Uhhhh...
I am in the worst blogging rut. I honestly feel like I have nothing interesting to say, but feel a compulsion to say it anyway. So you can continue reading or not at your pleasure. :-)
Fall weather is finally starting to kick in around here and I love it. I love the crisp coolness of the air, cool enough to feel good in a sweater or leather jacket, but not too cool to be miserable. I love the darker evenings when I can be cozy inside with a book and cat. I love the lovely colors on the trees and the harvest products here in the country.
Last night and today I went to a choral workshop in Tacoma. Last night we sang through a bunch of choral music we were given. It's so cool to sight-read cool music with a whole bunch of other adult teachers who can sing and sight read, too! Today the teacher was Henry Leck from Indianapolis. He's a world renowned choral conductor, clinician, teacher, etc. So I was excited to sit under this master for the day, even if I'm not doing much conducting right now. It was great to get new ideas, insights, and inspiration (how alliterative of me), and also to realize which things I had been doing right all along. He spent a lot of time working with a local youth chorus, who sounded great. Their teacher is awesome, but he somehow managed to pull more out of them. This afternoon we did some Dalcroze exercises (done those, Craig?), which are basically exploring body movement to feel rhythm and melody. Some great techniques for helping students tap into the music in a whole new way. One of Leck's good quotes was, "We don't teach music, we teach children." He kept reminding us why we got into music in the first place. It wasn't because we just fell in love with the quarter note or the dominant 7th. Early on, we felt the "magic" of music, something that touched us to the core of our being. And that's the music we need to convey to students. We can't get bogged down in the building blocks. Well, I could go on, but it was a good reminder for me and inspiration to help my students feel the joy of music themselves and express it in their music.
So then I came home and had a little piece of my mom's fabulous pumpkin cream cheese pie. Mmm...I love anything pumpkin in the fall! I need a pumpkin latte and scone from Starbucks right now! Or just a chai latte and pumpkin scone will do nicely.
Wednesday night was the first rehearsal of the season for my orchestra. Good to see everyone and get back into it. Playing in an orchestra used to scare me the first few years I played youth symphony in my teens, but now I really enjoy it. One of those things that gets much easier with much experience. We're doing all Russian music. One of the pieces I play in is the Berceuse and Finale from Stravinsky's Firebird Suite. I love, love, love that piece! I first fell in love with it when I played it in youth symphony, so I was thrilled to play it again. If you haven't heard it, go get a copy because it will send chills down your spine and hit your music spot. But anyway, they're also doing Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, which I don't play in. However, I was talking to a friendly percussionist during the break, and he somehow talked me into playing the bells for one part. There are only two percussionists covering about five parts, so he was obviously feeling a little desparate. So I'm a percussionist. Maybe a new career? I think I might stick in some ear plugs so I don't get deafened by all the cymbal crushes and drum pounding. Exciting stuff, music is. Especially Russian music.
How's that for randomness in a post? I'm going to go eat dinner and watch a movie probably.
Fall weather is finally starting to kick in around here and I love it. I love the crisp coolness of the air, cool enough to feel good in a sweater or leather jacket, but not too cool to be miserable. I love the darker evenings when I can be cozy inside with a book and cat. I love the lovely colors on the trees and the harvest products here in the country.
Last night and today I went to a choral workshop in Tacoma. Last night we sang through a bunch of choral music we were given. It's so cool to sight-read cool music with a whole bunch of other adult teachers who can sing and sight read, too! Today the teacher was Henry Leck from Indianapolis. He's a world renowned choral conductor, clinician, teacher, etc. So I was excited to sit under this master for the day, even if I'm not doing much conducting right now. It was great to get new ideas, insights, and inspiration (how alliterative of me), and also to realize which things I had been doing right all along. He spent a lot of time working with a local youth chorus, who sounded great. Their teacher is awesome, but he somehow managed to pull more out of them. This afternoon we did some Dalcroze exercises (done those, Craig?), which are basically exploring body movement to feel rhythm and melody. Some great techniques for helping students tap into the music in a whole new way. One of Leck's good quotes was, "We don't teach music, we teach children." He kept reminding us why we got into music in the first place. It wasn't because we just fell in love with the quarter note or the dominant 7th. Early on, we felt the "magic" of music, something that touched us to the core of our being. And that's the music we need to convey to students. We can't get bogged down in the building blocks. Well, I could go on, but it was a good reminder for me and inspiration to help my students feel the joy of music themselves and express it in their music.
So then I came home and had a little piece of my mom's fabulous pumpkin cream cheese pie. Mmm...I love anything pumpkin in the fall! I need a pumpkin latte and scone from Starbucks right now! Or just a chai latte and pumpkin scone will do nicely.
Wednesday night was the first rehearsal of the season for my orchestra. Good to see everyone and get back into it. Playing in an orchestra used to scare me the first few years I played youth symphony in my teens, but now I really enjoy it. One of those things that gets much easier with much experience. We're doing all Russian music. One of the pieces I play in is the Berceuse and Finale from Stravinsky's Firebird Suite. I love, love, love that piece! I first fell in love with it when I played it in youth symphony, so I was thrilled to play it again. If you haven't heard it, go get a copy because it will send chills down your spine and hit your music spot. But anyway, they're also doing Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, which I don't play in. However, I was talking to a friendly percussionist during the break, and he somehow talked me into playing the bells for one part. There are only two percussionists covering about five parts, so he was obviously feeling a little desparate. So I'm a percussionist. Maybe a new career? I think I might stick in some ear plugs so I don't get deafened by all the cymbal crushes and drum pounding. Exciting stuff, music is. Especially Russian music.
How's that for randomness in a post? I'm going to go eat dinner and watch a movie probably.
posted by Kristi | 5:47 PM
3 Comments:
don't you hate that "have to write" feeling? I know I do.
So how goes the jobless state? And I agree about curling up and reading, but can't agree about the cat part :-)
I thought you had some great stuff to talk about....particularly your music experiences. Have you heard of Feldenkreis? He and another guy, whose name is escaping me at the moment, have some very interesting thoughts and exercises on movement and breathing that are great and can be quite helpful to the singer.
Anyway, I enjoyed hearing about your experiences.
Nope, never heard of Feldenkreis. The more I learn, the more I see the wealth of information out there for the musician! A lifetime wouldn't be enough to learn it all, probably.
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