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Dear Guests, Welcome to my blog which I treat like a creative garden where I regularly plant and change this and that be it poetry, philosophy, an Oboe Brilliance lesson, an essay of some kind, or a journal about composing. Visit every Monday for oboe coaching which is also helpful for many melodic instrumentalists. Musically yours, Kathryn
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"How do you compose?" That is the most commonly asked question I hear.
This blog is a window into my creative process and philosophies as a composer and instrumentalist. At times it may contain music, photos, and poetry as well. May you enjoy, return, and benefit!   My Archives  September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009
Oboe Brilliance: intonation lesson #3
Sirens and the Sea timing and atmosphere of listening Oboe Brilliance: intonation lesson #2 Last day of summer Music and integrity Oboe Brilliance: intonation lesson #1 new blogging schedule Music loft August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 |
Dear Guests, Today's blog states suggestions from the "Technical Elegance" part of "Oboe Brilliance" intonation lesson #3. This is to be used with an E flat drone, or with specially prepared drone on my music page of this site.
This drone and lesson can be used for any instrumentalist who wish to play while listening to the drone. You can listen to the drone in full by playing off the website for free, or download it to keep for one dollar. Personally, I like to take my time and first use the drone to strengthen intonation work, and then improvise with the drone. I hope you have fun and enjoy! Oboe Brilliance: Intonation lesson # 3 © Kathryn Potter 2009 This lesson is a continuation of intonation lessons 1 and 2. Practice now, with the E flat and B flat drone. Keeping a double “O” embouchure and a fast as possible supported, focused airstream, practice repeating E flat. Play it in tune, and repeat gradually getting sharper. Be thoughtful about how much reed is in your mouth. Play E flat in tune and repeat it gradually getting flatter. See how sharp and how flat you can bend the pitch, then aim for perfect pitch right in the center of the note and hold it as long as possible without changing the dynamic. Play an E flat in a different octave in perfect tune as long as possible with a consistent dynamic level. Be sure to rest as long as the long tone lasted. Now, repeat the above lesson with other notes in the E flat major scale, and out of the E flat major scale as you wish. Have fun! It’s also wonderful once you’ve accomplished the above, to simply improvise with the drone as you wish. (I love to start with B natural, or A natural and be dramatically expressive in playing dissonance resolving - at some point - into consonance.) Musically yours, Kathryn Potter
Dear Guests, Here is your Monday poem to enjoy. More about it and music tomorrow.
Sirens and the Sea Camouflage trumps Boulders Invisible mirror Rising tides Smooth over worn rocks Full throttle Compass broken Mowing down mermaids Man overboard Sssssssshshshshssssssswhhhooophooophooosssss Mother - nature Veto Extinction making Culture Wind dismantles collected sea foam Silenced seals All quiet Save sirens and the sea ©Kathryn Potter 2009
Earlier this month I picked up and began reading a book about the Ragas of Northern India. One obvious factor that quickly became clear as I dipped my toe into the vast fathomless ocean of the subject, was that certain ragas are only to be heard at certain times of day, or year, or both.
Later this month, after reading about some ragas, I was reviewing a number of mp3s that I'd taken down from the music page on this site, or decided to or not to put up at different times. Now that it's Autumn, I prefer to hear certain pieces more or less than others. I look back and notice how seasonal my preference and possible posting or removing of music is. I look back and notice what I created and when I created the music. It is my habit to group my electronic sound sculptures into files by month or season plus the year, which made this observation very easy. Now however, people from around the globe listen, so when it's Autumn here, my buddy Philip in Australia is moving into Spring, so I found myself keeping things up on the site even if I personally wasn't in the mood to jump into the emotional sonic space. The music is here to share and make available anyway, so I'm becoming more flexible in this regard. For years and to this day when I give students a listening assignment, I tell them to listen to the piece a few times in a week, at different times of the day or night and when in different moods because some pieces work so well at one time of the day and not others. Like many people, I've noticed that I have a number of personal seasons, phases, tastes, and fluctuations. It's fascinating to observe the musical and artistic phases and tastes both creators of art have, and the willing witness. Often, and this is very true of me today, a creator will go back to a previous work, and simple "not be there anymore", or want to be involved in the piece or perform it, or hear it, etc. Today I unearthed my first orchestral tone poem with an open mind towards the possibility of touching up the score, maybe revising it, creating another version, or simply studying it while keeping in mind some of the comments I received from the judges. I'm not sure what I'll do or not do. The harmonic progression represents very well a reflection of where I was, but I'm so far beyond that now that I may very well let it be. I composed it with the intention of never returning as I was coached to do from my first composition teacher. But I do find, re evaluating the work with an open mind extrememly valuable. That's it for now. Musically yours, Kathryn
