Music Lab Assignment #1
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Music Lab Assignment #2
The biggest thing I found when paying attention to body mapping was that I tend to keep my shoulders shrugged and very tense instead of relaxed. So I tried to relax my shoulders to see if that helped. When I finally relaxed them I noticed my playing got a lot more fluent. I believe that by relaxing my shoulders this lets more motion, energy and weight flow through my arms. This was especially apparent in my bow arm where most of my tension was. I found that I was able to get much more sound out of my cello when I played like this.
Another area of my body I found was mis-mapped was my wrist. I founded that my right wrist automatically tightens when I pick up my bow. I believe this is to compensate for its weight. However during a lesson with my teacher we discovered that when I place the bow on my instrument the instrument holds much of the weight. This allows me to ease pressure off my wrist and allow me to get a more flowing sound as well as help with my endurance issues.
I find I run into a lot of problems with endurance when i’m playing and I believe much of that is due to mipmapped boy parts where i’m playing with much more tension then I need to. Im looking forward to playing around with much more of these techniques in the future.
Another area of my body I found was mis-mapped was my wrist. I founded that my right wrist automatically tightens when I pick up my bow. I believe this is to compensate for its weight. However during a lesson with my teacher we discovered that when I place the bow on my instrument the instrument holds much of the weight. This allows me to ease pressure off my wrist and allow me to get a more flowing sound as well as help with my endurance issues.
I find I run into a lot of problems with endurance when i’m playing and I believe much of that is due to mipmapped boy parts where i’m playing with much more tension then I need to. Im looking forward to playing around with much more of these techniques in the future.
Music Lab Assignment #3
do, re, ME
This is a game/exercise that was devised to help students with their teamwork, listening and sight-singing skills. In “do, re, ME,” students will sit in a circle facing each other. Middle C on the piano will be given as the first note of the scale “do.” After that students will sing up the scale using solfege with the object of the game being to sing as high as possible. However, the catch is that only one student can sing at any given time. If two or more students are caught singing the note at the same time, you must go back to the beginning of the scale and start again. This requires you to have excellent listening skills and to be paying attention to everyone around you. For example, let's say one student starts and sings “do,” and then two other students sing “re” right after you have to go back to the beginning of the scale. There is no time limit on the notes, so as much time needed can be taken in between each note as possible.
Rules
This is a game/exercise that was devised to help students with their teamwork, listening and sight-singing skills. In “do, re, ME,” students will sit in a circle facing each other. Middle C on the piano will be given as the first note of the scale “do.” After that students will sing up the scale using solfege with the object of the game being to sing as high as possible. However, the catch is that only one student can sing at any given time. If two or more students are caught singing the note at the same time, you must go back to the beginning of the scale and start again. This requires you to have excellent listening skills and to be paying attention to everyone around you. For example, let's say one student starts and sings “do,” and then two other students sing “re” right after you have to go back to the beginning of the scale. There is no time limit on the notes, so as much time needed can be taken in between each note as possible.
Rules
- Students are not allowed to talk in between notes
- Students cannot sing notes at the same time
- Students must sing the notes using the correct solfege
Music Lab Assignment #4
Music Lab Assignment #5 & 6
The song I decided to do was “The weight” by “the band”. The weight was written in 1968 by a man named Robbie Robertson. He is from American Indian descent — Mohawk — on his mother's side. And he is a Canadian icon. The Weight is a song that was based on music from the “Old South” and the life experience of the other band members. This song was written after the death of Levon Helm. Who was a member of the band that lived in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Robertson went to the town to commemorate his friend but ended up writing a song about what he experienced in the town. There are different characters in the song and they represent different people in Levon's life. In the song “young Anna lee” is mentioned and she is supposed to represent one of Levon’s old girlfriends. I love this song and it was very interesting to learn about the history behind it.
