General+Reflection

5.3.11

about a month ago i switched from bass guitar to the piano. I switched because there is much more that i can learn about music reading and playing from learning piano, then i could learn from jumping right in and playing bass without knowing anything. That's what i did. i jumped in and didn't know what i was doing. i was relying on tabs and not using all of the music theory i had learned and used time on. Thankfully, the second half of the term was forgiving. i started over and chose to learn piano before continuing bass. a lot of the other students were pursuing and it looked fun, easy, and they all new about theory from playing and put it to use. Well i found out when i started playing, that it's not easy, it's quite fun, and i got to use all of those lessons in the music i was to play. When i played bass there was no sheet music. if i searched for the sheet music for a song, i got tabs. i ran with it for a while, but soon realized i'll never understand the music i'm playing if i can't read it from a read staff with real notes. eventually i decided i would switch. i, again, jumped right in and began playing songs. i watched videos instead of learning to read the music, i also played by ear and wrote the letter on the keyboard instead of looking at the music. Soon i decided that nothing is going to happen if i didn't make it happen. I started at the very basic skills how to read (clefs, the staff, notes...), rests (half, whole, quarter), and note and rest duration. once i understood that, it was time for some real music to read and play. i've started playing and recording "Music Land" and its a lot harder than i thought (of course). i have to isolate each hand and count and then play both hands together. its going to take a few more days and then i can probably move on from there.

﻿5.6.11

today is a day of reflection. of course the days change and alternate between work and don't work. today was a work day.i did as much work as i needed to. i'm getting to the point where i am focused on what i am doing more than on what i need to do later. i have good days and bad ones. the good ones are like today where i did all of the work that i had to do because i knew that i'd had bad days that must be avenged by my persistence to finish my work. so today, a day of reflection, and a very good day.

5.16.11

Today is another day for reflection. Last week i did get a lot done, i did lose time on friday (when a friend needs you, its best to be there). I guess it's okay because i can always make up for it like today. i have perfected the first half of the Winnie the Pooh Theme song :) I'll be moving on shortly because i need to finish it and get it recorded for the final and then perfect it for the final so i can play it/ have a possible decent recording for them to listen to. I'm trying to move forward in the process a lot faster so that i'm not stuck in one place like i was earlier in the year.

5.20.11

So i've gotten to the point where i'm losing focus one day and then gain it back the next day...everyone has those days. These days sneak up on us and then we realize we've wasted so much time doing nothing when we could be getting better. That's why we're in this class, to learn our music and practice and get better. My yesterday was a perfectly wasted day that could've been used as a good time to practice my less than perfect repertoires and planing for the final and such. My carelessness is why i wanted to learn piano in the first place, i wanted to play bass but i'd never learned how so i went through scale after scale, getting bored and careless. This time i will not be careless because piano is something that shouldn't be forgotten. If you really want to perfect your musical interests, you need to sick with the root of your learning.

5.25.11

The last few days have been spent by me working on my two final songs that i hope to present to the class. I know everything that i need to do, but getting it done and perfecting the songs as best as i can will be the challenge for me. I know that i can't catch sophmoreitise now because it will destroy all of my hard work thus far. All I need to do is get my songs all worked out and perfected and then preform them well and then i won't have to worry. I really want to get these songs down and present them well because it would prove to myself that i don't have to worry about what my peers think because they'd know that i worked hard to get where i am now. They've gotten there themselves and being new to this, they'll understand if i mess up or even if i don't. ﻿  5.31.11

This is the last class before we present our finals tomorrow. i have taught myself about time management and how to keep myself focused in order to achieve learning my instrument. i feel like i could have spent more time learning the basics of music before getting into bass and then switching midway, when i could have started with piano and then gone to bass after learning what everything meant. i spent a good chunk of time on theory and reading and playing songs, but i didn't put all of that to full use and i feel like i'll be teaching myself more on bass over the summer because its something i really want to learn. i am so bent on being an amazing bassist even if it takes a while. its important to me. When i first heard the deep riffs and how different the band sounds without the bass, i knew thats what i wanted to play. Piano has changed my knowledge of music. i can read what i'm playing and its going to help the bass playing along a lot smoother. i don't think i'll stop playing piano because i need it to keep my music flowing and my knowledge ripe.