Theo Todman's Web Page - Notes Pages
Status Reports
Status: Music (2021 - June)
(Text as at 02/07/2021 20:32:38)
(For earlier versions of this Note, see the table at the end)
Rationale for this Project- This is now more than adequately covered by my Music Page1.
Summary of Progress during April - June 2021- I spent 22 hours in 21Q2 on this Project, or related work (112 hours YTD, where for "YTD" - Year to Date - I mean the (academic) year that commenced in October 2020). That's 24.5% of the planned effort (41.1% YTD). Overall, 3.2% of my Project effort in the Quarter was directed towards this project (making 5.5% YTD) - as against 13% planned (12.9% YTD).
- As can be seen, I’ve not yet recovered my focus, lost in 20Q3. I only spent about a quarter of the time planned. This was aggravated by a nasty bout of ‘flu at the end of the quarter.
- That said, … currently I’ve been focusing on Grade VII oboe, but have now started to look at Grade VIII. Unfortunately, of late – while I practice almost every day – it has only been for 15 minutes, which just about keeps things ticking over.
- Theoretically, I have oboe lessons every two weeks during term-time, but these came to a stop in mid-March 2020 on account of Covid-19. I had the opportunity to continue them via Facebook Messenger in May but decided against it for two reasons:-
- I wanted to prepare acceptable recordings for review.
- I wanted to try playing by ear, which would take time away from preparing set pieces.
- I was making good progress on my own – aided by my friend Dave providing me with piano backing tracks for pieces by Schumann. Unfortunately, I seem to have a couple of cloth ears for music, and attempts at playing by ear are in abeyance after a couple of hours effort. Also, I got “stuck” on the 3rd Movement of the Saint-Saens – it’s supposed to be played at 140 bpm, and I couldn’t manage it at 60 bpm, especially with the piano accompaniment that Dave had prepared for me. This led me to lose heart a bit and hence practice less, though I’ve subsequently found that the piece has been presented as a graduation piece at the RSM (according to a BBC R3 presenter).
- I’ve now decided to leave the above piece in the “must be joking” bucket for the time being until my skills improve so I can manage it. I’ve been practicing the three “studies” by Bach and can now play them pretty well.
- I signed up for the $4 / month version of "Earmaster - Ear Training & Sight-singing" in September 2020, though haven’t used it much yet.
- The Enigma Ensemble is trying to emerge from hibernation, though I missed the reunion session as both Henry and I were ill!.
- As a substitute, I purchased a couple of intermediate-standard oboe duet books, which Julie and I play through together on occasions, with Julie taking one of the oboe parts. We’ve moved on to some of Julie’s recorder music.
- I now record and report time spent practicing individual pieces on my oboe: follow this link2.
- Further details follow:-
Music (Total Hours = 22)- Music - Administration
- Music - Oboe (Total Hours = 21.5)
- Albinoni (Tomaso) - Concerto in D Minor Op. 9/2 for Oboe & Piano - 1st Movt (Allegro e no presto) (0.25 hours)
- Albinoni (Tomaso) - Concerto in D Minor Op. 9/2 for Oboe & Piano - 2nd Movt (Adagio) (0.25 hours)
- Albinoni (Tomaso) - Concerto in D Minor Op. 9/2 for Oboe & Piano - 3rd Movt (Allegro) (0.25 hours)
→ See "Albinoni (Tomaso) - Concerto in D Minor Op. 9/2 for Oboe & Piano" (0.75 hours) - Bach (J.S.) - 105 Difficult Passages from the Works of J. S. Bach. For oboe: No. 28 (0.5 hours)
- Bach (J.S.) - 105 Difficult Passages from the Works of J. S. Bach. For oboe: No. 49 (0.5 hours)
- Bach (J.S.) - 105 Difficult Passages from the Works of J. S. Bach. For oboe: No. 62 (0.25 hours)
