So, I got in touch with Julia today ... so exciting!!!
I'm gonna play for her on the 22nd ... I'm so excited ... but I'm also incredibly nervous & I have no idea what I should play at all ...
Is it better to play something that I can play well & have a lesson on that, or should I bring in something like the second Bach prelude, which I can play, but really still have no idea what to do with musically ...
I'm thinking it might be cool to bring in Elgar 1st mov. and then the 2nd bach prelude for the reason I stated above ... but I really don't know ... she said she could meet with me between 2:30 and 3:30 ... so I guess that makes it kind of a lesson ... I've got a few questions for her ... guess I should write out over the next week ... I'm so nervous though ... and it's during my last week of classes, which means I have a crazy amt. of work to do *AND* a crazy amount of practicing to do...
Monday, April 14, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Oh My God! So Cool
So today consisted of:
1. Recording the Manhattanville Orchestra
2. Playing with the St. Thomas Orchestra
3. Getting a call from Julia Lichten!!
Recording the Orchestra was an exercise in "How the fuck do I get this to work" ... it was very interesting ... the new theatre (Gymatorium) is uh ... really not built for an orchestra ...
Playing with St. Thomas Orchestra was amazing ... I got involved by randomly meeting my teacher's stand partner & discovering that we both played cello ... so I show up for rehearsal today & read through Dvorak's Slavonic Dances & for the most part kept up (had to drop out at some of the crazy runs, but I still kept with the orchestra)... it was really encouraging ... means I've been doing good work ...
Then we pull out the Bruch Violin Concerto ... turns out the soloist has been studying with Itzhak Perlman since she was a little kid ... so cool!!!!
That's the only time I can remember that I've come out of an orchestra rehearsal really excited ... also, Julia Lichten called me back!!! I'm trying to go to a concert of hers on Tuesday (with the rest of the Purchase String Faculty) ... depends on whether I can get my student to reschedule ... either way, I'm gonna find a way to get in touch with her... can't wait!!
1. Recording the Manhattanville Orchestra
2. Playing with the St. Thomas Orchestra
3. Getting a call from Julia Lichten!!
Recording the Orchestra was an exercise in "How the fuck do I get this to work" ... it was very interesting ... the new theatre (Gymatorium) is uh ... really not built for an orchestra ...
Playing with St. Thomas Orchestra was amazing ... I got involved by randomly meeting my teacher's stand partner & discovering that we both played cello ... so I show up for rehearsal today & read through Dvorak's Slavonic Dances & for the most part kept up (had to drop out at some of the crazy runs, but I still kept with the orchestra)... it was really encouraging ... means I've been doing good work ...
Then we pull out the Bruch Violin Concerto ... turns out the soloist has been studying with Itzhak Perlman since she was a little kid ... so cool!!!!
That's the only time I can remember that I've come out of an orchestra rehearsal really excited ... also, Julia Lichten called me back!!! I'm trying to go to a concert of hers on Tuesday (with the rest of the Purchase String Faculty) ... depends on whether I can get my student to reschedule ... either way, I'm gonna find a way to get in touch with her... can't wait!!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Arlene Kaplan, Popper & Mutes
The three are actually pretty unrelated...
My school had its Arlene Kaplan competition today. I entered, along with 2 pianists (one of whom had tendonitis!). I was playing the Courante from the first Bach Suite, Haydn C Maj. 1st movement & Elgar 1st movement ... I have also been sick for the last 4 days or so ... So, minus a memory slip or two in the Bach, and a little bit of slop in general (from fighting against my body just to play normally), I played the pieces the best I've ever played them (and man does that mean I need to up my level by *a lot!!*). I was also awarded one of two prizes, which was pretty awesome. I didn't really enter the competition for the sake of winning, or anything of that sort, just for the sake of the process you go through in preparing for them (that is, after all, why they're important/valuable). Anyway, I'm really proud of myself for earning that, and for the progress I've been making lately ... got a lot more to go though just to get any of those pieces into *real* shape ... but anyway, I'm breaking on them for now, because I have 4 concerts next week and am working on a Popper etude, plus the Saint-Saens Cello Concerto for this week ... it's amazing how much easier the Popper Etude is at this point ... it should be a breeze to get through...
