My 4th lesson with Wolfgang was on excerpts. We covered Don Quixote- variation VII,
Don Quixote: -Little more oomph, too gentle. No tapering, all loud!
-correct rhythm- don't get to the 8th notes too late! Don't rush the beginning of the triplets!
-use F fingerings when Bb horn doesn't sound so good and F horn still responds well enough.
-take care that the crescendo blooms the most ON the downbeat of the next bar, that should be the loudest part.
-stay strong to the end! same character even with different register!
Shostakovich 5: -good sound quality and character
-phrasing (obvious) play it double time to find phrasing
-don't be afraid of the Bb, finish the crescendo on the Bb!!!
-even out the wobbly notes a bit more
-separate notes in the accelerando with tongue, not so legato tongued..!
Looking at Arpeggios:
-give a little more energy to the high notes
-don't jolt head
-play louder arps
-lots of air
-support your support
-long tones in the high register
-keeping same quality of air, just slower air speed- this also applies to the G at the end of the slow section in the Bozza, slower air, but the same quality, the note just floats.
-concentrate on the system, create habit
Mahler 9:
-start a little stronger, so the audience knows there's a horn solo
-keep the triplets moving
-move the quarters into the next bar >>> push!
-very quick breaths! reflex breathing!
Duets with Blair! yayyyy!!!! Nicolai duets, switching between 1st/2nd parts. :) very funsies.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Lessons 3
In my 3rd lesson with Wolfgang, I played Horn Yoga for him and he sat and listened to almost the whole thing. This is what he said:
Ohms: I'm leaving some slurs that are not perfect, cracked without going back and fixing them. If I leave them cracked, then I am allowing for imperfection to be the norm in my playing. Not acceptable. Fix it!
Meditation/Tonguing: He said nothing and we moved on :) aw yea.
Flexibility 1: I'm not reaching high enough for the upper note and not getting the full interval, so i'm getting cracks in the upper slur. I need to aim a little higher, and the slur will come out cleaner and the interval will be correct.
Flexibility 2: Going over my breaks is really difficult, the slurs from low C to G and then G to G are particularly difficult intervals. Attack the upper note from above. Think about it as if you're coming in on it from above, instead of below. This helps push through the break with much less bump or space b/t the notes. Get over the break with more AIR! Also, if you think the upper note longer (don't actually physically make it longer), it extends the phrase and makes all the notes equal length. Because you stay on the note the slightest big longer, it makes the note fuller too.
Trills: Make sure you are paying attention to the harmonic series notes and not just the trills. Make those slurs really perfect and clean and hear all the intervals. Good trills. Use a little more air on the way down, fill it out.
note: to practice the trills in En Foret, play the trills with crescendo in Yoga too! This has proved to be quite difficult!
Villanelle:
-opening: without walves ;)
-getting little "grr's" cracks on the beginnings of notes in and above the staff, at a loud volume. fix: use more air in relation to Tah of the tonguing. "It's not too much tongue, it's too less air." :) Also, the vowels are not right. The cavity in my mouth is too open, i'm cracking from below. Use more "E" vowel.
-practice sections slowly to get the vowels correct and the attacks clear.
-don't play the end too short, just flow through the notes not thinking about making them short.
Thoughts of the Day:
-"never leave something unfixed"
-be picky with how perfect things sound (slurs in this case) "taking care about everything" lol.
-"never be lazy with the vowels"
-More air over breaks
-look up all terms in different languages!!!!
Ohms: I'm leaving some slurs that are not perfect, cracked without going back and fixing them. If I leave them cracked, then I am allowing for imperfection to be the norm in my playing. Not acceptable. Fix it!
Meditation/Tonguing: He said nothing and we moved on :) aw yea.
Flexibility 1: I'm not reaching high enough for the upper note and not getting the full interval, so i'm getting cracks in the upper slur. I need to aim a little higher, and the slur will come out cleaner and the interval will be correct.
Flexibility 2: Going over my breaks is really difficult, the slurs from low C to G and then G to G are particularly difficult intervals. Attack the upper note from above. Think about it as if you're coming in on it from above, instead of below. This helps push through the break with much less bump or space b/t the notes. Get over the break with more AIR! Also, if you think the upper note longer (don't actually physically make it longer), it extends the phrase and makes all the notes equal length. Because you stay on the note the slightest big longer, it makes the note fuller too.
Trills: Make sure you are paying attention to the harmonic series notes and not just the trills. Make those slurs really perfect and clean and hear all the intervals. Good trills. Use a little more air on the way down, fill it out.
note: to practice the trills in En Foret, play the trills with crescendo in Yoga too! This has proved to be quite difficult!
Villanelle:
-opening: without walves ;)
-getting little "grr's" cracks on the beginnings of notes in and above the staff, at a loud volume. fix: use more air in relation to Tah of the tonguing. "It's not too much tongue, it's too less air." :) Also, the vowels are not right. The cavity in my mouth is too open, i'm cracking from below. Use more "E" vowel.
-practice sections slowly to get the vowels correct and the attacks clear.
-don't play the end too short, just flow through the notes not thinking about making them short.
