Casey Granofsky

I seriously can't believe how long it's taken me just to get to this point. I feel like i started this a month ago, but it's only been about 2 and a half weeks. It's been a busy two and a half weeks, what with a wedding (not mine), family relations visiting (mine), and just a ton of day-jobbing it. All that to say I was either too busy, too emotionally destraught, or too tired to be productive and practice my Moyse. Those days that I did practice, there wasn't enough time to

I remember a time before I set myself this task. It was an idyllic time, where the sun always shone without being too hot or bright; where birds would join you in a song when you rose from a perfect slumber; where strangers would join you in an impeccably choreographed song and dance routine about how the world is a super-duper place. Now I sit in my studio at home where it's too hot and sweaty; where there are no birds but the dogs next door bark loudly and constantly; and w

I think I've really started to hit my stride with the regular scales and arpeggios. I don't seem to run into the issues I had earlier and every time I play through them I up the tempo a little bit. Overall I'm pretty pleased with how they're progressing. The whole practice regimen outlined in the book is actually the same thing repeated. Once you get through exercises U, V, X, and Y the whole thing starts all over again, giving you a 26-day cycle. Maybe he was supersticious a

Day 4 of the Moyse Project went smoothly with no major issues. Some slight uneveness with the right hand pinkie finger, which is to be expected. Tempo raised, overall smoother, and completed in about 40 minutes. Some slight air and tone issues, but it's all there. Even though it's easier, it's still a serious work-out - I would not recommend these on a day where you have a performance or a lot of rehearsals. Once you get beyond the technical issues there are still a lot of th

My main issues were not so much technical because in some places it was all a lot easier than playing the scales straight. It was just a brain teaser seeing things written the way they are. The problem with full-range exercises is the scales and arpeggios you're used to practicing hit their tops and bottoms in awkward places. Most of us don't practice scales by changing directions somewhere in the middle. It's a strange pattern that doesn't sound right, and it really threw me

The end of an audition with no gigs in sight means only one thing: new projects! So far this summer I've already started two. The first is my tiny herb garden. It's really not so impressive, but as a first time gardener it's kind of cool to prune some basil leaves for part of your dinner, and come back a few days later and already see new ones starting to sprout. We'll see if I have enough basil at the end of the summer to make a small batch of pesto. The second project is ac