Well, guess I've covered the Popper bit ... while doing Popper/afterwards, I discovered that playing with a mute makes deficiences very clear (like unintentional slides, or pitch errors, poor bowing ... stuff like that) ... so, I'm gonna play with it more often ... if I can get an amazing tone with one, then I can get an even better one without one ... exciting!!
Playing on fingertips is something I've rediscovered (though I never thought of it that way before) & finally my fingertips are callousing the way they used to ... so inspiring ...
Can't wait to get to practicing tomorrow ... so much to work on ...
P.S. - Emily - I got the Strings Magazine & have been meaning to call and say hi/thanks, but have been pretty busy and sick as you can see. Hope all is well.
-Mike
My school had its Arlene Kaplan competition today. I entered, along with 2 pianists (one of whom had tendonitis!). I was playing the Courante from the first Bach Suite, Haydn C Maj. 1st movement & Elgar 1st movement ... I have also been sick for the last 4 days or so ... So, minus a memory slip or two in the Bach, and a little bit of slop in general (from fighting against my body just to play normally), I played the pieces the best I've ever played them (and man does that mean I need to up my level by *a lot!!*). I was also awarded one of two prizes, which was pretty awesome. I didn't really enter the competition for the sake of winning, or anything of that sort, just for the sake of the process you go through in preparing for them (that is, after all, why they're important/valuable). Anyway, I'm really proud of myself for earning that, and for the progress I've been making lately ... got a lot more to go though just to get any of those pieces into *real* shape ... but anyway, I'm breaking on them for now, because I have 4 concerts next week and am working on a Popper etude, plus the Saint-Saens Cello Concerto for this week ... it's amazing how much easier the Popper Etude is at this point ... it should be a breeze to get through...
Well, guess I've covered the Popper bit ... while doing Popper/afterwards, I discovered that playing with a mute makes deficiences very clear (like unintentional slides, or pitch errors, poor bowing ... stuff like that) ... so, I'm gonna play with it more often ... if I can get an amazing tone with one, then I can get an even better one without one ... exciting!!
Playing on fingertips is something I've rediscovered (though I never thought of it that way before) & finally my fingertips are callousing the way they used to ... so inspiring ...
Can't wait to get to practicing tomorrow ... so much to work on ...
P.S. - Emily - I got the Strings Magazine & have been meaning to call and say hi/thanks, but have been pretty busy and sick as you can see. Hope all is well.
-Mike
Friday, April 4, 2008
Purchase
Been practicing like crazy lately. It' been so great... My rate of progress is finally starting to go up, which is really inspiring ... trying to get the rate back to where it was in high school ... I've come to the realization, that no matter how well I practice and learn, the only way to do that is through quantity, through practicing at every moment that I get & through practicing with the fullest intensity ... recording practice sessions helps tremendously ...
I'm gonna try to get a playing group together for next semester, where me & any other interested students play for one another on a weekly basis & then maybe have a listening or discussion or presentation time afterwards ... hopefully it will take off... need to generate interest...
I wanted to plan an outdoor concert, but I really don't know if I have the time to ... hopefully I can though ... if things calm down a bit, I'll try and put things together ... would be so amazing ...
So anyway ... on to the title... I played a piece for Kyle Welch's Sr. Recital at Purchase tonight ... it went pretty well ... there were some timing/communication issues, but we had only had one rehearsal, so not bad all things considered ... I also got to watch some interesting music that Bridget Ellsworth had composed ... particularly, a string quartet & a viola/piano piece w/ a dancer ...
The players there were all very good ... I've come to the conclusion that it's not that they're necessarily more talented, but it is that they work at things more/are more devoted & that they have better tools than the people here, and that's really what it comes down to ... I'm still trying to get in touch with Julia Lichten ... it will happen at some point ...
The piece we did was a Song Cycle for Voice, Flute, Clarinet, Violin/Viola & Cello ... kind of an allusion to Pierrot Lunaire (sp?) as far as instrumentation goes ... was very cool music overall & everyone was really friendly and easy to work with (not to mention quirky in their own ways ... so much more going on than here!)
The cellist who played in the other quartet had such a focused tone and bow control ... his left hand was very relaxed/controlled too. In one sense, it almost seemed too clean, on the other hand, very focused and efficient ... I'm glad I didn't start in a conservatory, but I can't wait to get into one some day...
