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Ways to “Practice” Without Opening the Case
Hopefully you’re not judging me based on these last two posts. “10 Ways to Become a Better Clarinetist in Under 10 Seconds” and now “Ways to Practice Without Opening the Case” makes it sound like I never practice (not true) or that I’m looking for the lazy way out (I think we’re all guilty of this sometimes). Hear me out – there is much more to practicing than the act of physically playing your instrument. Truthfully, it can be beneficial to take a break from practicing periodically to refresh your mind and body. And let’s be real – there are some days that practicing is just NOT going to happen,…
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10 Ways to Become a Better Clarinetist In Under 10 Seconds
We’ve all seen them – the magazines at checkout counters promising wildly unrealistic results for weight loss (lose twenty pounds in one week!), finances (become a millionaire by next year!), or life in general (be the most popular person in any room!). These are certainly enticing but are based on skewed results, making their promises nearly impossible to reproduce. And for the most part, mastering an instrument is no exception. It is the accumulation of years of dedicated practice, critique, performances, and hard work. There is no substitute for this (and if you find one, please let me know!), but enough tiny changes can add up to make a big…
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Montmartre and Museums
This week has been an absolute blur of sightseeing and practicing! I’ve established my routine (at least until classes start) of practicing as soon as I wake up so I can spend the day wandering and sightseeing guilt-free. I don’t know about anyone else, but it stresses me out to have practice lingering at the back of my mind all day, and it’s SO easy to come up with excuses later in the day – I need to make dinner, I’m right here at the Eiffel Tower (or insert other inconvenient location to access clarinet), I would love to take a nap, I’m tired, etc etc. It’s also great to…
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Sunday in Paris
Ah, Sundays in Paris – there’s nothing like them (all two that I’ve experienced). Today was no exception, with a walk down Canal St. Martin and a stroll through Parc des Buttes Chaumont. Word of advice: hope you’re using a Stairmaster regularly, because it is a STEEP hill walking up through the Belleville street/neighborhood, and it gets steeper in the park! I copied the locals and sat on the grass while enjoying the talented accordion player nearby. Paris is full of “free concerts” if you just stop and listen. Speaking of concerts, I attended my first one tonight at Eglise St. Eustache, where they were having organ auditions via live…
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Croissants and Culture
So far, this week has been an incredible blur of Parisian beauty and sightseeing. I’m enjoying my schedule of sleeping in, practicing new music, and wandering around the city. Everything feels more leisurely in Paris, and the days seem much longer without a strict schedule to follow (which will change when I start at the Versailles Conservatoire in a few weeks!). I spend my mornings practicing pieces for upcoming projects and collaborations (more info coming soon!), then I choose an arrondissement at random to explore. Highlights from this week include: Les Halles Forum, Eglise Saint-Eustache, Pantheon, Palais Garnier, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Palais of Justice, Jardin des Plantes, Arenes des…
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First Week in Paris
I’ve been MIA the past week – my apologies! My itinerary over here was hectic (Atlanta-Toronto-Reykjavik-Paris), but I enjoyed having a layover in Iceland, a country I never would have had a chance to visit otherwise. I enjoyed listening to music by Icelandic artists on the plane, along with learning facts about Iceland (apparently the majority of the population believes in elves!). My brother has always wanted to visit Iceland, so I made sure to take lots of pictures to send to him. The worst part of such a long travel day is that I have trouble sleeping on planes, so I am still getting over the jet lag a…
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Bon Voyage!
Hello Paris, here I come! I’m writing this during my 7.5 hour layover in Canada (ughhh). After this, Iceland, then finally Paris! I’m so excited and thankful for this opportunity, and I still can’t believe this is really happening! It’s amazing watching hundreds of people from around the world in this giant airport! Hopefully I will be writing on this blog more regularly once I get settled in to my new Parisian digs, so be on the lookout! You can also find near-daily snippets of my life on Instagram @clarinetistinparis au revoir!
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Books Every Clarinetist Should Have on Their Bookshelf (Or Kindle)
I have been a bookworm ever since I first started reading. Combine my love of books with my passion for clarinet, and you’ve created nirvana. In the age of the Internet, there are a multitude of resources for recordings, sheet music, and information readily available for any musical queries. Having the world at your fingertips is an amazing thing, but for me, there is nothing quite like the feel of a sturdy book in your hands (it’s even better if accompanied by coffee or tea). For those of you who share these sentiments, I have compiled a list of my favorite books on everything clarinet. Certain items on this list…
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One month to go! (and my visa story)
This time exactly one month from now, I will be aboard an airplane en route to Paris! (with a few inconvenient and long layovers; at least I can say I’ve visited Iceland!) It seems so surreal that it’s finally happening. The past few months have been a whirlwind of planning and organizing every detail, which included a super last-minute visa appointment in Atlanta. Word of advice for any visa-hopefuls: START EARLY! I know that you’ve probably read that in every visa guide, but I cannot stress this enough (pun intended). I had my documents together for my consulate appointment, and when my Campus France application was FINALLY processed, I checked…
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Creating a Syllabus for Your Private Studio
Creating a Syllabus for Your Private Studio Chances are, your band director, theory professor, music history teacher, or studio professor are very familiar with syllabi. Most institutions require educators to maintain up-to-date syllabi outlining their expectations, objectives, assignments, and overviews for their classes. For students, these are the papers you probably pretended to read and then threw away after they were distributed on the first day of classes (and frantically searched for during finals week to calculate your grade). A syllabus is a valuable tool not only for educators, but also a great resource for students. Syllabi allow educators to organize their ideas for a class while simultaneously providing students…