Practicing

One other thing on the to-do list (which is, sadly, often the first thing to go when other business comes up): practicing. I have a busy two weeks in September:

Concert no. 1, Sept. 15

  • Mozart, symphony no. 39
  • Wagner, Siegfried Idyll
  • Bach, Brandenburg concerto no. 2

Concert no. 2, Sept. 18-20

  • Saint-Saens, Carnival of the animals (I'm playing the Elephant solo!)

Concert no. 3, Sept. 25-26

  • Shostakovich, Symphony no. 9
  • Beethoven, Symphony no. 9

The Mozart, Saint-Saens, and Beethoven are all at the top of the list of double bass excerpts. If I had to prepare any one of them for a given week, I'd have my work cut out for me. The Shostakovich is also proving quite tricky. It's been a while since I've played the Wagner--I don't recall it being too difficult (for the bass). And Bach will always be Bach.

I've been trying to get in at least an hour a day, and have been marking my parts meticulously with fingerings, bowings, metronome marks, notes from the previous day's practice, etc. so that I can work as efficiently as possible. I fully expect to be snowed under with the first week of school, so the more of this stuff I can get under my fingers now, the happier I'll be.

Metal Monday VI: Tuesday edition

Motivation