Effective and Efficient Practice II – Structuring Sessions

A Sound Structure is Essential for Effective Practice

Throughout my playing career I’ve used various different formulas for practice sessions, depending on the stage I was at and what I was trying to achieve, but I have always included these 4 basic elements:

• Warm-up
• Scales and Arpeggios
• Studies
• Repertoire

Warming Up

Though experimentation, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as an “ideal warm up”. I “reinvent” my routine completely every couple of months and make slight changes on a day to day basis depending on how I feel both physically and mentally.

I suggest that the time you spend warming up should be between 10-20 minutes but whatever you decide to do, keep it gentle! For the record, here’s my current set up:

• Legato chromatic scales (semi-quavers) over the compass of the instrument to the accompaniment of a 70 bpm metronome speed – excellent for stimulating blood flow into cold hands!
• A couple of Klosé exercises
• Legato octave leaps over the compass of the instrument
• Long tones

I vary the dynamics on an ad-hoc basis.

I also use the same “warm up of the moment” prior to rehearsals, recording session or performance as it seems to preserve some semblance of “normality”.

Scales and Arpeggios

I cycle systematically through all key signatures on a weekly basis. That is, I work on one key signature per week and play different permutations of exercises within that key: major, both minors, dominant 7ths, diminished 7ths, legato, tongued and staccato, different rhythms, scales in thirds, etc., etc.

If you are looking for inspiration, you might find it helpful to follow a published tutor scales and arpeggios. For clarinettists: I’ve found Galper’s Clarinet Scales and Arpeggios (Boosey and Hawkes) very comprehensive and also useful for reference.

Most days I spend an hour in this area.

Studies

These staple gems of a musician’s practice are primarily designed to improve aspects of your technique. There are tens of volumes of study books on the market, all varying in difficulty and musical styles. Most teachers have their own particular favourite volumes but if you are able to choose yourself, I’d avoid the ones which look like wallpaper especially if you are still working through the early stages of clarinet playing. I was raised on Demnitz and Uhl personally but have been inspired recently by David Thomas (http://blog.davidhthomas.net) to have a look at Jean-Jean.

I think the key to working productively on studies is to remember that these too are music. If you don’t approach them as you would repertoire you might fall into the trap, as I did when younger, where  you come to look on them as a tedious necessity to be got out the way as quickly as possible. Careful and close practice of studies on a daily basis is one of the quickest ways of seeing improvement in your playing.

Repertoire

This is the musician’s apple pie and cream reward for eating the vegetables (studies!).

It seems to me that there are two schools of thought in regards to building core repertoire. The first is to study a work for a set length of time and then move onto something else, regardless of whether performance standard has been reached. The second is to work without a time limit until the work can be said to be fully mastered. In my view neither of these methods should be slavishly followed. A better way is a combination of the two.

I am of the opinion that studying a piece to performance standard is only really necessary when there is an opportunity to perform, whether that is an audition, recital or recording. That’s not to say that you do not constantly strive for excellence. My core repertoire list would be a lot bigger than it is at present if I hadn’t insisted on doggedly pursuing my idea of perfection.

My suggestion is that you tackle the learning process in two main stages – evolution and maturation.  Should there be no performance on the horizon, stop at the evolution stage – notes mastered and a firm idea to musical interpretation but not yet up to tempo. Move onto to something else until a few weeks before a live opportunity presents itself and then move into the maturation period – bringing up to speed.  The final result seems to benefit from “time off”. It’s almost as if your brain needs rest to process what it has taken on board.

My recommendation for anyone studying the clarinet is to experience the widest range of musical styles that you can lay your hands on. In the professional we’re asked to play all sorts or weird and wonderful stuff!

Additional Considerations

Sight Reading and Transposition

I used to practice my sight reading and transposition skills on a daily basis using discarded simple short study books. Being an ace sight reader is a very useful skill to have and for clarinettists, being able to transpose C clarinet parts for example, without having to write them out, is essential for the orchestral musician.

Extracts – Orchestral, Opera, Chamber

I would say for the advanced student, including the study of extracts is essential. If practice time available is a challenge extracts can be used in place of etudes proper. Whilst not aiming to improve any particular point of technique, they do promote familiarisation and provide insight. For a clarinettist to play the first page of “Boheme” at sight is one thing, to be able to stay with it at tempo is quite another and even more horrifying if this experience first happens in rehearsal. And before you ask – yes – my memory still bears the scars!

