On Monday I had my audition playing the Adagio of the Bach BWV 1039 Trio sonata. Including Cello.
First time I could accomplish such a thing. The performance was successful, no mistakes, my tone quality was reasonably good and I could correct -though partially- my legato and incorrect flowing of notes I had noted before (I had been recording myself for a while).

It seems that we were however a little out of tune in some places but I believe it was mainly due to big temperature and humidity changes between the previous rehearsal room (we were OK then) and the larger but crowded room we played in. We had to step in the room from a cool corridor, no time to get the instruments (and ourselves) warm enough and very little time to correct the tuning, particularly for the cello.

I am now aware that the cello is a very sensitive instrument concerning environment conditions.

Nerves could also have played a role in my case. I have a tendency to play flat, but when nervous, it is rather the opposite. (so I guess that the right amount of nerves would allow me to play well in tune...)

This was a big challenge I had set to myself and -at least in my own opinion- I succeeded. But now I have to go back to progressive learning and avoid skipping necessary previous steps, so I am closing this Bach chapter. At least for now.

Just wanted to share my joy and satisfaction.

Congrats! It sounds like you have come such a long way on the flute since posting on here. I would be happy too!

Congrats, JoseLuis. And thanks for sharing.
Nerves are a funny thing. AT my last concert, I couldn't get the low notes to come out well during warm-up. When it finally started working, my lower lip was shaking. I didn't have any solos (Symphonic/Military Band), and I thought it was strange that I was so nervous. It turns out that my lip was shaking because of using new muscles- I recently had a major change to my embouchure- and not nerves. But the shaky lip made me nervous, because I thought it was nerves making the lip shake!
Warming-up at home a few days later, with nobody around, I noticed the lip shaking again and concluded that it wasn't nerves.

Did you get a recording of your performance?

Thank you for your comments.
I have a recording of the previous rehearsal (half an hour before the audition) but not of the audition itself. I took it with a very bad smalll electret microphone, the oly I ghad available and does not sound good,; I knew this in advance but I made it anyway to have some feedback for my own evaluation. Also, in this last rehearsal, I had a problem with a very long A note at the beginning of the piece; my attack was bad and I did not like the sound and the level. I tried to correct it on the go but it was getting worst, so I decided to stop it and re-start it. It was not a fatal problem because during these measures the other flute is very busy playing the melody and draws all the attention to itself, while my long A is like an additional supporting continuo; we had agreed to play this long note as softer as possible and that was the reason I failed the attack. It did not happen during the actual audition.

Concerning nerves, in my case I do much better if I keep out of coffee or tea for several hours before playing.

Hi Vinod!

Thank you for your comments. I am glad you are working on Gabriel's Oboe. It is so much beautiful and everybody enjoys it. Not an easy rhythm, however.

After the Bach episode it is one of the works I have to study with my teacher, together with the Andante by Mozart, a Concerto by Telemann and maybe something by Piazzola. Could be Cafe 1930, but in this coming lesson period I have made myself a promise as not to impose my choice and follow instead the indications of those who know more. And study in a progressive way and not by big jumps. These take most of all my time and efforts and leave very little for other learnings that are also necessary.

Concerning physical training, I believe each professor has his own theory and one should follow also our own intuition. For example, I swim a lot (for my age) and this has developed my muscled a bit. I notice this because I am quite thin and so they are easily visible. But I do not think that this has much to do with the relaxing necessary for correct my playing. Maybe all the contrary:

I am sure it helps me with my breathing (it has improved a lot during these six years I practice swimming), with my heart rate (I lowered it below 60 bpm and this is good in general). And a moderate physical activity, at least in my case, helps also with anxiety and its direct consequence: nerves when plying and even during the lessons.

However, I would not do heavy training like weight lifting, for example, not only because I do not like this kind of training but also because IMO it could be not compatible with the musical activity.

Another thing I would not do (always in my case) is to play sports that present risks for the wrists and the fingers (unfortunately, many of the sports do). I am not young and harming them could put me out of combat (musically speaking) for a long time and maybe forever in a practical sense.

But all this is open to constructive debate and it would be interesting to read the opinions of other people in this Forum.

But the main issue here is that one should accept the general position of the person chosen as teacher. If your professor says you should not train (or not train so much), then I would accept and stop it. But this is my own approach and I am sure there will be many other opinions here, including your own.

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Sorry, a few typos. I will let them as the sense can be understood, except this one:

necessary for correct my playing = necessary for my correct playing

If every muscle is completely relaxed during a recital, you will be lying on the floor unable to lift your instrument.

If you have unneccesary tension, you are essentially fighting yourself.

There IS a happy medium. Physical excercise, even if it is only walking, is necessary for one's physical health.

I don't get the aversion to weight training. If this were true, then weight-lifters would not have the ability to use fine-muscle control, as they would need for writing or typing. I've not heard a peep about that. Also, I've seen grown men play the flute beautifully, and 8-year-old flute produgies play the flute beautifully, and I can bet that there is a lot more physical strength in the grown man.

I myself artificially inseminate cows. This requires a LOT of strength in the hand- my right hand (the breeding hand) has a big, bulgy muscle below the thumb, and one on the outside of the hand below the pinky finger, that the left hand does not. My grip was measured a few years ago at the orthopedists, and the good doctor's eyebrows went well up into his hairline. (He'd never in 15 years measured a grip strength that high on a woman.) This does NOT change the ability (assuming it's there already) for fine muscle control for trills or fast, fluid fingering, IMHO.

In fact, played a Bozza Flute quartet a couple of years ago, Jour D'Ete' a la Montagne. Its second movement is in 2/4 with quarter note =100, and most of the music is sextuplet figures, flying along, meant to represent the wind gusts 'on the edge of a cloudburst'. I started the piece, and in rehearsal usually had to be reined in for tempo, since the others had a bit of trouble keeping up that speed.

This is a really interesting topic.

I am a swimmer and runner, and until now I haven't thought about how muscle build could affect playing. But I know that the exercise helps a TON when it comes to breathing and breath support in my oboe playing.

My private teacher is always telling me that I have to relax. He says if you don't relax, you can't play oboe. I find that if I keep my fingers relaxed and not tense I can play faster and more accurate.

Relaxing is OK for fingers and body in general, but obviously we use some specific muscles in our playing that must be strong and are working while playing and cannot be relaxed.



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Have to stop posting for a couple of weeks as I will be abroad. See you on my return. Carpe Diem!

"Nerves could also have played a role in my case. I have a tendency to play flat, but when nervous, it is rather the opposite. (so I guess that the right amount of nerves would allow me to play well in tune...)"

I'm the same :D