Reflecting on a Reflection

I have high expectations for myself this year. This year, I am determined to practice much more frequently than in the past. I plan on spending more quality time with my clarinet improving all areas of playing. The best way to ensure improvement is to practice is consistently. I take my clarinet home with me every day, and I dedicate roughly 10-20 minutes to playing.(I try to practice at least 3 days during the school week) I defiantly need to work on playing louder! Although I have heard less of the phrase "more clarinet 2" this year, I still think that I can play louder more consistently. By playing louder, that will improve my sound quality as well. My upper register needs improvement. I have a hard time getting anything higher than a C two octaves above middle C to speak. Working on the Senior Districts scales (range from the lowest E to a super high G) will improve my upper register. Tuning is also not one of my strengths. I cannot really tell when tuning is bad unless it is really blatantly obvious. Throughout the year, I will try to listen more closely to the reverberations when playing. I also think I need practice counting complex rhythms. (again, the senior districts piece has time signatures and rhythms I have never seen before.)This list certainly isn't exhaustive, so I will add more things as they come up. If I can improve a noticeable amount in all the areas I listed above, that would make this year a success for me. I think my overall goal for my Hingham Band career is surpass my brother. We will have to see if I can achieve it or not. (Also random info, he occasionally plays his clarinet with the Northeastern pep band)


I set some high goals for myself this year. While I did complete some goals, I certainly didn’t meet all of them. I unfortunately didn’t practice as much as I had set planned out. However, I do think that I brought my clarinet home more often and did practice more than in years past to make a modest improvement. However, I need to practice more often. When I did practice, I worked on my upper register. My goal was to play a super high G. I haven’t reached that note, but I can play a super high F (an improvement from C). I do think I accomplished my goal of playing louder. Sitting next to Zack this year made me realize just how softly I was playing. As the year went on, I played much louder. Playing louder helps with tuning. I can hear the reverberations when a note isn’t in tune more clearly and make the adjustment to fix it. I am a different musician from when I started because I have another year of experience. I think that my musicianship improves each year, building off the learning of the prior years. At this point, I have 6 years of experience with my clarinet, and I look forward to another great year as a senior!