How many hours should I practice?

As I mentioned to Emily in a reply to her comment on a previous post, I have known a few clarinettists who only practiced a couple of hours a day and then spent a few more in the student bar every night yet turned in virtuosic performances; equally, I could list many others who were obsessed with slogging through to tick off the magical number 6 hours (as prescribed by their teacher as the optimum for success) and yet achieved only an average degree.

Personally, for solo practice, 4 hours split x2 hours x 2 sessions (excluding breaks) suits me both from a physical and psychological perspective. Depending on where you are in your career and playing commitments, you may add or subtract but always include the basic elements whatever time you have available.

Best advice? Find what is right for you. Avoid bowing to peer pressure or copying what you clarinet idol of the moment happens to be doing.

Taking Breaks

Don’t forget to take regular breaks when you are practicing. I take 15 minutes between each hour and have a much longer gap in the middle of the day before I start my afternoon session.

I carry out most of my practice sitting down so I make sure I get up and walk around, maybe wander out into the garden for some outdoor air and work through a very simple stretching routine.

Next in this series: Effective and Efficient Practice III – How to Breathe Life into Repetition

Effective and Efficient Practice I – Space, Preparation, Scheduling

Practice is the Bedrock of the Life of Every Serious Musician

Judging from my email, comments posted here and on Twitter, it seems that the how, what and why of practicing a musical instrument continues to throw up queries.

In an effort to contribute to addressing the issue, I thought it would be worth running a short series on the subject based on my own experiences.

Practice sessions are the bedrock of the lives of all serious musicians. Aside from learning new repertoire, honing technical skills and preparing for performances, it is through practicing our craft that we mature as artists.

Each of us consists of radically different physical, mental and musical components. Taking all these variables into account, it would be wrong for any individual to attempt to present the ultimate “practice blueprint” which guarantees success. What we can do however, is examine the practice habits of the “A-Listers” and uncover common elements. These can then be adapted and applied to our own sessions.

Choosing Your Space

I’ve snatched practice time in some bizarre places over the years, including a bathroom and a wooden shed (neither to be recommended) but I have to say it does help productivity if your environment is half way decent especially if you’re going to be occupying that space for several hours a day.

There is a room in the house designated as a shared home office but as Spousette needs it most of the time in order to work on photography, I normally end up in the lounge which is fine by me. It’s a friendly and cosy room with plenty of light. My music stand permanently lives here (which beats balancing music on top of a toilet cistern) and I have a hard backed supportive chair on which to sit (as opposed to perching on the edge of a tub!). In addition, I do like being surrounded by pictures and books and having the animals wander in and out. It is a relaxing place to be and therefore positive for my work.

Preparation

Human beings tend be creatures of habit and I’ve found I’ve fallen into a well-worn routine before picking up my instrument each day.

I run or lift weights six mornings a week so by the time I’m due to start work, my body is well exercised and stretched, I’ve showered and had a good breakfast. Even if you don’t do anything physical first thing, what I would avoid is rolling out bed, throwing on some clothes and hitting your instrument. At the very least have something to eat and follow with some gentle movement to get the blood flowing to your muscles.

My music stand, clarinet stand and chair are the first to be put in place; I put my instrument together next and leave it to “come up” to room temperature for 15 minutes – always a good idea if you play wood especially during the winter. My metronome is positioned, along with pencil, practice schedule and notebook.

Whilst I’m moistening the reed, I read through a handful of personal affirmations – call it auto-brain washing if you like! There are several reasons I find this useful: I am reminded of my goals, my self-esteem receives positive strokes and my concentration is focused on the task at hand.

I guess this ritual is a bit like meditation really because my brain completely clears from mind chatter. I just forget about other things.

As an aside…Session 1 of the album gave me the idea of purchasing some simple recording equipment for playback use in practice but I have yet to investigate what’s available on the market. If you do have any ideas on what I can buy, perhaps you’d be good enough to contact me.

Scheduling

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: practice schedules are not dissimilar from sports training. My own sessions underwent radical revolution when I started applying the same concepts I’d learnt for my running.

