I love playing piano and I love being home alone, and those two loves exist because of each other. I used to take piano lessons before high school, and I absolutely hated them. There are still bite marks on the wood, from when I was five-years-old and sunk my teeth into the music stand out of frustration. However, after coming to Andover, my friends and peers introduced me to modern music, which definitely appeals to me more than my mother’s preferred Baroque music on “Boston’s Classical Station, 99.5 WCRB featuring Laura Carlo.” During my freshman year, whenever a friend recommended me an artist or band, I would obsessively listen to their albums one at a time on repeat, making sure to appreciate every lyric, chord, and artistic choice. I …show more content…
I have all of their music on my phone, so when the house gets too quiet for my liking, I put on the song as loud as I can before I begin to play along with it. I make sure to play loud enough so that I drown out the rest of the instruments in the song, but soft enough so that the singer’s voice can be heard over the mess of sounds. The more I get into the song, I begin to pretend there’s an audience watching me. I usually despise playing in front of other people, but in these special cases, I feel the cliché “rush” so many songs write about and I start to perform and not just play. I’ll move around on the piano bench, bouncing my left leg as if I’m hitting a bass drum of a drum kit. I’ll stand up to emphasize parts of the song, and I’ll add hand motions that are completely useless for playing the piece, but completely necessary for the display. I let myself dream that there’s an actual singer screaming the lyrics to a crowd of teenagers, or a guitarist picking the epic solo, or a drummer keeping the beat. Then I imagine we’re performing in a cafeteria of a community college, or the basement of a bar, and although we’re a undistinguished band, we’re best friends who dedicated our summer to produce a few original songs and covers just because we wanted
While the musician?s were playing, I was surprised how the audience was. Most of the audience was talking loud, drinking alcohol and eating snacks. Some audience was even clapping hands and humming along with the song. This was quite an opposite environment compared to the concerts I went to. Sometimes the audience was so loud that I could barely hear the songs. It was interesting that even though the crowd was so loud, the musicians seemed very comfortable with it. They played the song as if the audience?s voice was also part of their song. When audience was loud, they would play loud and when audience became quite, they played very soft and tender. It might be to get audience?s attention. But, it seemed the m...
Akins, M. L. 1982 An analysis and Evaluation of selected methods for the beginning Private Piano student. PhD, Peabody College for Teachers, Vanderbilt University, USA.
The Baroque period was “one of the most brilliant periods in history, standing squarely at the crossroads between medieval and modern times, this was an age of real achievement, strong hope, and vigorous actuality” (McKinney 270). The term Baroque comes from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning a pearl of irregular shape (Smith 31). Beginning in Italy, the Baroque period was known for its “grandiose concepts” and “magnificent effects”. The grandiose concepts were basically concepts that were grand and over the top. The magnificent effects were just fancy effects. Even while writing the music of that time, the composers would always make the notes fancy and curly. An era of emotional art and music, this period was divided into two time frames: the Early Baroque and the Late Baroque. The Early Baroque lasted from 1650 to 1700 (Britten 84). During this period, choruses and opera were widely popular. Dances were also choreographed to include grace into the songs when performed. Lasting from 1700 to 1750, the Late Baroque added a style of singing known as bel canto (Britten 85). In bel canto, the beauty of the sound overtook the importance of the dramatic dances. Summarizing these two periods, dramatic dancing became popular to go along with the music during the Early Baroque music and singing became popular to be performed along with the music during the Late Baroque. The Baroque period was also a time of numerous achievements. Driven by the influences of the Renaissance period, man began to realize what phenomenal things one could achieve. But what changes in music occurred at this time and what other achievements were made? The Baroque period was a phenomenal period still talked about today.
Over the summer, I was excited to be joining Symphonic, but I was also somewhat terrified. I would be the only new member of the alto section, and the only non-senior. I would also finally be directly next to Caitlyn Bell, the best saxophone player in the school. She was an amazing musician, and I had looked up to her since middle school. Although I was excited to play with someone so great, I was also worried that I would look horrible next to her. I had often been compared to her and in her shadow, so this was my chance to prove that I was just as good as she was. I also knew that my entire section had been together the previous year, and all were friends outside of band. I knew I would be the odd one out, and was desperate to win their approval.
The Baroque era was the age of magic. Flat surfaces became three-dimensional and paint on plaster became alive. It was the age of masterful illusion. Nothing exhibits this mastery better than Baroque ceiling paintings.