Oboe Brilliance: Intonation lesson #2 ©Kathryn Potter 2009
This lesson is a continuation of intonation lesson #1 and is designed to be practiced with the La minor drone which is available on my website www.kathrynpotter.com located on the music page. Even without the drone, you can practice some of these techniques. This lesson is also useful for non oboists as well. Reminder: As always, use the fastest possible airstream with consistent diaphragmatic support while listening/playing, and use your double “O” embouchure! Practice #1: A) While listening to the La minor drone, focus playing the pitch concert A while you hear the other notes in relationship to A. Play A440 as long as possible. B) Repeat while creating a gradual crescendo and decrescendo while maintaining perfect intonation. C) Do this also with A up an octave, and then again, with the highest A in the top register (for advanced players). D) Do this with other notes in La natural minor. Practice #2: A) Repeat a note in A natural minor over and over again as you gradually flatten the pitch as much as possible hopefully all the way down to the next ½ step if not beyond. B) Listen carefully then play that same sellected pitch as one sustained note perfectly in tune. C) Repeat the same note you started to flatten, only now raise it gradually more and more as much as possible. D) Listen carefully and play that pitch spot on perfectly in tune. Have fun! Musically yours, Kathryn Potter
Last day of summer shimmering leaves shake wind interrupting stillness dreaming fairies wake (C) Kathryn Potter 2009
It's a rainy Friday. I look out the window of this log cabin out onto the lush sea of green leaves. I hear the gurgle of the water down the gutters, the rain falling on the leaves, a variety of birds outside, and wind sometimes. It is not gloomy, there is so much luminous light in the sky behind the horizon of this leaf canopy. The air glows, and the birds are making pleasing sounds. I hear a cardinal high pitched squeak, but don't see it.
I'm reflecting upon a statement I wrote on a business card and marketing materials several years ago: "I believe that the study of music is a journey, that when taken with guidance and integrity becomes more meaningful and adventurous with each step." Well, I couldn't agree more. Integrity is a word thrown around and perhaps means different things to different people. To me, integrity means to do or be in an integrated way. To take a journey with integrity, to me, means to go on that journey intellectually, emotionally, privately, socially, spiritually, passively, actively .... and more. It's not just emotional or social, it's full of physical activity, mental pursuit, spiritual awakening, open minded learning, active sharing, and more. The more ingredients to integrate, the more fulfilling the experience/journey. A musical braid can be woven of three strands: emotional/mental/physical. This is a good place to start, I believe when it comes to being a musician. The more technique a musician has, the more ability to express ones thoughts, feelings, and insights into sounds. The more heart a musician has, the more he/she has to share, give, feel and express. All ingredients are necessary. You cannot bake a cake, for instance, with only wet (emotional) or with only dry (intellectual)ingredients. You cannot bake a cake by only mixing those wet and dry ingredients either. As you know, you need an oven, a form to put the ingredients into in order to bake, and more to eat and to share. People aren't born with recipies, ovens, cake pans, etc. People are the only earthlings that require teachers in order to survive and thrive. We HAVE to draw upon the wisdom and guidance of our elders in order to live and survive. As musicians, we're born with voices, imagination, heart, mind, ability to connect or dismiss spirit, so we do have what we need to sing actually, but to take part in the greater dance of musical language in humanity along with instruments already imagined. As within culture, we require mentors and teachers with all there is to share from the accumulated pool of traditions, imagination, rituals, philosophies and sharing. To be born human, isn't enough, humans need teachers because instinct isn't enough. Musicians need some form of guidance, because talent alone isn't enough. I think that talent and heart alone is like a body of water. The more talent and heart a person has, the more water. A person can drown in an ocean, or go nowhere, or be crushed by the breakers never traveling anywhere. A teacher can teach you to swim, and build boats. A teacher can teach you to navigate by the stars (a really good one that is!), and about distant lands and about the life in the ocean - or pond or lake depending on the body of water.... Okay, that's it for blogging today. May your every step be a conscious adventure. Musically yours, Kathryn
Oboe Brilliance: intonation lesson # 1 © Kathryn Potter 2009 www.kathrynpotter.com
