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Gretchen Saathoff

~ Collaborative Pianist/Vocal Coach ~ forging partnerships, making memorable music together

Category Archives: sleep

Emily’s Movie: Take 2

12 Sunday Jun 2011

Posted by GretchensPianos in audio, career, collaboration, directed practice, expression, focus, listening, new approach, new insights, perception, practice after break, preparation, process, progress, serving music, singing, sleep

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

chorus, Emily Dickinson, Felix Mendelssohn, film, fortepiano, Ludwig van Beethoven, Music, piano, scratch track

Flowers 1

Image via Wikipedia

This is the first update about my work for an upcoming film about Emily Dickinson, the 3rd in a series of documentaries.

I have been practicing seven of the Mendelssohn “Songs Without Words” and Beethoven’s “Pathétique” Sonata.

Background

We will be videotaping in order to make a scratch audio track so the producer can organize his approach for the actual film.  This will probably take place within the next two weeks.

A practice interruption

Things were going along according to plan, when I caught the bug that’s going around.  For the first three days or so, what I thought might be a sinus infection may have been allergies instead.  But with swollen eyelids, a headache, and a sore, scratchy throat, exactly what it was didn’t seem to matter.

And then a virus hit.  That intensified things, making for many sore muscles and major intestinal upset.  At that point, I stopped eating, stopped practicing, and slept most of the time.

Not to lay the details on you, but taking two days off from practicing was not part of the plan, especially with an approaching deadline.

Heading for the piano

Finally on Friday, I felt better, mostly.  There were still achy muscles, and I was dehydrated.  But I wanted to try practicing.

Practicing after 2 days off

A full-out practice session would not have been helpful.  Instead, I made sure to stay relaxed, play under tempo much of the time, and focus on listening.

I was not expecting to hear progress after taking two days off.  But it does happen.  Some pieces had better flow.  So the music had been cooking in my head while I was asleep.  🙂

My big discovery!

In Mendelssohn’s Op. 67, No. 3 (called “Song of the Pilgrim” in the Schirmer edition), I had been feeling bogged down by the repetitiveness of the phrases.  How could this piece be played expressively?  Did I need to find a different tempo?  Change dynamics?  Use more rubato?

Relaxing, listening, and looking more closely at the music yielded results.  There are several articulation markings that I had missed completely.  That’s probably because the Schirmer edition looks so dense on the page.  (So much for buying the least expensive edition to save a few bucks…)

New focus

Now I’m practicing both hands being detached at the same time, and later with only the right hand detached.  (Try it.)  Beyond that, the phrasing is clearly indicated, so I just need to internalize it.

In retrospect, I had been getting in the way of the composer’s intentions.

Big difference!

The project in general

The details have been changing day by day.  A fortepiano was mentioned, but that has not been finalized.  And yesterday, someone suggested that there be a chorus singing part of the soundtrack.

Onward… I’ll post another update as we continue working.

Related post

  • Emily’s movie

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My day, practice, sleep

02 Tuesday Jun 2009

Posted by GretchensPianos in practice, sleep

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So, well, I didn’t sleep well last night, which affected my practicing today. That really needs to change so I can play well in my audition on Wed.

Oh, & my foot is predicting the weather. So who needs the TV weather reporter talking about “rain events?”

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My day

15 Friday May 2009

Posted by GretchensPianos in practice, rehearsal, sleep

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I’ve had it, HAD IT, w/the people upstairs. Last nite they kept me awake ’til 2 a.m. w/their loud stereo (even louder w/the window open) and toddler. She’s bigger & stronger now, so instead of doing laps & pushing toys across the bare floor, she scrapes furniture & lifts & drops it.

They don’t get it that there are other people in the world. Why do they set no limits for their children? Normal bedtime for these kids is 1 a.m.

I woke up @ 1:30 p.m., which limited my practice time for tonight’s rehearsal. So i did the best I could, made dinner shorter, and played well anyway. This is NOT the way I like to live, though.

Tonight’s rehearsal was fun! A chorus populated mostly by G&S types rehearsed different music that they’re not used to singing. Interesting to see people deal w/that.

A little boy @ The Pub was standing in the aisle w/a balloon, enthuastically saying ‘Hi” to everyone. The Greeter. : )

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Practicing. A lot.

26 Sunday Apr 2009

Posted by GretchensPianos in outdoors, practice, sleep

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I have so much music to learn, but you know what? Beats typing! (So many notes, so little time…)

It was WARM outside today! Lots of birds ~ different species ~ flying around & singing their heads off. : )

The busses were running 45 min. late today. Since my car is my feet, that matters, especially on weekends when busses only run every hr. OK, there was a big event in town, but from what I saw, that would only affect the routes that go through Amherst College. My route doesn’t, so why was it so late???????

Tomorrow I’m wearing BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK all day. Well, shorts (red) in the morning to practice, then concert clothes. Going out for dinner after the concert, then home.