I'm wondering if I should try to get in touch with teachers from other conservatories over the summer, b/c as much as I want to go to purchase, it might be shooting myself in the foot not to give myself other options (on the other hand, if I can't get in to Purchase, I doubt I can get into the higher level conservatories, though I think it's worth it to try auditioning for Julliard & MSM & Mannes and all the rest ... how amazing would it be if I could get into MSM??!!! Maybe I should make that my goal.)
Anyway, I'm exhausted and gonna take a break for the night, but can't wait for tomorrow so that I can practice like mad and then go to Symphony-X/Epica/Into Eternity ...
Also, Arlene Kaplan (my school's instrumental/vocal competition) is next friday (1 wk from today) .. I'm preparing the Courante from Bach Suite 1, Haydn C 1st mov. & Elgar 1st mov. ... it's all stuff I've done before, but not on the level that I'm beginning to play at now (a level where I can begin to put technique more aside & concentrate on things like phrasing and listening and making music), so I have a *ton* of work to do on those & not enough time to do it, but I'm gonna get it done!!
That's all for now ... will definitely try and blog about the metal show tomorrow night ...
I'm gonna try to get a playing group together for next semester, where me & any other interested students play for one another on a weekly basis & then maybe have a listening or discussion or presentation time afterwards ... hopefully it will take off... need to generate interest...
I wanted to plan an outdoor concert, but I really don't know if I have the time to ... hopefully I can though ... if things calm down a bit, I'll try and put things together ... would be so amazing ...
So anyway ... on to the title... I played a piece for Kyle Welch's Sr. Recital at Purchase tonight ... it went pretty well ... there were some timing/communication issues, but we had only had one rehearsal, so not bad all things considered ... I also got to watch some interesting music that Bridget Ellsworth had composed ... particularly, a string quartet & a viola/piano piece w/ a dancer ...
The players there were all very good ... I've come to the conclusion that it's not that they're necessarily more talented, but it is that they work at things more/are more devoted & that they have better tools than the people here, and that's really what it comes down to ... I'm still trying to get in touch with Julia Lichten ... it will happen at some point ...
The piece we did was a Song Cycle for Voice, Flute, Clarinet, Violin/Viola & Cello ... kind of an allusion to Pierrot Lunaire (sp?) as far as instrumentation goes ... was very cool music overall & everyone was really friendly and easy to work with (not to mention quirky in their own ways ... so much more going on than here!)
The cellist who played in the other quartet had such a focused tone and bow control ... his left hand was very relaxed/controlled too. In one sense, it almost seemed too clean, on the other hand, very focused and efficient ... I'm glad I didn't start in a conservatory, but I can't wait to get into one some day...
I'm wondering if I should try to get in touch with teachers from other conservatories over the summer, b/c as much as I want to go to purchase, it might be shooting myself in the foot not to give myself other options (on the other hand, if I can't get in to Purchase, I doubt I can get into the higher level conservatories, though I think it's worth it to try auditioning for Julliard & MSM & Mannes and all the rest ... how amazing would it be if I could get into MSM??!!! Maybe I should make that my goal.)
Anyway, I'm exhausted and gonna take a break for the night, but can't wait for tomorrow so that I can practice like mad and then go to Symphony-X/Epica/Into Eternity ...
Also, Arlene Kaplan (my school's instrumental/vocal competition) is next friday (1 wk from today) .. I'm preparing the Courante from Bach Suite 1, Haydn C 1st mov. & Elgar 1st mov. ... it's all stuff I've done before, but not on the level that I'm beginning to play at now (a level where I can begin to put technique more aside & concentrate on things like phrasing and listening and making music), so I have a *ton* of work to do on those & not enough time to do it, but I'm gonna get it done!!
That's all for now ... will definitely try and blog about the metal show tomorrow night ...
Friday, March 28, 2008
Using the bass guitar to help with cello...
So, tonight I was faced with a rather interesting dilemma ...
It was 11:00 or so at night, and I wanted to practice, but didn't want to disturb others in the dorm & didn't want to walk over to the music building just to discover it was locked up (nor did I want to walk over to our other music/arts building, b/c I was quite tired...)
