Letter from Mrs. Hebert (11/10)
Sinfonia West,
We had a good rehearsal last night, but it is going to take EVERY ONE of you to practice this week so we can have a stellar performance on Saturday!
Remember: if you each don’t practice your music this week, we will actually sound worse than our run-through at the end of rehearsal so let’s work together to make this performance excellent!
Here are some specific areas to practice for our pieces: I would encourage you to print this section off and work through this every day!
Cumberland Cross:
Strings: measures 1-8: set your metronome to 60= quarter note and play with your metronome 2x a day. Then, go back and play it musically and PIANO!! Add the phrasing in and make it sing! Make the poco rit in measure 3 more dramatic.
Woodwinds: Practice measures 8-16: set your metronome to 60= quarter note and play with your metronome 2x a day. Then, go back and play it musically and PIANO!! Add the phrasing in and make it sing
Everyone: Practice the pickup into 17-22. Sustain each dotted quarter note. Work on phrasing (if the notes go up, slightly crescendo and if the notes go down slightly decrescendo). Practice measure 22 with a BIG molto rit.
Everyone: Set your metronome at 118 this week starting at measure 25. We played this section pretty sloppy at rehearsal so ensure you are playing EVERY staccato and accent. LIGHT and CRISP are words you can write in to help you remember.
Brass/Woodwinds Measures 29-32 and measures 37-42 are very under tempo. Please work these sections up to 118!!!
Everyone: measures 61-66: watch your tempo!
Dance of the Tumblers:
Strings: lock into the tempo and style from the first measure!! CRISP! Bring out the accents!
Brass: Please tune your notes a few measures before B-D
Woodwinds: measure 29-36 are a bit out of tune. Practice each note slowly with a tuner and then speed it up. If you don’t have a tuner, you can look one up online or download a free app! Also tune J-K with a tuner.
Lower strings: at K, work on keeping the 16th notes crisp and clean. Lock in with your metronome.
1st violins: Measures97-98: many are missing the F and C naturals. Practice it SLOWLY and then get it up to concert speed. Also, work at Letter N-0 for intonation ensuring you are playing F naturals on the E string.
Everyone: find small sections to practice slowly and then increase your tempo. Play through sections and double check your dynamics.
Happy Practicing!
I can’t wait to celebrate all your hard work on Saturday.
Mrs. Hebert