Scales Test

Here is the link to my scales test video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV0PJuqKaR0

Post 5

In my video for this week, found here, I am playing my two excerpts for the final time. Keeping these journals has allowed me to see my growth over the course of this concert cycle, and in this video I can see that my tone and intonation have greatly improved since our last concert. I think that I have more musicality in my playing now, too. The practice methods that were most effective for me were taking a section apart piece by piece; first just focusing on getting all of the notes right, and then moving onto getting the rhythm correct and finally adding in the dynamics and markings. Just playing a section repetitively did not help me very much, unsurprisingly.

Post 4

In this post I am playing my two previous excerpts, measures 163-185 in Chorale and Shaker Dance II and measures 52 -69 also from Chorale and Shaker Dance. You can watch that video here. To elevate myself to an artist level performance, I need to pay attention to all markings, such as legato and staccato marks. These help shape my music and make it sound rich instead of just being flat and boring. I also need to dramatize my dynamics, which means adding in dynamics even if they are not written to add dimension to the piece. 

Post 3

In this video, I am playing measures 163-186 from Chorale and Shaker Dance II. I thought that this was my most difficult piece, so at first I played it without any practice beforehand. You can watch the first video here.
 Then, I practiced for about 15 minutes. I wanted to focus on my articulation and notes, so I played it slowly and did not worry as much about rhythm. I tried slurring all of my notes, and after that I tried playing them all staccato, like we discussed in class. I think these two things really helped my playing. You can view the second video here.

Post 2

In my band video, I am playing measures 163-185 in Chorale and Shaker Dance II and measures 62-69, also from Chorale and Shaker Dance. I feel that these are my most difficult pieces. There are a lot of accidentals in both of these excerpts, and I think I really need to work on them, especially in my first excerpt. In measure 62-69 I think that I am much better at them, but they could still use some work. My intonation has begun to improve slightly, but I still have a long ways to go. My tone is very bright, and it needs to be darker and more rich sounding. My articulation in measures 163-185 is not good at all. I need to remember to play the legatos and the staccatos, instead of just playing everything normally. The tempo is pretty good. Rhythm is fine, it's relatively accurate. It could probably be faster, but it is not a big problem. Dynamics are almost non existent in these excerpts, and they are something I really need to focus on. My goals for these excerpts are to work on my articulation, and get it so that you can clearly hear the difference between my legato and staccato notes, along with making sure I have all of my accidentals down pat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-fgo2X7uh8

Post 1

During this concert cycle, there are a few things that I would like to improve on. The first is my tone. I think that my tone could be a lot better than it is, and that having a better tone will help the overall band sound better. I will improve my tone by playing long tones and using a tuner when I play. The second thing I would like to improve on is articulation. I feel that my articulations are not clean enough, especially for staccato style notes. I will play my scales in a variety of different ways; legato, staccato and marcato to make sure I can play in many different ways.