A Practice Guide to Tchaikovsky Symphony #4, 4th movement

Main piccolo solo excerpt practice guide: • A practice guide to th...
Practice strategies, alternate fingerings, general piccolo advice on the last movement piccolo excerpt of Tchaikovsky's Symphony #4.

[@elbertajohnson937]

Enjoy your tips. Always learning something. Like alternate fingerings. Thank you Our community band is doing Nutcracker and Eighth Candle for Christmas concert this year. I’ve been doing this for 60 years and still learning new tips

[@michaelschonauer7238]

Hi Julia and greetings from Acadia National Park in Maine!! Terrific tutorial. Your comments regarding the left hand resonated with me, however the issue that I've always had is that my hand has a tendancy to tighten up to the point where the fingers won't even move. There is so much going on from the technical aspect to keeping the air moving so the notes will speak. This particular excerpt, I think, just requires a lot of woodshedding. I appreciate the suggestions as always!

[@hawaiiflute]

Yes, the left hand tightening up is especially common on piccolo bc the instrument is so small. Lots of woodshedding for sure in this excerpt. Practice in front of a mirror to keep an eye on the hand- or record yourself and watch your hand to see if it moves or is visibly tight. Good luck! Have fun at Acadia National Park!

[@drZZhed]

Excellent pieces of advise, combining physical position with air support. Keep up the good work. As for next, what about baroque pieces on the piccolo ?

[@hawaiiflute]

Thank you! I am planning on covering the Vivaldi Concerto (can’t remember the #) - but probably not for a few more months. I’m a little unfamiliar with Baroque rep for piccolo but I should def get into it👍