The First Thing You Should Do With A New Excerpt
When looking at an excerpt for the first time, it’s really tempting to just get out your instrument and start “hacking” away at it (at least that’s what I call it).
“Just let me get through the notes, figure out the rhythms...oh ,wait a minute, what is that accidental? How am I going to finger that? HOW fast is this supposed to go?”
You know the drill. We are eager to start carving away at the issues that every new excerpt presents. And usually, we are feeling the time pressure of needing to learn it quickly. But often there are too many questions as we go through it and it’s just not very clear.
So before you get your head buried in the notes, it’s wise to step away and take a breath. There is a better way to approach this!
If you are working on an excerpt from the standard repertoire, then I want to tell you about this wonderful invention called YouTube! You will save yourself so much time if you simply get your music out and listen to the excerpt as it appears with the rest of the orchestra! From listening to a few recordings, you can extrapolate tempo, style, and most importantly, context.
By studying the piece away from the instrument, you can save a ton of time. More importantly, you’ll have a much better idea of what you’re trying to achieve before you even pick up your instrument.
And on that topic, I'm offering a free webinar on Saturday where I'll talk about how cellists should handle Brahms 2 at an audition. I'll explain what the committee is listening for, common pitfalls, and practice methods. Additionally, I'm sharing my personal part with fingerings and bowings AND I have a worksheet of my main teaching points.
If you want to join the webinar (or you just want the part, worksheet, and video of the replay) click the button below!