Band Written Requirements

1. What has been your biggest improvement this year as a player?

My biggest improvement as a player this year, would have to be my attention do details such as dynamics and articulation. Before I would notice them, but this year I took great care in trying to play 'piano' when it was required, or to really accent a note when its called for.

2. What is the area you most struggle with?

There isnt really an area I struggle with. I've been playing instruments for as long as I can remember, same with theory, so I've grown up knowing the basics. And I feel that I've grasped the new theory, but that might be due to Jazz class. But I do have trouble with making proper accents, and proper fortzandos (I will just have to continue practicing those)

3. What was your greatest musical highlight this year and why?

My greatest musical highligh of this year...I would have to say Maggie's, the Canadian Nationals, and the end of the year Coffee House. Maggie's was an amazing experience, and I never imagined our band being invited to Nationals, and my friends and I have always talked about entering Coffee House but never had the guts to do it. (We decided to just go for it, and dedicate Blue Monk to Mr. Stevenson :D)

4. What areas do you feel the band accels at and what area do we struggle? Give specific examples.

As a band I think we accel in our determination and enthusiasm, and playing right notes. When the challenge calls we answer it, like for the Second Suite. The Second Suite was hard, but we stuck to it. Our enthusiasm really stuck out with Rumble, and it showed by audience reaction. I think thats the best piece we've played, and the first time we've really engaged the audience.

All we need to do is focus on blending together more, and working on dynamics and articulation, and our tone. That was pointed out by many of the adjudicators, "Never sacrifice beauty/tone for dynamics" (Rumble). It was also pointed out that we needed to learn how to flow better for the sight reading song.

20 min June 1

I dedicated this practice time to my Exam practice. I practiced the chromatic scales, I'm alot better than I was when I first started. I can get through all 8 with little mistakes. I then practiced the E minor scale, line 3 and I figured out the scale in thirds. I then practiced the study, focusing on articulation. I then turned my attention to study number 8 in the red book. I am not up to speed yet, but I'm getting faster.

Blog Assignment: Dave Valentin

I have chosen Dave Valentin who is a 57 year old male flutist, born in New York City. He began playing the bongos and congas before he was 10 and was playing in Latin Clubs by the age of 12. After studying percussion in the High School of Music and Arts, he later converted over to Flute and began to take private lessons with jazz flutist Hubert Laws.

He soon began playing as a professional flutist in Latin bands and created many new techniques. He created a way of blowing into the flute to make it sound like percussion, singing into a flute, and using non-standard flutes such as the bass flute, etc. He applies these techniques to many genres of music, including jazz, R&B, salsa and merengue ( a style of music from the Dominican Republic/ Latin America.) He released his debut album in 1977 with Ricardo Marrero, and won a Grammy nomination in 1985.

The song he is playing is called Obsesion. What I like about this performance is all the unique sounds he can make with his flute, and yet he has a very clear and beautiful sound. He also sways to the beat of the song, showing that he's into it. He has an amazing sense of rhythm, his improvising sounds rehearsed it's so good. And he has to improvise for over 5 minutes, improvising for over 2 choruses/verses is hard enough.

Click to enjoy the stylings of Dave Valentin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ffWLC6ZTro&feature=quicklist

20 minutes May 6th

I decided to work on band pieces and a study from the red book.

I worked on sections 93 - 101, and 125 - 138 in the Carmina Burana. I find the second section harder because its 16th notes at a very high tempo. I used repitition to improve this section, it is not quite up to speed but it's better than what I could do before.

I then worked on Chillers and Thrillers. from 19 - 55. The random flats in the second half of this section throw me through a loop, so I decided I would concentrate on this section. I used repition and can now play the flats and naturals fairly well with the correct speed. I then worked on "Them from Dracula" because of all the high notes and the speed at which they are played. I used repition again, but I can play this section better. And I looked at "The Face of Voldemort" because I like it.

And last but not least I practed Study no. 9. I found that halfway through the song my rhythms got messed up, so I practiced those bars more than others (bars

Over the Weekend

I'm not sure if this counts...but over the weekend a bunch of friends and I got together and decided to play old pieces from Jazz class. We spent just over an hour and half on them, telling each other how we could improve on them. We learned that we're a little rusty with improv, we were all thinking of taking jazz next year so that's why we decided to bring them out.

We brought out a timer, and we went over the pieces a few times and tried to improve our playing. So I don't know if this counts, but I decided to post it anyways :D

April 14 15 min

I dedicated my time to the Holst, since we are having a test on Thursday and its the piece we're playing on Monday.

I worked on the first two movements. For the first movement i worked at improving the first two bars. I can play it much better than i could this morning. I then worked on speeding up the first movement and I worked on my higher register. I still can't play anything higher than High High F, but I've almost got G. I then worked on my timing and volume for the second movement.

Practiced for 20 min April 5

Today I practiced the pieces Rumble and the Holst.

I focused my attention on the first two movements of the Holst. I tried to speed up my tempo for the first movement, and attempted to become better with Dynamics and Articulation by repition. I then practiced the second movement, making sure to count out all the beats so that I could perfect my timing. I still need to work on dynamics because its very hard to play quietly while up in that register.