Regular, steady and consistent practice is the key. Just as an marathon runner wouldn’t dream of stepping up to the starting line having put in only a few weeks of mileage on the road, neither should you consider packing in a couple of mega-sessions as preparation for a performance or lesson. Injury is the biggest danger here just like it would be in sport.

For solitary practice, I work on a 5-day, 20 hour week. This doesn’t include rehearsals. Most days, this equates to 4 hours which I split 2 hours –am and –pm. Each hour I take a 15 minute break. Sometimes life events dictate “catching up” over an extra day but I always make sure I have at least one day off away from my instrument. Equally, after a long rehearsal or particularly taxing performance, I schedule an “easy day” which mirrors what I do after hard running session.

I tried applying the running technique of “tapering” i.e., cutting down on quantity, before session 1 of the album. On reflection, that didn’t work particularly well for me and I felt that considerable momentum was lost so I won’t be trying that again. However, this method does work for some people so you might like to test it out. The theoretical benefit is that you arrive with energy stores topped up and fresh for whatever event you have been preparing.

Whilst we all know that rest is vitally important, I recommend avoiding prolonged periods of not playing. By all means go on your fortnight’s holiday in Hawaii – you won’t lose all your skills overnight but just remember to build things up gradually on your return. As with running, if you’re looking increase the amount of time spent on your instrument, I suggest that you don’t make any increments greater than 10-15% the reason being overuse injury prevention

Next in this series: Effective and Efficient Practice II – Structuring Sessions

Dear 1999…….

Will You Break Out of the Box?

If I could go back to 1999 and give myself one piece of advice…

As the final chime clangs on the clock in the Plaza de Sol, Madrid and you gulp down the last of the traditional 12 grapes, you raise an overflowing flute of vintage cava to welcome in the New Year, as ever pregnant with opportunity at this time. The crowd erupts with a roar. You are ready to party the night away with an optimistic energy and  excitement worthy of a presidential candidate.

What wishes did you make as you struggled to chew and swallow your way through this annual ritual?

It wont matter how many times you blame that which is external to yourself – personal relationships, your job, where you live, government politics, the world economy - true happiness, satisfaction and fulfillment comes from the inside. The buck stops and starts with you alone. Quit moaning about your lot in life – take a stand and take control.

Until you can state with clarity exactly what you want and where you want to go, how can you figure out how to get there? Forget what you’ve been conditioned to think – it’s only in your head that ”possibility” is limited. You can achieve whatever you decide providing you sincerely believe that you can do it.

Aren’t you a little tired of conforming, of following what society dictates? Imagine what it would be like not having to act a role, pretending to be somebody who you’re not, just to fit in; the liberty and freedom you feel just being authentically you. Wonder at the novelty of waking every morning raring to go, spending your working hours in activity that you love. This is too much fun to be a job, right?!

You don’t have to accept the sales pitch and buy into the “Deferred Life Plan”. You can step out of the box anytime. It’s just a blind fear of the unknown that’s stopping you from seeing clearly. You say you’re confused. Perhaps that’s only because you don’t want to hear what your heart has been trying to tell you for years. Snap out of the apathy and get a move on. Time waits for no man and marches on relentlessly. Do you want to run another decade in the same groove?

Don’t know anything about web sites, internet marketing and social media? Embrace change – learn – or get left behind.

Mother knows best”, the old adage goes. And she does. She said you’d come back to your music but you arrogantly scoffed; as usual you wouldn’t listen. You’ve been searching for “something” ever since. Is this the year you’re going to find “it”‘ or will yet another 12 months roll past, the same old, same old…?

Note: This post was inspired by the Group Blogging Event of 30th December at http://www.musicianwages.com

Finding Balance in Musical Obsession

Balanced Obsession is Cyclical

I propose that all successful professional musicians are essentially perfectionists and by default, are obsessed with their craft. Given that obsession and sometimes perfectionism tend to carry negative connotations I want to explore:

• The common definition of “balance”
• When obsession and perfectionism become an illness
• Whether it is really desirable for the classical musician to strive for balance
• A Model of Cyclical or Balanced Obsession

Balance

Rather than go into some woo-woo personal development definition, I’m going to use the very appropriate musical equivalent and that is “counterpoint” – a melody added to an existing one, especially when added to provide harmony, each retaining a similar identity. To transpose that idea into a non-musical context: if your primary purpose is to inspire, motivate and be a catalyst for positive change, secondary to that could be family and friends, musical activity on a professional level, writing, etc., etc. The most common definition of balance is that where all facets of your life come together to form a coherent whole with no one element being more prominent than another.

