LIFE Reflection #2

I made plans with Barbara this weekend to play at the enxt open mic night for LIFE. It benefits the organization, and members of the group can perform as well. This is the first I've gotten to talk to Barbara about more I can do for LIFE, so I am excited to be able to do something that I love to do to help the organization. She is going to tell me the date soon.

Homemade for the Holidays #1

I am currently in the process of crocheting a hat for Homemade for the Holidays. I know that I said I would do 3 scarves, and I plan to. However, I have been wanting to learn how to crochet for a while now, and I thought that this is a good opportunity to do so, as hats are needed just as much as scarves in this program. It's a fairly complicated pattern, and it should make a warm thing for somebody to wear. I am almost finished with it and will be able to start with my new project, which will be a crocheted scarf with a different kind of crochet pattern. This gives me almost 1 thing to donate to the program, which brings me a third of the way to my goal (which I plan to surpass anyways).

Mandolin Reflection #4

Because I have some idea that I might like to be a musician later in life, I have been trying to become more familiar with the mandolin by composing simple songs on it. It's a lot of fun and I actually prefer it to composing on guitar, and more importantly it's been helpful with learning about chords and variations. Generally, I start with one chord as a base; for example, in a recent song, C. I then place one finger on a different fret on a different string, the effect of which is that it flows smoothly and that it creates a varied, but beautiful sound. It's really great because I have gotten to experiment with chords and picking, how to incorporate the two, moving beyond chords and different methods of playing, dissonance, and more things that are more sophisticated, musically. I will post the tablature for some of the songs I've written, or find a way to attach an audio file.

Mandolin Reflection #3

While waiting to sign up for lessons at Jack's Drum Shop again, I thought that I would continue to practice what I hard started in my 4 lessons so I don't get rusty. Recently, I've been working on strumming, which is a lot more difficult than it sounds. In order to pick/strum efficiently, one has to keep a consistent beat, but you will have to skip strums, depending on the song. It's very hard to stay to one pattern of picking when it's far easier and more natural to just strum when you have to and change up your pattern according to where you are in the song. It's hard to do, and it feels unnatural, but it's good form, and if I don't learn it, it will only hinder me later when I become more advanced.To practice this, I've been playing more songs from my lesson book and also learning chord songs. I figured it would be easier to start with chords songs, because that way I don't have to worry about which strings to pick in addition to worrying about strum pattern. The songs I've been practicing on are "The Captain and Hourglass" by Laura Marling, which has a fairly complex strumming pattern and only 3 chords (Em, G, and D), "Time on Your Side" by Emily Jane White, which has a strum pattern that is good to practice because it sounds inconsistent, so I have to be on my toes about when to strum but not hit the strings and has more complicated chords (C, G, Em, Dm, E, and a few others), and 'All My Lovin'" by the Beatles, which I already knew but have been practicing with because of its simple chord progression and fairly simple strum pattern. It doesn't feel entirely natural all the time, but I notice that if I just start by playing a consistent strum pattern and slowly start to drop strums in the right places, it starts to feel natural, and generally sounds better. I plan to continue practicing this way on my own, at least 10 minutes every other day.

Mandolin Reflection #2

I still need to sign up for Mandolin lessons at Jack's Drum shop again, but in the meantime I have been playing a lot independently. I thought that a good activity would be to use my mandolin lesson book to get more involved with the music theory aspects of mandolin, the more technical side. I started with practicing my scales, and learning the notes on each string. Once I felt comfortable playing scales, I began to learn songs from my lesson book that involved rapidly playing different notes, first on one string, then as the songs got more complicated, incorporating more strings. It's hard to move fast, because not only do I have to remember where to put my fingers, there are multiple strings I have to be switching between. Furthermore, the songs call for playing only one string at a time, which is very difficult to do, because I have to watch my form with the pick. However, I've definitely gotten more comfortable with that, and it shows in my guitar playing as well as my mandolin playing.

Ballet Reflection # 8

I came in late to this class, due to car troubles, but it was still a good class. We've been learning more steps with complex arm movements and turns, as well as a new barre stretch - fondue, "to melt". The newer things are becoming more complex with coordination of legs, arms, and stretching. It wasn't anything different, except for learning a few new moves. However, my teacher asked me after class if I would like to move up to the intermediate class in the beginning of the new semester, which is in January. She said she thought the class was moving to slow for me and that I had natural ability for ballet; so I guess that is a way of showing that I have been progressing in the class, since I've only been taking ballet for a month and a half or so. So in January I will be moving up to the intermediate level, rather than remaining in my beginner class for the next semester.

Mandolin Reflection #1

I have been trying my best to use my mandolin wherever I can, so that I can get used to playing it and become better through experience. I guess that my first "performance" was in history class, when I used the mandolin to make up a song to make my history project. My group and I wanted to have something that would distinguish our presentation on the Communist Party of Germany from the rest of the presentations, to do something that would be fun but still informative. We chose to do the song to the tune of "All My Lovin'" by the Beetles, and I wrote new lyrics that would actually fit in with the German communist views ("seize the factories and means of production, etc. etc.). There is a video of it on YouTube, and I actually think it went pretty well. It was a fairly simple chord progression, just the notes Am, D, G, Em in various combinations of being played. The first line was a bit on the rough side - I played the wrong chord, and that threw us for a second; but once we recovered, the rest of the song went perfectly, really. It got better as it progressed, and the transitions were smoother. But all the same, I think that it was pretty decent considering I had been playing for less than 2 months when it was filmed. Here is a link:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLgkbsPz3Ek

I think that especially after the first verse, the mandolin sounds quite good. I had a consistent strumming pattern and the chords were well-played, and played correctly. I think it was a good way to do a "first performance", even if it was only in front of my history class. It also taught me the importance of preparing well in advance, because if I hadn't, then I think that I would have messed up the chords out of nervousness. It's good to know for future performances I might do, such as ones at the open mic nights.

Ballet Reflection #6

This week's ballet was the most exhausting ballet has been so far, but definitely the most rewarding. It was a lot of energy; we were running around the whole class and doing very aerobic moves. In did all of my barre stretches with my foot on the higher barre, parallel to about my shoulders, without much discomfort, something I certainly would not have been able to do when I first started. I also managed to improve my arabesques. Arabesque is hard, because your back has to be bent at a difficult angle - your leg is extended straight out behind you, but your chest has to be as if you are standing up straight, all while balancing on one leg. It is uncomfortable, but my posture has definitely improved in that. I also noticed that I am much, much better at balancing. I find it very easy to balance on my tiptoes in fifth position, with our without my arms out, whereas a month ago I was not able to balance on my toes at all. I noticed further my better balance when we did our turns, which I feel like I finally nailed this week. I was able to spin rapidly across the floor on my toes in a straight line, with good flow and form and without getting dizzy and falling down. I have been almost able to do this for several weeks, but I feel like I finally really got it this week. This has also improved my turns en passe, which are more difficult because you have to lift one leg off the ground and bring it so it is touching your knee (creating a "4" shape with your legs), all while balancing on tiptoe and spinning smoothly and repeatedly. Doing my turns to the left is still hard, but I feel like I have turns to the right almost perfect. This week I noticed a huge improvement in more than just ability to do the moves, but in the way that my body moves and works to make the moves easier.