Well, summer is upon us. Here in Virginia, it is uncomfortably hot. I was always used to Colorado summers, hot, but DRY! Here it is the same temps (80s & 90s) but there is so much humidity to go along with it! I’ve been going out on runs before work (6am) and it still feels like I’m running through hot soup. Bleh.
Anyway, I’ve been super busy with work. After I got back from my weekend in Colorado, I worked 17 out of the next 18 days! It was rough. Unfortunately, because I’ve been so busy I’ve left practicing to the wayside. I can feel it too! My endurance isn’t what it was even a month ago. I have realized how important my daily routine is. I need to make sure I do my routine EVERY DAY (well, every work day, that is), even if it is the only thing I do in the practice room, and even if it is at the end of the day. It is SO important. This way I hit on everything (tone, intonation, articulation, technique) on a daily basis. Rehearsals don’t and cannot count as practice time!
I’ve also picked up a collateral duty at work, which has added to my busy-ness. I’m working in the public affairs shop, which is fun and right up my alley. But I’m trying to always keep in the back of my mind a piece of advice that a recently retired Navy musician gave me on the day he retired: always remember why you joined – and that is to play your instrument, nothing else. Everything else should come second. I feel like a lot of people in the program lose sight of that, unfortunately. So clarinet needs to always be number one! Always!
Sandy Herrera, Clarinet 