Musicianship is OVER!!

Woo Hoo!! I am super excited! I never have to take Musicianship ever again. AND I got 91% in that class! I'm so happy :) Yes!

That class was so hard for me because it was the first time I had ever had any ear training of any kind. But I have survived two years of it and now I'm done!

For the final in Musicianship IV, I had to sing three songs that were totally awful. Ick! I'll show you them.

First I sang this one:

Then I sang one which we lovingly refer to as the demented child song. Luckily I cannot find a good recording of it. We did record our class singing it while I played the demented bells part but I can't steal it from Kevin so you have all been spared.

Lastly I sang this one:
http://youtu.be/Acvwo1-ABNk

(I don't know why it's not downloading but you get the idea.)


AND NOW I'M DONE FOREVER!

Transcription Project

In Musicianship 4, the very last semester of Musicianship, our teacher decided not to have a written final. Instead we had to pick a song (at least we got to pick our poison....) and transcribe two minutes of it. I did not want to do this assignment. I would have rather had the written test. But... I tried to pick something simpler with only a few parts to write out. So I found -

The Piano Guys
Bring Him Home

It wasn't too bad. In fact, the cello part was super easy to figure out. The piano kinda kicked my butt. I just had to realize that Jon Schmidt makes things sound harder than they really are. So I survived it. And this is what I came up with -

Don't look at it too closely..... I probably missed something. Poor Spencer had to endure me asking him to check what I was doing all night. He was a good sport about it and helped me a lot. But this was one of the hardest things I have had to do in college.

After this, I will never have to take Musicianship again! Woo!

That Darn Clarinet Again...

So... I have been struggling with my instrument. I feel like I have hit a major block. I don't feel myself getting any better. If anything my playing and technical skills are getting worse. At this point, I honestly need a new instrument! Mine right now is really holding me back. It has served me well thus far, but I cannot progress any further with the clarinet I have now.

I am really hoping to get a Buffet R13 very very soon in my future. I want to audition with the Utah Wind Ensemble, but I don't have a prayer with my current horn. I need a new instrument. (Can you tell I'm just venting now?)

Buffet clarinets do not run at a very low price. The R13, specifically, does not run at a low price. It runs about the same as a little run-around car you would get for your teenager. So here starts the Brooke-Needs-A-New-Clarinet Fund. Ha. Just kidding. We'll just have to do some planning and saving and looking into that. Like..........this summer. So yeah. Hopefully.
I want to be good.. And I want to play really well.. And right now I really feel like I'm struggling. I'm fighting with my instrument. We are not getting along. It is time for me to move on and find a clarinet who cares about me and will help me be a better musician.

Luckily, I already have a fantastic mouthpiece. That thing alone improved my sound like crazy! I still struggle with the keys on my instrument, but the sound is improving because I got a Rossi mouthpiece. (Rossi = big deal!)