For Rumble i practiced the run at 205, I'm still not as fast as I should be, but im getting better. I then practiced measures 41 - 58, practiced the eighth note fall. I can now play it at the same speed as the rest of the song.

Practiced March 31 for 12 min

I dedicated my practice time to the Holst. I mostly practiced the first movement, focusing on articulation and dynamics. I especially focused on the timing during the measures J - K that the flutes had trouble with this morning in band. I had no idea i was playing it wrong until the workshop, so I practiced this section repeatedly until I could play it right 3 times in a row.

I then practiced the second movement, focusing on counting out the half beats in order to stop playing at the right time. I also attempting to play pp but its very hard to do when in such a high register.

Practice 15 Min March 25

I started off by practising the Chromatic Scales for 5 minutes. I was able to play through the first 6 without major problems, so I concentrated on bringing them up to speed.

For the last 10 minutes I practiced Second Suite in F. I practiced the first movement, focusing on the beginning (from letter A to E). I can play the notes very well, the only things i need to improve now are Dynaimcs and Articulation. Then I focused on letters J to K, again I can play at a fast speed, i just need to focus on Dynamics and on learning the fingerings for the higher register.

I then focused my attention on the last movement. I can play the notes correctly (except for the higher ledger-line notes), I just need to work on Dynamics.

15 min on Mar 3!!

I practiced for 15 minutes today. For the first 8 minutes I practiced the Scale Skills on page 11 for the test on thursday. I used the approach shown to us today. I played one bar and the bar after then put them together. Then I played the third bar and but that together with the first two. I did this for the second half of the selection since we learned the first half in class. Once I was comfortable with the second half I added it to the first half. I played the how Scale Skills repetively until I felt comfortable playing it as a whole. I also used the online metronome.

I then used the last 7 minutes working on Rumble and Second Suite in F. I used the online metronome to increase the tempo for measures 47-48. I can now play this section faster than I could the last time I practiced it. It's still not perfectly played, I'm only having trouble with the low F sharp. Then I practiced the run at 205, again i used the metronome to increase the tempo. Its still not quite up to tempo, but its faster than when I started playing it. I practiced sections J to the end for the first movement of the Second Suite. I can now play this section VERY fast with very little fingering mistakes. I only need to work on dynamics.

33 minutes today!

I practiced for 33 minutes today! I decided to devote the time to Band arrangements. I used the online metronome to help with tempos.

I practiced Rumble on the High plains for 10 minutes. I practiced measures 41 - 48. I can now play measure 48 rather well, I'm still having trouble with switching from the low F sharp to the high E flat. I used repition and increase of tempo to practice. Then I practiced the run at 205. I'm still not very good at it, but i'm seeing a great improvement in the speed of which i can play it properly. I used the increase of tempo to practice.

I practiced Light Eternal for 5 minutes, working on measures 143 - 159. I can play this section alot better and at a faster tempo. I'm still having some difficulty with switching fingerings at fast speeds, but I can its going smoother now.

I practiced Second Suite in F for the remaining 18 minutes. I practiced from A - E for the first movement. I can play it fairly well, my only difficulties being with the constant higher notes. I practiced the J and K and I've found that this is the easiest part of the first movement, and my favourite. I then practiced the second movement, which in itself isn't hard since there are no tricky rhythms. I then practiced B - F of the fourth movement. I find this section particularily easy, except for the high G. I practiced this piece by repition.

10 Minutes of Chromatic Scales

I practiced for 10 minutes today. I only worked on the first four Chromatic Scales. I devoted most of the time to the first two scales, since that's what our test is supposed to be on. I'm still having trouble reading sharps, but I'm getting better at it. It now only takes me a few seconds to remember that D sharp is actually E flat now.

I just kept repeating the scales until I was able to play it relatively well. It went alot smoother than on Friday, so I'm improving :D. I also increased tempo a lot faster than I did on Friday. I plan to work on the Chromatic Scales even after this test, as it will help improve my fingers and my sharp reading abilities.

I practised today!!

I practiced for 15 minutes today. I devoted the first 8 minutes to working on the first 4 Chromatic Excercises. By far the easiest to play were number 1 and number 3. I'm still having trouble with the excercises with sharps. I practiced very slowly at first, and gradually sped up. It's not perfect, but they are sounding a lot better than when I first started.

For the last 7 minutes I practiced some scales annd their Skill building components. So far I have had no problems with the scales of B flat maj, G min, E flat maj, or C min. The only thing that I need to work on with those scales are their Scale Skills, which I again started off slow, and gradually sped up (the E flat and C scale skills were the only ones I needed to do this for)

I'm not to surprised I got so much done in such a short time period, since I've worked on them in class as well. But I think I'm doing much better at the Chromatic Scales. I only wish my flute would co-operate, I'm loosing a battle with it's evil sticky keys.

LOL this is David Archuleta reacting to hearing himself sing! I don't know why he's freaking out about it, it sounded AWESOME!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpxiTffnt54

Happy Valentine's Day!

David's Wishing us all a Happy Valentine's Day