A scale

today was an introduction to a new note-- G#. i mean, when i figured out another song, i was playing this note, but now it has a name. so i worked on the A scale for a bit (after having played through page nine in book 2) as the finale of a short, but sweet practice today.

66.5 + .5 = 67 hours!

A broken up hour

got around to practicing today after a breakfast with christy and a long phone call with my parentals.

then, after playing the piano for about 45 minutes, and realizing i'd be talking with jenny in another hour, i thought that i had perfect timing. until she called me about half an hour into practicing. looks like i got the time difference wrong. so we chatted.

the thing is, i sounded so good today! The Entertainer was a hit, except for high C because, well, i just can't hit that yet. but the other stuff i played too, all was sounding good with only one or three squeaks in there. me = happy camper.

so i came back post conversation for about 30 min. only to get another phone call in which i chose just to give up and clean the sax during. still. one hour.

i'm very thankful for this instrument!!

Happiness

i'm back! took me long enough, but i was waiting. and today i felt like God said yes. it all seems so cheesy to an outsider i'm sure, but if you knew what happened this week, maybe you'd get it.

practiced page 7 s'more. also worked from an online website on The Entertainer.

hmm.. my cheeks hurt again. it's a good feeling. squeaked a lot too though, which wasn't great. but then again, it's been a week. or so. and i didn't bring a cup of water with me like i usually do.

my hope is my camera will be fixed soon and then i can share some of my new songs. looking forward to that actually, particularly as i almost have all of the little mermaid song down :)

1 more hour. one hour at a time..

Interesting

i prayed this morning, and asked whether i should practice today. i mean, i really wanted to, but for some reason, the Spirit seem to say that i shouldn't.

i still don't understand that answer, but i thought i'd be obedient.

Alle breve

this means cut time. so when you're reading a time signature and it is a "C" with a line going through it vertically, it is the same as 2/2 time. that is, two beats per measure.

page 8 brought this news to me, and i practiced the rhythms via clapping for the songs on the page. it was helpful to have a 4/4 version of Yankee Doodle Dandy followed by a cut time version. but i literally had to rehearse these pieces constantly to really get it. i have a feeling i'll do the same the next time i practice too.

matching the rhythm with the dynamics (pian, mezzo piano, mezzo forte, and forte) can be hard to concentrate on as well. Lord willing, and with time, i'll master it!

63.5 + 1 hour = 64.5

if i practice 3 hours a week for the next 9 weeks, i'll be at a hundred hours!! i'm hoping for more, but it is getting pretty busy around here.

New reed, new sound

so i learned the value of getting rid of an old reed today. i sounded so much better when i switched it was unreal.

as today has been a glorious day off (post faceplant. very much needed), i decided to practice a solid hour and then go be lazy again. i practiced songs i've been figuring out, as well as the book, and i threw in something i found online too--The Entertainer by scott joplin. pretty schnazzy sounding! i was encouraged by my solid tone, that i didn't want to quit. until of course, i needed to be able to breath. lol.

in other news, the new youth pastor (my new boss), played the sax all through college. who knew right? he said he'd be willing to teach me, so i'm stoked. what an answer to prayer in terms of hoping to get lessons started this year! God is good.

1 hour added

Quick hourish

i wish i wish i had more time in the day!! but as i prepare for the junior high retreat this weekend, i can only squeeze in an hour, or a little bit less. because i need to rest before the start, and more importantly, i REALLY want to visit the burgesses this evening in keystone.

so i practiced. nothing too special. Loch Lomond is almost perfect, and sounding all the more pretty! now it's just time for my camera to work so that i may play it for you! someday..

p.s. never eat a huge bowl of macaroni and cheese before practice.

Pretty

so much has happened today, but i was able to squeeze in 30 minutes. mainly, i stuck to page seven, where Loch Lomond lay. it's quite beautiful really. hence the title. but i gotta jet for a meeting so have a good one!

Yikesabee

i didn't practice either friday or saturday? it has to do with being pretty busy, but i still wish i could have gotten a good half an hour in there or so. oh well. next time. except.. ha. i have faceplant this coming weekend so maybe not. life in the real world i suppose, but i still want to be able to play this well! (living in the tension, i am.)

started off with scales again. i think this is necessary. most bands start with scales, right? any way, my F scale is struggling because of the B flat. just hard to remember how to finger that note sometimes.

after twenty minutes i moved on to the book. for common knowledge, i enjoy playing Wearing of the Green on page 3, which is an irish folk song. and there's Billy Boy, an american folk song on page 4. that's fun. a lot of eighth notes for both of them.

mmm.. i just poured a lot of spit out of the bell of the instrument. doesn't that make you feel all good inside?

working on staccato--light and separated notes--and tenuto--smooth and connected notes--in order to master some of the next pages. sometimes i'd find myself so caught up in playing the staccato versus playing the right note. maybe this is hard because i have to breathe the music versus playing the piano or something. multitasking. lol.

still up to page seven. the new note of high B is a part of the difficulty of moving on, but at least it means i'm learning another irish and scottish folk song :)

one more hour to the mix. puts me at 61 hours!!

Add an hour

i was supposed to meet with a student, but that fell through. so.. saxophone it is!! hooray!

i worked for an hour on the book, starting with about 15 min on scales. i'm only to page seven in the book, but small progress is showing with the pieces leading up to this page. in addition, i'm learning more music vocabulary. the things i probably would have learned in high school, had i stuck with the flute.

oh. and how could i forget? i also played for about 15 min for sharon while she was here. strange moment in there, as i forgot a note in Somewhere Over the Rainbow. for some reason, i just couldn't find it. got frustrated, but moved on.

Book study

today i was very disciplined, and did only the book. it was slow, and steady. it was even a little bit boring. but there are thankfully a few fun pieces in there, such as Grandfather's Clock and Billy Boy.

for a fun side story, i bought some sparkling cider for the new year's. i decided just to keep it in my room, and have been chugging it every now and again. since it comes in a wine bottle shape, i look like an alcoholic. the bottle is also fun to set by my large roll of mentos.

any way, i finished the cider and am now using the bottle for water. so now i'm a drunk saxophonist. or at least it appears that way. :P

45 minutes more.

First day of oh 10

and i've successfully added another 45 minutes of practice time!

i've found a website that has some fun songs on it tabbed out for the sax. i get distracted. but i'm also advancing, little by little, in book two. so there.