Posts tagged as:

practicing

hearing yourself in the mirror

by Charles Noble on October 22, 2009 · 1 comment

I’ve been working up a bunch of repertoire outside of the orchestra over the last several weeks, and it finally got to the stage where I had to commit to one of the most terrifying things a musician can do: I recorded myself.  If the average person is more terrified by the prospect of public [...]

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going mental

by Charles Noble on July 5, 2009

Photo – pavlen|istockphoto.com
I had a strange, roller coaster like experience with my performances at the Aronoff Institute last week.  The Brahms clarinet trio that came on opening night was one of those performances where everything worked: the difficult sections felt easy, the ensemble clicked, it all fell together just so.  But on Monday night, the [...]

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doldrums

by Charles Noble on June 12, 2009

It’s that time of the year.  The orchestra’s season is over (and so are the paychecks).  I teach at the Max Aronoff Viola Institute, a string camp that takes place at the end of June each year in Kenmore, a suburb of Seattle/Bellevue.  I always seem to choose repertoire that demands a lot of practice [...]

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consistency – why not so consistent?

by Charles Noble on June 8, 2009 · 1 comment

CAUTION: MUSICAL GEEKERY AHEAD!

Photo: sdominick|istockphoto.com
I was giving a pre-audition coaching on excerpts to a local violist last night, when she asked “how do I get more consistent?”  Good question, indeed!  The simple (and eminently frustrating) answer is: practice being more consistent.
Violinist Bayla Keyes has written an excellent primer on intonation (it may be floating around [...]

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life in the fast lane

by Charles Noble on February 12, 2009

Normally, the life of a professional symphonic musician is fairly low-key and predictable.  You know what you’re going to be playing and when it’s going to be played a year ahead of time.  You get your parts several weeks in advance and you judge when you’re going to start practicing them and how much time [...]

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once more into the breach…

by Charles Noble on January 10, 2008 · 1 comment

I’ve been thinking a lot about practicing lately. Maybe that’s because I’ve actually been practicing lately. Or not. But I’ve been thinking about the process of practicing, and it’s really quite militaristic!

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practice, schmactice

by Charles Noble on January 6, 2008

The month of January holds some big programs for us here at the Oregon Symphony. This week we begin with rehearsals for next weekend’s classical series 6 concerts under Resident conductor Gregory Vajda, which includes Bartók’s complete score to his ballet-pantomime The Miraculous Mandarin, and Paul Dukas’ Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Next week Carlos Kalmar [...]

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is something wrong with this picture?

by Charles Noble on November 14, 2007 · 2 comments

The irony is that if 83% of people who  earn more than $150,000 studied music in school, why do those of us who chose music as a career make much, much less? I am glad, however, that those people who studied music and then went on to other things were successful in their chosen [...]

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absence DOES make the heart grow fonder

by Charles Noble on July 12, 2007 · 1 comment

I know that there are many professional musicians who never take more than a day off at a time from practicing, but I find it very helpful to take a larger chunk of time when the schedule allows.  Usually this takes place for me during the month of July, when I don’t have any gigs [...]

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