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!)

Clarinet-ing

This semester I have two jury pieces. I'm playing numbers 2 and 3 of the Robert Schumann Fantasy Pieces. I played the first one my .... first semester at the U. But I really like them. They will definitely take a lot of work but it shouldn't be something that I can't do. (...did that make sense..?) I should be able to get these down in a semester.

This audio has Fantasy Pieces One, Two and Three. But they are all good anyway :)

My goal for myself this semester, is to mentally pretend that I am a Music Performance Major - instead of a Music Education Major. So basically I will be putting more focus into my playing. That will become the priority, instead of leaving practicing on the back-burner. We'll see how it goes.

Music Moment

I was looking for a specific song that I remember Josh Wright playing at Women's Conference two years ago at BYU, and I found it! It's amazing. And this recording is pretty sweet! So I had to share.

Pretty stink'n awesome! ps. He went to the U :)

New Semester

Well... classes have started. I don't have as crazy a class schedule as I usually have. I'm hoping that will make things a lot easier with work this semester. Classes so far look like they will be ok. Form & Analysis scares me a little bit and I still really don't like Musicianship... but this is my last semester of Musicianship... and piano... and Concert Attendance... and then I'll only have one methods class left. Yay! I'm getting closer!

Work is going pretty well for me too. It's not stressful and I like that I can work at my own pace. I'm hoping I can keep working there for quite a long time. It is a really fantastic student job. Best one I have ever had.

AND :) we have water in our kitchen again!! Yay!

The thing that is going to be hard is that I'm not home between 7:30 am and 10:20 pm. I'm gone like all day. But... tis life. I'll just have to live with it. Spencer doesn't like that I'm not home at all. I'm really not a fan either, but my weekends are completely free and that will be really awesome. Fridays I don't work and I only have two classes. I officially really love Fridays! Woo!

Surprise!

Yesterday I did a lot of cleaning and organizing and cooking and cleaning while Spencer was at work. But he surprised me by bringing me flowers when he came home.

Aw... Cute! :) I am one lucky girl.