March 2004

March 29, 2004 23:26

Practice is going well and bad at the same time...I am taking 1 step forward...and then 2 steps backward...that is all I have to say for now...ill update again later..

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I just got home from my violin lesson. It started off pretty rocky. There are a few sections in the mozart concerto that i just can't get under my belt. My dynamics started off way too loud, but as I kicked back into mod e(i had taken a nap before the lesson) I was playing well. I was extremely happy with some sections, but I knew not to dwell in what is good, but dwell in what is bad for now. Well..halfway through my lesson my friend maria's little sister's friend named Ryan(a violin player that had just started with my previous orchestra teacher mister blaine) walked in and sat in for my lesson. Turns out she is about to use the same teacher as me. He is an amazing teacher, so I was happy for her. Later on she instant messaged me and told me that felt as if I played amazingly. She said that she wanted to play just like me. That was very sweet of her, and I must say it is affect my ego for about 2 minutes, haha.

Earlier in the day my symphony orchestra was playing this piece where the tempo is 144 and in cut time. Most of my part is double stop sixteenths on the upbeats of each beat. I was THE ONLY person in the orchestra who played it, and I played it all the way through (all five pages with repeats) perfectly without stopping and with good intonation. My conductor announced to the class afterwards "I would like everybody to take a look at the young lady over there we all call page...she was right on top of this piece today...why WASNT ANYBODY ELSE?!" haha, then i turned beat red as our viola section leader said "I THINK IT IS TIME FOR A NEW VIOLIN SECTION LEADER!" haha. It really perked my not so good day-up. Well, anywayz..I have 2 exams tomorrow in spanish and english, and I better get started because people from my school are going to be performing tonight at 10:30, and I wanted to watch it. Buh bye everybody!

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March 20, 2004 09:49

Hi! I didn't practice at all yesterday...I feel so bad about it, but when I think about it, I really needed a break anyway. I have been working really hard. That cello orchestra rehearsal went ok on thursday. I really need to work on my intonation on the Heitor Von Lobos piece. People have been telling me that I took on one of the toughest pieces I could have possibly done considering my 3 months of previous experience with the cello. But oh well, I know I can do it with practice. So anyways, I must be going, I am going to the mall today with some other music students, some are in the chorus, some marching band, and some in the freshman band, lol, when you think of it...I am such a music nerd. lol. well, bye bye!

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March 17, 2004 21:52

Hi! Not much to really say today except that practice went really well. My orchestra teacher made me play in front of the class today and I felt okay about it...it wasn't my best...but it was really a sight-reading session for me today so I didn't really care too much because he knew that, lol. Well..anywayz..I better get going, it is pretty late, and I have been practicing all day...lol. I have that cello thingy tomorrow after school...ugh...I won't get home until like 6...then I have to rpactice and do hw, etc...boy, am I in for it tomorrow, haha. Well anywayz..I'll update again soon. bye bye!

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March 15, 2004 15:18

Hi everybody! Practice is going ok...I am really working very hard. Everywhere I turn I am finding some more inspiration, or something else that just pushes me that much more to pick up the violin and practice.
I am kind of upset with my mother, though. She is allowing me to become a professional musician, but I think her version of my dreams are extremely altered. My dream is Juilliard, and a major in performing...her's is Mason gross and a major in stringed instruments. She literally said that she expects me to work at my previous I.S.34 junior high school and take Mister Blaine's (my old orchestra teacher) job when he retires. I am not too worried about it though. I know she loves me and that if I do try out for Juilliard(even if I have to do it behind her back) and get in...then she will let me go. I know that she only wants the best for me, and she wants me to be happy. Sometimes I just think she cares too much and it will eventually take its toll. Speaking of toll...high school is really taking an affect on me...I am expected to maintain my 95 average, and now do certain amounts of practice with each instrument a day. She is buying my a viola from william monical because she wants me to be well rounded for when I go to college. She already bought be a cello from William Monical, plus a violin, and my grand piano is being used as my base in music. What I hate most is bad intonation, that is why I use my piano a lot for intonation help, plus it does do wonders for ear training when I compare my notes.

I am going to start practicing for atleast 3 hours a day on violin alone, maybe even 4...I already play for an hour and a half in school...and then atleast another hour and a half at home, but I want to make my home practice at a solid 3-4 hours now. I am thinking about staying after school everyday and utilizing the many sound proof rooms to get some intense practicing done without the interference of home. My parents already gave me my own room for my instruments and practicing...but I can still hera the tv and such next door when I practice.

