Robyn asked if I'd like to get together to play our exam pieces to each other so as we were both free last night I packed up the harp and set off for Cambrigde. Robyn is doing her grade 4 having done grade 3 last term and I'm sure she won't mind me saying that she does get a little nervous when performing and we both needed the practise of playing to someone else. We spent most of the time chatting about all things from music to performing to harps and it was great sharing ideas and comparing our rates of progress across the year. One problem we both have is the buzzing of strings when our fingers or nails accidently knock a string. I get this frequently with woodwind pupils when their tone is a bit hissy or not quite as clear as it usually is. I learnt over time that this is much worse to you than it is to the audience so while I notice the buzzing I can ignore it. Robyn notices it and is much more concerned! It does take some convincing that it is not as serious a problem as you think. After two cups of tea we finally got going and I played my three pieces. I hadn't warmed up properly and have been finding my pieces are not usually at their best until the third play through so I did Etude twice. Robyn enjoyed them and said my dynamics were clear. Her eagle-eye had noticed that my fingers were not being placed on the strings quickly enough during the Etude and when I did a short section again I realised she was right. I can place them sooner when it is slowed down but not at speed. Robyn then played her set. She had had her lesson with Rohan that morning but was concerned that there hadn't been much criticism so asked me if I thought Rohan was being genuine or too nice! Her pieces sound very good and apart from one or two very small slips, again due to lack of a warm up, there was much to commend so I concluded that Rohan was being genuine with her praise! My favourite piece was Scarborough Fair, a lovely arrangement that has some harmonics in. Harmonics are where you play the string in a different way to get a note an octave higher and this gives a delicate bell-like tone. It's very effective. We talked about the aural tests and for sight-reading practise I took along some very easy piano duets and we busked through two of Walton's Duets for Children.
I managed to find one of Rohan's empty spaces in the diary and went round to hers this afternoon. She listened to each of my pieces and made a few useful commetns after each. The only thing is they will only be useful after the exam! The pieces are fine but there are a few technical issues that I will need to deal with afterwards such as hand position and placing of fingers, which is what Robyn had noticed yesterday. Rohan also noticed a place where my fingering was probably not the most efficient way of doing things but rather than change anything for Monday I should go through pieces more carefully well in advance of the next performance. She also suggested some exercises from a heavy and dreary sounding book. I know what to expect as I spent a fair amount of my college practise time on similar volumes for the clarinet. I have already decided to leave grade 4 until the summer term (assuming I pass my grade 3) so will spend a good few months sorting out my technique and hopefully doing more ensemble work with Robyn and Anne.
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