Testing Progress

I had an ear training test and a music history quiz on Wednesday this week, so I have been busy studying.  I mentioned previously an online program called http://www.teoria.com/.  This program really helps me prepare for my ear training tests.  I can listen to random intervals over and over again and learn to recognize them.  I am finally getting more comfortable with almost all the intervals.  It is so nice to be able to learn this information in small steps, which, in the end all add up to larger leaps!

For the music history quiz, we had a list of music to listen to and then the teacher played a small excerpt from several of them and we had to identify the title and composer of the pieces.  This is a first for me and I am learning how to listen to the music differently, so that I can identify the differences.  Learning the history of music helps me put the music I hear in the context of the times in which it is written.

The program for the April 1 Chamber Jazz Ensemble is coming together.  Dr. Karel Lidral, the director, assigned solos for specific compositions we will play.  I need to get to work preparing for that.  Practice, practice, practice.

Saturday night I attended Cadenzato, a faculty concert.  I will highlight a few of the performances.  Dr. Noreen Silver expertly played J. S. Bach’s (1685-1750) fifth Cello Suite in C minor.  She and her husband, Dr. Phillip Silver, played two pieces for cello and piano, Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth  by Franz Liszt, (1813-1886) and Serenade by Robert Dauber (1922-1945).  These were very different from the Bach, and also very beautiful.  The concert closed with a Trio for Trumpet, Cello and Piano written by Carson Cooman (1982-) performed by Jack Burt, Marisa Solomon, and Laura Artesani.  This contemporary music is lyrical and reminiscent of an evening at the beach. 

For my piano lessons, I am learning to play Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s (1756-1791) Sonata in C major, K545.  This piece contains many scales and arpeggios, and I am working to get the tone even, especially in the scale passages.  I decided that I can listen better to the tone I am producing on the piano if I memorize the music, so I started memorizing this piece.  This is challenging and also has helped me learn the piece more thoroughly.  I am also studying a left hand exercise by Czerny (1791-1857).  This week my piano teacher, Dr. Phillip Silver, assigned me Fantasia in D minor by Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767).

Preparing for my classes is like project management.  I can use the discipline and skills that I learned running large projects to plan my assignments and to schedule my regular organ and piano practice time.

I am noticing my increased tolerance for risk.  School is a safe environment to take risk in exploring the many different facets of music.  A year ago, I would not have imagined myself improvising in a jazz ensemble or writing accompaniments to jazz standards.  This is still way outside my “comfort zone.”  Yet, at school in my classes, it is safe for me to try these new experiences.

Time to get back to practicing!