Obsession, on the other hand, occurs when one melody dominants over the counter-melodies, producing an effect of disharmony. That is, where the focus on one part of your life is so intense that the others are shut out.

Obsession as an Illness

I think that the vast majority of people agree that being successful in any sphere takes vision, focus, dedication and discipline. However, left unchecked to run out of control, these attributes can develop into a compulsive obsession.

Obsessional neurosis a condition in which the mind, against the will of an individual, is dominated by ideas, words or images although the ability to reason remains intact. These uncontrollable obsessions block true freedom of thought and action. Scratch below the surface and you’ll often find that obsessive conduct is a defence mechanism against unwanted feelings such as fear and anxiety. Good examples are anorexia nervosa and hypochondria.

On this basis then, ask yourself how you would react if circumstances arose where you were told to stop playing/singing for a few days/weeks/months for whatever reason. Maybe you catch the ´flu; perhaps your spouse suffers a prolapsed disc and you face running the household or a close relative on the other side of the world dies. Could you extricate yourself from your normal routine or would some “unseen force” compel you to carry on as before? If you cannot control your own behaviour, it is likely that you have a problem which would benefit from professional help.

Is Balance is Essential?

Many personal development programmes and life coaches advocate striving for a work/life balance. Whilst it is important to remember that life does exist outside of music and it is very difficult to fully develop as a musician without experiences of the non-musical kind, providing that your obsession is not clinical and has a finite limit, I argue that a controlled obsession is more desirable than balance in a musician.

The Model of “Cyclical Obsession”

Through observing myself over the years, struggling with my own perfectionism and drive for consistency, constant goal setting and subsequent falling short with accompanying mental self-flagellation, I’ve come up with my own version of balance which I call “cyclical obsession”.

Reviewing my running diaries one day I noticed that I was able to sustain regular intense training for a maximum of 8 weeks after which I had a tendency to start missing sessions. A week or two of a few blank diary entries resulted in progressively lower motivation levels. At that point I usually took an entire 7 days off training out of utter disgust and then pick up where I left off. It seemed that I was naturally working in intense cycles of effort rather than taking a steady balanced approach throughout.

This is now how I plan my clarinet practice. I set up macro and micro-cycles based around performance-type situations. My current macro-cycle is based around production of the album; micro-cycles are performances containing the same repertoire. On the completion of a micro-cycle, I take some time off.

Applying this to your own situation, a macro-cycle might be to learn a specific work; the micro-cycles to master individual difficult technical sections each within a set period of time.

Macro-cycles are big projects which take place over a relatively long period of time. Micro-cycles are bursts of intense focused activity. It works very well for me and is far more natural and healthy than having to mentally fight for balance.

As we approach the end of 2009 and the chance to make a fresh start in the New Year, if you struggle with taking the balanced approach, consider the cyclical obsession model.

Blog Tweaks

I’m in the throes of tweaking various parts of the Blog from today - Sunday, 20th December. If there are links that are not working, you’re looking for an article you can’t find or a photo isn’t loading, etc., please bear with me! These changes should be complete by the end of the week. Many thanks for your patience.

Is Classical Music Suffering from an Overdose of “Passion”?

"Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music" - Angela Monet

Having a little parley through my Twitter lists the other evening, which is rather like a cyber bar crawl minus the alcohol, I was struck by how many musicians and critics are becoming increasingly irritated by the constant use of the word “passion” when used to describe a style of playing.  Being guilty as charged – in fact, I confess to applying that noun to almost every aspect of my life (washing up and cleaning out cat litter trays excepted), my interest was piqued, I started wondering why “passion” seemed to be so á la mode these days to the extent that a general bored malaise is beginning to creep in.

A quick search on Google reveals that “passion” is everywhere - not only in the obvious places where you would expect to find it!  The word has stealthily crept into such unlikely markets as architecture, science and engineering. Whilst I personally can’t imagine getting too worked up about skyscraper design, amoeba under microscopes or circuit board improvements, it seems that there are plenty of people who do get turned on by such things. And, as the German poet Hebbel said – “Nothing great in the world has ever been achieved without passion”.