So, I decided to play some bass guitar ... usually on bass I just mess around and don't do anything productive ... however, I noticed that the strings were really digging into my left hand's fingers ... so it occured to me that I could use it to help me build up some callouses, since I didn't get to do much raw technique exercise today (I worked on the 2nd movement of the Elgar concerto in my lesson, and so all the practicing I did was oriented around that & trying to fix my bow grip ... so, unfortunately, I didn't quite get to scales and arpeggios)
Anyway, from there I decided to play the bass with the same conviction I use when playing the cello ... with the conviction of focusing on every note & playing every note well & I started coming up with exercises & patterns the way I do on cello, and it occurred to me that I could apply any of my cello method to bass & that it would help both ... quite exciting...
So I did that for a bit, was more productive than I ever am on bass, and now my LH is just slightly more calloused ...
My lesson today was pretty much spent on talking about Spiccato & then fingering the 2nd movement of the Elgar ... it was definitely within reach, although this spiccato thing is going to take a ton of work to develop ... I'm already getting closer with it ... have some bowing things that needed correcting though ... basic principles:
1. Start with free bouncing bow, let it drift towards bridge ... as it gets closer, try to control the bounces
2. The fingers must be relaxed for this (I later discovered the way to achiever this for me seems to be to practice the proper finger motions as a separate exercise & then remember to initiate the bow motions with larger muscle groups when actually playing...)
3. Fingers straighten for down bow (2nd knuckle "dissappears") & curl for upbow ... thumb does the same
4. at faster speeds (we started *very* slow), the thumb is the engine of the locomotive & the fingers follow
5. Contact point must remain consistent
6. Wrist should be pronated
I meant to record the lesson, but I completely forgot to bring my laptop :( This would have been a tremendously helpful lesson to record too... I've decided I need to become a better student & ask as many questions as possible. I also need to not be satisfied with the way I perform things, because there are always so many more levels that I could achieve with them ... I wish my teacher pushed me more, but it's just not his nature, so I'm going to push him more, which will in turn push me more...
I noticed, when watching the vid. of Jacqueline DuPre playing the Elgar, that she uses a very slanted left hand & that along with extremely smooth bows, it creates the intensity & sound that she gets ... it was exciting to discover something about the technique of music making that someone uses ... I think there's a different technique for every piece of music ... or at least for every composer & I'm glad to have learned part of one of them ... I feel like I need to learn more of these to move beyond where I am now & to improve my musicality ... I'm going to watch as many videos of great cellists as I can whenever I have the chance, and really try to dissect what's going on as effectively and as in-depth as I can ... for now I'm going to focus on Jackie & her Elgar.
By the way, I'm usually not that into listening to new classical cellists (Ironic I know, considering my career choice), but check this guy out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qwz0foa7sQ ... he captures the soul of Bach in a way that almost everybody misses!
I've been trying to get in touch with the teacher at Purchase, but no luck just yet ... just trying to get in touch with her at all though has made me think of how slowly I'm moving through things & how much more I could be doing, so here's to doing more & constantly pushing myself & developing greater self-discipline in my life!
I recorded a video the other day from a practice session, check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR_LV9XZfLM
Also, I discovered a way to improve my "ladder" method ... I've discovered that working backwards from the very top of the upper register is incredibly more helpful & muscle-developing & I'm going to use it to plow through my weaker areas on the cello (between that & the Elgar, I'm gonna have such a better map of the cello in my brain, not to mention a better concept of what I can do musically!)
Guess that's all for now... I should go to sleep soon, since I've got class in about 7 hours...
It was 11:00 or so at night, and I wanted to practice, but didn't want to disturb others in the dorm & didn't want to walk over to the music building just to discover it was locked up (nor did I want to walk over to our other music/arts building, b/c I was quite tired...)
So, I decided to play some bass guitar ... usually on bass I just mess around and don't do anything productive ... however, I noticed that the strings were really digging into my left hand's fingers ... so it occured to me that I could use it to help me build up some callouses, since I didn't get to do much raw technique exercise today (I worked on the 2nd movement of the Elgar concerto in my lesson, and so all the practicing I did was oriented around that & trying to fix my bow grip ... so, unfortunately, I didn't quite get to scales and arpeggios)
Anyway, from there I decided to play the bass with the same conviction I use when playing the cello ... with the conviction of focusing on every note & playing every note well & I started coming up with exercises & patterns the way I do on cello, and it occurred to me that I could apply any of my cello method to bass & that it would help both ... quite exciting...
