My students know what I’m talkin’ about. I’m hoping a number of other readers do as well (if their teachers are as annoying as I!). But since I just ran across a YouTube video demonstrating the habit once more, I thought I’d write a little ditty about it. The video was of a student playing an etude for an orchestra audition. He played the very first note, paused, and then started the excerpt. WRONG!
Do. Not. Note Test.
One scary thing about oboe is that first note. (Yeah, we have other scary things too, but I’m just dealing with this for now.) We fear it won’t come out, or will sound bad. So what to do? Well, a number of students test that note first, and then go on with the scale or the piece. How bad an idea is that?
Pretty bad.
Your are training yourself to always want to do that.
You don’t often get to note test in the real world, when you are sitting on stage knowing your solo is about to come up. You might start wondering, “Will my first note sound?” or praying, “Dear God, please let my first note come out!” So at home, practice the solo (or etude or scale) over and over, NOT allowing note testing even if you flub that first note. Eventually you’ll learn exactly how it feels to nail it every time. It will help you to trust it. Play along with a recording sometimes, so that you aren’t on your time, but on someone else’s. Do something right before that might throw you off a little … like drop your music and quickly put it back up, just to see what something startling might do to your attack. And then, when you are on stage, tell yourself, “Of course the note will come out. I’ve done this over and over and I know how to make it work.” (Don’t tell yourself you’ll blow it; our oboes and reeds seem to be somewhat psychic and tend to fulfill our worst fears.)
Okay. That’s all. Over and out.
Both oboe and English horn cane is soaking, and it’s nearly time to shape the stuff, and wind some reeds! (Making reeds with one bad ear might be interesting. Talk about needing to trust myself, and rely on the past to make sure I don’t freak … sigh.)
