The room was dead silent. As I advanced up the marble staircase to the stage, my shaking hands clenched tightly around my bassoon. Each step echoed off the beige panels of the auditorium.
“Bassoon #2343, please begin your excerpt when you are ready.”
The circle of judges watched my every movement. Placing the music on the stand, I aimed the bocal toward myself and motioned for the pianist to start. I took a deep breath and began. The notes of Bach’s Bouree in G major poured out of my instrument. My fingers moved fluidly with the ‘click’ of each key as I navigated through each musical phrase with ease. The notes resonated and bounced throughout the room in perfect harmony with the piano. I closed my eyes while my body naturally swayed with
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I remember exploring the different keys of the piano and playing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” on my first day. The beauty of the sound enthralled me; the foreign vibrations of treble and bass created new feelings of warmth and familiarity. This angelic discovery ignited my ambition to traverse through the mysteries of music and match the artistry of a master musician. When I started secondary school, I wanted to expand my craft even further, so I enrolled in the school orchestra and band. In the orchestra, I fell in love with the cello. Its mellow rich sound resembled the sound of church bells on Sunday while its unmatched power paralleled that of thunder; furthermore, Its sing-song tone has an uncanny resemblance to the human voice. My body felt relaxed against the natural weight of wood, its grooves and frame making a comfortable playing position. In the band, despite originally wanting to play the trumpet, I picked up the bassoon, an exotic, almost alien-like, instrument to most, instead. The bassoon’s serene voice is distinct from other instruments; its unique melodic sound comprises of a majestic and full bass, a light and delicate alto, and a penetrating yet delicate treble. Around this time, I came to a realization that it was all a play. A play where each instrument served a unique role, and we (the musicians) are the puppet
... to give a lecture-recital to the Bach Society. Less than a week before the concert, Kraus got a phone call: Pessl had had an emergency summons back to New York and was insisting that Kraus do the recital for her. "You must be out of your mind," Kraus recalls telling her. "I've never touched a harpsichord." But she finally agreed and after the harpsichord was delivered to her house, something extraordinary happened. After five hours' practice every day for a week "I realized that this was my instrument. I had always felt inhibited at the piano, because I had never really conquered the problem of using my arm weight properly, but at the harpsichord I felt no inhibitions: its technique involves only the fingers, and good fingers I always had." After the concert Kraus's only thought was to get a harpsichord for herself. "I even gave up smoking to make a down payment."
Before actually going into the analysis of the actual piece itself, background information would be helpful. The composition was written by Bach, and it is part of the sonatas and partitas for solo violin. For this example, Partita II in d minor, movement I, Allemanda, will be discussed. Allemanda, sometimes spelled allemande, derives from German and simply means “dance.” While there are various tempos used, this movement is usually fast, around 120 beats per minute.
Then, with a punchy five-note line the sax player began his solo. After that phrase he stopped and waited-allowing a few bars to roll by as he felt the rhythm and absorbed the harmonies the piano player offered in response to his line. With his head bent down as if in prayer, he countered with a longer, smoother second phrase that elaborated on the first one but then confidently let his last unresolved note bang out over the audience. I felt my legs moving under me and my head bobbing slightly, and my jaw began to open and shut tightly as if to sing the next phrase. As the solo progressed, I felt I had to hold my breath, waiting for each of the horn player's thoughts to finish before I could take a full breath. The phrases began to get faster and closer together until he was rapidly firing notes out of his horn, and there was increasingly less space to breathe. The notes came in clusters and bursts of creative energy. His ideas seemed to flow from deep within the realms of the unconscious until he seemed no longer to be in control of his thoughts.
In this paper, I am going to discuss my experiences playing in the WNE, the bass guitar, and the one and only Willie Nelson. In the legendary WNE, I am the bass player. For this project, it took hours on end of studying the bass inside and out to become this legendary player that I dreamt of before this project. The electric bass, a mystical object that is the foundation of every song, was invented by Paul Tutmarc. Since the 1960s the bass guitar has replaced other instruments like the tuba, the organ, and other low pitched bass instruments. There are many types of basses. Different basses are used for different music because they all have their own unique sound. There are many different styles of music you can play with the bass. Rock, metal, pop, punk rock, country, reggae, gospel, blues, and jazz are all different styles of music the bass can play in. The bass is often a soloing instrument in jazz, fusion, Latin funk, and in some rock and metal styles.
When Bach was ten, he was moved to live with his eldest brother Johann Christoph Bach who was the organist in Ohrdruf. While Bach lived there he studied, performed and copied forbidden music. Bach’s older brother taught him his first keyboard l...
