Sunday, November 18, 2012

Mistakes

    One of the things that really through me when I first started classes was violin performance class. I don’t really like performing, at all. So when it was announced that Violin Lab was actually performance class, I eminently tried to figure out how I could get out of it, until I heard Dr. Thomason’s explanation of why we need that class. It turns out that performing in front of other people is something you need to practice. You never really stop being nerves; you just learn how to deal with it better. Practicing performing can not only help you deal with nerves but can also help you learn what you still need to work on, in your music. One of the reasons that I hate performing so much is that when you are up in front of other people is that I will mess up in random places that I thought I knew.
     Being able to make those mistakes without an actual audience is invaluable. It provides just enough pressure so you can see your weak spots and learn to control your nerves but in a way that doesn’t destroy your confidence. It is one of the reason sports teams do scrimmages. In a scrimmage you learn to work together, you get to learn your strengths and weaknesses, and you can make mistakes without negatively effecting the team. I am really good at defense I learned that when I was in basketball, but on the flip side of that I really just cannot score. No matter how many baskets I make in practice in scrimmages and games I choke. I don't know why but I do. I learned this by making dozens of mistakes. I would have loved to learn this when i wasn't in a game that mattered.
    when I learn to by making mistakes I remember better. The only reason i remember that 7x8=56 is because i got it wrong a lot. Making mistakes is what school is for, so we don't make mistakes when you get a job. The point of school is to make mistakes, so don't  get obsessed with that bad grade on a paper it just means you are still learning. If  you're not learning why are you in college?

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Relationships

              There is a unique kind of bond that is formed when people come to gather with one goal. This happens more often that you would think. A lot of the time you don’t even know it has happen until you try to through some one new into the equation or for some reason some one is not there. I’m not sure there is a name for this relationship but then again I haven’t been around it as often as some people. I think my first introduction to this almost family like relationship was when I was on a YMCA volleyball team two semesters in a row. I knew everyone and cared about every one even if I didn't particularly like everyone on the team. Because of that it made playing more fun. I don’t know why but those relationships are one of the reasons I like volleyball so much.

               There is a phenomenon in the music world where once you have performed with someone you have a connection with that person. Small groups of performers or often admired for the massive amount of communication that goes on while they are preforming a peace, it is not an easy thing to communicate without words while thinking about twenty other things. While the more experience you have the easier it is to communicate with out words knowing the person you are talking to helps so much.  When you first meet someone no matter who it is, it’s a little awkward, try preforming with someone you’ve just met. Once you have rehearsed with someone you know them probably better that you would have just by talking to them. You know there strengths and weaknesses and you know how they communicate whether it is just with a nod or the move there whole body. There is a cello player in the orchestra who moves a lot especially during our quartet peace at first it was really confusing I couldn’t tell if what he was doing. If we had tried to preform it without a rehearsal I would have been very lost, it would have been terrible.

                The way I see it is that when you are writing or even just don’t you homework you are trying to make a connection to whoever it is that is reading you words. You half to give a little before you can get anything. And writing is learning how to make a connection with someone you might never meet. It is pretty awesome if you think about it.

Confidence

Ninety percent of the time I have confidence down pat. But that other ten percent tends to creep up on me and get me when I’m not ready. I don’t like to perform. I can practice as long as you want me to and I love to teach, but when I perform I have a terrible habit of psyching myself out simple things that I have never gotten wrong before suddenly become impossible. Confidence is as key in music as it is in sports like basket ball. When I was in basketball I did almost the same thing during a game I would miss shots that I never missed in practice. If you are not confident on the field the other player will notice and take advantage of it and in music if you are not confident you sound like you have no idea what you are doing. I use to not be very confident in my weighting; I was so worried about getting the paper “write” that my teacher said all of my papers were wishy washy.
In music you are though that even if you are scared to perform you pretend that you are the most confident player there. And in sports you learn to forget the around and just play like it is a scrimmage. I learned that when I’m waiting for me and me alone my papers turn out a thousand times better. So I pretend that there isn’t a teacher there to grade me.
           These tricks might not help you at all, but if you can find that thing that takes the fear away all of your failed attempts will be worth it. Being confident affects something deep inside of you. To be honest I’m not sure what it is but your hours of practice or the three rough drafts you wrote don’t go out the window. You can make that basket, play that tough measure, and you sound like you know what you know what you are talking about when you write. My roommate, Katelynn Crisp says that “If someone sounds like they know what they are talking about I be leave them because I have no reason not to.” a lot of people think that way. So do you sound like you know what you are talking about?