The Baroque Masters lecture performance by Dr. Yelena Grinberg showcased a selection of keyboard works composed during the Baroque Ear (1600-1750) by t Baroque Masters George Frederic Handel, Domenico Scarlatti, and Johann Sebastian Bach. The ideal of the Baroque period was that music should not only be pleasing, but it must also induce very strong, visceral emotions and stir the passions of the soul. Some important features of the Baroque ear are the precise and elevated rhythms, clear and defined meter, irregular or embellished melodies, and an enriched and unified texture which was he together by the ongoing ground bass known as basso continuo. Although each of these Baroque Masters composed music that was highly reflective of the Baroque
As I was growing up my family and I would usually go and see ballets and then as I grew older we stopped going. When you are in Elementary school you have music class and to make it fun your class usually had to put on a play/musical. When I was in 2nd grade maybe I remember I finally auditioned to be a reindeer in a Christmas musical that was taking place. I only got the role because the person who originally got it wasn’t sad enough and couldn’t sign because he was stage fright. I remember how fun it use to be but that feeling soon faded because of all the lines and things that went with it. Musicals all through school were always fun to hear about but I never really paid much attention because I found
Some people bird watch, rock climb, and run. Others knit, photograph the world, and collect baseball cards. Everyone has at least one pastime that brings them joy and motivates them. The world of hobbies is unbelievably diverse and contains activities that arrive with countless followers eager to pursue them. In order to obtain a hobby, a considerable amount of knowledge on what it entails, the desire to follow it, and the will to engage in it are crucial. A somewhat popular hobby among people of all ages is playing the piano. The requirements necessary to acquire this hobby are fairly uncomplicated. For starters, the beginning pianist simply needs to learn how to play; luckily, there are multiple roads to follow in order to accomplish that
In those days, I never got to see the importance of having those lessons, practicing for hours, and even playing those tunes. As much as I tried, I could never find a way to enjoy it; it was no more than some never-ending horrible homework for me. But today, I thank my teacher for forcing me to appreciate the art of music. Now, I can easily list playing the piano as one of the most refreshing aspects of my life. Whenever I feel down, I always have the chance to be up in clouds after a couple of minutes. Swaying back and forth, I can surrender myself to the soothing tunes and get lost in the harmony. I believe very few people have that kind of luxury and I'm absolutely grateful for that.
The term ‘Baroque’ is defined as the style of the famous European countries which includes music, architecture and arts from late 17th century to early 18th century. Music from baroque era were composed of well-known personalities. Some of the major contributors to this time period are: Antonio Vivaldi, henry Purcell, Johann Sebastian Bach and George Handel. Music with different instrumental sounds were observed and played during this era. The two famous style of instrumental music were the concerto and the sonata.
The Right Answer Playing the violin is an experience. The friction of bow hair slightly catching on to the strings before smoothly gliding, the warm rich tone as I played an open note, the cloud of rosin as the bow landed on the string with great pressure, the feelings of my fingers flying across the fingerboard, the tension I felt as my fingers stretched to find the note, the weight of the violin on my shoulders accompanied by the pressure of my chin resting on the appropriately named chin rest. Feeling the area between my first finger and my thumb caressing the neck of the violin, my palms, every once in a while, grazing the back of the violin, the bow weighing heavily on the strings as my bow hold allowed the slightest change in pressure to affect the tone and style of the piece, the vibrations of the string reverberating throughout my body. All these sensations resonate within me.
Question 1: The development of Opera through the ages varies in many ways. What was going on in the world at the time changed the way the music was produced and the operas over time changed immensely. The main elements of opera are the overture, recitative, aria, chorus, and ballet. The genre of opera was developed by Henry Purcell, he created an english version of Opera. Opera started in the late renaissance era and continued through baroque, classical, romantic, and modern era.
When music education comes to one’s mind, one may think that it only applies when it comes to listening to diverse songs and beating two drum sticks together to the beat of songs. However, there is much more of a deeper meaning to it than that. According to the acclaimed author, J. Yudkin, “Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain (the development of skills), the cognitive domain (the acquisition of knowledge), and, in particular and significant ways, the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity. The incorporation of music training from preschool to postsecondary education is common in most nations because involvement in music is considered a fundamental component of human culture and behavior. Music, like language, is an accomplishment that distinguishes us as humans” (Yudkin 4). The subject of expurgating music education has been discussed for numerous decades. However, those discussing this fail to realize that music education not only has an imperative part in the students’ grades improving but also betters their behavior. Music education should remain in the curriculums of today’s students because it has a positive effect on their upbringing, in turn leading them to better, more fruitfulfutures.