Video of the Week: Goshu!

Find yourself an hour to enjoy this one!  The young kids will need someone to read the English subtitles, unless they know Japanese!

Here is the story of Goshu the Cellist, struggling to learn his Beethoven symphony part - the best cartoon cellist I've ever seen! Watch how the animals help him practice..

BONUS question for students: Which Beethoven Symphony are they playing? Answering this gets you TWO ENTRIES for our draw June 18! (Yes, write it on two slips of paper!)

And it's not too late to go back and watch any videos you missed and enter with answers from those!

Video of the Week: Dvorak Humoresque

This was a piece I didn't like much when I learned to play it on violin.  The parent of one of my cello students voiced that she was really looking forward to their daughter learning it, they loved that piece!  ???  Well, okay, I guess we all have our own tastes.  I don't have any recordings of my violin playing, and I suspect I was pushed through the repertoire at the speed at which I could learn the notes, never mind my other skills.  I know I never mastered violin vibrato, and my bow skills were probably still pretty limited when I learned it, I guess, so there was no gracefulness, just an odd staccato melody... so what was to like about Humoresque?

Then I saw (and heard) this recording!  No doubt it was this gracefulness, inflection, and singing which Dvorak intended, not the beginner violin sound!  So!  Students, work on those bowing skills to be able to make MUSIC of this and enjoy it as much as I do now!

Students:  How do you say this composer's name and in which of these categories does the music belong - Modern, Romantic, Classical, Baroque?