Practice

Today I practiced for half an hour. Half of this time was donated to band repetoire and the other half was my own personal music. I only practiced the Holst for the Band music as we are performing it tomorrow night and I feel it is the piece that I need to work on the most. I worked on end of the first movement where there is a key change. I am still having alot of trouble getting that high "a" AND being able to play it fast. I am taking it slowly and hopefully it will come. I practiced the third movement as well and, other than never seeming to have enough air in my lungs I find it fairly easy. I have the rythms down it's just playing them so fast that can be difficult as it takes so much air to play. For the 2nd movement I practiced playing slowly and quitely, but still smoothly. It can be difficult to get the notes out witht eh flute and play quietly but I am getting the hang of it. I just hope I can play it that well tomorrow night!

For my personal pieces I just played some of my celtic music and my "stairway to heaven" on piano. This music is just for fun and to keep my playing. Stairway to Heaven is really coming along nicely and I think it will sound amazing at the recital. The first page has some difficult parts as there are many accidentals in some sections but as I continue to play it more and more I am improving. The rest of it is just practicing and getting the notes and rythms down perfectly. My celtic song is getting better and better every time I play it. I have practiced it so much that I find that I often know the next note before I see it (sounds wierd I know!). I am getting faster and faster and, although not quite at the pace i want yet, I am slowly getting there. Once i do get there, I will work on dynamics, accents etc.