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Status Reports

Status: Music (2020 - June)

(Text as at 03/07/2020 22:09:07)

(For earlier versions of this Note, see the table at the end)

Rationale for this Project


Summary of Progress during April - June 2020
  1. I spent 79.25 hours in 20Q2 on this Project, or related work (269.25 hours YTD, where for "YTD" - Year to Date - I mean the (academic) year that commenced in October 2019). That's 88.2% of the planned effort (98.9% YTD). Overall, 10.9% of my Project effort in the Quarter was directed towards this project (making 12.9% YTD) - as against 13% planned (12.1% YTD).
  2. I’ve decided to learn to play the oboe properly, so re-commenced weekly oboe lessons with my former teacher in September 2018. Things seemed to be going very well, and I occasionally got complimented on my standard of play (or at least on how much I’ve improved since starting out).
  3. My intention was take the oboe practical exams under the auspices of Trinity College London – Grade VI and up – with the possibility – if I get to pass practical Grade VIII – of taking ABRSM Theory Grade V as this would allow me to take the ABRSM versions of the oboe practicals.
  4. Grade VI Oboe was pencilled in for July 2019, but I decided to prepare for Grade VII first for two reasons:–
    1. Firstly, to make myself more comfortable with Grade VI, but
    2. Secondly, to give myself more time to improve my sight-reading and oral skills.
  5. Now I’ve decided against taking exams for the time being, but to practice a wide selection of works required at the Grade that I would have been taking had my aural skills been up to it.
  6. Currently I’m focusing on Grade VII, but have now started to look at Grade VIII.
  7. Theoretically, I have oboe lessons every two weeks during term-time, but these came to a stop in mid-March 2020. I had the opportunity to continue them via Facebook Messenger in May but decided against it for two reasons:-
    1. I wanted to prepare acceptable recordings for review.
    2. I wanted to try playing by ear, which would take time away from preparing set pieces.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. The Enigma Ensemble is also now in hibernation.
  11. Further details follow:-
Music (Total Hours = 79.25)
  1. Music - Administration (Total Hours = 17.75)
    • 20Q1 Status Reports (0.25 hours)
    • Dave re music generally (5 hours)
    • Dave's String Quartets - Vimeo (2.5 hours)
    • Investigate Sibelius Music Notation Software (0.25 hours)
    • Music Copying / Filing (2 hours)
    • Music Page Maintenance (4.75 hours)
    • Oboe Reeds - Research, Purchase & Commission (0.25 hours)
    • Schumann (Robert) - 3 Romances, Op. 94 for Oboe and Piano: Piano accompaniment (2.75 hours)
      → See "Admin - Music - Administration" (17.75 hours)
  2. Music - Oboe (Total Hours = 59.5)
  3. Music - Theory

Plans for the Near Future
Progress to Date

The lists of items performed is cumulative, so I’ve hived off the history to a separate document8, which needs a minor update.


In-Page Footnotes:

Footnote 2: Footnote 3: Footnote 4: Footnote 5: Footnote 6: Footnote 7: Ie. The following:-

Printable Version:


Table of the Previous 12 Versions of this Note: (of 61)

Date Length Title
04/04/2020 00:14:24 9476 Status: Music (2020 - March)
19/01/2020 23:41:17 10111 Status: Music (2019 - December)
10/10/2019 23:58:34 9785 Status: Music (2019 - September)
14/07/2019 20:29:46 7564 Status: Music (2019 - June)
05/04/2019 10:36:29 6821 Status: Music (2019 - March)
06/01/2019 23:36:58 6927 Status: Music (2018 - December)
10/10/2018 16:43:41 6484 Status: Music (2018 - September)
06/07/2018 18:56:10 4990 Status: Music (2018 - June)
05/04/2018 10:48:00 5680 Status: Music (2018 - March)
05/01/2018 00:11:31 6105 Status: Music (2017 - December)
09/10/2017 23:25:26 6792 Status: Music (2017 - September)
20/07/2017 14:34:05 4672 Status: Music (2017 - June)


Note last updated Reference for this Topic Parent Topic
03/07/2020 22:09:07 812 (Status: Music (2020 - June)) Status: Summary (2020 - June)

Summary of Note Links from this Page

Theo Todman's Music Page        

To access information, click on one of the links in the table above.



Summary of Note Links to this Page

Aeon Papers - Summary Document: 2017-2018 Status: Priority Task List (2020: June) Status: Summary (2020 - June), 2 Status: Summary Task List (2020: April - June) Status: Summary Task List (YTD: 19Q4 - 20Q2)
Theo Todman's Music Page, 2        

To access information, click on one of the links in the table above.



Text Colour Conventions

  1. Black: Printable Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2020
  2. Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2020



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