- Bach (J.S.) - 105 Difficult Passages from the Works of J. S. Bach. For oboe: No. 66 (0.5 hours)
- Bach (J.S.) - 105 Difficult Passages from the Works of J. S. Bach. For oboe: No. 70 (0.5 hours)
→ See "Bach (J.S.) - 105 Difficult Passages from the Works of J. S. Bach. For oboe" (2.25 hours) - Boni (Giovanni) - Sonata in G - 1st Mvmt (Preludio - Largo) - From memory / By ear (0.75 hours)
- Boni (Giovanni) - Sonata in G - 2nd Mvmt (Allegro) (0.25 hours)
- Boni (Giovanni) - Sonata in G - 3rd Mvmt (Alla Siciliana) (0.25 hours)
- Boni (Giovanni) - Sonata in G - 3rd Mvmt (Alla Siciliana) - From memory / By ear (0.5 hours)
- Boni (Giovanni) - Sonata in G - 4th Mvmt (Allegro) (0.25 hours)
→ See "Boni (Giovanni) - Sonata in G" (2 hours) - Cimarosa (Domenico) - Oboe Concerto in C minor - 1st Movt (Introduzione: Larghetto) (0.25 hours)
- Cimarosa (Domenico) - Oboe Concerto in C minor - 2nd Movt (Allegro) (0.25 hours)
- Cimarosa (Domenico) - Oboe Concerto in C minor - 3rd Movt (Siciliana) (0.25 hours)
- Cimarosa (Domenico) - Oboe Concerto in C minor - 4th Movt (Allegro giusto) (0.25 hours)
→ See "Cimarosa (Domenico) - Oboe Concerto in C minor" (1 hour) - Davies (John) & Harris (Paul) - 80 Graded Studies for Oboe: Book 1 - From memory / By ear (0.25 hours)
→ See "Davies (John) & Harris (Paul) - 80 Graded Studies for Oboe: Book 1" (0.25 hours) - "Fiocco (J.H.) - Arioso - Oboe + Piano" (0.25 hours)
- "Head (Michael) - Presto for Oboe & Piano" (0.25 hours)
- Hinke (Gustav Adolf) - Elementary Method For Oboe: Study No. 14 (0.25 hours)
- Hinke (Gustav Adolf) - Elementary Method For Oboe: Study No. 18 (0.25 hours)
→ See "Hinke (Gustav Adolf) - Elementary Method For Oboe" (0.5 hours) - Miller (Vojislav) & Liebermann (Winfried), Eds. - Test Pieces for Orchestral Auditions (Orchester Probespiel) - Oboe - G6 (0.25 hours)
- Miller (Vojislav) & Liebermann (Winfried), Eds. - Test Pieces for Orchestral Auditions (Orchester Probespiel) - Oboe - G6 - From memory / By ear (0.5 hours)
- Miller (Vojislav) & Liebermann (Winfried), Eds. - Test Pieces for Orchestral Auditions (Orchester Probespiel) - Oboe - G7 (0.5 hours)
- Miller (Vojislav) & Liebermann (Winfried), Eds. - Test Pieces for Orchestral Auditions (Orchester Probespiel) - Oboe - G8 (2.75 hours)
→ See "Miller (Vojislav) & Liebermann (Winfried), Eds. - Test Pieces for Orchestral Auditions (Orchester Probespiel) - Oboe" (4 hours) - Mower (Mike) - The Good Tempered Oboe - 'Answer the Question' (0.25 hours)
- Mower (Mike) - The Good Tempered Oboe - 'Dop Dop Doobah' (0.5 hours)
- Mower (Mike) - The Good Tempered Oboe - 'Enlightenment' (0.5 hours)
- Mower (Mike) - The Good Tempered Oboe - 'Jauntless Jig' (0.25 hours)
- Mower (Mike) - The Good Tempered Oboe - 'May The Fourth Be With You' (0.25 hours)
→ See "Mower (Mike) - The Good Tempered Oboe" (1.75 hours) - Nicholas (Morgan): Rhapsody for Oboe and Piano (0.25 hours)
→ See "Practice - Oboe - General Practice" (0.25 hours) - Nielsen (Carl) - Two Fantasy Pieces, Op. 2 for Oboe and Piano: Humoresque (0.25 hours)
- Nielsen (Carl) - Two Fantasy Pieces, Op. 2 for Oboe and Piano: Romanze (0.25 hours)
→ See "Nielsen (Carl) - Two Fantasy Pieces, Op. 2" (0.5 hours) - Saint-Saens (Camille) - Sonata Op.166 in D Major for Oboe & Piano - 1st Movement (0.25 hours)
- Saint-Saens (Camille) - Sonata Op.166 in D Major for Oboe & Piano - 2nd Movement (0.25 hours)
- Saint-Saens (Camille) - Sonata Op.166 in D Major for Oboe & Piano - 3rd Movement (1.75 hours)
→ See "Saint-Saens (Camille) - Sonata Op.166 in D Major for Oboe & Piano" (2.25 hours) - Schumann (Robert) - 3 Romances, Op. 94 for Oboe and Piano: No. I (0.25 hours)
- Schumann (Robert) - 3 Romances, Op. 94 for Oboe and Piano: No. I - From memory / By ear (0.5 hours)
