Practicing on the road

I often get asked how I practice on the road. This was meant to be posted when I was travelling in BC in February for teaching but I got a nasty cold and then another nasty cold and this post just kinda sat around waiting for me to finish it. 

Playing flute in hotel rooms, air bnb's, billets, tents, etc, has always been an adventure and also nerve-wracking. Am I violating those sacred covenants of travellers - or am I? No one is usually in their hotel room at 12 noon except me. And when everyone is in in the evening, I am usually on the concert stage. This poses a conundrum.

Air BnB: I am often away from a house in a separate dwelling or in a standalone house. With this, no challenges! Only my own will to practice is the barrier.

With the new rules in BC of owners living on the property it means there are more basement suites and attached suites than before. While in Nelson, I was able to practice during the day while everyone was out. Once, in a hotel, I was advised to hang up the blankets around the closet and play into the closet. This worked! I had no noise complaints. While some of you may think the flute is "pretty" and "shouldn't bother anyone" When I am practicing exercises, or repeating difficult passages as I work through technical challenges - the flute can become a "not pretty' sound 😂

Hotel: Making sure my neighbours are gone. This usually means aiming for 11 am - 4 pm practice time if I can. If it is in the evening I stay away from high-register technical parts and aim for low-register practicing and try to do less repetitive exercises. Once I jammed with Erroll Kinistino until midnight but the flute/guitar music was lovely and we were in a corner unit with the laundry next to us.

I have no advice for tents as I tend to avoid camping and would worry about environmental outdoor damage to my instruments. Please let me know if anyone has practiced while camping in a tent! I will happily take any advice!

One thing that I do when I can is internal hearing/visual practicing with the score. I cannot tout the benefits of visualization practice enough. I had a professor introduce this to me for a conducting exam and translate it over to performance nerves and this advice and practice got me through my undergrad. It also helped me get through my stage fright and stage nerves. If you want to learn more, let me know and I am happy to share this technique. 

- Vee