What Are You Practising / Composing Now?

[Tony Halstead]

Since you mention playing the piano, I take it you refer to the Trois chansons, rather than the Musique de scène. Member swain has got himself in fix on TtN over these two musically quite separate works treating with Pierre Louÿs's poems. There's a handy CD which gathers together Debussy's various works on the theme of Bilitis.

Yes I do mean the 'Trois Chansons'. I don't know whether the 12 songs of the 'Musique de scène' exist in a piano transcription.
I can't find it on IMSLP but of course it may still be in copyright.

[Joseph K]

As I suspected, I'm having to readjust my guitar technique, making sure to get rid of much extraneous sounds that had eluded me in my sad quasi-deaf state. So I'm having to tread carefully with my technique - read = right-hand picking plectrum technique - because not only is it in its infancy but also because it has been difficult trying to gauge aspects of precision when you're hard of hearing. I knew this would be the case, however, so I very much have not been trying to run before I can walk, although I grant you I prematurely made some videos of myself improvising over backing tracks, now I am resolved not to do that until my picking technique is developed to the requisite extent.

I've also been pondering aspects of plectrum technique (which I'll go into, even though it is on the outer fringe of interest to most other than nerds of this style). Mainly, the fact that, while alternate picking is the basis of the way I pick, and this works for me and others, something I have been avoiding is the fact that, while a sensible way to use it is to use a downstroke on the downbeat and an up on the upbeat, this is scuppered by odd note-groupings, so that one is left with two options - either maintain the strict down-up of alternate picking, but lose the downstroke-on-the-downbeat that you had, or use consecutive downstrokes, thus losing the strict alternate picking pattern. There are similar issues with picking + slurs.

I'll add that this issue is of particular interest to jazz guitarists since the swung quavers require a particular sensitivity to their duration and articulation. I mean, it's quite easy if you're playing straight eighths or sixteenths, reversing the picking pattern is no big deal, it's just more of a deal if you want to swing.

[Dave2002]

Various. Trying to play some of Jacob van Eyck's Lusthof on tenor recorder for a change. Bit of a hard task in places - stretching for some of the notes.

Also parts of Hindemith's Plöner Musik. There are several versions of this on Youtube. One version has all the parts by one player with over recording. Impressive technically, though I think some of the others where several different players participate are more interesting to listen to.

https://Youtu.be/He5AtU0dLfE

https://youtu.be/MYzmFyN5nqo

https://youtu.be/ACHR07_8rTo

https://youtu.be/KQXWgWVlYn8

[BBMmk2]

I’ve now come to the end of my current project. An arrangement for big band.

[Joseph K]

So here's the thing: I found my practising of Bach's Presto from the first violin sonata has been eating slightly into other areas of my practise schedule. So, since I do enjoy practising it quite a lot, and it is very good for my picking technique, I've decided to turn it into jazz by transferring its melodic/intervallic contour onto the harmonies of Stella by Starlight - by which I mean copying it out, but making all the requisite adjustments so it works over those chord changes. I've just finished the A section, and, even though I haven't yet played through it, I can tell it works well. Of course, there is more than one way of transferring it. I am treating the continuous semiquavers of the Bach as quavers in this instance, and I reckon I'll get about three choruses of Stella out of it. The next thing to do would be to treat the semiquavers as triplets... It's all quite similar to what I have been doing, mixing up arpeggios and scales over Stella and other standards, but I felt like writing out something in this instance, to try to get away from thinking with the fingers and get some elegant lines, which I certainly have done...

[Dave Payn]

I’ve now come to the end of my current project. An arrangement for big band.

Of?

[Dave Payn]

This week I’ve been mostly practising from The Well-Tempered Player (adaptions of excerpts from you-know-what) a favourite with a number of trumpeters.

[BBMmk2]

Of?

I was asked to arranged Bruce Springsteen’s song Born to Run.

Now begun another project for a brass band in Norway. Berlioz The Trojans March.

[MrGongGong]

Drones and the like

(reworking old things for a trip to EMS next year to make multichannel stuff )

[Dave Payn]

I was asked to arranged Bruce Springsteen’s song Born to Run.

Now begun another project for a brass band in Norway. Berlioz The Trojans March.

Excellent! Good luck with that. I was revisiting some of my old brass arrangements last week. I’ve decided that some of them need editing. Also, we’re starting an occasional brass quintet around the Argyll and Bute area so I may sneak in some of my arrangements if the others are OK with that.

[BBMmk2]

Excellent! Good luck with that. I was revisiting some of my old brass arrangements last week. I’ve decided that some of them need editing. Also, we’re starting an occasional brass quintet around the Argyll and Bute area so I may sneak in some of my arrangements if the others are OK with that.

Sounds great Dave! What are the quintets?

[Dave Payn]

Sounds great Dave! What are the quintets?

Bach - Fugue on a Theme of Corelli
Cornelius - The Kings (aka The Three Kings)
Handel - Water Music Suite In G (excerpts)
Handel - He Was Despised (Messiah)
Handel - Pifa (Messiah)
Handel - The Trumpet Shall Sound (Messiah)
Sousa - The Thunderer
Sousa - The Washington Post
JF Wagner - Under the Double Eagle

There are some others lurking about

[BBMmk2]

Bach - Fugue on a Theme of Corelli
Cornelius - The Kings (aka The Three Kings)
Handel - Water Music Suite In G (excerpts)
Handel - He Was Despised (Messiah)
Handel - Pifa (Messiah)
Handel - The Trumpet Shall Sound (Messiah)
Sousa - The Thunderer
Sousa - The Washington Post
JF Wagner - Under the Double Eagle

There are some others lurking about

Are there now??!?!?

[Constantbee]

Couple of movements from the Gordon Jacobs Suite for Treble Recorder or Flute which I play over a (not terribly good but useful) recording of the same. The sheet music turned up in a local Oxfam shop. That was a good day

Also, gone back to doing some Theory of Music exercises. Gives me something to do when I finish the crossword in the evening. Passed ABRSM Grade 5 a couple of years ago having struggled to find a local teacher prepared to admit to teaching it. In the end I got some help from a local 6th former who’d just done A level Music and Grade 8 flute. She was really excellent and would have made a fantastic music teacher, but somehow didn't believe it. The next I heard of her she’d married a soldier and the first child on the way. So sad

[cloughie]

I was asked to arranged Bruce Springsteen’s song Born to Run.

Now begun another project for a brass band in Norway. Berlioz The Trojans March.

I think you should have a go at arranging ‘The Rising’ - it would sound good in a wind arrangement.