Monday, October 28, 2013
A good year for apples!
The namesake of the blog didn't produce that well this year, but the Spartans are outstanding.
Well, that one was an anomaly, but the tree was heavily loaded with good sized apples. More hours of baking ahead of me... Send your favourite recipes!
Sunday, October 6, 2013
September
He didn't think I would last more than a week, but for a month I have been dragging myself from bed and walking hubby to work!
Did I say walk? Hmm. Remember when speed-walking was in? Nah, we don't look quite like that, but it's no easy stroll. And he is quite impressed that I am keeping up to him on the hill. I have considered walking with him in the past, but knew I would slow him down. So those summer morning and evening up-the-hill-hikes paid off! I was up to the "active lifestyle" 10,000 steps a day in August, too, but fall's schedule, earlier sundown has cut me down to between 5 and 7,000. I'm trying to not think about winter.
Oh, okay, I did miss the day I had a morning medical appointment and a few days when we had contractors doing our floors...
FLOORS! Big improvement! The process was not fun as we had to move everything on the main floor, at least twice, and the vacuum got a major work-out. I think there was an entire cat's worth of fur under the fridge. (Did I say my back was getting better???) There are a few little issues to be fixed still, but I am happy to report that the carpet has passed the first hairball test with flying colours! :-) (No pun intended, and thanks, Fido!) Is there food spilled on the kitchen floor? Who knows!
The flooring happened a month late, but August wast the month when things that were supposed to happen didn't and things that weren't supposed to happen did.
I sure hope paint is easier.
Did I say walk? Hmm. Remember when speed-walking was in? Nah, we don't look quite like that, but it's no easy stroll. And he is quite impressed that I am keeping up to him on the hill. I have considered walking with him in the past, but knew I would slow him down. So those summer morning and evening up-the-hill-hikes paid off! I was up to the "active lifestyle" 10,000 steps a day in August, too, but fall's schedule, earlier sundown has cut me down to between 5 and 7,000. I'm trying to not think about winter.
Oh, okay, I did miss the day I had a morning medical appointment and a few days when we had contractors doing our floors...
FLOORS! Big improvement! The process was not fun as we had to move everything on the main floor, at least twice, and the vacuum got a major work-out. I think there was an entire cat's worth of fur under the fridge. (Did I say my back was getting better???) There are a few little issues to be fixed still, but I am happy to report that the carpet has passed the first hairball test with flying colours! :-) (No pun intended, and thanks, Fido!) Is there food spilled on the kitchen floor? Who knows!
The flooring happened a month late, but August wast the month when things that were supposed to happen didn't and things that weren't supposed to happen did.
I sure hope paint is easier.
Bohemian Rhapsody
Flashback for my 70s friends! The best song from 1975.
Bohemian Rhapsody for cello quartet. Not quite Queen, but, well, this IS a (mostly) cello blog!
Monday, September 2, 2013
Monday, August 12, 2013
Starker Artist Teacher
Have you got an hour? We are very fortunate that this cellist was a teacher, and that much of his teaching was videotaped.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Strings Adjudicator Words of Wisdom part 2
Continued from part 1 HERE.
On practice:
His son once complained that practice was boring. His reply was, "Is practice boring, or are YOU boring?" (going brain dead, not thinking...)
In most languages they use the word "study" for our "practice".
Pinchas Zukerman once asked in a master class, "What is talent?" The answer he gave was, "Talent is curiosity." Be curious! Ask, "How do they do that?" Practice is figuring stuff out! Don't just do the same thing over and over. Experiment.
Play your instrument in front of a mirror... without the instrument! We should look graceful like a ballerina with beautiful motions. We can't separate the physical movements we see with what we hear.
Watch performances on You Tube with the sound off. Do this a few minutes every day for a week.
Be careful of little physical things - they will slow you down if not done well.
The "music" on the page is only instructions - not EXACTLY what the composer meant. The CHARACTER of a piece is more important than the notes.
Know something about the composer, where the piece came from (e.g. Paganini's Witches' Dance - from a comic opera), the vocabulary on the page.
On singing and dancing:
The Happy Farmer is a SONG, so "sing" it; the notes should be hooked, not too stopped with staccato.
Minuets - feel the dance! The noble people of that day learned dancing and the arts. Beat 1 is the strong beat. Imagine the dancers, lilting.
Bach Courante - means running. Imagine what it might have looked like (first notes to hike the skirts, then running notes).
When music dances, dance more than sing!
Bow direction is important.
More on practice:
He once asked a group of students (who are serious enough to fly from Montreal to Calgary for lessons) when they got serious about playing their instrument. Some were six, some 15, the average age was 12. Most agreed than when they got serious they practiced about four hours a day. One student, though, practiced only one hour a day, working on five hours worth of repertoire. However, she spent three hours a day studying the scores of the music.
"Go for it!"
Use a variety of positions on different strings for colour.
Listen for beauty and sound.
Use the upper bow for fast passages.
Be involved with the music.
Organize the bow. Do scales with different bowings.
On nerves:
When you are worried, don't let your bow get smaller, do the opposite: make it bigger!
When we are excited our heart rate goes up. It can cause us to be out of control hyper, but it can also give us a heightened sense of listening. Nerves can break the weight of the arm into the string by causing us to tighten our shoulders. Practice hanging your arm [- like what we call the cellist handshake]. If we are worried what others think of us, that is arrogance!
