Jan 27-Feb 5

There was a death in the family. I'll be back to practicing sometime next week.

Jan 26

Another day missed. Today involved a LOT of driving, and I didn't make practicing happen.

So that's 3 days missed so far this year. Back to it tomorrow.

Jan 25

Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra concert.

I played flute II/picc on Ravel's Bolero and our maestro Glen Cortese's new trumpet concerto (featuring Robert Sullivan).

Then listened to my colleagues do a great job on Berlioz' Symphonie fantastique!

Jan 24

T&G #2 and 4, more woodshedding on #6.
Karg-Elert Caprice #29.
Bach a-minor Sarabande
Vine Sonata - Mvt. 1
Orchestra parts on piccolo.
Orchestra rehearsal.

Jan 23

T&G #1 and 4. Some woodshedding on #6, but I didn't get all the way through.
Karg-Elert Caprice #29.
Vine Sonata - Mvt. 1
Piccolo orchestra music with tuner.
Orchestra rehearsal.

Jan 22

Lots of laundry, lots of driving, and then: Greeley Phil rehearsal! Yay!

Jan 21

I missed practicing again today. No excuse this time except for lack of motivation.

Still, I'm doing a lot better than I usually do.

Back to it tomorrow!

Jan 20

Went to visit a colleague. Played some excerpts, got some piccolo help, played lots and lots of duets.

Jan 19

LONG TONES, Karg-Elert Caprice, Mozart G

Jan 18

Flute & piccolo audition. (No results yet.)

Warmed up on flute, auditioned on flute. Warmed up on piccolo, auditioned on piccolo.

It seemed obvious at the time that two auditions deserves two margaritas. So that was the end for today. :)

Jan 17

Still going: flute and piccolo excerpts today!

Jan 16

More piccolo - it's feeling much better.

Played some Mozart Concerto on flute . . . flute feels worse after two days of picc practice. Going to make sure to start with a good long flute warm-up tomorrow.

Jan 15

Today I worked on piccolo, and lots of it!

(My apologies to my neighbors and their dogs.)

Jan 14

Chamber music with guitar, and a little bit of work on some excerpts.

See? Told you it was only going to be one day. :)

Jan 13

Today, I did not play.

I was planning to do some playing this evening, but my boyfriend's dad had another medical emergency and so we made an unexpected trip to go see him.

This is ok. This was going to happen (and really, today, other things were more important).

However:

This is going to be one day off. Not one day that becomes one week that becomes one month, etc!

Because, remember, this is going to be the year that I break that habit. Thanks for helping. :)

Jan 12

Today, played an audition for the Boulder Philharmonic.

Didn't get the job, but I'm really motivated to practice tomorrow.

Jan 11

Excerpts, excerpts, excerpts, excerpts, cont.

Rinse, wash, repeat.

Jan 10

I haven't been on my computer much the last couple of days, but - never fear! - I have been playing.

Excerpts. Excerpts. Excerpts. Excerpts.

Etc. (More excerpts.)

Jan 9

I almost didn't practice today.

And then I thought about how pathetic I would feel to come here and admit to the world that I only made it 8/365ths of the way!

So I went and spent some time working on the music for our next Greeley Phil concert.

Day 9: check.

Jan 8

I got home too late to post last night, but here's what I did on Jan 8:

T&G #6A (sharp keys), 8, 10, and 11.
Worked on the opening of Leonore and on some spots in Karg-Elerg.
Ran through the rest of my excerpts.

Jan 7

Ok, whoever is reading this. I'm going to make a deal with you.

I'm going to stop beginning every post with "it's not as much as I wanted to do, but . . .". Because, if I'm being honest, it's never going to be as much as I wanted. I want to work on everything!

I didn't work on everything.

Here's what I did work on:

T&G #1, 4, 6A (all the sharp keys)
Double-tonguing
Brahms 4 excerpt

Jan 6

Sigh. Another day of doing less than I wanted.

Long tones
Rehearsal (chamber music - duos with classical guitar)

Still . . . this is the most days in a row that I've played in the last year or so.

I will - I WILL - get more done tomorrow.

Jan 5

Today wasn't a heavy practice day, but I did play. I spent time going through all of the repertoire I'm working on with a metronome, stopping here and there to brush things up.

Actually, almost everything felt really good. I've got some things to work on tomorrow, and I'm excited to do it. Maybe there's something to this whole consistency thing, after all.

Jan 4

Normally when I say "I'm going to start doing X EVERY DAY," I am super motivated for 3-4 days, then sort of lose my drive. This experiment is apparently no exception. I had so much time today, I could have done so much more . . . but I did at least do something, and that is the point of all this.

What did I work on?

T&G #4, 14, 15, 16, and 17
Mozart G Major Exposition
Debussy Faun opening measures
Mendelssohn Scherzo
Brahms 4
Saint-Saens Voliere

4 days down, 361 to go...

Jan 3

Only the 3rd of January, and already life is trying to get in the way!

We woke up this morning to hear that my boyfriend's father was in the hospital again (we moved back here to help take care of him after a stroke and a number of other significant health issues, so it wasn't a surprise). He's about three hours away, so by the time we drove up, visited him, talked with doctors, talked with family, and drove back, it was after 8:00pm. So much for the lots of practice and a chamber music rehearsal that I had planned. We live an apartment, so I don't practice after 9.

Normally this is exactly the kind of day where I'd throw up my hands and sit on my couch and think that since a long, stressful, unexpected disruption had eaten up all of my practice time, I'd just skip it for today.

But now I have fives of people to be accountable to online! I have set a goal in public! And how sad would it be to make it a measly two days???

And so my neighbors just had to deal with an 8:30-9:30pm practice. They have caused their share of ruckuses, so I don't feel too bad.

I spent my one hour on the opening descending scale and first set of ascending triplets in Beethoven's Leonore Overture #3. And I'm glad I did.

Jan 2

Moving on with T&G - today featured #2, 4, 6B, 7(8va), 9, 12, and 13.

Followed up with some light work (mostly a play-through, with a little cleaning) on:
Karg-Elert Sonata Appassionata
Beethoven Leonore Opening
Beethoven Leonore Fast
Beethoven Sym. 7 (First movement vivace section)
Bizet Carmen No. 2 Intermezzo
Brahms 4 Mvt. 4
Debussy Faun
Dvorak 8 Mvt. 4
Mendelssohn Midsummer Scherzo
Rossini William Tell Andante
Saint-Saens Carnival Voliere
Stravinsky Firebird Variation

Jan 1

Feeling stiff in the fingers lately. Today's practice: Taffanel and Gaubert #1, 4, 6A, 7, 8, 10, and 11.