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Practice Journal, Moving

Submitted by dentonlt on 28. August 2008 - 13:08
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Today: 1 hr 55 min, slurs 67 bpm
Yesterday: 34 min, 66 bpm
25 Aug: 40 min, 66 bpm
24 Aug: 25 min, 66 bpm

Clearly, it was a rough week. Not at all committed ... [sigh]. Fatigue set in early today, but I plowed on through and got a lot done.

I'm planning a very short recital in October - looking forward to playing with one of my coworkers, Marta Majka. Repertoire to include some easy stuff and a bit of harder stuff:

Galliard - Sonata II (G Major)
Guilmant - Morceau Symphonique (may do this on bass ...

Hardyness, Practice

Submitted by dentonlt on 21. August 2008 - 16:55
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About a month ago, my hard drive gradually started dying ... losing data, misplacing things, clicking and 'thinking' real slow. I've never lost a hard drive before now. Mine still sort of works, but I don't trust it much.

Tonight I finally figured out how to get an operating system onto a replacement drive. The real trick was that I don't have a cd rom on my laptop (Evon N410c). Booting from USB is possible, though.

I've previously used Linux, and Xubuntu's Hardy Heron has been out for a little while. That's my current solution & setup.

On life, practice, and 'balance'. This week.

Submitted by dentonlt on 8. August 2008 - 11:43
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I've been gently reminded to post on my blog (thanks, Mom :) )

Frankly, it's been a rough week with the practice. I'm really depressed about that. Getting in enough time to keep myself at stasis, but ... if I'm not getting better, then it's likely I'm getting worse. At best, the people around me are getting better and I'm not! Against the community, I didn't make much headway this week. [sigh]

On the bright side, I did enjoy my second anniversary with my wife. We'll properly take a little weekend holiday this Friday/Saturday - I'm looking forward to that.

More mental practice: the chicken and the egg

Submitted by dentonlt on 7. January 2008 - 15:21
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This afternoon I had the good fortune to talk to trombonist Philip Brink (University of Mahidol, Thailand). I'm doing some research on focal dystonia, and I wanted to hear about his experience as a teacher. He's recently had a student who had a slight stutter.

Phil mentioned something very important: mental/emotional approach is everything. If we're positive, hopeful, and sure, then our practice will be that way. We'll be focused on solving whatever obstacle stands in our way, and we'll be solving.

The Comparison Game

Submitted by dentonlt on 19. September 2007 - 7:22
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SlowLeadership.org on Comparison and Competition

It's hard not to 'compare' to our colleagues and peers in music. Harder still not to compare against all those good recordings we like to hear ... in fact, idolize.

For the future, let us all make a point to compare against ourselves, instead. Perhaps we should record ourselves more often, review our journals more often ... update the CV/resume more often.

How about today?

Subdivision, entrainment, mental focus

Submitted by dentonlt on 5. September 2007 - 15:40
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I'm still preparing my upcoming solo recital. It's a daily battle with myself: focus against all the things going on with life, practice what I need to practice. Especially when it sounds bad. Practice slowly, thoroughly.

Entrainment: To pull or draw along after itself.

Today's practice reminded me a lot about he importance of focusing on subdividing. And then getting out of the way of the time. The music is just floating there in front of us as we play (in front of me as I play).

On Focusing - Reclaim your Attention

Submitted by dentonlt on 28. August 2007 - 11:51
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Good advice for everyone:

17 Tricks to Reclaim your Stolen Attention

Yep. You know what that means.

Slow Practice, Practicing Music (not trombone)

Submitted by dentonlt on 24. August 2007 - 6:42
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I'm currently preparing another solo recital for performance at the University of Texas at Austin. With any luck, I'll also be playing it at my accompanist's school, the University of Minnesota. We're both looking forward to these. Should be late October for each, dates almost secured.

I began this round of music quite early for myself - late spring of this year. About 25 weeks out, I guess. As I've made it down into the single digits (8 or so weeks to go, now), I realize that I have made good progress on many fronts.

First, I am improving as an overall musician.

on dedication

Submitted by dentonlt on 9. August 2007 - 2:45
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I easily forget the value of focused, dedicated practice. 'Dedication' is the willingness to do the right practice for many days in a row. It's easy to get frustrated when it doesn't work on the first day. . . Or the tenth. Some things have become easier in the last few weeks. Practice has time value just like money. It takes time.

Daily Vigilance

Submitted by dentonlt on 25. July 2007 - 3:18
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Last night I played with a big band in town. It was definitely good to get out and perform, as I'm starting to get rusty performance skills. Much fun had by all. I had my share of 'oops' moments.

This morning it was hard to practice. The long night last night and frequent 'oops', though ... those aren't very good memories to start the morning. They're also not good for first thoughts when I pick up the horn. Those thoughts are physically and emotionally distracting.

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