So I did that for a bit, was more productive than I ever am on bass, and now my LH is just slightly more calloused ...
My lesson today was pretty much spent on talking about Spiccato & then fingering the 2nd movement of the Elgar ... it was definitely within reach, although this spiccato thing is going to take a ton of work to develop ... I'm already getting closer with it ... have some bowing things that needed correcting though ... basic principles:
1. Start with free bouncing bow, let it drift towards bridge ... as it gets closer, try to control the bounces
2. The fingers must be relaxed for this (I later discovered the way to achiever this for me seems to be to practice the proper finger motions as a separate exercise & then remember to initiate the bow motions with larger muscle groups when actually playing...)
3. Fingers straighten for down bow (2nd knuckle "dissappears") & curl for upbow ... thumb does the same
4. at faster speeds (we started *very* slow), the thumb is the engine of the locomotive & the fingers follow
5. Contact point must remain consistent
6. Wrist should be pronated
I meant to record the lesson, but I completely forgot to bring my laptop :( This would have been a tremendously helpful lesson to record too... I've decided I need to become a better student & ask as many questions as possible. I also need to not be satisfied with the way I perform things, because there are always so many more levels that I could achieve with them ... I wish my teacher pushed me more, but it's just not his nature, so I'm going to push him more, which will in turn push me more...
I noticed, when watching the vid. of Jacqueline DuPre playing the Elgar, that she uses a very slanted left hand & that along with extremely smooth bows, it creates the intensity & sound that she gets ... it was exciting to discover something about the technique of music making that someone uses ... I think there's a different technique for every piece of music ... or at least for every composer & I'm glad to have learned part of one of them ... I feel like I need to learn more of these to move beyond where I am now & to improve my musicality ... I'm going to watch as many videos of great cellists as I can whenever I have the chance, and really try to dissect what's going on as effectively and as in-depth as I can ... for now I'm going to focus on Jackie & her Elgar.
By the way, I'm usually not that into listening to new classical cellists (Ironic I know, considering my career choice), but check this guy out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qwz0foa7sQ ... he captures the soul of Bach in a way that almost everybody misses!
I've been trying to get in touch with the teacher at Purchase, but no luck just yet ... just trying to get in touch with her at all though has made me think of how slowly I'm moving through things & how much more I could be doing, so here's to doing more & constantly pushing myself & developing greater self-discipline in my life!
I recorded a video the other day from a practice session, check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR_LV9XZfLM
Also, I discovered a way to improve my "ladder" method ... I've discovered that working backwards from the very top of the upper register is incredibly more helpful & muscle-developing & I'm going to use it to plow through my weaker areas on the cello (between that & the Elgar, I'm gonna have such a better map of the cello in my brain, not to mention a better concept of what I can do musically!)
Guess that's all for now... I should go to sleep soon, since I've got class in about 7 hours...
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Good to be back!
So over the weekend, I played cello for the Easter Masses... it was a tremendous amount of fun & I don't know if it's because it made me feel physically better from being sick, or if it's because of something deeper inside, but there were some truly beautiful music-making moments & there was this accompanying joy & sense of pride with what I was doing... it's great to feel that again.
To follow that up, I practiced for somewhere around 3 hours today ... I got some really great stuff accomplished, and I used my laptop to record & video for the first time ... so helpful. It makes a tremendous difference to pause & reflect verbally after each exercise ... and also to set goals makes a tremendous difference...
My bow technique is bothering the crap out of me after that conversation with Ostrofsky, though I love the way my left hand is coming along... truth be told, my bow hand isn't that bad... but it could be so much further... I'm going to really try to focus on it as much as possible... it's sort of like focusing on your left hand when practicing piano...
One thing that helps tremendously is if I think about the bow motion coming from the upper arm muscles, and think of the elbow as a hinge (I really need to just work/study with Ostrofsky ... all of his ideas & concepts 3 years later still work great for me... I love my teacher, there's just certain limits he has in his concepts of technique & his idea of playing & I'm not saying that I know better than him or that I know more, because I don't ... I'm just saying that there's other things that I need ... other ways to do and learn... still, I could write a whole post on the good things about my teacher... maybe I should do that sometime...)
Speaking of other teachers... I'm absolutely calling Julia Lichten tomorrow ... making myself do it... been putting it off way too long...