Music Lab Assignment #7
After reading both of the articles from assignment 7 i began to think about what resonated with me most. I think that this whole Idea of believing in yourself is very important. As soon as you say things out loud like "i'm not going to get any better" or "I can't" you trick yourself into believing that is true. You instantly create a mental block and you won't be able to go any further because you know in your heart that you can't. As soon as you start saying things like "I can" that's where real change starts to happen. I've struggled a lot with this in my practicing, especially when I come across extremely difficult passages in music. I'll practice for hours and hours and not get anywhere with it and so ill give up and say "I can't". Where as if i stick with the passage and practice it everyday and just keep saying "i'll get it" eventually I will. If you decide the outcome in your head before it happens that's how it will play out. This is something very simple but something that i strongly reinforce with my students especially at young age. They really don't realize how detrimental it can be to their practicing, and more importantly their health. I really hope that someone day everyone can learn from this simple lesson.
Music Lab Assignment #8
For my activity I decided to practice throwing a football back and forth with my friend. We started off by setting our intentions which was to be able to pass the ball back and forth without dropping it. Secondly we tried to throw the ball, however we found that when throwing the ball I was throwing to far to the right so I assessed the relationship from my throwing and realized I needed to aim more to the left. Eventually after two or three tries I found I was consistently hit my target.
Essentially this is the process discussed in the article. This is a very practically approach to learning new skills that is far more efficient, effective and consistent then traditional learning techniques. This makes use of what some like to call smart practicing. This is especially important when it comes to learning a new skills on your instrument. Because as musicians we don’t always have a lot of time to practice, and even when we do spending hours without end practicing can be damaging to your brain and even your body. Deploying techniques such as this allow you to get more done more quickly, and efficiently.
Essentially this is the process discussed in the article. This is a very practically approach to learning new skills that is far more efficient, effective and consistent then traditional learning techniques. This makes use of what some like to call smart practicing. This is especially important when it comes to learning a new skills on your instrument. Because as musicians we don’t always have a lot of time to practice, and even when we do spending hours without end practicing can be damaging to your brain and even your body. Deploying techniques such as this allow you to get more done more quickly, and efficiently.
Music Lab Assignment #9
Today I’m going to experiment with bow angle in relationship to my strings. When my bow isn’t at the correct angle I found that it didn’t grasp the string in the correct way to make a quality tone. The best angle I could find was keeping it completely parallel to the bridge. This becomes increasingly difficult when each string as at a different angle from the bridge. Therefore each separate string needed to have its own bow angle. This involved a lot of target practice to perfect because I found when switching strings I tended to keep the same bow angle.
Today i’m going to experiment with bow distribution and weight. When using less bow with my instrument and less weight I find I get less sound and the tone I get is very hollow. Where ass when using more bow and more weight causes the sound to become very loud but very sticky sounding. This meant that I needed to find the right balance for the piece that I was working on. This involved a lot of back and forth experimentation. Using a lot of bow but less weight gave me a very hollow sound and using more bow and medium weight ended up yielding the results I was looking for with the piece I was working on.
Today I’m going to experiment with vibrato trying to create the best sound I can without exhaustive efforts. First I started by playing using my regular vibrato and trying to figure out what about it I don’t like. I found that I didn’t like the quickness and harshness of my regular vibrato. So I experimented with different techniques trying to slow down my vibrato. The best strategy I found was to use more of my arm than my wrist and this caused my vibrato to slow down.
Today i’m going to experiment with bow distribution and weight. When using less bow with my instrument and less weight I find I get less sound and the tone I get is very hollow. Where ass when using more bow and more weight causes the sound to become very loud but very sticky sounding. This meant that I needed to find the right balance for the piece that I was working on. This involved a lot of back and forth experimentation. Using a lot of bow but less weight gave me a very hollow sound and using more bow and medium weight ended up yielding the results I was looking for with the piece I was working on.