So it seems that just like pigging out on blueberry muffins and dozens of lattés, you can have too much of a good thing. As the word becomes increasingly hackneyed, the main problem is that when used, the real contextual meaning and emphasis is lost.

I am enthusiastic almost to the point of obsession with my clarinet playing and classical music in general; when I play my aim is to stir powerful and compelling emotion in the audience; sometimes my practice sessions are so frustrating, I feel as if I’m suffering like a martyr. All these statements are true. Equally true is the fact the all the words in bold are definitions of “passion”. So am I just not supposed to use the word anymore because people are fed up with it? I concur with another German writer, Carl W Beuchner – “People are disturbed not by things but by the view they take of them”.

The Why – Happiness/Fulfilment/Satisfaction Quotient

A number of academic studies have shown that the happiest  people walking around on the planet right now are those who are spending their waking hours “doing what they love” i.e., activities that they are “passionate” about. My own experience is certainly proof of that. That’s not to say my every waking hour is perfect – far from it. However, there is world of difference between being true to yourself and slavishly following the dictates of what society deems to be “proper”. If your heart isn’t in something you ought to butt out. The Art of Non-Conformity is a brilliant resource on the subject which you can find here: http://chrisguillebeau.com 

Daring to be Different – The Same Old, Same Old…

Jacob Stockinger’s excellent blog at http://welltempered.wordpress.com/2009/10 documents the arrival of Venezuela-born conductor Gustavo Dudamel at the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Very telling were Jacob’s comments – “He has been dubbed the “Latin Lenny” because he shares the youth and passion and teacherly mission and wild style of Leonard Bernstein when he first came to national attention in the 1940s” and “ He has been called the Barack Obama of classical music because he is Latino, a non-white in that most Euro-white world of classical music” (bold type mine). The end of the post says it all – “Dudamel is a gift and, considering sagging classical music ticket and CD sales, he arrives just when we need him most”.

It seems to me that with Classical Music in crisis (have a read of Greg Sandow on http://www.artsjournal.com/sandow) what is needed is  more passion, vision and energy as opposed to less.  It’s just a pity that “passion” is being overused as a word in an effort to differentiate from what has been before. To quote Buechner again – “They may forget what you said (played), but they will never forget how you made them feel”. Maybe, just maybe, a perfect technique is no longer enough although in my book this should not be used for an excuse for a less than fluid performance. It is perhaps there that the problem lies.

Jumping on the Bandwagon and “Passion is in the Ear of the Listener”

As I have stated many time before in this blog, I am not personally bowled over by a flawless technical performance alone. When you search record labels for clarinet performances, say of Brahms, as rendered by the latest techno whizz kid, the list is empty. What I’m looking for is the whole package – tonal quality, musicality (e.g., a different interpretation of a cadenza or phrasing rather than the typical I’ve heard a hundred times before) – a rendition that evokes some kind of emotion as well as a technique good enough for the music to be the focus rather than notational errors. Passion is subjective and as such in “the ear of listener”. It cannot be forced so there is little mileage in jumping on the “passion” bandwagon thinking by doing so you are destined for success. The only true test is your audience – a growing number of bums on seats but not at the expense of  sacrificing your values just to conform to the norm.

Conclusions

I’m not going to stop using the words “passion” or “passionate” to describe myself and my music. However, if I’m going to be “walking my talk”, it’s clear that I’m going to have to dig out my Thesaurus and start finding a new vocabulary to express similar concepts. Or maybe that’s just the old rebel in me which has never really gone away? Oh well, the new web site content will be proof of that – watch this space!

The Benefits of Slow Clarinet Practice

Following on very neatly from my last post, my Twitter friend David Thomas (principal of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra) who I have mentioned on several occasions, has just posted a very informative article on the benefits of Slow Practice. It just begs to be shared.

Here is the link: http://blog.davidhthomas.net/2009/11/deep-vacation-slow-practice

As a clarinettist who is working on improving fluidity in her own technique, I picked up several good ideas which I intend to make a permanent fixture in my own practice sessions next week. I have found that since studying the Debussy Premiere Rhapsody for the album, I seem to have picked up a psychological hatred of trills, so the drills he suggests will be especially useful. 

