My teacher for world drumming is Dr. Bartlett.
This is a piece that we had to learn for our drum concert that we performed in on April 4, 2014. Curse of Tortuga was a very difficult piece to learn because there were so many different instruments that made up this ensemble and every person had to come in on just the right time for the entire piece to sound like it should.We began by choosing what instrument we wished to play. I chose the xylophone, one of the more complex parts to play. We then began practicing for this at the start of second semester and we continued through the time that we had. We had to listen to the original piece to hear how it must sound and then we learned each phrase and measure one by one. Nearly all of the learning was done individually but partners helped each other get the parts down. And we just kept on playing and rehearsing until it all came together.
This piece was meaningful to me because for a long time, I had always wanted to be a part of a large ensemble and have and important part in the song. I wanted to learn a new instrument and find one that I really liked. And with this, I did. I really like the xylophone and this was a perfect first major song to perform. I was able to live the dream that I had had for such a long time. To feel the excitement that comes from performing such a difficult piece in front of people and be consumed by your nervousness, crazy it may sound, was such a good feeling. And hearing it all come together in the end after so much time of practicing and hoping that it would sound good in the end was one of the best feelings in the world.
From this I learned that teamwork really is key in so many things. I also learned that you have to really be dedicated to what you are playing to really want to play such a difficult piece. I also realized that it is really hard to learn to read music if it is your first time doing so. But sometimes, you do it so well in the end and play something so well that people, even the skillful teacher, will think that you've been doing it for years.
This is a piece that we had to learn for our drum concert that we performed in on April 4, 2014. Curse of Tortuga was a very difficult piece to learn because there were so many different instruments that made up this ensemble and every person had to come in on just the right time for the entire piece to sound like it should.We began by choosing what instrument we wished to play. I chose the xylophone, one of the more complex parts to play. We then began practicing for this at the start of second semester and we continued through the time that we had. We had to listen to the original piece to hear how it must sound and then we learned each phrase and measure one by one. Nearly all of the learning was done individually but partners helped each other get the parts down. And we just kept on playing and rehearsing until it all came together.
This piece was meaningful to me because for a long time, I had always wanted to be a part of a large ensemble and have and important part in the song. I wanted to learn a new instrument and find one that I really liked. And with this, I did. I really like the xylophone and this was a perfect first major song to perform. I was able to live the dream that I had had for such a long time. To feel the excitement that comes from performing such a difficult piece in front of people and be consumed by your nervousness, crazy it may sound, was such a good feeling. And hearing it all come together in the end after so much time of practicing and hoping that it would sound good in the end was one of the best feelings in the world.
From this I learned that teamwork really is key in so many things. I also learned that you have to really be dedicated to what you are playing to really want to play such a difficult piece. I also realized that it is really hard to learn to read music if it is your first time doing so. But sometimes, you do it so well in the end and play something so well that people, even the skillful teacher, will think that you've been doing it for years.
This assignment called for a little creativity and thought. Actually, a lot of thought. Dr. Bartlett wanted us to create and eight phrase piece with sixteen measures in a 12/8 beat. She allowed us to use music that we had previously learned that was in the same beat. I did this composition with Jackie and with the lack of creativity between the two of us, we just "borrowed" all the measures from the previous music. The finished project is not the composition in the photo. There were many changes to make is easier on ourselves to play.
This assignment was meaningful to me because I was taking a skill that I had just learned this ear and I was given an opportunity to put it to the test and see how well I grasped the concept of composing music. I was able to test myself and put my knowledge of the different notes and rhythms to the test to come up with and original piece.
From this composition I learned that I can in fact make a piece of music with the new skills that I had acquired in such a short amount of time. I also realized that composing music is so much harder than it sounds. Getting all the tones and rhythms correct and arranged in a way that actually sounds decent is really a talent.
This assignment was meaningful to me because I was taking a skill that I had just learned this ear and I was given an opportunity to put it to the test and see how well I grasped the concept of composing music. I was able to test myself and put my knowledge of the different notes and rhythms to the test to come up with and original piece.
From this composition I learned that I can in fact make a piece of music with the new skills that I had acquired in such a short amount of time. I also realized that composing music is so much harder than it sounds. Getting all the tones and rhythms correct and arranged in a way that actually sounds decent is really a talent.