My woodwind trio had its first rehearsal back since the Christmas holiday and due to exam leave we’ve not been able to rehearse. The second and third movements are mostely secure and the first is the most difficult so we worked on that. We focused on the dynamics and articulation and started focusing on playing as an ensemble and listening to balance. For the next week I asked everyone to focus on the dynamics in their individual parts and looking at the articulations.
Finer detail
Over the past week I have been focusing on the finer details of the piece to try and elevate it to the next level. In my lesson, my teacher started pointing out some of the accents and diminuendos. At the start of the piece there are three accents that are on very high notes that are proving difficult. I quite often get a squeak instead on the note. My teacher has suggested an embrechure change that should help me get the high notes secure. This week I will be focusing on identifying the dynamics and practising the high notes with this new embrechure.
Christmas practise
Over the Christmas holiday my goal was to break the back of the first movement. I looked at the technical passages and practised them very slowly and in rhythms to get my fingers around them. Attached is an excerpt of my practise technique. It worked well and allowed me to get a feeling of the end tempo of the piece. Over the next week, I will be focusing on dynamics and articulation.