I encourage you to take a look.

Classical Music Blogs Netiquette

All Your Own Work?

I been watching the daily visits to this blog rising at an incredible rate over the last couple of months. It’s always encouraging to learn that people bother to read the thousands of words that I churn out, albeit with sporadic production on my part at times.

If you don’t blog yourself, are you aware that posts of around a thousand words can take up to 2-3 hours to produce? Yup – that long.  So just imagine how I feel when I receive comments or get added as a recommended link to other blogs. Of course I’m ecstatic! I really appreciate folk who take the trouble to input feedback of whatever sort. This “dialogue” motivates me to be more consistent in posting – constancy in anything other than playing my clarinet has always been a challenge!

Now - I’m a naturally curious soul and following up the “Trackbacks”, “Pings”, etc., from whence individuals have arrived then passing further on down the Internet chain, I am finding some my material replicated almost verbatim elsewhere – I’m thinking particularly of  the Marketing for Classical Musicians series. On one hand, I’m chuffed  – I’m clearly writing on subjects of value that are being shared and one of my “reasons for being” is to inform and inspire. On the other, I find myself getting rather angry when a “rehashed” i.e., clearly plagiarised article is presented neither with reference to source, nor a link back to this blog.

Isn’t it basic “Netiquette” to cite references when your words are not original?

Nothing would please me more – except say, winning an international clarinet competition – than any of the articles that I write being spread all over the Internet. This isn’t a question of satisfying my ego; it is one of validation i.e., what I am writing is interesting and useful to other people. However, if you do use my material, I would have thought that it is a common courtesy to quote my name and/or link back to this blog.

I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling like this. Many bloggers I know expend a lot of energy and can count an infinite number of man hours expended on order to provide you with a free resource. The least you can do in my book is to acknowledge our work.

Would you present a University thesis or Doctorate paper without references to the sources that assisted you in reaching your conclusion?

Please think about that one the next time you are tempted to just “cut and paste”. 

I believe passionately in keeping information free within the public domain but equally, a little bit of respect would be appreciated.

Autumn Reflections in Andalusia III: Cat and Dog Inc.

Charlie the Cat Terrorist

It had been a major project: trapping and neutering Mummy Tabby, Cleo, Crosseyes and Squeaky, the “outside cats” who inhabit a rather fetching yellow and brown plastic semi-detached residence on our front patio. Naranja (Orange) – so named because a quarter of her face and two paws are that colour in contrast with the rest of her black – had been “seen to” a couple of years ago and she completes the al fresco colony.

The Fabby Four foster kittens: Flobey, Oscar, Nena and Marga - who I watched being born on April 1st had more or less strolled in of their own accord soon after they had weaned. Oscar immediately made himself at home and settled on my chest one night when I was minding my own business watching TV. His friend Flobey sauntered in next. Clearly the word had gotten out in the neighbourhood that the Harrington-Vandeville household was a pretty hip place for felines to hang out because Nena and Marga arrived soon afterwards, the latter rather reluctantly trailing her sister.

Having caught Flobey ”en flagrante” with Nena on a couple of occasions in October, it was clear that the time had come for the old “chop-chop” visit to the vets if we were to avoid future catlettes. Besides, as it is our intention to find permanent homes for these little guys, I figured it should be easier if future pet parents could be assured that the “ever-present danger” of reproduction had already been quashed. I am so thankful for my animal rescue contacts without whom, both practically and financially, it would have been impossible to even start tackling stemming the local stray animal population. The division of labour has meant me freely giving my time and supplying the brawn, which I’m happy to do, whilst the charities have donated the means – a very fair deal and it has worked out so well.

Oscar unfortunately broke his jaw about a month ago after Spousette had found Charlie the puppy in a rubbish skip. We managed to place the dog in a small refuge very quickly but not until after we had all passed a rather stressful weekend chez nous. It turned out that 3-month old Charlie enjoyed chasing little cats. Attempting to execute what amounted to an animal version of the Middle East peace process, due to lack of concessions by all sides, we failed dismally as negotiators. At one point Oscar ended up the top of the fig tree and had to be coaxed down with the aid of chicken slices and a ladder, only to slip out of my hands, shoot up a boundary wall, misjudge the distance and fall over the other side into a pile of rubble. Marga found an excellent hide-way tucked behind the motor of the swimming pool but wouldn’t budge even after Charlie had been secured for a couple of hours. Flobey requisitioned the pear tree, got bored and fell asleep on a branch. Nena took the easy option, fled inside and hid under the bed. An urgent case-fire solution had to be found which entailed the entire household grounded for two whole days whilst Charlie happily dug holes in the garden.