I have calmed down my teaching regiment lately. I have been giving my students to other teachers so I can practice more.

The cello for some reason is really easy to me...there is this concert being put on by 8 chosen cellists and one soprano opera singer...and somehow I made the cello part...the tough part...I dont get it...I still struggle with sightreading the pizzicato sixteenth notes the first and second time I read it...but after that it was easy...it is kind of confusing...I told my teacher that I was playing it with the 8 part cello orchestra and he was totally dumbfounded. I have been playing for 3 months...and I am already playing the Bach cello suites, and the other piece with the orchestra by Heitor Von Lobos...the name of the piece is portugese for "Brazilian Bach".

Anyways...I am going to go...I stayed home from school today because I was sick, and I think I am going to be home tomorrow too. Hopefully I will feel better enough tomorrow to practice ALL DAY.
If anybody wants to aim me, or email me...I can be reached at through email xxoxlilrockerxox@aol.com and iming by the screen name BohemianBach please feel free to contact me, it would be great to hear from other people on this site.

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March 14, 2004 21:16

Hey! Sorry I haven't written in a while. I feel so much better about that person's current oppurtunity, lol. I realize that instead of looking at her in a bad way, I should look at her as inspiration, and belief that somebody like me really could succeed. And to just help make things a little better...I played through the first movement of Mozart's fourth violin concerto in d major all the way through without stopping and without making any major mistakes, and it sounded great. I am really working hard for this. In a year or two it is going to look pathetic to me that i went through all of this just to do well on my nyssma adjudication, but for me right now it is an accomplishment for me to do this. It is a goal for me to be able to do this before my 4 year anniversary of starting the violin. and at times I like to think that it is pretty good to be playing full blown concertos perfectly or close to it before i completed my first four years of the violin, and even before i finish my first year of high school. I am really finding comfort in those ideas.

The marching band that has many people from my symphony orchestra at the local high school played on the st patrick's day parade today. I never really saw them in action before, and I must say...they were pretty damn good...no wonder they are one of the best in the state...it was like watching something out of that movie "drumline" they even did similar music and dances as in "drumline". I must say that I am very proud to be going to Tottenville high school. The music teachers are absolutely amazing, the students are magnificent, and I am learning so much. On a different note, a friend of mine told me that one of the students is trying out for juilliard in a year, and I frankly think this student can do it. But if you compared my level to this student's level of playing...and put the possibility of 4 years of intense practice on my side...then I think I also have a pretty good shot for a Juilliard type school when the time comes for me to go to college.

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March 4, 2004 15:13

Hi. I kind of had a rude awakening...a girl from my orchestra from last year has hit it big...a friend of mine's little sister has told me about the success of a peer of mine, and I must say that I was quite jealous. To think that I work so hard day after day after day, and somebody else gets this great opportunity just like that *snaps fingers*.

Well...on lighter news...2 of my students have taken their exam with the string orchestra at the local high school, the teacher said that they did great, and that she was amazed that i got them from being scared to pick up the bow, to what they played for their exam in the matter of 2 weeks. She said that she was so proud of me, that made me feel a little bit better, but nothing can erase the scar left my the news of the girl I once knew...and what pisses me off more...is that I played a very difficult Mozart concerto for a group of students that study alongside this girl in the junior high symphony orchestra, and they said that I was unbelievable, and that I played just like her. I don't really believe them, though because I know I suck. I will keep thinking I suck until I play virtuoso pieces just as good as the best pro's out there.

So anyways...I think I am going to go to a camp for violin players next summer. This up-and-coming summer I think I am going to continue my private studies, and my home studies for violin, cello, and piano. But most of all violin, because it is my main instrument right now, and I love it so much. I can't think of where I would be right now in life if I didn't have the violin. Also, I read the post made by the creator of this site, and I really loved how she said somebody told her that the violin has been beating her up since she was nine, and that she should have tough skin by now. For some reason I felt like that really related to me because of all of the hardship I have endured to get into every orchestra, every class, and just about everything in my short life (15 years) that involved music in any way at all...I am welcoming messages from anybody who has any. I can be reached through email at xxoxlilrockerxox@aol.com or by iming at BohemianBach

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