Sunday, March 3, 2024

Friday, March 1, 2024

40 FINGERS - Libertango by Astor Piazzolla LIVE



The Dog Ate My Music — Excuses For Not Practicing

 

Homework what_The dinosaur ate my homework. The dog ate my homework. The computer ate my homework. Through the ages teachers have heard extremely convincing excuses to not do their work. Dear music pupils: Don’t tell me you’ve practiced when you haven’t. I can always tell.

My parents were both musicians. My father set the standard for practicing. He would slavishly prepare his orchestral music week after week. I remember that he practiced Beethoven Symphony No. 8, which has a difficult triplet passage in the cello part in the Tempo di Menuetto movement. (It is often inaudible, covered by a gorgeous horn solo, but you can hear it at 3:07 in the link below.) He went over and over the passages with a metronome, starting ever so slowly, then inching the speed up. Both of my parents made sure I practiced properly. Music is more audible than homework so I couldn’t fake it. The piano was in our living room and while my mother, a quintessential piano teacher washed the dinner dishes, she’d listen critically. “COUNT! One–and–DA, Two–and–DA!” she’d bark.

Torn musicThere was no escape when I practiced the cello downstairs either. The door had to be open so my father could intervene. He was from the old school and firmly believed in a methodical approach. “What? You play duets? Why aren’t you practicing your scales and etudesPopper and Grützmacher.

“Play S-L-O-W-E-R. Do it again!”

One thing for sure—no matter how little I practiced there was no getting out of the lesson that week. They wisely understood that even if I had hardly practiced—according to their standard, at least an hour on each instrument every day— playing during the lesson was worthwhile.

The avoidance of practicing is ubiquitous. Students come up with excuses that are so creative they deserve repeating.

Unacceptable Excuses:

“I didn’t practice this week because I couldn’t be bothered.”
“My hands have grown since last week and so I keep hitting wrong notes!”
“Our housekeeper tidied up the music and I couldn’t find it anywhere.”
“I’ve been chewing gum all day and can’t hold the violin today.”
“It sounded much better in the practice room…”
“I sold my instrument to pay for music school.”
“I left my instrument in my other pants.”
“My cat vomited in the piano.”

PracticingPossibly acceptable:

A friend of mine told me that a new student presented himself for their first lesson with a great excuse—a car ran over his bassoon. (Perhaps it sounded better?)

Another colleague told me about a trumpet student who fell onto his trumpet and crushed it while the teacher watched in horror!

Once one of my students, Clara, came to a lesson with the black, ebony fingerboard hanging, the strings dangling, and flaccid. Looking very sad Clara proffered her hand to show me four cello pegs. The strings must be wound through the pegs to hold the strings at the right pitch. On a blistering summer day she had left her cello in the car for several hours. When she went to retrieve her cello the fingerboard had come unglued, the bridge, which supports the strings, had toppled over, and the pegs had fallen out. “I didn’t know where to take it to have it fixed.”

Though we sometimes have our doubts, students are only human. To be honest, I’ve known several musicians who have left music, bows, endpins, and instruments on car rooftops. Hence Darren’s story: “After my last lesson I put my sheet music on the top of the car. Then I wrestled my cello into the backseat. My mom was in a hurry so I quickly hopped in. We drove off. I remembered the music when we were almost home! My mother was so annoyed. She turned around right away and we raced back to your street. I didn’t know my mom could drive so fast! Do you remember that it was such a windy day last week? Well the music was scattered all over the place. We found only this piece,” and then he showed me one page of his music. The page was covered with muddy tire tracks.

FullSizeRender (2)It’s important for parents to know that some of my best lessons were those for which I hadn’t practiced enough. Lessons were never cancelled. My music teacher used these lessons as an opportunity to practice with me, to isolate the difficult spots, to play slowly, to play hands separately (as in the case for piano lessons.) We would carefully analyze issues:

Was the fingering tripping me up? Did it need to be changed? Were inadvertent accents happening because the bow speed was not smooth and uniform? Was the tempo unsteady? Was I miscounting a passage? Was I being careless with intonation? Was I following all the instructions marked by the composer such as the dynamics, the articulations and the phrasing?

