I see with this process...it takes twice as long.
Why not combine the first and second parts? I think the key to combining these two parts is Slow Practice.

Everyone knows that slow practice is key. We are always told this. If I hear my son practicing too fast I cant resist advising him to slow it down. We are taught to do passages in rhythms and to implement the metronome, building up the tempo.  Ive heard many students build up the tempo and then when they "perform" , it falls apart. Here in lies the problem with the conventional method of slow practice: when practicing slow one tends to only incorporate part 1 to slow practice and not part 2.

Combine parts 1 and 2 in your daily slow practice:

Playing musically is a technique in itself. Use slow practice to work on connecting bow strokes, develop continuous vibrato from one note to another, make you shifts slower, more fluid and seamless while, at the same time learning the notes...slowly.  When we practice a technical passage slowly, something in our brain turns off. Its like Commander Data from Star Trek: he turns his "emotion chip" off and goes into computer mode.  Why not "always" have your "emotion chip" on, especially when practicing slowly?  This will end up saving you time in the long run.  And as an added benefit, the more you practice "musically" the better prepared you will be when you find yourself in a stressful situation such as an audition or high stakes performance.  The musical practice you did "while learning the technique" will help carry you through especially if nerves are a factor. 

So give this a try for the next new piece or etude you prepare. From the onset, practice the piece slowly AND musically.  You may feel like you are learning a piece slower, but you may surprise yourself at how much quicker you are really preparing this piece and future ones!  And besides, its more fun to practice slowly while keeping the music going!