FOF

Yay, everyone, you can breathe a sigh or relief. I think I have successfully broken in my new reeds...they from Argentina--Gonzalez brand with the nickname of "For Our Friends," or "F.O.F!" I don't think I have ever tried new reeds. Maybe like once. Like I said in another post, I've never been an equipment junkie. Now I might be having fun with it. These reeds are awesome! I am definitely noticing a big difference in projection in orchestra. Clarinet players--give it a try! It plays a full size down from your blue box Vandorens. So a FOF 3=Vandoren 4. It did take awhile to break in, but I think its safe to give the preliminary review an excited thumbs up! Did you know that most clarinetists have a deformed right thumb? So, I give it a deformed thumb up! Hehehe! <--that is true. It's because the weight of the instrument weighs on the right thumb. It is kind of nasty. Well my dears, Minneapolis did receive like 2 feet of snow, just a few days after spring tried to happen. (55, I think, one day...) So I actually got really m0pey about it. AND it prevented Bob & my one month duet anniversary. Sad.

Oh my goodness...yesterday was not so good. Haven't had a BAD day for awhile. It was due to a high school kid. Hate to let it get to me, but despite my best efforts, I couldn't recover from an incident that happened around 1 pm, and it totally ruined my day. Like: agitated, pissed, exhausted, confused, disheartened, etc, etc, etc...ugh! BUT, friend was unable to attend rehearsal last evening so I did need to go in order to cover all his parts, plus my own, so I had to attend the rehearsal...no way out. But, with my FOFs (i LOVE saying that!) and a mixture of Malcolm Arnold, COPLAND, and LeRoy Anderson, all was good again in the world. Seriously...something about Copland that makes the bloodpressure get back to normal. The harmonies are so wide open and I just looooove playing the clarinet parts in all of his pieces. Plus, I really enjoy the folks in my section. Since it is a "local" orchestra, we have musicians from every walk of life. Which definitely came out when the percussionist asked if any music teacher in the group would let him borrow a slide whistle. About 10 people raised their hand to offer their whistles, and then one person said, "i have one in my trunk right now!" And I turned around and said, "I have jingle bells in my trunk!" (True.) She replied with "I have a vibraslap." And then lady next to me says, "I have handcuffs. They're evidence in a court case!" Because she's a judge! OMG! We got in trouble giggling.

Sometimes I forget when I'm teaching how important the social aspect of music/dance class is. And it weirds me out that I forget this. Because one reason I looooove playing in ensembles and going to dance class is the camaraderie involved. Especially when there is suckiness happening. There is no bond stronger than two bad ballet dancers, supporting each other through hellish classes, week after week. Trust me. Same thing with band and orchestra. The support from peers is essential. I remember learning the technical terms for this experience in some Ed Psych class in school. Too bad I can't remember it to really impress you all!

Anyhoo...I will try to remember this next time I monotonely say "thetalkingneedstostop..." in my classes! Hehehe!

xo