After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.

One of my former teachers posted a quote on her door every week.  I will continue this tradition with my practice journal.  Any guesses as to who said this?  I'll post it at the bottom of each post.  

Today was my first day of a regimented schedule with my handy dandy practice journal.  Because I was up so late last night creating this blog and finishing homework, I woke up a bit later than I anticipated.  My alarm clock on my phone was set to 9:15 for the weekend and consequently went off during my theory class.  The whole class received an interlude of "Harmonic Journey" - Phantom Regiment 2003 as my alarm ringtone (Yes, I have a slight obsession).  Needless to say, I woke up a bit late and was still able to practice for a little in the morning.

8:20 AM

Mouthpiece buzzing - 2 minutes

Lip slurs - 3 minutes

Long tones - 5 minutes

Articulation(legato and staccato tonguing in Real World) - 5 minutes

Intermezzo - 15 minutes

Warm Down - 5 minutes

11:35 AM - Mouthpiece buzzing and warm up for lesson

11:45 AM - Lesson

There was barely any playing due to the need for planning and organization.

Long story short: My assignments...

Scales: Eb M 2 octaves + various patterns

      A m 2 octaves + patterns

      E m 2 octaves + patterns

Etudes:

Kopprasch  - #1 in Do, Mib, and Sol

#9 in Do

Alphonse - Review 1-4 of Bk. 1

Pottag #67

Solo:

"Morceau de Concert" Saint Saens

"Fantasy for Horn" Sir Malcolm Arnold

Other Notes:

Chin (Practice in Mirror) - My chin likes to roll up rather than stay flexed.  I have tried countless times to fix it, but by the time I about had it, I switched back to a teacher that didn't focus on it.

We also discussed mouthpieces.  The mouthpiece I have been playing on is quite shallow and narrow and the rim is extremely wide.  The wide rim explains why I had to work so hard on lip slurs!  I have been trying out the Giardinelli 15 and really enjoy it so far.

12:50 PM

Already warmed up 

Kopprasch 1 - 10 minutes

Kopprasch 9 - 5 minutes

Scales - 5 mintues

Pottag 67 - 10 mintues

Alphonse 1-4 - 20 minutes

Kopprasch 9(again) - 5 minutes

Warm down - 5 minutes

7:30 PM

Buzzing - 5 minutes

Long tones - 5 minutes

Lip slurs - 5 minutes

Articulation - 5 minutes

Scales - 5 minutes

Kopprasch 1&9 - 5 minutes

Pottag 67 - 5 minutes

Alphonse 1-4 - 10 minutes

Overture for Band - 5 minutes

Original Suite - 5 minutes

Intermezzo - 5 minutes

Warm down - 5 minutes

Total practice time: 2 hours 40 minutes

My practice time was a bit under my goal; however, I also played a little during my lesson and had Wind Ensemble.  For my last two practice sessions and Wind Ensemble, I used the Giardinelli 15.  I really felt great playing on that mouthpiece.  some of that is the "new mouthpiece effect," but I was able to glide through partials easier and the high range didn't seem that much more difficult.  I will most likely start using my Holton MDC once I have to return the Giardinelli.  I felt that my practicing today went very well.  I get very excited about organization for some reason, so this regimented practicing worked out for me.  The Rider book was a great start for the articulation.  During the Intermezzo, I was having some issues with upper lip slurs and bumps in all of my lip slurs that seemed to be alleviated by the new mouthpiece; however, I will still work on mastering those slurs.  The etudes seem to cover all aspects of my technique and during a rep of each, I try to focus solely on my chin.  If I pay attention to it, it stays flexed.  Hopefully, I will soon be able to create some muscle memory and open up my upper register.  I made copies of my solos tonight so that I can begin to work on those tomorrow!

Quote of the Day: Aldous Huxley, dystopian science fiction author who wrote Brave New World.