And NOW, gotta go to sleep so I CAN get up & practice. G’nite!

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Better Sched.

24 Friday Apr 2009

Posted by GretchensPianos in outdoors, practice, sleep

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Going to bed before midnite & getting up before noon works out much better than very late hrs. More energy, better practice capabilities, more sunshine…

This afternoon I practiced for 3-1/2 hrs., and spent very little time on the phone. Felt good. Woke up before alarm, feeling… well… awake!

However, practicing don’t pay, & I need to spend time on the phone to find work.

A robin is singing outside my window for the 1st time this season. The window is closed, and it’s singing very loudly. Nice.

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Staying In

22 Wednesday Apr 2009

Posted by GretchensPianos in outdoors, practice, sleep

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Staying in today. Enjoyed practicing longer than the time I had to spend on the phone, following up on drivel for the 95th time… And was able to cut my list of meaningless tasks down to size.

It’s still cold and rainy. The prediction is for warmer temps & sun… soon! Everyone I know is ready.

Looking forward to getting lots of sleep tonight. There is always the possibility that, when I’m more awake, I’ll write more.

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Good Deed for the Day, Etc.

20 Monday Apr 2009

Posted by GretchensPianos in NYer, practice, sleep

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YES! I’ve still got it. This afternoon I was sitting near the back door of the bus. At one stop, a mother stood up, wanting to exit w/her son in his stroller. The driver only opened the front door. So I brazenly yelled, “BACK DOOR!” like any self-respecting (former) New Yorker, and things proceeded very well.

People who live here think that’s out of line, but I don’t care. It works. (Actually, it works sometimes. At other times, people look @ me like I’m nuts, and they don’t move any faster ~ i.e., getting a phone still took 4 days.)

Later, @ CVS, raisins were on sale, 4 pkgs. for $5. I took 2. After leaving the store & walking 3 blocks, I discovered that the cashier had charged me full price. A $4.50 refund seemed worth going back for, so I did. I got a different cashier, who went to look @ the sale sign. Turns out it was on the wrong shelf, intended for the smaller pkgs. Not my fault, so she GAVE me my 2 larger pkgs. for FREE! I saved 8 bucks! Definitely worth the 2nd trip.

Last nite I finally made it to bed by midnite. Woke up tired this morning, tho. Plenty of sleep, and the people upstairs went to bed b4 I did (their kids did, too). So maybe I need to try being in bed by 11. Hopefully that won’t need to change to 10….

Practiced well this afternoon. There are 4 difficult pieces on the 2 chorus concerts coming up. Today I totally conquered 1 of them, w/a week to go til the concert. : )

Didn’t quite finish practicing everything, but left @ the most convenient time for the bus sched. It’s impt. to have balance, too. I need to go outside, and can’t practice ALL the time.

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Practicing Well

19 Sunday Apr 2009

Posted by GretchensPianos in outdoors, practice, sleep

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Today I practiced very well. Didn’t want to stop! That’s a good sign.

There’s sightreading, playing through the music, slow practice, medium tempo practice, and “performance” practice. Today I took a step back and was analytical about the mechanics of fingering, big jumps, and phrasing. It makes a significant difference. It also takes patience, focus, and discipline.

Forsythia is out in full, and dogwood is, too. Beautiful! My computer said today was going to be sunny, though. Never happened. Cloudy and much cooler.

Last night I stayed up til 2:30. That seriously cuts into the next day, and I really, REALLY need to stop.

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Cold Places (2 that I know well)

13 Monday Apr 2009

Posted by GretchensPianos in cold places, crossword, music, sleep

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Why, oh why is it 35 degrees on Easter? Oh, wait. It’s going to be all the way up to 50 tomorrow!!!

Maybe I’ll get over it in May sometime.

I practiced for over 2 hrs. today. Everything went well. And then I tried the NY Times Sunday crossword. My abillity to actually finish same is on hiatus at the moment… close, though. Recently I finished 3 in a row!

Doesn’t happen often, but I have to take issue w/Maureen Dowd’s column today. People in Iowa are NOT all farmers, nor are they country hics. My trip to Burlington in ’07, where I saw church members and former high school classmates, proved that they were well-dressed, well-spoken, and sophisticated. I’m very proud.

Obamadog is soooooooooooooooooooo cute!

& w/that, I’m going to bed. By midnight! (Yes, I can!)

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Starting Up

05 Sunday Apr 2009

Posted by GretchensPianos in sleep

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Well, here I am, choosing template for my brand new blog.

A couple of days ago, I started a new website @ Google for solo concert purposes. So far, so good, except that the downloads don’t work. This is a new computer w/Vista, though, which I am definitely not used to yet. Do you suppose that could be why?

Goal for the next few days: go to bed before midnight. Better hurry. Right now I have 6 min. left!

Uh, later.

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