Also speaking of other teachers, Richard Slade conducted our chorus rehearsal tonight instead of our usual conductor (he's listed on the links to the right as Richard the Tenor) ... what a tremendous difference! We got so much more done, not to mention the general morale was a lot higher & I felt like I actually learned a ton in the class, because the teacher actually talked about musical and technical issues, instead of just taking a brute force approach to things... sort of another example ... our usual teacher is not a bad teacher, but there's just so much more that could be done...
Anyway, point is, some good music stuff has been going on lately & I'm gonna keep it up! So thrilled to be back in my inner performing world... I realize I still never responded to peoples' comments... I think I'm gonna have to let those ones go at this point... thanks for the support from anyone who did comment though...
To follow that up, I practiced for somewhere around 3 hours today ... I got some really great stuff accomplished, and I used my laptop to record & video for the first time ... so helpful. It makes a tremendous difference to pause & reflect verbally after each exercise ... and also to set goals makes a tremendous difference...
My bow technique is bothering the crap out of me after that conversation with Ostrofsky, though I love the way my left hand is coming along... truth be told, my bow hand isn't that bad... but it could be so much further... I'm going to really try to focus on it as much as possible... it's sort of like focusing on your left hand when practicing piano...
One thing that helps tremendously is if I think about the bow motion coming from the upper arm muscles, and think of the elbow as a hinge (I really need to just work/study with Ostrofsky ... all of his ideas & concepts 3 years later still work great for me... I love my teacher, there's just certain limits he has in his concepts of technique & his idea of playing & I'm not saying that I know better than him or that I know more, because I don't ... I'm just saying that there's other things that I need ... other ways to do and learn... still, I could write a whole post on the good things about my teacher... maybe I should do that sometime...)
Speaking of other teachers... I'm absolutely calling Julia Lichten tomorrow ... making myself do it... been putting it off way too long...
Also speaking of other teachers, Richard Slade conducted our chorus rehearsal tonight instead of our usual conductor (he's listed on the links to the right as Richard the Tenor) ... what a tremendous difference! We got so much more done, not to mention the general morale was a lot higher & I felt like I actually learned a ton in the class, because the teacher actually talked about musical and technical issues, instead of just taking a brute force approach to things... sort of another example ... our usual teacher is not a bad teacher, but there's just so much more that could be done...
Anyway, point is, some good music stuff has been going on lately & I'm gonna keep it up! So thrilled to be back in my inner performing world... I realize I still never responded to peoples' comments... I think I'm gonna have to let those ones go at this point... thanks for the support from anyone who did comment though...
Thursday, March 13, 2008
How bout me enjoying the moment for once?
Hung out with my good friend Danny Gray last night ... also visited my old high school the other day (I'll be playing at the Palisades Mall with them tomorrow which means I need to wake up waaaay too early!)
It was great to chill with Danny, cuz it's been way too long. We got to talk about a bunch of music stuff and I ended up burning all the Nightwish cds I had for him ... it was so cool watching vids/listening to music w/ him ... him and Andrew really get into this stuff in a way that other people don't & I was so excited to be around that again... also, it's crazy how much he can just pick up the chords and structure of something just from listening to it... truly inspiring (I stayed up all night playing along w/ Dream Theater... about time!)
Danny also just got accepted to an *amazing* film scoring program that accepts 20 people a year: http://web.mac.com/smptv/iWeb/SMPTVUSC/THE%20PROGRAM.html
So the downside to that is that in a few months, he'll be moving out to California...
In other news, I bought a Macbook Pro recently & it's truly amazing... I don't have any of the really cool/extraordinary software like Pro Tools or reason, but I do have Audacity & Garage Band, and for right now, that's sufficient ... it's great for songwriting & jamming ... and I can record vids. w/ it too .. it's so nice to be able to record myself again.
Also... I finally started playing cello again. With both cello & keys (keyboards), it's amazing how much more relaxed I am now, and how much more focused my mind is. I'm finally starting to push myself out of my comfort zone w/ the keys and move into other key areas that I don't normally play in. I've realized from listening to Dream Theater that what my songwriting is lacking at the moment is mood/direction ... I can come up w/ melodies/harmonies/lyrics, but everything needs to have a feel to it. One of the ways they do that is through key changes (you can of course also do this stuff with patch changes and other tonal things) ... so it's stuff to think about...
