Comments for Tammy Evans Yonce

Comment on 2011 in Review by David Evans

David Evans — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 14:53:20 +0000

Things are looking good Tammy!

Comment on Lately by Adriane Fox

Adriane Fox — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 16:51:57 +0000

Quite certainly #2 and #10.

Comment on B-flat options by tyonce

tyonce — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 01:03:32 +0000

I’m sure there are people who would disagree, but yes. I think it’s reasonable to teach the B-flat thumb option as the standard in the context of a woodwinds method class.

When I start teaching a new student, that’s usually one of the first things I insist be changed because I really think it improves his or her technique so much.

Comment on B-flat options by Bret Pimentel

Bret Pimentel — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 20:51:29 +0000

I also find that I use #1 only rarely, and I’ve been tempted to teach #2 as the “standard” fingering in my woodwind methods class (especially since we rarely venture into sharp keys). Do you think that’s a viable approach? For purposes of that class, I can really only teach a minimum of fingerings well, and we’ll race through a few alternates (including #1 and #2).

Comment on Practicing: measuring progress by Bret Pimentel

Bret Pimentel — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 02:08:27 +0000

Great post.

More and more, I use recording to “measure” all of these things, and more. I’ll make a quick recording of a whole piece or movement, listen to it, and jot down the three or four things that I’m least satisfied with. They might be specific things (“this one note is flat”) or general things (“the piece feels a little lazy”). I’ll spend my practice session working on those things, then record again and make another list. Sometimes the same things keep reappearing on my list, and sometimes they get replaced with new things. Either way, I just focus on the current biggest problems until they’re no longer the current biggest problems. Triage practicing.

Is it simply enough to put in the practice time and wait for the next breakthrough day?

I’m not sure I have breakthrough days. Maybe once in a great while. So most days I do just put in the time, and count on improvement happening over the long term. I’ve tried in the past to lock myself in a room and fix some flaw in my technique (for example), and have never had success with it. But if I can get in ten minutes of Taffanel & Gaubert most days for the next few months, I’ll fix that problem and a bunch of others.