Nothing serves the student better for their future work in music or in any field than learning how to apply oneself and practice effectively. This intentional approach helps the student improve exponentially. Inconsistent practice prevents improvement, but poor, ineffective practice just reinforces mistakes!

Tchaikovsky for Beginners: 12 Pieces to Make You Love Tchaikovsky

  

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 | Margarita Höhenrieder, Staatskapelle Dresden


Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major by Ludwig van Beethoven is Beethoven for piano virtuosos. Margarita Höhenrieder shines on the piano, accompanied by the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden conducted by Fabio Luisi. The concert took place in 2008 at the Philharmonie im Gasteig Munich. (00:00) I. Allegro con brio (18:39) II Largo (29:50) III Rondo: Allegro scherzando Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) wrote seven piano concertos, five of which are numbered as opuses. The Piano Concerto in C major, Op. 15 is known as Piano Concerto No. 1, even though it was not the first concerto for piano that Beethoven wrote. First drafts for the Piano Concerto in C major date from 1793, a first complete transcription was available in late 1794 or early 1795, a new score existed before 1800 and finally the print appeared in 1801 after the solo part had been rewritten a second time. Beethoven probably performed an early version of the C major concerto himself in Vienna in 1795, where he is also thought to have performed a later version for the first time in 1800. Beethoven initially wrote his piano concertos primarily for himself. As a piano virtuoso, he wanted to show off his skills to an audience with the solo concertos; he was, after all, famous for his brilliant improvisations on the popular instrument. There are similarities between the Piano Concerto in C major and Symphony No. 1, not only with respect to the period in which they were composed. In both works, the young Beethoven’s knack of bringing forth the most diverse musical emotions from a simple thematic idea is already evident. And both works are characterized by a festive tone in which virtuosity is celebrated to the highest degree.

Pablo de Sarasate - his music and his life


Pablo de Sarasate (born March 10, 1844, Pamplona, Spain—died Sept. 20, 1908, Biarritz, France) celebrated Spanish violin virtuoso and composer.

Beginning his violin studies at the age of five, Sarasate gave his first performance at age eight and later studied at the Paris Conservatory. In 1859 he began the concert tours that made him famous throughout the world. His playing was particularly admired for sweetness and purity of tone, perfect intonation, and a flawless technique that appeared effortless. Many prominent composers, including Camille Saint-Saëns, Max Bruch, Édouard Lalo, and Antonín Dvořák, wrote pieces for him. Sarasate is also known as a composer of virtuoso violin music, his most popular work being Zigeunerweisen (1878), a fantasy in gypsy style for violin and orchestra.

Monday, February 26, 2024

OTTA Orchestra & Samara State Philharmonic Academic Symphony Orchestra -...



Top 5 Electric Violin Cover ( By Asturia Quartet )


A group of 4 multi-talented women, playing electric string in a beautiful way. They have been on youtube for almost 10 years and still have the same passion for music as they did before. We fell instantly in love with their music. We hope you enjoy their music. Please like and share the video. People who helped them put the video together - Video directed and edited by Alisa Kosmos Director of photography: Andrei Yakovlev Mixing and mastering: Filipp Logvinenko @Piamime Arrangement for strings: Miroslava Tsybka * Asturia Electric String Quartet * Youtube -    / asturiaquartet   Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/asturiaquar... Website - http://www.asturia.ua/ * Music Used * 1. Lady Gaga ALEJANDRO - string cover by ASTURIA QUARTET -    • Lady Gaga ALEJANDRO - string cover by...   2. Electric String Quartet ASTURIA - STORM -    • Electric String Quartet ASTURIA - STORM   3. LADY GAGA - Bad Romance (classic cover by ASTURIA) -    • LADY GAGA - Bad Romance  (string cover)   4. Asturia quartet - Lilian - Depeche Mode string cover -    • Asturia quartet - Lilian - Depeche Mo...   5. Antonio Vivaldi - SPRING // by ASTURIA QUARTET -    • Antonio Vivaldi - SPRING /by ASTURIA ...