Extracurricular group workout 9

A Tuning the Air Journal

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 – Extracurricular group workout 9

Jaxie in the house for the first time! Thanks to the demolition of the viaduct (or, more accurately, the traffic looking for alternative routes), we got off to a dribbling start. Jaxie, Mary Beth and I were just sitting down when Greg arrived. We began beginning when Carl arrived. We were running “Mad World” with the metronome when Chris arrived.

No particular agenda other than to put in time on anything that seemed it might benefit. A new quintet version of the B Minor Prelude. Very strange, but an indication that we are becoming comfortable with the piece and our parts, and can manage quite well even when 1, 2, 3, or in this case, 4 parts are missing. The beginning of a discussion of blending our articulation and phrasing for more continuity.

A look at “Connecticut Yankee”, reviewing and refining the dynamics, as well as some detailed work on the feel of the bass part.

“Little Red Truck” was next. A couple of simple runthroughs with the metronome, focusing on transitions. Small group work included a couple passes at “Chanson de Mardi Gras”, a duo version of “Tico Tico”, and a bass and vocal rendition of “I Will”.

“I Am The Walrus” in several breakouts, including a vocal and string version, as well as the transition from “Gnossienne”. This led to a full runthrough of “Gnossiene”.

A bit more detail work on “Fallout”, and a runthrough of “Slow Burn”.

On to performance #219 (3x73)