Cats

31. August 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Links, Musical Theatre, Other People's Words

I played for my son’s high school’s production of Cats some years ago. It’s a musical I’ve never cared for. Playing it didn’t help. But I just read a blogger’s comments about her experience and I’m thinking, “Hey, this just might work!”:

I feel that Cats is best understood as a ballet on a poem by T.S. Eliot. After all, all sorts of nonsense goes on in ballets. If swans are OK, why not cats?

Gee … that might do it! Think of it as ballet. Yes. I like that idea. (Of course I still might not like it; there’s a lot of ballet I don’t like either, due to the lame music.)

She ended the blog with a choice comment, too:

There were a couple of older performers, at least I presume they are older, who sang virtually without reference to any particular pitch. I pretended they were cats.

:-)

Sorry … gotta put this up. Doesn’t mean you gotta listen, though:

Use Your Metronome!

31. August 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Videos

Some aren’t in favor of using a metronome.

Mr. Astaire doesn’t agree. :-)

Relaxation Time

31. August 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Pictures, Ramble

Whenever I have a concert the house sort of takes a nose-dive. I can’t seem to manage to keep it as clean as I like (no one else likes it as clean as I like … which might imply it’s not really horribly messy when I let it go, but it bugs me!). So this morning was a “catch up day” after the weekend concerts (which went well, by the way, despite the hot weather and boiling stage).

So today: dusted & vacuumed (until, on the final room, I gave up trying to push a broken vacuum), cleaned the bathrooms, did the laundry, got the refried beans going (do “true” refried beans get fried and refried? I just cook pinto beans and then add all sorts of ingredients; no frying involved. Hmm.), cleaned much of the kitchen (avoiding the Viking stove like the plague) … and now I’m relaxing in my favorite way. I have my tea & muffin, along with the MacBook. Sweet … in more ways than one!

relaxation.JPG

YouTube

31. August 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Ramble

I have recently seen a few YouTube videos that are resulting in this little blog post. They aren’t videos I’ll post, as I found them bothersome. But perhaps talking about what made them so will be helpful to some readers:

Movement
I realize that some musicians move more than others. I’ve been told that in some countries lack of movement means lack of musicality. This isn’t necessarily true, although people that sit like statues seem to tend to sound less musical to me. (Could it merely be because they look so uninvolved? I wonder.)

I move, but I don’t move around nearly as much as I did when I was younger, but I do move a bit. I strongly believe that if one does move those movements must make sense! I saw a video where a player was moving like crazy, but it had nothing to do with the line of the work. Some people move to the pulse, pointing out every single strong beat, and I find that distracting, but to move with no sense to it at all is especially distracting. (We don’t stress every other syllable as we speak, I don’t believe we should stress every strong beat as we play.)

Intonation
In another video an oboist was probably at least a eighth of a tone sharp. Maybe even a quarter tone sharp. It was amazing. I saw no look of concern on the player’s face, so I’m assuming that it wasn’t something the player notice, which brings me to this: listen! My students know that I will, on occasion, ask them to critique what they just did. Sometimes they have nothing to say and I’ll ask, “Where you listening?” and they’ll admit they weren’t. We get so busy with the notes and our pesky reeds we do actually forget to listen sometimes. Seems crazy, I know, but there you go.

Appearances matter
Don’t give away a wrong note. Don’t shake your head, roll your eyes, or do anything to give it away. Those who heard it don’t need to be told you made a mistake, and those who didn’t don’t need to be told. (And don’t react to someone else’s mistake either. Trust me, it’s a bad idea!)

Okay … enough for now. This is probably stuff everyone already knows, but there may be some younger musicians out there who can use this. Who knows?

Read Online

31. August 2009 · 2 comments · Categories: Read Online

I like music as much as the next person …

Hmmm. What does that mean? And who is the next person?

Music You Can Use

31. August 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Links, Ramble

… if you’re a dog. Check it out!

And then there’s this:

Music for the Canine Household – This CD adds cello, oboe and English horn along with the piano to create a positive atmosphere for the whole family, without inducing sleepiness.

Cool. Oboe and English horn … with no drowsiness!

Sunday Evening Music

30. August 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Sunday Evening Music

A Living Prayer

Sunday Afternoon?

30. August 2009 · 2 comments · Categories: Photos, Ramble

This morning I had church. This evening I have San Jose Chamber Orchestra.

This afternoon? It should be a rest time. I didn’t sleep well, and I want to be alert for the concert. So the plan was to get home from church and crash.

But … well … you see …

GoodTimes.JPGIMGP0283.JPG

… plus a better picture of the muffins, just to make you drool:

Muffins!.JPG

Sunday Morning Music

30. August 2009 · 1 comment · Categories: Sunday Morning Music

Vivaldi: Et in terra pax, Gloria

Mozart Oboe Quartet

29. August 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Videos

I gave you the first movement yesterday, but here are all three:

I:

II:

III:

Sadly, I see no names listed, so I can’t give the players credit here.

MQODs

29. August 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Quotes

I love classical music because it allows me to think on levels that are very complex. I know that pop artists like Bjork are considered complex, but I’m not so sure.

… In their day, I loved the Beatles, but at no point did I confuse them with Beethoven or Bach or Mahler,” he said. “The problem with pop music is that it’s this enormous, influential thing that you can’t get free of. It just sucks all the air out of the room.

… A lot of great art is brought into the world and it’s not particularly popular. We do our thing and hope it has a long shelf life.

-John Adams

I read them here.

Very Disgruntled

29. August 2009 · 3 comments · Categories: Links, Ramble

If you go here you can read one person’s opinion about a concert he/she attended. (It appears that the blogger is anonymous. Maybe I’m missing his/her name somewhere though.)