Nerves fight against gravity. Gravity will always be there - USE it, don't fight it.
When we are tense we tend to hold everything in our chest. Instead let our centre be in our core - breathe, let things hang.
Don't be too cautious and academic; put physical energy and emotion into your playing.
Good stage presence and smiling and moving to the music is very good. What we see affects how we hear the music.
More than once, Mr. van der Sloot recommended to look up the Venice Baroque Orchestra to see Guiliano Carminogla play the Vivaldi Four Seasons. HERE is an example! (Now that is exciting playing!)
On practice:
His son once complained that practice was boring. His reply was, "Is practice boring, or are YOU boring?" (going brain dead, not thinking...)
In most languages they use the word "study" for our "practice".
Pinchas Zukerman once asked in a master class, "What is talent?" The answer he gave was, "Talent is curiosity." Be curious! Ask, "How do they do that?" Practice is figuring stuff out! Don't just do the same thing over and over. Experiment.
Play your instrument in front of a mirror... without the instrument! We should look graceful like a ballerina with beautiful motions. We can't separate the physical movements we see with what we hear.
Watch performances on You Tube with the sound off. Do this a few minutes every day for a week.
Be careful of little physical things - they will slow you down if not done well.
The "music" on the page is only instructions - not EXACTLY what the composer meant. The CHARACTER of a piece is more important than the notes.
Know something about the composer, where the piece came from (e.g. Paganini's Witches' Dance - from a comic opera), the vocabulary on the page.
On singing and dancing:
The Happy Farmer is a SONG, so "sing" it; the notes should be hooked, not too stopped with staccato.
Minuets - feel the dance! The noble people of that day learned dancing and the arts. Beat 1 is the strong beat. Imagine the dancers, lilting.
Bach Courante - means running. Imagine what it might have looked like (first notes to hike the skirts, then running notes).
When music dances, dance more than sing!
Bow direction is important.
More on practice:
He once asked a group of students (who are serious enough to fly from Montreal to Calgary for lessons) when they got serious about playing their instrument. Some were six, some 15, the average age was 12. Most agreed than when they got serious they practiced about four hours a day. One student, though, practiced only one hour a day, working on five hours worth of repertoire. However, she spent three hours a day studying the scores of the music.
"Go for it!"
Use a variety of positions on different strings for colour.
Listen for beauty and sound.
Use the upper bow for fast passages.
Be involved with the music.
Organize the bow. Do scales with different bowings.
On nerves:
When you are worried, don't let your bow get smaller, do the opposite: make it bigger!
When we are excited our heart rate goes up. It can cause us to be out of control hyper, but it can also give us a heightened sense of listening. Nerves can break the weight of the arm into the string by causing us to tighten our shoulders. Practice hanging your arm [- like what we call the cellist handshake]. If we are worried what others think of us, that is arrogance!
Nerves fight against gravity. Gravity will always be there - USE it, don't fight it.
When we are tense we tend to hold everything in our chest. Instead let our centre be in our core - breathe, let things hang.
Don't be too cautious and academic; put physical energy and emotion into your playing.
Good stage presence and smiling and moving to the music is very good. What we see affects how we hear the music.
More than once, Mr. van der Sloot recommended to look up the Venice Baroque Orchestra to see Guiliano Carminogla play the Vivaldi Four Seasons. HERE is an example! (Now that is exciting playing!)
Friday, July 5, 2013
Playing tourist
On our way to the Idaho Suzuki Institute mi compadre and I had a more leisurely drive on the second leg of our trip this year, not needing to check in until late afternoon. We stopped for gas and a picnic lunch in Baker City, Oregon. We found the park we visited last year easily, but missing the first turn and the second being closed for construction meant a fairly lengthy detour through the historic downtown area. After we finally found the park from the back side and had our lunch, we decided to go back to see some of those interesting buildings.
This is the Geiser Grand Hotel. If we had been PAYING guests we could have moved further into the lobby and taken better pictures of the stained glass skylight.
I looked with interest at the photographs of early settlers on the wall, too. Wondering if any might be my wandering ancestor who traveled the Oregon Trail. As far as I know he didn't live in Baker City, but we don't really know where he ended up. I liked this embroidered Oregon Trail display.
After spending quite a while in the gift shop as well as looking at some of the beautiful architecture of some churches, we continued on our way, thinking we would arrive at the top of check in time.... until we passed the "Mountain Time Zone" sign. Oops. How could we both forget that? Oh well, we still arrived in time to stop for groceries for our dorm breakfasts and lunches, just didn't get to unpack before heading off to dinner.
This is the Geiser Grand Hotel. If we had been PAYING guests we could have moved further into the lobby and taken better pictures of the stained glass skylight.
I looked with interest at the photographs of early settlers on the wall, too. Wondering if any might be my wandering ancestor who traveled the Oregon Trail. As far as I know he didn't live in Baker City, but we don't really know where he ended up. I liked this embroidered Oregon Trail display.
After spending quite a while in the gift shop as well as looking at some of the beautiful architecture of some churches, we continued on our way, thinking we would arrive at the top of check in time.... until we passed the "Mountain Time Zone" sign. Oops. How could we both forget that? Oh well, we still arrived in time to stop for groceries for our dorm breakfasts and lunches, just didn't get to unpack before heading off to dinner.
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