Letter from Jack (10/27)

Dear Concert Orchestra,

We’re just under 3 weeks away from our performance at Fall Festival! Let’s keep digging deeper into our music and have a GREAT first performance of the year at orchestra hall.

Although our primary efforts are focused on Still and Elgar, please continue to chip away at Prokofiev and especially WALTON. Winds and Brass have some challenging sections that are deserving of attention.

For Elgar and Still, I am hopeful that ALL intonation, rhythmic, pulse, and dynamic issues will be taken care of by our next meeting. Please take the necessary time on your own to take care of these things. Of particular importance:

INTONATION:

• Being in tune is important for slow AND fast sections of our music. Take some time to play against a drone, sing through your part, or play in front of a tuner. LISTEN to our recordings and try to name the quality of your chord tone on long held notes (are you the root? 3rd? 5th? 7th?). This sort of practice is difficult and time consuming, but well worth the effort.
• For bonus points, you might contact your stand partner (or SECTION, for winds and brass) and agree to arrive at rehearsal early/stay late in order to tune some of our trickiest sections.

PULSE:

• Always, all the time, thinking about the subdivision of the beat while you are playing.
• Metronome work is ALWAYS a good idea in small doses, though push yourself to play long stretches of music without a metronome to develop a clear pulse.
• MEMORIZE sections of your music and practice walking around your room while you play, keeping your feet moving in a steady beat.

Next week’s Schedule:

We’ll start with a mock run through of Fall Festival, including tuning and bows.

6:45-7:15: Elgar and Still, mock performance

7:15-7:45: Still Rehearsal

8:00-8:15: Walton movement 4

8:15-8:45: Elgar Rehearsal

Enjoy making MUSIC this week!

Jack.