Yes, the note came out in the little mini-solo moment. I didn’t leave my bassoon playing pal alone this time. I still haven’t a clue what happened the other night when the C# just wasn’t there. It’s a puzzlement. But whatever.
So one performance of Lucia to go, and then I move on to Symphony Silicon Valley. I have been working on the pieces as well as reeds. I tried some of the reeds in the pit tonight, but I wasn’t about to use them there; I just don’t trust them yet. I also know that the reeds I use in the pit are rarely good for the stage. So I’ll just have to wait and see what happens on Wednesday.
Between tomorrow and the first symphony rehearsal I teach at home, practice as much as I’m able, begin the UCSC quarter, rehearse a bit for the recital at UCSC (on October 28), and teach at SCU. It’s a very busy week. And I’m just exhausted. I had planned on church tomorrow, but it may not happen. I don’t want to fall asleep in the pit tomorrow afternoon. That would be a bad idea! 😉
I love the music life, but it does take a lot of energy and a lot of time, between teaching, practicing, rehearsals and performances. Oh yeah, and reeds. Contrary to popular belief, playing takes work! 😉
Unrelated to this post, though congratulations on that note.
Regarding the high D fingering (Hmmm. I’m not sure I’m understanding … for me the fingering of D only differs from C# in that you “exchange” index fingers. (For C# I am entirely off the half hole key, and D I use half hole … no bottom octave on either of them.)
Then if the high D is slightly out of tune I add the ring finger and even fourth finger, right hand (as we usually do for English horn)).
The problem that I have with my high D fingering is getting the half hole closed. I tend to play it with the left hand the same as the C# left hand.
Do you not use the C key for high D? I always put down C, and almost always use my second finger on my right hand. Plus, sometimes I close the ring with my ringfinger. But then, D is incredibly high on my instrument.
I use the C key for both the high C# and the high D. The only difference in the “real” fingerings is the exchange of index fingers.
So the fingerings look like this:
C# 0XX – X00 Ckey
D hhXX – 000 Ckey
And yeah, I sometimes do hhXX – 0X0 C key for D to bring the pitch down, and yeah, I might add the fourth finger as well. I think D is high on a LOT of instruments! (Tthose fingers are nearly always added for EH.)
AND I finger C# frequently like this instead 0XX – X0X as it brings the pitch down.
I’ll have to keep that alternate C# fingering in mind. My oboe isn’t really sharp, but it’s nice to know.