- Schumann (Robert) - 3 Romances, Op. 94 for Oboe and Piano: No. II (0.25 hours)
- Schumann (Robert) - 3 Romances, Op. 94 for Oboe and Piano: No. II - From memory / By ear (1.25 hours)
- Schumann (Robert) - 3 Romances, Op. 94 for Oboe and Piano: No. III (0.25 hours)
- Schumann (Robert) - 3 Romances, Op. 94 for Oboe and Piano: No. III - From memory / By ear (0.5 hours)
→ See "Schumann (Robert) - 3 Romances, Op. 94 for Oboe and Piano" (3 hours) - Various - Duets with Julie (Oboe + Violin) - Dvorak Duets (0.75 hours)
- Various - Duets with Julie (Oboe + Violin) - Handel Duets (1.75 hours)
→ See "Various - Duets with Julie (Oboe + Violin)" (2.5 hours)
Plans for the Near Future- To allow myself time to practice properly, I had scheduled 7 hours a week on-going – to allow me to practise an hour a day, which has always been my goal. This should be achievable – though seldom is – as my stamina has much improved. Also, my oboe teacher has found me an excellent supplier of oboe reeds (Regency Reeds) which makes playing much less traumatic and exhausting. However, to reflect pressure from other projects, and the realities of what I do, I’ve reduced the planned hours / week to 4.
- I’ve not been able to reinstate the 2 hours a week to be spent on Music Aural and Music Theory, on account of pressure from other projects and a general lack of enthusiasm. But I’ve left the items in the lists below.
- I doubt this will leave me much time for the piano, though I’d like to spend some time trying to learn to play by ear.
- A plan for the coming quarter is to record – or upgrade the recordings of – me playing the graded pieces on my oboe: See here3.
- These are the items I intend to pursue:-
- Oboe:-
- Practice the oboe for two 30-minute sessions each and every day4 – focussing on the items below and …
- Occasionally combine into an hour-long session to build up stamina further.
- Work through, and perfect, scales & arpeggios5 for Grades I-VIII, using
→ "Trinity Guildhall - Trinity Guildhall Scales & Arpeggios for Oboe (Grades 1–8)", and
→ "ABRSM - Scales and Arpeggios for Oboe, Grades 1-8 (ABRSM Scales & Arpeggios)". - Improve sight-reading by playing through
→ "Trinity Guildhall - Sound at Sight Oboe Grades 1-8", and
→ "Davies (John) & Harris (Paul) - 80 Graded Studies for Oboe: Book 1". - Occasionally review Grade VI pieces, in particular
→ "Boni (Giovanni) - Sonata in G" (Prelude, but also 2nd, 3rd & 4th movements for interest),
→ "Davies (John) & Harris (Paul) - 80 Graded Studies for Oboe: Book 2" (Blatt - Study No. 52),
→ "Morricone (Ennio) - Gabriel's Oboe (Piano Solo Or Oboe/Piano)"
→ "Miller (Vojislav) & Liebermann (Winfried), Eds. - Test Pieces for Orchestral Auditions (Orchester Probespiel) - Oboe" (Eroica, Aida, Der Freischutz),
→ "Nielsen (Carl) - Two Fantasy Pieces, Op. 2" (Romanze only) - Prepare Grade VII pieces, in particular6
→ "Albinoni (Tomaso) - Concerto in D Minor Op. 9/2 for Oboe & Piano", 1st movement (but also 2nd & 3rd for interest)
→ "Bach (J.S.) - 105 Difficult Passages from the Works of J. S. Bach. For oboe", Items 49 & 70
→ "Cimarosa (Domenico) - Oboe Concerto in C minor", All, but particularly 1st & 4th movements
→ "Davies (John) & Harris (Paul) - 80 Graded Studies for Oboe: Book 2" (Ferling - Study No. 62)
→ "Fiocco (J.H.) - Arioso - Oboe + Piano",
→ "Head (Michael) - Presto for Oboe & Piano",
→ "Hinke (Gustav Adolf) - Elementary Method For Oboe", Items 14 & 18
→ "Miller (Vojislav) & Liebermann (Winfried), Eds. - Test Pieces for Orchestral Auditions (Orchester Probespiel) - Oboe" (Mozart Jupiter, Tchaikovsky Pathetique, Stravinsky Pucinella),
→ "Mower (Mike) - The Good Tempered Oboe" (Nos. 28 & 35: 'Jauntless Jig' & 'May The Fourth Be With You'; also No. 30: 'Answer the Question'),
