Start to the semester

Hey guys, I haven't been on here in awhile and figured I should update this blog. So we're a couple weeks into the new school year and so far so good. I am unable to take euphonium lessons and be in low brass ensemble this semester because of 300 level juries for percussion. That on top of my voice lessons and Class Piano 3 will take up a lot of time and I don't feel that I would be able to put in the required practice and playing time that would be expected with lessons. So we'll see if I can't get back into it next semester. Other than that, our first marching show at the game this last Saturday went good, now its on to the band trip this weekend. I also started my weekly meetings with the on campus Dietary specialist this week. She's having me record how much I eat and when I eat for this week. So if you see me at lunch, help remind me to write everything down. We'll see if it works and if I can start losing some weight! Well, I guess that's everything for now. I found an interesting video online the other day that I will attach to this post. Its a good video for future educators to watch. Later- Eric

Summertime

Well, its summer. Since I haven't posted anything in awhile I figured it was time to write about something. Pretty much so far all I've been doing is working, cleaning, and practicing. Between planting grass seed for Pheasants Forever and working at Casey's here in town I've been keeping pretty busy most days. I've got some friends coming up this weekend for a camping trip...but then it rained 4 inches so we probably won't be going camping. Also been helping my youngest brother take care of 6 chickens, 2 dogs, and 4 calves. And if anyone knows where I can get a half jersey half holstein calf for sale, let me know cus I need another one for a matched pair. I have this crazy idea of raising a team of oxen, and I need another calf, lol. I ordered Song and Wind and Acting for Singers, I think I'll start with Song and Wind first and then read Acting for Singers and see if I can't learn something over the summer. I'll keep you all posted on how the books go.

Catch ya later,
Eric

Euph lesson 3-29-10

I thought that my lesson went pretty well today. I got caught a little off guard by one of the rubank lessons on pg. 29ish. I had been spending so much time on fundies and on the articulation studies in the back that I neglected to practice the etude type study at the beginning of the book, woops. Oh well, I'll just have to make sure and add it and the next one to my practice list along with my scales and fundies book, as well as the articulation studies. I've been learning a lot this semester, and I am definately finding out that there is a lot more to brass playing than meets the eye. I knew this already, but now I'm getting a better first hand look at everything I guess. The only bad thing about it is that between low brass, percussion, band, choral conducting, and choir, I can't decide yet whether I would rather teach instrumental music or vocal music. Most people focus on just one main area, but I've been learning everything I can about both sides of the music spectrum. Maybe I should start to narrow down my fields a little bit, but there's just so much good music, and when you can sing, play percussion, saxophone, and euphonium, its hard to choose sometimes. I guess its a good thing that I've got another year to figure that out.

Intercolegiate Honor Band and a new trombone

So we went down to Lincoln on thursday morning for intercollegiate honor band. It was probably one of the best concerts that I have ever been a part of. Playing with that many top level college musicians and playing a piece of music to almost complete perfection made me realize what you can really do in band. It also made me realize that while I'm not the worst percussionist there is, I definitely have room to improve. At least I can say that I didn't miss a single note during the concert. It was one of those experiences that you learn a lot from, and if you people think practicing for an hour every day is hard, try rehearsing for almost 15 hours in two days, it will definitely be a wake up call as to how much you can play.
In other news, I bought a trombone. Its an old Bundy Oldes model student level horn that came with a 15 c mouthpiece. I found it in an antique shop in lincoln for $24 dollars. At first I looked at it and thought "there is no way that this thing will even play if its in an antique shop." But I opened the case, took a look at it, and its really not in that bad of shape. There is very very little red rot anywhere and no dents at all that I can find. The bell is a little out of shape and it has some rust issues where laquer has come off, but other than that its pretty good. My one problem is that it looks like the slide is either warping inward or someone sqeezed it or something, because even after I cleaned the slide and put on superslick and water, it still wants to bind in places. But it I put a little bit of presure on the outside of the slide, then the internal moves fine. So does anyone have any ideas on how to fix this without a huge repair bill?

Euphonium Lesson 3-1-10

Its amazing how much better I feel after every euph lesson. And I don't really know why, they just always seem to go really good, even if I'm having trouble with parts of what I have been practicing. Maybe its just because I'm basically still a beginner on euphonium, so I am always learning something new about the horn and about low brass in general. It just really helps to remind me of why I became a music major in the first place, to learn about music. I don't know, maybe I'm crazy for wanting to know everything there is about music, but at least I'll know a little about low brass in the process.

