Last night, I watched "The Martian" on YouTube which was neat to find since it's been out 10 years and I've been hoping to find it. It's a pretty good movie, and while watching it I got in about an hour and a half of practice.
I can tell I'm starting to get places. Listeners don't want to hear wrong notes, or messed up timing or just timing that doesn't swing, but another thing they want to hear is good tone. And that's what I'm aiming for.
For some reason, I sounded more "strong" last night and also it's like something clicked and I "get" the type of breathing needed to play flute. I'm no longer finding the breath marks in the book to be too far apart. In trumpet (oboists have it even worse) you learn to not take in too much air, because trumpet really doesn't use much air. I'd call it "middle air" in other words, fill your lungs midway.
Flute uses what I'd call "top air" like you have to fill your lungs top-up. When someone talks about yelling etc. at the top of their lungs, this is what they mean. Put simply, in flute you have to breathe more and work those lungs a bit.
So it was pretty good, getting this nice practice session in and watching this neat movie also.
Today I got up, on 4 hours' sleep, and deposited my pay check and shopped at Walmart. Among other things I got some "Iron Man" reading glasses, +1.25 so the weakest power which is perfect for me. My cheapo Walmart ones had broken a week or so ago, just from my taking them out of their case and unfolding them. Hm!
So I'd had it in my mind to get some new ones and pay a bit more, maybe find some Dean Edell (bleh) ones or something, at least some name brand that the frames aren't cheap castings. So I was going through Walmart picking up this and that and got to the pharmacy area and there was this lone pair of "Iron Man" ones, in the strength I use, in the style I like, etc. I didn't see any others. So, OK, I got 'em. I mean, maybe they're meant to read with when you're training for the ... Iron Man?
Since I didn't go by Whole Foods I can't say how it looked for busking on this night. In my experience, busking is good over the summer and then once it's October the tips go way down. Then when it's December, it's time for the Xmas carols. So for the next two months it's going to be lousy for busking which is fine with me since I'm not up to it on flute yet.
It will be interesting to see how flute might make a difference. There's a rule in busking that it's better to play an instrument that (a) members of the public wish they'd stayed with, or (b) they want their kid to play. Instruments like flute and violin are good examples.
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