→ "Nielsen (Carl) - Two Fantasy Pieces, Op. 2" (Humoresque),
→ "Saint-Saens (Camille) - Sonata Op.166 in D Major for Oboe & Piano" (1st Movement),
→ "Schumann (Robert) - 3 Romances, Op. 94 for Oboe and Piano" (1st & 3rd Movements; 2nd for interest). - Prepare Grade VIII pieces, in particular7
→ "Bach (J.S.) - 105 Difficult Passages from the Works of J. S. Bach. For oboe", Items 62, 66 and 28
→ "Davies (John) & Harris (Paul) - 80 Graded Studies for Oboe: Book 2" (Harris - Study No. 74; Luft - Study No. 77)
→ "Miller (Vojislav) & Liebermann (Winfried), Eds. - Test Pieces for Orchestral Auditions (Orchester Probespiel) - Oboe" (try various),
→ "Mower (Mike) - The Good Tempered Oboe" (No. 44 - 'Dop Dop Doobah'; also No. 45: 'Enlightenment'),
→ "Saint-Saens (Camille) - Sonata Op.166 in D Major for Oboe & Piano" (2nd & 3rd Movements), - Read and apply oboe practice techniques recommended by:-
→ Martin Schuring, and
→ "Benedetti (Nicola) - My five tips for learning an instrument". - Read "Caplan (Stephen) - Oboe: The Breathing Book".
- Piano: Try to develop some minimal competence as an aid to theory, so:-
- Continue practicing "Rhodes (James) - How to Play the Piano" (Bach's Prelude #1),
- Work through "ABRSM - Selected Piano Exam Pieces 2009-2010: Grade 1", and
- Try to play by ear, using for inspiration:-
→ "Cannel (Ward) & Marx (Fred) - How to Play the Piano Despite Years of Lessons: What Music Is and How to Make It at Home".
- Theory: Prepare for Grade 5 Theory, so:-
- Study
→ "Taylor (Eric) - The AB Guide to Music Theory - Part 1", and
→ "Taylor (Eric) - The AB Guide to Music Theory - Part 2", - Whiz through8 the exercises in
→ "Taylor (Eric) - Music Theory in Practice: Grade 1",
→ "Taylor (Eric) - Music Theory in Practice: Grade 2",
→ "Taylor (Eric) - Music Theory in Practice: Grade 3",
→ "Taylor (Eric) - Music Theory in Practice: Grade 4", and
→ "Taylor (Eric) - Music Theory in Practice: Grade 5",
- Aural:
- Run through:-
→ "Trinity Guildhall - Trinity College London Aural Tests Book 1 (Initial to Grade 5) 2017", and
→ "Trinity Guildhall - Trinity College London Aural Tests Book 2 (Grades 6 to 8) 2017". - Get a grip on the process of ear-training by
→ Reading "Deutsch (Diana) - Absolute Pitch", and related material9, and
→ Try out "Earmaster - Ear Training & Sight-singing". - Try out "Boytim (Joan Frey) - The First Book Of Baritone/Bass Solos".
- Also follow up items in:-
→ "Various - Music - Aural - Various On-line Training".
Progress to Date
The lists of items performed is cumulative, so I’ve hived off the history to a separate document10, which needs a minor update.
In-Page Footnotes:
Footnote 4: - Well, maybe with the occasional holiday, and excluding days on which I have a lesson or the Enigma Ensemble (currently in hibernation).
Footnote 5: - I don't intend to present these for the Trinity exams, as I can present Orchestral Audition pieces instead; but they are essential for technique.
Footnote 6: - I've yet to decide which to present for the Exam, so this long list will get whittled down in due course.
Footnote 7: - These are just the ones from the Trinity schedule that I happen to have. Some look rather fearsome.
- The only one I've had assigned is the Second Movement of the Saint-Saens.
Footnote 8: - The earlier grades are very elementary, but I need practice writing musical notation.
Footnote 9: Ie. The following:-
Table of the Previous 12 Versions of this Note: (of 65)
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Summary of Note Links to this Page
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Text Colour Conventions
- Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2021