mandolin Reflection #6

I have continued to work on the mandolin independently from a teacher for now. I have been looking into getting lessons, but it's very hard to commit to staying after when I have so much work and since I don't drive the limited bus schedule limits me. However, I have been practicing playing at least one song a day, and I think that soon I am going to start using mandolin sheet music. For Christmas I received an instructional video on mandolin techniques which I will be putting to use, though I haven't had a chance yet. A good experience I had recently in learning about performance and playing the mandolin was playing with a musician I know. She is from Switzerland and works as an engineer, but she also tours and plays as a musician --http://www.myspace.com/skintrail is her website, and she has played concerts and even some festivals. My mom is friends with her sister, so she came over to my house with her family after playing a gig at Liam MacGuire's. She wanted to see the mandolin, and she had brought her guitar so we played together, which was wonderful -- she just told me the chords and I improvised pieces to go along with her, and we actually sounded really good together. It was a bit scary to try and keep up with a legitimate musician, who is a musician as one of her jobs and sources of income, but after a few bars of the first song I was able to play really well with her and sing a bit. It was a good learning experience for playing with other people, even if it was a bit nervewracking. We played about 5 or 6 songs, so we were playing for a while. It was helpful to see a professional playing and what techniques they use (she was playing guitar, but the same techniques apply until you get to more complicated mandolin, which I am not attempting yet), and the experience of getting to play with a real musician. Altogether, I thought it advanced my mandolin self-teaching. I am going to sign up for lessons again after ToK is finished.

Handmade for the Holidays #2

Over the week I didn't get to finish my hat, but I made scarves with my mom out of polar fleece. It was too bad that I did not get to finish -- I thought I would be able to do the hat and scarves, but I didn't have enough time to meet my goals. That was too bad, but I did my best I could with my time and I was able to give 3 scarves to the project. I also inspired my mom to make some scarves, which she wouldn't have done if I hadn't been. So, I was able to make more of an impact because I got others involved in the project. I don't know what the final number of donations they got total, but when I was at the after-party there was a significantly large pile of clothes that I was able to stack my scarves on to. It was stressful trying to knit things for the homeless on top of my schoolwork and other interests, but it was really worth it in the end. I got to meet a lot of interesting, artistic people at the final "party' when everyone came together and gave their crafts, and it was nice to know that my scarves will be keeping somebody warm on cold days and nights.