the practice slog

I'm starting to dread my daily flute practice sessions--because I've been practicing some piece for weeks and they're getting worse, not better.  I realized today that my new flute could be part of the difficulty--my fingers ache quite a bit, and I'm still having trouble consistently covering the holes.  And my jaw cracks a lot, which I attribute to the strain from trying to get the correct embouchure.  I feel better when I play simpler pieces--ones that aren't too fast--where I can work on my tone.  Yesterday I listened to the CD that comes with Trevor Wye's tone book, and I realized how far over my head it was.  He talks about developing the ability to play "yellow" and "purple" tones, and then demonstrated them.  I could tell there was a difference, but wouldn't be able to say which was which.  And anyway, I'm just trying to play notes with more focus and less air--I'm nowhere near the point where I can work on tone color.

And I struggle mightily to play fast--the Anderson piece is so difficult for me--I can't play all the notes and the tone falls apart.  Fact is, I'm still very much a beginner, and am playing pieces beyond my ability.  I am determined, so I stick with it to an extent, but after a certain number of repetitions, my fingers rebel.  And they do ache.  It feels like my ring finger (L hand) is starting to lock up--hopefully you can't get trigger finger there.  And my right middle finger, where I just had the cortisone shot to alleviate the trigger finger, is still swollen at the base and aches.

I knew I'd hit a plateau--all I can do is keep trying.  I have reversed the order of practice so I play some easy duets first (after I do the chromatic and major scales), then exercises from the Eck book (very difficult, because the sixteenths are supposed to be really fast) and then the pieces from the Anderson collection.  Not sure if that's the best way, to leave the hardest for last, but then I don't get discouraged until the 2nd hour.