April 2012

The Best Instrument

April 29, 2012 16:39

It was 5:30 in the evening and I was practicing violin when it hit me: playing the violin is the best thing in the world. I felt a sudden rush of - not quite happiness - something big, like eating dark chocolate on a rainy summer night. Or like Christmas Eve, where outside it is snowing, but you're snug as a bug on the couch with a blanket and hot chocolate. I really want to pursue a career in any field of music, but preferably a violin teacher and movie composer. I just really enjoy playing the violin, and all of my instruments (piano and guitar) for that fact, and I really hope life stays this way.

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Career Fair

April 25, 2012 11:39

Today we had a Career Fair at school. I went to two music-related stations throughout the day; one was about the arts, and someone from Quinlan & Fabish Music came and talked about his profession as playing tuba in band and working there. I also saw my guitar teacher there, which was a pleasant surprise, and he played some chords on his guitar and gave me some advice for my planned career as a composition writer: compose a piece daily, even if it's silly. I plan to take this advice to heart and compose something daily if something comes to me. Who knows; maybe I'll expand on one of these ideas and turn it into something big, I don't know.

I had a fun time at the Career Fair, and of course I came home and practiced violin. I did a quick video that's uploading currently. I have a piano lesson so I'll practice my pieces; my guitar lesson is on Saturday. Oh, and I'll sit down with an instrument and compose.

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Set Books to Music

April 22, 2012 14:23

This morning while cutting the grass, I had the violin on my mind, and I thought of an idea. I still haven't tried it yet; maybe I'll pull my violin out and try it this evening. Anyways, I was thinking of movies, and I thought of a good composing exercise or something to do for fun. Basically, think of a section in a book you are reading, or make up a scenerio yourself; then all you have to do is transcribe it into music on your violin (or, if you really like the idea for violin, write your composition for an orchestra.). For example, you could be reading a book and a character is dying in front of another; therefore, you could play a sad song on violin in D minor. But don't just write anything; imagine the scene as a movie and imagine your music playing in the background. Would it fit nicely?

Try it out and tell me what you think! This will turn into a real-life thing for me if I end up becoming a movie composer when I get older.

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Sound Violin

April 14, 2012 09:27

A new series of videos I'm putting as part of my violin playlist is called Sound Violin. I got inspired when I watched a video of someone playing Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, etc. on his violin, so I'm trying to do that too. The video link below leads to my video I recorded today, of me playing with Balloon Fight. I have also done one with Excitebike. I will continue to make these videos, as well as normal violin-playing videos, as the days go by.

Please watch the video below and tell me what you think! Note: It's a lot harder than it looks to play this perfectly!

Balloon Fight Video

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Celebrating with your Violin

April 8, 2012 05:55

There are all sorts of holidays we celebrate! For example, today is Easter (Happy Easter, everyone!), but there are all sorts of holidays to celebrate, like Halloween, Thanksgiving, the holidays like Christmas and Hanukkah in the winter, and birthdays have different celebrations.

When a holiday is celebrated, do you bring your violin along? For me, this past Christmas I played Christmas songs on my violin for a music DVD for my grandparents. I didn't participate, but there's also the prism concert in which the orchestras play with the band and choir.

There are also different 'spooky' sounds you can make with your violin during Halloween, like sliding your finger across the fingerboard and tremolo.

So how would you take out your violin and celebrate the various holidays of the year?

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Spanish Violin Songs

April 2, 2012 12:54

Oh, joy! In Spanish class today we were assigned to produce a cooking show with a partner, in Spanish, of course. I'm writing the music for it! Does anyone have any tips on writing a spicy, Spanish-sounding song for violin? Thanks in advance! Oh, boy I'm excited! :)

I'll probably put the music on YouTube when I finish it. This should be sometime this week or this weekend.

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More entries: March 2012