My Progress In Band

The biggest aspect of my playing that I would like to improve on this year in band is practicing because I think if I can enhance the way I practice, everything else I want to improve on will fall into place. For me, the hardest part about practicing is getting myself to take out my instrument and practice. More often than not, I will consider practicing and then decide that watching the Real Housewives of New Jersey seems a lot more interesting than practicing my chromatic scale. My goal for June is to make myself practice 6 days a week. Even if its for a short period of time, I want to get myself into the habit of practicing almost everyday because I know that repetition is the key to improvement. I would also like get rid of my addiction to watching the Real Housewives of New Jersey altogether but I think that may be a bit too ambitious. Along with practicing, I would also like to improve on my sight-reading skills. To put it lightly, I am a horrible sight-reader and I think I've allowed myself to accept this fact for too long. By the end of the school year, I want to be able to play something I've never seen before and have it sound at least slightly how it is supposed to sound. I would also like to improve on my intonation. I think intonation is also something we need to work on as a band. Intonation is so important because you can play everything perfectly and if your instrument is not in tune, you're going to sound terrible no matter what you do. By June, I would like be able to know the tendencies of my instrument and adjust my embouchure accordingly. My final goal for the end of the year is to not be so terrified of playing tests and auditions because I think my nervousness prevents me from reaching my potential. Now, I'm not really sure if I can just cure my nerves altogether, but I'm hoping for at least a small improvement. So, by this June, I hope to improve my practicing habits, my sight-reading ability, my intonation and my nerves. Wish me luck!
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I think that I have progressed more this year in band than any other year in the past! In October, I wanted to enhance the way I practice and I think that I have definitely accomplished that goal. Although I will admit that I do not practice 6 days a week like I wish I did, I have learned to practice more efficiently this year. In the past, I have just played through the pieces over and over again while practicing. This year I tried new methods like slowing down the tempo, focusing in on difficult sections, and even singing the piece to myself when other people are not around. These methods are the only reason I was able to make it through the challenging music I was presented with this year. My sight-reading was also something I wanted to work on in October and I actually have improved immensely in this area, which I wasn't expecting. I'm not really sure how it happened, but I have noticed a huge difference in my sight-reading over the past couple of months. Maybe practicing more efficiently actually paid off...My intonation has probably been my greatest improvement this year. I think a combination of my practicing habits and my new mouthpiece has given me a really great sound. As for my phobia of playing tests and auditions, I'm not really sure if I have noticed much of an improvement. Maybe I will just have to accept that nervousness is just a part of who I am and instead of getting rid of it all together, just try to cope with it. Overall, I am happy with the progress I have made this year. As for the Real Housewives, I was right in saying that getting rid of my addiction was too ambitious. The premiere of the Real Housewives of New York City was on last night and it was amazing.