I can see why the person isn’t totally thrilled, but, at the same time, it seemed to me that the concert-goer went in with the expectation to be unhappy. Because he/she calls intermission the “interval” I’m going to guess he/she is from somewhere other than here, although I guess I could spell color “colour” and I’d still be here no matter. But in any case, it sounds like that particular person isn’t happy with the whole classical music experience.

The blogger complains about musicians warming up on stage. I know that some audience members complain about the noise. Sometimes, I must admit, it’s even a bit too raucous for me. But I will explain that we oboists, at least, are out there because our reeds are constantly changing and we want to see what they’ve decided to do that day, that hour. Tuning is important too, and it’s best to have your instrument adapted to the stage temperature, which can differ greatly from backstage temps. You might even see us pull out our knives and do something to a reed. It’s necessary. Honest. If we didn’t have to do that we wouldn’t. But reeds behave differently on stage than they do at our homes, our studios, or even backstage. They behave differently from one day to the next. Sometimes even from one hour to the next. We aren’t making noise simply because we like to bother people. I also understand that some orchestras in Europe (maybe all?) don’t do that. I talked to a friend of mine from France and she much prefers playing here so she can warm up in the location where she’ll be playing.

Ah well. There will always be complaints.

Oh … and I went to the movies and I couldn’t get into their bathroom until I had purchased my ticket, so I’m not sure the “I can’t use the bathroom and I’m not happy about that” is just a “classical music concert” problem.

Tails? Yeah, I’d love to see ‘em nixed. I’ve written about that before. Someone talking before we play something? I don’t usually like it. Oh, and usually actually equalsall the time. I find it disruptive. I find it unnecessary. And if I’m ready to go, that five minute talk can make the reed dry out, misbehave, or otherwise surprise me. That’s why I like the pre-concert talks; people who really want to hear about the works can come early. I prefer a concert start and end with music.

You’ll read even more complaints if you visit the blog.

But anyway, I’m sorry the blogger had such a horrible no-good time. But the title of the blog is
“Proper Discord: Trouble With Classical Music” so I’m guessing he/she always has a pretty bad time …?

Me? I have a good time when I attend concerts. I really do. Since Dan and I have started to make a point of getting out to concerts more frequently I decided I was going to enjoy, not to grumble. I’m paying a good amount of money and I want to enjoy myself. (If I wanna pay big bucks to be frustrated and upset it seems I only have to go to a Giants game. Sigh. Only once, somewhat recently, did I go to a symphony performance where I got the feeling the musicians weren’t happy to be there and the playing was less than stellar. (And no, I won’t tell you any more than that.) We all have our bad days, after all.

I should probably start a blog about the trouble with dentists. I don’t have a good time there. Ever.

Read Online

28. August 2009 · 2 comments · Categories: Read Online

I’m looking for an used english horn or a cor anglais. It doesn’t have to be in top shape, even broken is fine.

Hmmm. Maybe someone is planning on making an English horn lamp?

Really. Sometimes people purchase old awful instruments and use the instrument for a lamp stand. Actually maybe I should have one of those. Hmmm.

(& I’m not sure what the person said english horn or cor anglais. They are one and the same. Just like oboe and hautbois are one and the same. Yes?)

Frustration, Practicing, & all that Jazz

28. August 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Ramble, Videos

Last year, trying to learn the oboe, the kid was struggling so much she was getting embarrassed in music class, hated practicing, was having no fun at all. Midway through the school year, she asked if she could drop out of music. I made her a deal: If she practiced at least five times a week for a month, she could quit; but if she missed just one week she’d have to play the entire year. She wanted to quit so bad she put more into the oboe than she had all year, and of course she became one of the best in the class and no longer wanted to stop. At the end of the school term she switched to clarinet, but she loves music now, gets it in a way she never would have — and plays a killer “Mexican Jumping Beans.”

I read that online and thought that might not be a bad idea … just make a deal for a while and see what happens.

Here’s a discombobulated ramble (I’m near to having to race out the door so I don’t even have time to edit, so please excuse all the typos and poorly constructed sentences. Heck, I don’t even know if this will make any sense at all! …?):

Oboe isn’t for everyone. (And, as a reminder, it is NOT a college entrance ticket, even if some parents are still counting on that.) It’s a frustrating instrument, to be sure. Anyone who reads this blog knows that I find it frustrating at times. Dealing with the frustration has become easier, so I hang on to that.

I have some students who, I can tell, aren’t practicing. Are they frustrated? I’m not sure. They might just be too busy. They might be lazy (although most are so darn busy I can’t imagine they have any time to be lazy!). The other night I heard Carlos Santana say something interesting when he was asked about practicing. He said, “I never practice. I take my guitar for a walk. I take my fingers for a walk.” Hmm. What if parents just suggest to their child, “Why don’t you just take that oboe for a walk for a while?” I know that when I start my practice on the fun side, I can more easily get into the work of it all. When I begin with something that is especially difficult, I tend to get tired more quickly, and I look for any excuse to stop.

But, of course, one does have to hunker down and really work. My students know about my “dissection method” and “opening the curtain” and the “5 X Rule”. They know ‘em, and don’t particularly care for them, but sometimes we do those during lessons and I promise you that every time we do they wind up playing so much better. Funny how that happens.

Oh dear … gotta run! So I’ll just post the first movement of the Mozart Oboe Quartet below for your enjoyment:

TQOD

28. August 2009 · 2 comments · Categories: TQOD

Played an oboe for the first time! It was easy! Super wicked!

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