January 2013

Winter Walk

January 26, 2013 11:21

Although it isn't very exciting, I went for the first walk in a while this morning. I listened to some Baroque music while heading through the snow, thinking of happy violin thoughts as I went. It was cold, so I wasn't out for very long, but I still decided to share this happy memory with you. It'll be even better when I can get out on a warm, spring morning, hearing the... I'll talk about all that when late February and/or March rolls around.

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Practice Problems

January 21, 2013 11:45

Recently, as you may or may not know, I have been practicing hard for my audition materials on violin. I feel like when I'm playing my hands become stiff, because the music is quick-moving and I'm possibly clenching the violin in anguish sometimes. It's more my left hand, though, because it does all the moving in the pieces. I also feel like I'm getting more frustrated and I have to take more breaks to calm myself down before I can try again, because I can't get it the way it is supposed to go. If any of you have any opinions or suggestions about these topics, please let me know. Thank you for reading!

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Scales Video

January 18, 2013 15:36

I have an important audition coming up in a few weeks - my audition to try to make the top group in my school! Although it'll be hard, I'm at least trying for it, so we'll see how my audition goes. In the meantime, I at least posted this video of me practicing the scales required (it says what they all are in the video description) today at 3:30pm or so. Then while it uploaded I practiced my solo and excerpts, and you will definitely see a video of my solo piece, Vivaldi's Concerto in G Minor, around late-February or early-March. In fact, that area was actually when I started posting videos and violinist.com entries last year! (Well for violinist I think it was a little later.) But anyways, the point still stands: watch my scale video and see what you think! I'm just about to do so. If you have any comments, please write them here or on YouTube! I could use all the help I could get, and they'd be helpful even in future years. Thanks a lot if you do! And thanks for watching and reading, like always! :)

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BBC - Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra

January 12, 2013 11:46

If you haven't seen this video, you've missed out! I'd seen the whole thing a long time ago, and I just "rediscovered it" today. It's a fantastic video that shows, in a hilarious way, just what an orchestra is like. Parts of the video discuss various instruments, both some you may have heard of and some you may not. Others describe various pieces of music - like TV themes and classical music. Just watching it now inspires me to practice, so if you haven't seen it, click the link, check it out, and leave any comments on what you think! Enjoy!

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Piano Concerto No. 1 in C# Minor

January 2, 2013 13:00

In my Compositions playlist on YouTube, I will be uploading various pieces I wrote every so often, like my symphony. I have tons and tons of pieces written on my computer, but not all of them are finished or that I'd like to upload. Here is my first Piano Concerto, written for piano and string orchestra. Enjoy!

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Happy 2013!

January 1, 2013 11:15

Well, it's 2013! A whole new year, free to do whatever! Of course, many put on some New Year Resolutions, and that is what I'm going to attempt to do in this entry, but they'll all be related to my violin. Luckily, this time it's easy for me because it's my first New Year on violinist.com, so I don't have to worry about repeating myself from last year. So allons-y! Molto bene! :)

1. Practice violin at least an hour per day (or six hours per week, getting a day off). If this is too hard during the school year, then shoot for half an hour per day.

2. Learn and record some new songs on Garageband with an all-violin orchestra.

3. Compose a movie soundtrack. (This will most likely be done in the summer.)

4. Upload more classical music violin performances to YouTube; I've barely any.

5. Continue work on Symphony No. 1: Mvt. II! (And just compose more in general!)

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More entries: December 2012