With pup safely ensconced in the refuge (“he’s a delight” said Pat, his foster Mum), Oscar went under anaesthetic to have his jaw fixed by his veterinary dentist and we took the opportunity to have him neutered at the same time which left his three siblings booked into the vets for 16th November.

Just as I was in the middle of congratulating myself for solving the cat problem virtually single-handedly, another little challenge arrived withour warning. Spousette and I were out in the garden on one of our regular 15 minute power breaks with me chattering away as usual when Ana suddenly went very pale and just pointed down to an area under the trees which I had neglected for “nature to enjoy” i.e., it was full of weeds. There in the middle of the jostling green, looking downcast and completely lost was a kitten of about two months with very similar makings to Naranja, except of course to suggest it was hers was a biological impossibility.

He/she has been christened Mandarina, being a smaller version of Naranja.

Flobey and Mandarina Relax

So it seems, just like the Hadron Collider, the project had merely paused as opposed to being completed. Should you be able to offer any of our foster cats a home – do get in touch. Details on the Contact page.

Autumn Reflections in Andalusia II: Plans for Location Independence

The Internet Has Turned the Traditional Concept of Work on It's Head

Over the last year I have grown particularly interested in the concept of “location independence” i.e., designing your life where actual physical presence in any one place for a set amount of time is irrelevant. You could think of it as taking the concept of being freelance and going global. Without doubt the internet has given us the opportunity to turn the traditional work model completely on its head where we can not only choose where we live but also create our own economy. There is something rather attractive about being mobile enough to live wherever your career or the muse happens to take you, armed only with laptop, instruments and a suitcase. I am very much encouraged that growing numbers of people appear to be taking up the challenge, the Spousette and myself included.

I was already a keen reader of Lea and Jonathan Woodward’s web site and blog at http://www.locationindependent.com so when the opportunity came up to join their Roundtable mentoring programme, I jumped at the chance. A combination of 1:1 tuition, collective small group mastermind sessions, online exercises and forum feedback make for a winning combination. In only a few weeks my brain has gone into such overdrive that my previously very modest 2010 business plans have grown from just publishing a book on marketing into what one of the gurus, Andy Hayes( http://www.andyhayes.com) calls the Mazza Empire-lol!

Just to whet your appetite and create a buzz of anticipation (?) the strategy goes something like this:

• The first to be published in 2010 will be my portfolio site http://www.marionharringtonclarinet.com. This will include MP3 extracts from the album and I suspect will have a design that is a bit “off the wall”
• Following closely in its wake, a more general site covering  two main subjects of a “How To” nature which should be of interest to all classical musicians who are looking for alternative non-musical tools and resources to help them to succeed in the music industry.
• In the midst of this second stage, my current blog and/or Twitter branding is likely to change.
• With branding complete, another 14 sites will be systematically rolled out over the course of 2010-2011. These will all have the same format but be more individually specialised.

If you have “big ideas” don’t let the fact that you lack the means or knowledge to follow them through deter you. It is simply a question of surrounding yourself with people who do have the resources and “know how”. I could never have imagined that with some business coaching and creative thought a small idea could mushroom into a large entity with a life of its own.

If you can take on board and accept that these days most classical musicians need to develop ”portfolio careers”,i.e., generate income from multiple sources, ask yourself whether you would prefer to wait on tables or sit at your laptop developing a business that embraces your passion when you’re not actually practicing or performing.

With some focused application on the business strategy and once the album is complete, it’s exciting to think that Spousette and I should be on our way to Location Independence Stop 1: France, if all goes well, in the Spring of 2010. Or maybe another opportunity will pop up elsewhere? The beauty of the location independent lifestyle is that total flexibility of location. I do believe I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve!

Be vigilant and open to opportunities “outside the norm”. 

Who makes the “rules” anyway?