Another rehearsal

I was pretty relaxed this week. Maybe too relaxed: if we don't count rehearsals time, lesson time, and reed testing time as practicing, then I missed four full days of practice in a row. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised it didn't go well. When it came time to play Mozart in rehearsal, I found myself getting distracted, and losing flow. Anytime I'm thinking to myself, "Oh no! I'm thinking, and not in a flow state! How do I get focus back?" instead of "Bump bahh, bee-de bump bahh..." you can be certain that it's not going well. I got totally lost in the middle of a solo once, mixing up the first and second statements I think, and had to almost stop playing until I could figure out where the orchestra was. Another time I tried following the conductor's beat, even just for a moment, which created another train wreck. Maybe a bit of nerves is a good thing, if it can help keep me in the moment. It might also help encourage me to keep some steam up on practicing Mozart: just to keep it at its current (and rather mediocre) level, I've got to continue to put time in. Preparation, again.