I recently found out from my brother what my old high school was playing for District Music Contest, and for their spring concert. They are playing a couple of classics, like Trombone King, and a couple of newer ones like Synergies and the movie music from Pirates of the Caribbean. Now, one piece that they are playing, Fall River Overture, pushes the limits a little bit as it is a slower ballad type song that really needs focus on intonation. But here's where I get to my point...none of this music is very hard as far as technique goes. Sure each has its own challenges, and you have to know what to program for your band. I can't help but think back to when I was in band with the same band director though. We were pushing the limits and playing grade level 4 music then, which for a local high school band in my area was doing pretty good. Now, with the same director, the band has regressed back to its old self and has stopped trying to perform to their best abilities. My brother is about fed up with it. He says that they have high school drummers that can't read 6/8 time. These same drummers have been taught by the same band director from 5th grade up, so to me it seems that somewhere along the line they are not getting all of the education they need. To me, this seems to be a serious problem, and one that we hear about all the time. What we need to think about as future educators, is that eventually we will be put into these same shoes and have to take over a band. Don't get me wrong, there are many great directors out there that have outstanding bands. But there are also many that have mediocre directors and students that just don't care. So I think it is up to us future music educators to take the initiative. We need to turn around this problem that is starting to spiral out of control. We need to do our best to practice, and become the best musicians that we can be. We need to set high standards, not only for our students, but for ourselves, so that we don't fall into what Dave called the "homogenous cesspool of mediocrity". I think I can speak for all of us when I say that to us music means everything...so why should be allow ourselves to expect less than perfect? Music is the one subject in the public school system that expects perfection. You can get a 94% on a math test and still pass the class with flying colors, but if you only play 94% of the notes in a piece of music correctly, it will sound horrible. We need to impress this idea on our students, as well as ourselves, that good enough is never good enough. Otherwise the critics will be right, and there won't be a place for music in the public school system, because its meaning will have diminished to a point that will become unrecognisable. And it all comes down to how much work you are willing to put in yourself. Cus lets face it guys, we aren't all signing up to be music teachers because of the great pay check, so we need to look for something more for fulfillment. And it all starts now, by putting in as much work as possible on ourselves, so that we have the skills necessary to later in life teach those who haven't developed them yet.

Well, I played my solo for studio on Friday. It was immediately apparent that it wasn't quite where I wanted it to be, but also thinking back to when I got the solo, it went a lot better than it had been going in practice. I learned that I can't just forget about the fundamentals when I get a little nervous, and that I need to make sure and breathe. But my range is getting better, at the beginning of the year the D above the bass clef staff was hard to hit, now I'm working on the F above and the D is coming out a lot better than it was. So I guess even though it didn't go as well as I wanted it to, it still went a lot better than it could have, and I just need to keep working on it and learning more about playing in the process.

This week I found out that I was accepted to play at the Intercollegiate Honor Band on percussion. I was incredibly excited when I found out. Percussion is where I got my start in music, and while it wasn't what I wanted to play at first, I grew to like it a lot. This led me to practicing, and it looks like now all that practicing has payed off. Now, this being a blog for a low brass studio, most of you are probably wondering why on earth I am taking low brass lessons when I'm a percussion player in band. This concept gets even more perplexing when you find out that my primary instrument as a music major is voice, not percussion. I am a big believer in diversity in everything you do. My grandpa was a jack of all trades kind of guy, he worked as a grocery store owner, theater owner, electric lineman, plumber, and nuclear silo builder. Quite a vast covering of jobs. He also ran for senate I believe. And its that way of living that I have kind of taken as my own. That's why I'm working on getting a K-12 Field Endorsement for music, so that I can teach anything music related at any level. But its more than just music. I also have a great desire for farming, ranching, and gardening practices. My family has always had some kind of something growing, whether it was a large orchard, a garden, or bucket calves for 4H. We were always doing something in that line of work. Granted my dad is a parts manager for the local John Deere in Neligh and grew up on a farm, but its also very interesting to me. I've done a couple experiments with hydroponics (and no not the plants you guys are thinking, we used tomatoes). I am also a big fan of permaculture, and for those of you that don't know what that is, I will attach a video at the end that I found. Needless to say, I love music, but there are also lots of other things that interest me. So if there is some other field of study that you think you might enjoy, even if you don't want to get a degree in it, maybe take a class or get some books on the subject. You'll be surprised at what you can learn and apply to every other area of your life.

Well, I felt pretty good after my lesson today. Not to say that I don't feel good after every euphonium lesson, but I think that some of my practicing has been paying off. I worked real hard on articulation and on high range this last week, and I am finally starting to feel comfortable with higher notes. I'm still just beginning so my high range isn't anywhere near what a good euphonium players should be, but for me it was quite a leap above where I have been.

Catch ya later,
Eric

p.s. Here's as awesome video on why everyone should listen to Classical Music.

Here is a video I found of Evelyn Glennie on how to listen to music not just with your ears and mind, but to experience it with your entire body. An interesting concept to be sure, and one that might be worth trying out and researching.

Practice week #2

Mainly this week I've been trying to work on fundamental stuff for euph as well as memorizing three songs for voice by next week. I've also been working on some stuff out of the Rubank book and am basically trying to polish some exercises out of it. Seems like a never ending process, and with honor band to work this weekend, seems like there's never a break either. But, I guess that's what pep band is good for, and we'll be having another night of that coming up soon. Well, back to the practice room this weekend along with homework. See you guys later.

Eric

Awsome guitar playing

Hey guys, if you haven't seen/heard this guy, he is from Australia and is insane on guitar, he does his own versions of several big songs from top bands. Here's one that I like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzTx8cBKIc8&feature=related

Practice Week #1

Well I have started my practice journal for this week, and so far I have learned a bit even after just one week's worth of practice. I figured out that if I split my fundies practice and my solo practice, that both tend to go better. I tried warming up with my fundies book and then going straight into my solo, and the solo just fell off a cliff. So I think for the future that I will do my first practice session with just fundies stuff, and then have another practice session later in the day to work on solo work and stuff out of the Rubank book. I'll let you guys know if it goes better or gets worse.

Signing off,
Eric H. (a.k.a Bob)