Today I’m going to experiment with vibrato trying to create the best sound I can without exhaustive efforts. First I started by playing using my regular vibrato and trying to figure out what about it I don’t like. I found that I didn’t like the quickness and harshness of my regular vibrato. So I experimented with different techniques trying to slow down my vibrato. The best strategy I found was to use more of my arm than my wrist and this caused my vibrato to slow down.
Music Lab Reflection #11
My main goal it thinks for this semester was to try and work on my time management skills. I haven’t been so great at being able to get everything done on time in the past, and I wanted to change that. I think that towards the beginning of the first semester, I wasn’t doing such a great job at managing my time. I found I was slacking and going out with my friends instead of doing homework. This lead to a lot of late assignments and many assignments that I just didn’t hand in.
Further into the semester, the workload got more substantial, and I found I was falling behind in some of my classes. So decided to try and make a schedule and stick to it. This was very tricky because I wanted to make it a goal to go to the gym for at least two hours every day. I also wanted to practice my instrument for 2 hours everyday. On top of that, I also work a part-time job and teach private lessons. This made it nearly impossible for me to get through my day, between school, practicing, the gym, homework, teaching and working, I found that most of my days were completely filled to the brim and I had no time for myself. In the end, I found more efficient ways to do things. Like working on my assignments in class, while I’m at work, and even sometimes reading books for my English class at the gym. Eventually, I came to a healthy balance between my home life and my school life. However, I found I still had no time for family and friends. Eventually, I decided it would be best for me to quit my job so I can have more time to relax and spend time with friends. I think in general, the idea I had was to make a schedule and stick to it. Making sure that all of my time slots are very detailed. This ensures that I manage my time the most efficiently. Next semester I hope to work on this more, and maybe it can help ease some of the stresses of the university.
Further into the semester, the workload got more substantial, and I found I was falling behind in some of my classes. So decided to try and make a schedule and stick to it. This was very tricky because I wanted to make it a goal to go to the gym for at least two hours every day. I also wanted to practice my instrument for 2 hours everyday. On top of that, I also work a part-time job and teach private lessons. This made it nearly impossible for me to get through my day, between school, practicing, the gym, homework, teaching and working, I found that most of my days were completely filled to the brim and I had no time for myself. In the end, I found more efficient ways to do things. Like working on my assignments in class, while I’m at work, and even sometimes reading books for my English class at the gym. Eventually, I came to a healthy balance between my home life and my school life. However, I found I still had no time for family and friends. Eventually, I decided it would be best for me to quit my job so I can have more time to relax and spend time with friends. I think in general, the idea I had was to make a schedule and stick to it. Making sure that all of my time slots are very detailed. This ensures that I manage my time the most efficiently. Next semester I hope to work on this more, and maybe it can help ease some of the stresses of the university.
Music Lab Assignment #12
One of the things I found interesting about that Brené Brown video was when she talked about how joy was the hardest emotion to process. I think that’s very interesting because she was giving example of how when we feel like were happy, like we can let our guard down that’s when we start thinking about all of the bad stuff that could happen. I think this is a critical human problem. It’s something we have been raised to do, and I believe it comes from media. I can’t think of the last time I watched a tv show or a movie wherein the main character is really happy and has everything they want and then all of a sudden it all goes down hill. I thought it was really interesting that she could put that into words. I think this is definitely an issue I will work on in my classroom because that “feeling” can very quickly lead to anxiety disorders.
Another part of the video I really enjoyed was when she talked about how guilt was better than shame. I feel like this is something that I will probably use for the rest of my life. Telling people there actions were stupid rather than themselves. I think that could solve a lot of problems in our society. I also think it just makes you a better person. I really enjoyed this video and I'm going to try and find more to watch.
Another part of the video I really enjoyed was when she talked about how guilt was better than shame. I feel like this is something that I will probably use for the rest of my life. Telling people there actions were stupid rather than themselves. I think that could solve a lot of problems in our society. I also think it just makes you a better person. I really enjoyed this video and I'm going to try and find more to watch.