It's been two weeks since my computer crashed, almost. And it shows in the number of times I've updated, yes it does. Well, I won't waste time talking about last week's lesson...instead I'll just jump right into this one.

Keep fingers over keys. Think before you play. This will help with facility and technique. Moving my fingers back and ( Read more... )

I got that feeling today of being completely and utterly behind, like I'm just generally clueless about the flute world.  Here's a list of the standard solo repertoire I've seriously practiced ( Read more... )

"Qi"...Apparently, that's how you spell it.  Interesting.

Today was better; I really think yesterday might have just been a bad day.  I got in 2 and a half hours today (thank goodness) and they were all comfortable.  I noticed early on the signs that I was about to fall apart--I would play something badly, immediately do it again, without thinking ( Read more... )

It is so hard to practice enough per day when I split up my time like this, into half-hour chunks.  What's even more upsetting is that it's difficult for me to get through each half hour at a time...I remember when I would work on more pieces and not just one or two things, it was fairly easy to blow through a whole hour, and even get up to 4 or 5 ( Read more... )

Today went pretty well, although I didn't practice as much as I would have liked to.  I woke up pretty late today, so that sucked away probably a good hour more that I could have done.  I did a little more than two today.  They were productive, though; I definitely feel like I'm getting back on track.  I printed out yesterday's entry and took it ( Read more... )

Today I had another lesson.  And I took a lot of notes on it.  So I'm going to get out my notes and recap my lesson from them.

Break up practice sessions into 30-minute sessions.  Take frequent breaks.  This was written because I get tired when I practice--my embouchure gets tired, my brain gets tired, and I lose focus easily.  If I find that, ( Read more... )

Today and my last practice yesterday felt kind of sloppy.  I don't know what it is exactly that's making it feel like that.  Maybe I'm not focusing well enough on the music...I think I might be letting my mind wander too much.  I feel like my jaw and the muscles right under it in my neck are way too tense, and in turn it's making my embouchure too ( Read more... )

I think maybe I should take longer breaks between my second and third practice sessions per day.  I usually do an hour at a time.  And I think I'm going to start with an hour in the morning before class (wake up at 7, and begin practice right before 9), an hour or so (if I can fit it in; maybe only half an hour) during lunchtime, and then maybe ( Read more... )

I went to go see Dr. G today at the very end of my friend's lesson (that went way, way over time, and they told me I could come in, since Dr. G was expecting me anyway) to ask her about my embouchure and if I was doing it right.  Ironically, Dr. G and my friend and had been discussing the same issue for most of the lesson: relaxing the embouchure ( Read more... )

I had my third lesson with Dr. G (Dr. Christine Gustafson) today.  She asked me how I like college so far, and I answered pretty honestly: it's not where I want to be, and I don't feel completely comfortable anywhere except the music building.  I told her about my dorm and my loud neighbors, and the sketchy groups of kids always congregated in ( Read more... )