Thoughts of the Day:
-"never leave something unfixed"
-be picky with how perfect things sound (slurs in this case) "taking care about everything" lol.
-"never be lazy with the vowels"
-More air over breaks
-look up all terms in different languages!!!!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Wolfgang Vladar
Today I had my second lesson with Wolfgang. It was incredible. We'll just say there were lightbulbs going off everywhere in my head.
I always try to start with Mozart if I can because I'm very comfortable with it and it shows a lot about every different teacher's unique style. So, in my first lesson with Wolfgang, I played the first movement from Mozart's 4th horn concerto. Three days prior to my lesson I had a coaching with an accompanist (we get one every week!) on this specific movement and she told me that I needed to do more with the phrasing and the character changes and it was very helpful and inspiring. When I brought this version to Wolfgang, he said, "It's like you're wearing too much perfume." I agreed. He worked with me on longer phrases and not picking out too many notes in a phrase. I personally agreed with him on a lot of things, but there were definitely some musical choices that I still preferred my initial decision, and he was ok with that! He would offer his advice and they tell me that it was ok, I could do it either way, whatever I wanted! yay! Of course I always tried his way and gave reasoning for mine as well. There were definitely some "vienna horn" stylistic things that I caught in his playing, including accented notes instead of a solid, smooth line. I was playing some lines straight with an even crescendo and he told me to stop crescendoing into every note, instead hit them and back off, but crescendo with each note. Very interesting interpretation and I definitely will keep trying to perfect it. I need to be able to do what he asks. He gave me some advice on high playing, making a more "e" vowel with my tongue closer to the roof of my mouth, and it's been helping for sure. My high range is improving. slowly.
He has a really organized way of teaching lessons. He has a bunch of things that he knows he wants to say, and judging only from my lessons, it seems to be pretty specific to each player. He didn't say anything non relevant to my horn playing. He asked if I could define support, which I couldn't. He defines it basically as something that your body does for you (for the most part). When you take a breath and blow out, what do you feel? Not much. Then take a breath and blow out through a pursed embouchure, now what do you feel? You abs tighten automatically. This is support. One can help support their support by taking healthy breaths from basically your stomach, not from the chest. He tends to say the word "tension" a lot, which I know is a no-no, but I'm accepting and interpreting it in a way that will help me and not be damaging to my tension free approach! Thank goodness for Dale Clevenger's advice on lessons in Europe! "Don't ever think about tightening your abdomen, they might talk about it, just don't." There was more, but that's the basic gist of it.
But anyway.. I'm really inspired after every lesson I've had here and I'm really feeling like I'm getting a lot out of this city. Now I need to kick it into gear and really work on this music. I'm putting together my rep for my recital here. It's looking quite promising... :)
I always try to start with Mozart if I can because I'm very comfortable with it and it shows a lot about every different teacher's unique style. So, in my first lesson with Wolfgang, I played the first movement from Mozart's 4th horn concerto. Three days prior to my lesson I had a coaching with an accompanist (we get one every week!) on this specific movement and she told me that I needed to do more with the phrasing and the character changes and it was very helpful and inspiring. When I brought this version to Wolfgang, he said, "It's like you're wearing too much perfume." I agreed. He worked with me on longer phrases and not picking out too many notes in a phrase. I personally agreed with him on a lot of things, but there were definitely some musical choices that I still preferred my initial decision, and he was ok with that! He would offer his advice and they tell me that it was ok, I could do it either way, whatever I wanted! yay! Of course I always tried his way and gave reasoning for mine as well. There were definitely some "vienna horn" stylistic things that I caught in his playing, including accented notes instead of a solid, smooth line. I was playing some lines straight with an even crescendo and he told me to stop crescendoing into every note, instead hit them and back off, but crescendo with each note. Very interesting interpretation and I definitely will keep trying to perfect it. I need to be able to do what he asks. He gave me some advice on high playing, making a more "e" vowel with my tongue closer to the roof of my mouth, and it's been helping for sure. My high range is improving. slowly.
He has a really organized way of teaching lessons. He has a bunch of things that he knows he wants to say, and judging only from my lessons, it seems to be pretty specific to each player. He didn't say anything non relevant to my horn playing. He asked if I could define support, which I couldn't. He defines it basically as something that your body does for you (for the most part). When you take a breath and blow out, what do you feel? Not much. Then take a breath and blow out through a pursed embouchure, now what do you feel? You abs tighten automatically. This is support. One can help support their support by taking healthy breaths from basically your stomach, not from the chest. He tends to say the word "tension" a lot, which I know is a no-no, but I'm accepting and interpreting it in a way that will help me and not be damaging to my tension free approach! Thank goodness for Dale Clevenger's advice on lessons in Europe! "Don't ever think about tightening your abdomen, they might talk about it, just don't." There was more, but that's the basic gist of it.
But anyway.. I'm really inspired after every lesson I've had here and I'm really feeling like I'm getting a lot out of this city. Now I need to kick it into gear and really work on this music. I'm putting together my rep for my recital here. It's looking quite promising... :)
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