This paper will explore the life of the great composer, Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach was considered one of the greatest composers of all time. He created amazing, famous compositions that made a big impact in today’s world. He went through rough times like many people do, the loss of his parents and finding a way back to the old routine was not an easy task. Bach came from generations of musicians and was given a religious education which is something that played a big role in his life when becoming a musician. We will analyze and learn the significance of some of his great compositions, the stories and what inspired him to compose music.
The Philharmonic Orchestra performed at Lindenwood University Friday March 3rd at 8 O’clock. The Orchestra was under the direction of Robert Hart Baker. I have never attended a live orchestra performance so it was eye-opening to listen to the beautiful sounds that arose from the array of instruments in the orchestra. There were about ninety members and more than half of the members were string players which consisted of a lot of violins, cellos, and basses. Behind the strings sat the brass and woodwind instruments which consisted of trumpets, trombones, tubas, clarinets, flutes and oboes to name several. The percussion section was aside the woodwinds and brass. A choir followed in the last piece played and were placed behind the wood winds and brass.
On Tuesday, October 17, 2017, I attended a musical concert. This was the first time I had ever been to a concert and did not play. The concert was not what I expected. I assumed I was going to a symphony that featured a soloist clarinet; however, upon arrival I quickly realized that my previous assumptions were false. My experience was sort of a rollercoaster. One minute I was down and almost asleep; next I was laughing; then I was up and intrigued.
Today wasn’t an average day it was in the dead of winter, when it happened the thing I can’t forget began. Me and the mushroom men, who looked kinda of like a red and white overgrown mushroom with hands and feet, were going to play kick the toadstool when we got a message from azrial, who warned us that a man was coming to get the harp, the only thing keeping the forest alive, can you believe the nerve of that a man. The harp kept all things in the enchanted forest alive by keeping a barrier up obscuring anybody from seeing it. I decided that the best course of action was to go and turn him around, without hurting him, I mean for all I knew he didn’t know where he got himself into. I walked up stealthful to him like a lion stalking a deer,
Lack of engagement in someone’s formative years has a huge influence on their engagement in their adult years; hence the key to success here is striking early. Fortuitously, many professional Australian orchestras are beginning to play their part in music education, and play it loudly. For examples we can turn to the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, who just completed their ‘Education Week’, collaborating with Benjamin Northey and Paul Rissmann in a huge variety of children and adult education sessions. Similarly, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra make an example of their Professional Pathways program, providing insight into many aspects of a career in professional music in aspiring musicians, and their school tours, playing both for and with junior primary students. It is both thrilling and relieving to see these organisations make the changes to their community involvement in education to sustain interest in such a challenging and meaningful art form. The change that we are already seeing needs to continue and must receive the support which is crucial to its
The foundation, which those pillars were constructed, has always been my love for music. When I was just four years old, I touched and obliviously played
Whether a concerto or mehfil (Indian concert), the sultry yet poignant dance of rhythms is one that many generations cherish. This is the beauty and delicacy of the human voice and the stringed instrument which upstages all others. When I was six my mother decided that I would play violin and sing Carnatic music, insisting I would practice both. Scrutinizing the cheap stringed monstrosity, I grew disheartened at the screeches it emitted. I expected to make it sing like my new idols, Hilary Hahn and Lindsey Stirling effortlessly managed to do.
For almost 8 years of my life, playing the cello has influenced my life in so many extraordinary ways. Choosing the cello over any instrument, was probably one of the best decisions I will have ever made, in the 5th grade. The violin was way too high, the viola was way too small, while the upright bass was way too big. I knew at that very moment that the cello was the instrument that I wanted to play. The warmth of the instruments tone, and the powerful sound that came out of the f-holes drew me in so quickly.
I looked up again and I was finished with my piece. The conductor stretched his hand towards me and gave a defiant and reassuring shake. I felt very comforted and walked out of the room with hope of gaining admission to the prestigious Maryland Classical Youth
Of all the instruments laid out on display, only one caught my attention. I was thirteen at the time, and naturally, my eye was drawn to the shiniest of the group. I had never heard the sound of a flute before, aside from the cheap imitation of one on my family’s electronic keyboard. Nevertheless, I picked the pretty, gleaming, easy-to-carry flute on that first day of band class. Three years later, I can’t imagine playing anything else. What started off as blind luck and an attraction to shiny objects is now a part of my life. Playing an instrument is always a worthwhile investment; you develop a skill that many people only wish they had, you have opportunities to meet other musicians, and you may even get to travel in a band setting. But in order to reap the benefits, you first have to learn how to play.