In order to develop an ear for playing in tune, I am making specially created drones along with instruction available for musicians on line. Playing alone, or with drones without instruction is almost always insufficient for developing a strong ear liberating the musician to play in tune!!!! Much to my great dismay, most student musicians (and too often professionals) who think they are playing in tune with a fixed provided pitch are in fact playing out of tune! YIPES! (@_@ ) How can this be? Well, it is most common for a musician to “float” right above the pitch so he/she can hear him/her self along with the fixed pitch. Superb intonation is a constant focus and supreme responsibility of an oboist!!! It is achieved through consistent aim, careful listening, and constant practice. Also, oboists need to keep up their chops so they don’t “bite” when their embouchure gets tired, thereby raising the pitch. Also, reeds change from minute to minute so an oboist can never safely assume playing in tune. An oboist has to always listen! (As always remember to use double “O” embouchure and a supper fast air stream, and consistent diaphragmatic support.) If an instrumentalist can hear both the fixed pitch and themselves, chances are, they are off the center of the pitch, and probably, sharp. When sounds merge so that the two separately created pitches sound like ONE note or one instrument with colorful overtones, not two sound producers, the chances are high that intonation is achieved successfully : ). When two people playing one pitch for instance look at one another wondering if the other dropped out, then they are finally in tune! In “La minor drone” (available on the music page) I have provided the pitches A and E (tonic and dominant) along with visiting guests of the A natural minor (not melodic) scale. Ascending and descending are comprised of the same pitches in this scale: la, ti, do, re, mi, fa, sol, la. PRACTICE: 1) Listening to this La minor drone, play A until you believe is in perfect tune, then – VERY SLOWLY - bend the note sharp(raised), back in tune, then flat (lower), then back in tune. You may notice that what you think is in tune disappears when you begin to lower it. Once you stop hearing yourself clearly, then you’re probably in the center of the pitch. (How sharp and flat you can make the note?) 2) Repeat this skill with E, and then as you wish, do your best to play the scale up and down. This provided drone is 5 ¼ minutes long. Once you’ve practiced this scale through, then I encourage you to... 3) improvising in A natural minor to your heart’s content. Go ahead. Spill your guts, pour out your heart, play melodies that would make angels weep or dance for joy. FEEL the individual character of every note and play as if it’s the last time you’ll ever play. 4) Sometimes, it helps to just listen to your instrument as if it is your best friend telling you a secret, and so you listen intently to the private character of your instrument as it sings each note. That is also a wonderful way to develop oneself as a musician. Have fun! All the best and musically yours, Kathryn Potter
Dear Guests, Here is my first Monday poem for you. I hope you enjoy and return as you wish! Musically yours, Kathryn
Seafarers (C)Kathryn J. Potter 2009) Growing heavier Clouds collecting moisture may Spill deafening rains Crying deep oceans Support aquatic life forms Swimming mermaid sings Rainfall quickening Crashing waves roar journey’s end Pulled back sea returns Dissolved clouds reveal Milky Way, planets, moonlight Guide seafarers home © Kathryn J. Potter 2009
So it's decided: my new blog schedule:
Monday's blog: poetry ((c) and original) Wednesday's blog: Oboe Brilliance ("") Friday's blog: personal philosophies ("") about composing: any time ("") blogs may contain photos and recordings from time to time ("") Musically yours, Kathryn P.S. (Thank you Dolores.)
2 { Ah, it's wonderful to be settling into my new music room which is the upper loft of a log cabin on the edge of a forest not to be mistaken with a nice little garden where it is safe to roam. Here I hear a plethora of bugs making their symphony of sounds, birds, and wind. Racoons, bears, moles, ground hogs, chip monks, and wild turkeys live around here. Rarely do I hear cars or the sounds of people outside the house.
This change is welcome and is good for my composing. I've started work on Part IV "The secret of ravens" oboe duet. I've writing out one voice, all melodic line, 3/4 meter in rondo form. Later today I will revisit it and if I decide to keep it, will begin writing the other oboe part. The last two days, I've edited the first oboe part. It's not beyond me to destroy it and start over if I'm not thrilled with it. I take a patient approach to get it right. I let perfect destroy good enough sometimes when I feel confident that I can create something better, closer to the source of what begs to be given voice. Also, I've been resuming work of "Persus and the trolls" a musical tale for children, which is for full orchestra. In my move, I've been coming across old sketches of music or fragments of ideas, scales, clusters, etc. which is like a compost of fertile ideas. I've been toying with some of these gems and thinking about how to apply some relics into my musical world of Persus. More later. Musically yours, Kathryn Potter |
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