It's been great being home... and its phenomenal to finally reconnect with my musical roots (cuz when it comes down to it, Nightwish is my heart & Dream Theater is my mind, and I learn so much that way...)
Speaking of which, I've decided to move past my resentment with classical music and all that stuff... music is just music... what matters is that I enjoy it & do creative things with it... I'm not going to box myself into being a type of musician... my music is my music and it incorporates all elements .. amazing musicianship and composition can be found in basically any genre, classical included. (I swear it all goes back to Bach ... every time I'm really at odds with this stuff, I just go back to him & Beethoven, but Bach especially b/c he's so personal, and everything just makes sense again).
I've also decided to take an extra semester at school & to quit my retail job so I can focus on music (about time!) ... Also, I'm playing on a few people's Sr. Recitals (quite exciting) & next week is Easter (that means money!!)
Now I just need to line up a summer job & maybe find another student... I think a goal to accomplish within a year from now is to setup some kind of teaching studio or at least to not have to drive around to lessons as much... it's very time-consuming/draining.
That's all I'm gonna write for now ... glad to be practicing again .. and glad to be practicing for its own sake ... self-indulgence can be so fulfilling sometimes...
(PS - Thanks for all of you who left comments on the last couple of entries - I know I haven't necessarily responded to everything, but thank you! I'll try and respond to anything I've left untouched soon...)
It was great to chill with Danny, cuz it's been way too long. We got to talk about a bunch of music stuff and I ended up burning all the Nightwish cds I had for him ... it was so cool watching vids/listening to music w/ him ... him and Andrew really get into this stuff in a way that other people don't & I was so excited to be around that again... also, it's crazy how much he can just pick up the chords and structure of something just from listening to it... truly inspiring (I stayed up all night playing along w/ Dream Theater... about time!)
Danny also just got accepted to an *amazing* film scoring program that accepts 20 people a year: http://web.mac.com/smptv/iWeb/SMPTVUSC/THE%20PROGRAM.html
So the downside to that is that in a few months, he'll be moving out to California...
In other news, I bought a Macbook Pro recently & it's truly amazing... I don't have any of the really cool/extraordinary software like Pro Tools or reason, but I do have Audacity & Garage Band, and for right now, that's sufficient ... it's great for songwriting & jamming ... and I can record vids. w/ it too .. it's so nice to be able to record myself again.
Also... I finally started playing cello again. With both cello & keys (keyboards), it's amazing how much more relaxed I am now, and how much more focused my mind is. I'm finally starting to push myself out of my comfort zone w/ the keys and move into other key areas that I don't normally play in. I've realized from listening to Dream Theater that what my songwriting is lacking at the moment is mood/direction ... I can come up w/ melodies/harmonies/lyrics, but everything needs to have a feel to it. One of the ways they do that is through key changes (you can of course also do this stuff with patch changes and other tonal things) ... so it's stuff to think about...
It's been great being home... and its phenomenal to finally reconnect with my musical roots (cuz when it comes down to it, Nightwish is my heart & Dream Theater is my mind, and I learn so much that way...)
Speaking of which, I've decided to move past my resentment with classical music and all that stuff... music is just music... what matters is that I enjoy it & do creative things with it... I'm not going to box myself into being a type of musician... my music is my music and it incorporates all elements .. amazing musicianship and composition can be found in basically any genre, classical included. (I swear it all goes back to Bach ... every time I'm really at odds with this stuff, I just go back to him & Beethoven, but Bach especially b/c he's so personal, and everything just makes sense again).
I've also decided to take an extra semester at school & to quit my retail job so I can focus on music (about time!) ... Also, I'm playing on a few people's Sr. Recitals (quite exciting) & next week is Easter (that means money!!)
Now I just need to line up a summer job & maybe find another student... I think a goal to accomplish within a year from now is to setup some kind of teaching studio or at least to not have to drive around to lessons as much... it's very time-consuming/draining.
That's all I'm gonna write for now ... glad to be practicing again .. and glad to be practicing for its own sake ... self-indulgence can be so fulfilling sometimes...
(PS - Thanks for all of you who left comments on the last couple of entries - I know I haven't necessarily responded to everything, but thank you! I'll try and respond to anything I've left untouched soon...)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)