こんにちは！
I've had a very productive past two days!
I've had the two most incredible practice sessions in my entire life between yesterday and today. I bought a new brand of reeds and am really impressed with them. I've been really unhappy with my Vandoren V12's lately... they've been wearing out really quickly, even if I break them in... and I'm not getting very good responses from them. Even if I had a reed knife, I don't think they'd improve much. It could just be the box... but if the whole box is like that, I don't want to spend another $23 on a box that might be just as shitty. I read on the clarinet boards the other day a few different posts about Rico Grand Concert Select reeds... and I'll admit, I was pretty skeptical at first, just from my past experience with Rico reeds. I've not liked their clarinet reeds, previously, thought I've had great success with their tenor sax jazz reeds, so I was willing to try this new(er) make of clarinet reed when I read so many good reviews on not only the clarinet boards, but on wwbw.com as well.
That box of reeds is probably the best $20 I've invested in quite awhile. I've been breaking in four reeds the past two days, and have had great luck with them. One of them sounded a tiny bit airy today, but otherwise I've got a great tone, excellent response, fantastic range in register and dynamic, and I don't feel like I'm killing my chops. I've also turned one into a "workhorse" reed to practice my concerto with (and think about practicing my two solos with... haha) and I'll probably use it for rehearsals this week, until I get some others broken in all the way to be able to determine which ones to rehearse with.
All in all, I've been very happy with my progress this week alone on my horn. The only thing that could make things better is if I had a private teacher again, and more time in which to practice!
That aside, I had my first 日本語へん today and it went really well! I was a little nervous on my way there, not knowing what to expect and all, but Yuki-san, and Miyuki-sensei were both really nice, and the dojo sensei seemed really nice, too! I feel much more confident about my pronunciation now, and learned a little bit better about the pronunciation of "r" sounds... though I still have a bit of trouble with them. At least now I can listen to myself a little more critically, though. I learned a little about sentence structure, as well, and got a few new vocabulary words. Considering that was my first lesson, I think I got a lot out of it. I think the next one will be even better, as Miyuki-sensei now knows how much I already know, and will be better able to prepare the next lesson plan.
I'm really excited about the whole adventure. I felt understood and stimulated today, rather than bored and patronized. I need more things and moments like that in my life.
じゃあ。。。おやすみなさい！
I've had the two most incredible practice sessions in my entire life between yesterday and today. I bought a new brand of reeds and am really impressed with them. I've been really unhappy with my Vandoren V12's lately... they've been wearing out really quickly, even if I break them in... and I'm not getting very good responses from them. Even if I had a reed knife, I don't think they'd improve much. It could just be the box... but if the whole box is like that, I don't want to spend another $23 on a box that might be just as shitty. I read on the clarinet boards the other day a few different posts about Rico Grand Concert Select reeds... and I'll admit, I was pretty skeptical at first, just from my past experience with Rico reeds. I've not liked their clarinet reeds, previously, thought I've had great success with their tenor sax jazz reeds, so I was willing to try this new(er) make of clarinet reed when I read so many good reviews on not only the clarinet boards, but on wwbw.com as well.
That box of reeds is probably the best $20 I've invested in quite awhile. I've been breaking in four reeds the past two days, and have had great luck with them. One of them sounded a tiny bit airy today, but otherwise I've got a great tone, excellent response, fantastic range in register and dynamic, and I don't feel like I'm killing my chops. I've also turned one into a "workhorse" reed to practice my concerto with (and think about practicing my two solos with... haha) and I'll probably use it for rehearsals this week, until I get some others broken in all the way to be able to determine which ones to rehearse with.
All in all, I've been very happy with my progress this week alone on my horn. The only thing that could make things better is if I had a private teacher again, and more time in which to practice!
That aside, I had my first 日本語へん today and it went really well! I was a little nervous on my way there, not knowing what to expect and all, but Yuki-san, and Miyuki-sensei were both really nice, and the dojo sensei seemed really nice, too! I feel much more confident about my pronunciation now, and learned a little bit better about the pronunciation of "r" sounds... though I still have a bit of trouble with them. At least now I can listen to myself a little more critically, though. I learned a little about sentence structure, as well, and got a few new vocabulary words. Considering that was my first lesson, I think I got a lot out of it. I think the next one will be even better, as Miyuki-sensei now knows how much I already know, and will be better able to prepare the next lesson plan.
I'm really excited about the whole adventure. I felt understood and stimulated today, rather than bored and patronized. I need more things and moments like that in my life.
じゃあ。。。おやすみなさい！