100 days of practice - week 7
Monday - day 41
Last night I made a calendar for the next 6 weeks and a list of ongoing projects and what I need to do next to prepare for them. SO helpful to get thoughts out. Today just ticked them off - listened to orchestra music with my part, wrote some of my scholarship application, and did some scales and study practice. I'm recording the first movement of a concerto next week and want to do it by memory, so I'm doing daily mental run-throughs. Last night I had a memory slip in my mental run so practiced that section today.
Tuesday - day 42
Spent the day on my research project due in 3 weeks, running elaborate experiments to diagnose the cause of a £438 power bill (while it was freezing cold and our heaters aren’t working) and went to a gig. I haven’t been to a gig in what feels like forever and it was SO refreshing. It was like floating in the ocean.
Wednesday - day 43
Was out in Edinburgh for most of the day doing a recording gig - it felt really good to be doing music that wasn’t for school. It was fun - a good group of musicians and the arrangement was satisfying to play. I came away from it having a bit of a crisis about how I think I lack creativity and originality in the way I play viola. My friend was playing the second viola part and she had this one solo and she played it with so much creativity and individuality every time we did a take, which inspired the whole group to come out of their shell. It really inspired me to be a bit braver and bolder. I was excited to get into practice on Thursday to explore this. I thought about it during my mental run through of my concerto movement, trying to encourage myself at LEAST to play musically in my imagination.
Thursday - day 44
Came in early to practice before quartet rehearsal. Oh boy was it frustrating. Probably because I haven’t really practiced in a few days. Feel like I can’t play my instrument today :)
No more practice for the day except sightreading through my orchestra rep with Clarke. Had a slight meltdown when I couldn’t hear the viola part in the recording.
Friday - day 45
Played in my quartet’s assessment, which went really well! I did some practice before my lesson which felt way better - focussing on accurate and practical solutions to technical problems - just straight up good practice. My lesson was good too - I talked through my feelings of disappointment about my grades, and that I don’t think I have enough creativity - to which my teacher had good advice, that maybe not everyone has to be creative and interesting and it’s enough to just play music beautifully and with feeling. It reminded me how much I love being a supporting voice - and that is where I feel creative and free and musical. However - I still feel inspired to find a more individual, creative voice in my playing - which I think pretty much comes down to being brave and taking risks. I tried to put this into practice playing in viola studio class - and I think it already helped my playing enormously.
Saturday - day 46
Finally FINALLY did the sort of work I’ve been craving for so long - I got so much done in a short amount of time. I practiced some moments in my concerto where I want to take more time, I experimented with different phrasing ideas, I did some work on my practice research project about Hindemith’s viola sonata op 25 no 1 - which was recording different versions and lots of experiments, I played through Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique which I start rehearsing on Tuesday (methodically, movement by movement, stopping to practice bits etc), and spent an hour in the library doing more research. Just generally made major progress and it felt so good and productive.
Sunday - day 47
We’ve been feeling majorly cooped up in the city lately - so Clarke and I escaped to Loch Lomond. On the train there I did serious admin - organising my calendar, making a practice plan for the week. Even had time to squeeze in some note learning in the afternoon. Coming up this week I’m playing in performance class, I’ve organised recording sessions for my Hindemith and concerto comp application, orchestra rehearsals start, as well as some student organised ensemble rehearsals that I need to learn music for. AKA lots of moving parts with music to prepare. On the train back I did some collage to make this practice plan look fun and creative rather than scary and stressful. I love a list and plans and calendars, and the combo of getting admin done and being in nature calmed my brain down so much. I’m excited to be busy, and I am so relieved to be feeling on top of things. This term has been really hard work, so it feels good to be feeling good.
