Today’s rehearsal was more comfortable for me, so I’m slightly relieved. I continue to not be completely happy, but the day I’m completely happy is probably the day I should resign. You know? 🙂
I’m not having great success with reeds. My EH “issue” is that the pitch sags horribly on the G and G# above the staff. If I fix that issue, the reed is far too sharp. So I’m in ReedAgony™ and when I get to a certain place I know the best thing to do is step away for a while. So I am.
For those of you who are tired of hearing of my insecurities and reed woes, you can, after watching the videos in earlier blog entries, move on to Howarth Oboes:
“You have concert batons and rehearsal batons.”
Learn something new every day!
(I like that his sweater matches the stuff behind him.)
So while I’m busy carving and practicing and attempting to get myself back into confidence mode, please enjoy:
(No animals were harmed in the making of this cartoon.)
I have dodgy oboe music stuck in my head. Hello rainy Saturday.
… and I know it.
I take what people say to me quite seriously. If someone is criticizing me it can really hit me hard. And when someone I don’t really know well at all criticizes my playing I can easily become a wreck. Which is what I am right now.
At the same time I ponder, “Why was that said when it was said? Were his intentions good? And am I really that out of tune?!”
Yeah. Someone commented on my pitch last night. And now I’m a bit of a wreck.
Correcting another musician is a tricky issue. And it is especially tricky if you and the other person aren’t friends, but barely acquaintances. (The person who criticized is a sub in the orchestra.)
I want it to be Monday.
Three of our four rehearsals for symphony this week are in the afternoon. This is rare, and part of me enjoys it because it means I have free nights, but I have to miss two full days of students. Financially it’s pretty crummy, as I’m taking a loss … in order to get criticized. Ack! This just became worse.
Okay … an attitude adjustment is a huge requirement this morning. I have to convince myself that one person’s words can’t ruin my week. Let’s see how well I do.
And this morning? It’s a reed morning, to be sure. Turns out that the stage isn’t as happy with my reeds as my studio is. Not surprising. Just annoying.
