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.

Mandolin Reflection #5

Am C G

------------------0--------------0-x-----------------------0-----------x-0-------------------3
----------0--------------0---------x----------3-----------------3-----x------------2---------
--------------2--------------2-----x----------------2--------------2--x----------------0----
-----5------------------------------x----0-----------------------------x---------0-------------



G

---------------3-----------------------3----------------3------------------0------------0
-----2-------------------2-------------------2---------------------0-----------0--------
----------0---------------------0------------------0--------------------2-----------2----
--------------------0--------------------------------------------5-------------------------



G Am C
----------------3------------3-------------------0--------------0--------------------0------------0
-------2------------2-------------------0-------------0--------------------3-------------3---------
-----------0------------0-------------------2--------------2--------------------2-------------2----
---0--------------------------------5-----------------------------------0----------------------------



Am G Am
---------------0---------------0------------------3-------------3-----------------0------------0
-------0-------------0--------------------2-----------2--------------------0----------0--------
-----------2--------------2-------------------0------------0-------------------2-----------2---
---5----------------------------------0---------------------------------5------------------------




C G Am
--------------0------------0------------------3-------------3------------------0
-------3------------3----------------2------------2------------------0---------
-----------2------------2-----------------0------------0-------------------2---
---0-----------------------------0-------------------------------5---------------


Repeat x 2, with harmony second time.


This is the tablature to a song that I composed on the mandolin (which has lyrics that I will not post). It has a fairly basic chord progression, essentially just Am, C, Am, G with some variation, but the plucking pattern is more complex. If you are at all familiar with reading tabs, you will understand; if not, what this says is basically to pluck the bottom string, pluck the third string from the bottom, pluck the second string from the bottom, pluck the last string. That pattern goes for each chord with a smooth transition. At the end of the first verse, the plucking turns into strumming in the same meter, which continues into the third verse; halfway through the third verse, the strumming slows and gets quieter, then turns into the plucking again. I don't know how to post recordings to my blog, but once I do I will. Composing this song was a lot of fun, and it's also brought me some new challenges. Right now I am working on a song built around two chords, but that uses plucking and variations on the chords. It's harder because I have to discover new things and new chords and new sound combinations, but it sounds beautiful so far.

Ballet Reflection # 9

I had missed ballet for the two weeks prior to this class due to a foot injury (tendonitis in my heel) so I was a bit rusty when I came back into class. I noticed that missing the two weeks had a slight impact on my performance: I wasn't as flexible at barre stretches, I got dizzy while doing the turns, etc. However, as the class went on I got back into the swing of things. We were doing a lot of jumping and running type moves. For example, some rather fancy footwork reminiscent of figure skating that involves a backwards shastee, a leap, and a turn in the air that lands in arabesque. I actually found that I did better on these more complex moves than I had when we first learned them the class before, so that was a relief. It was an exhausting class and I went home and slept like a log afterwards. I have discovered that I am quite good at fluid movements -- for example, the swan lake arms and the "ending" part, which involves swan lake arms, then tandue, put one leg behind you while raising one arm up in fifth position over your head and then bowing on one leg, all in one sweeping movement. This bodes well for my future ballet endeavors.

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.