Reading Break was a very necessary stop from the business of school for me. I wouldn’t say I was less busy than normal, but I dedicated the time to be with important people, most of that being with my grandparents in Vancouver as I had mentioned. But alas, I did not spend much time with my instruments, as can be seen from my practice log.
Still though, I was able to pack my flute and play around a couple of times. I was very pleased to find myself in such a state of enjoyment as I was playing. While I am still definitely at a beginner, I now have enough skill that I am able to flip through my book and just fiddle with whatever intrigues me. My goal when I started this project was to be able to play for just for fun, and I am excited to see that happening.
One of the songs I was enjoying the most was an arrangement of the Jurassic Park Theme, which I recorded after I got back. It is definitely obvious from my playing that I am still a beginner, but all in all I think that it went okay. I wish that my breathing and the clicking of the keys wasn’t so loud in the audio, but I’m not sure how to prevent that – maybe I’ll just try standing further from the mic next time. I definitely still need to work on tone, pitch, and phrasing, but I would say it is definitely an improvement from my first recording.
As I said in my last post, my trip to Vancouver meant that I would be neglecting my piano for that time. After warming up for a few minutes, I decided to record an attempt of the section of The Wellerman arranged by Paul Hankinson that I’ve been working on (although I admit I deleted a few takes before this one). You might be able to tell from the video that I spent most of the time looking down at my hands, contrary to the goals I had set last time. It seems that I have memorized a good portion of this section and I do believe that I did a better job than my first recording, but I still have much to work on. Because I knew I was being recorded I did keep looking at my hands, but avoiding this is still my main plan in my future practice.
3 Responses
kevberna
I was an EA last year and the class I was with was playing Jurassic Park!! You did a great job. I loved listening to you alone because I remember hearing a whole band play this, and I can hear where the other instruments would come in and fade out as your are playing in the ‘flute section’. The Wellerman is a beautiful tune—thank you for playing such great music and I am really enjoying experiencing the musical talents of my classmate. I think you definitely improved on the :55 – 1:36 section of this tune, where you are switching your hands opposite. What a difficult maneuver, and it’s an impressive that you only looked down at your hands a little bit while playing much faster than last recording. Thanks for sharing!