Thank you for your patience. I am feeling much better now, and assure you that I will get back to my normal (ish) schedule.
Regarding what happened, all I have to say is: Cherished your loved ones. They might be gone before you know it.
That is all for now. Thank you for reading, and take care.
Monday, November 16, 2015
Sunday, November 8, 2015
My apologies
I will not be able to post for the next few days. Something bad happened, and I'm going to have to take some time to sort it out.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Friday, November 6, 2015
The Struggles of a College Student
I guess this will be one of those miscellaneous posts I talked about when I started. Sorry guys. Music stuff may have to wait.
Outside of being able to learn songs and pieces by ear on my cello with minutes, to some extent, I have a lot of trouble making the connection of listening, and writing. I can name notes easily. I ace all of my dictation quizzes in music theory. However, when it comes to words, I always have trouble of processing. This makes it a real problem when the professor decides to just go full-out lecture without writing anything down on the board. Just then and there, I give up taking notes, and just try and absorb the information I'm hearing. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
One thing I should also mention, is that I have autism. Keep in mind, this does not make me any less intelligent than the average human being. Even with something like autism, I am able to comprehend like most people. However, they don't call it a disability for no reason. My mind doesn't exactly work the way it does for anyone else. In a way, I guess you can say that it's programmed differently. Rewired, even. I go on a bit of a one-track system, and multitasking is not my strong point. At least with something to copy down on the board or projector, I can look up and down. With listening, I have to do two things at once,
So why do I have no problem with music, when it comes to listening and dictation? I honestly don't know the answer to that. I believe it has something to do with the fact that language has all of these syllables, tones, and meanings to each word, that is being processed at once, whereas with music, it's a little more straightforward and not as complicated.
Anyways, back up to the whole "one-track system", this makes it hard for me to do homework as well. When I have an assignment on my mind, I will work on it until it's finished. This tends to bite me in the butt, as I've had to turn in things late, and that didn't exactly help my grade.
On top of that, there is one other thing that does give me a bit of a challenge, in daily life, If you were to meet me, you would probably not think of me as a very talkative person. Now, it's not exactly because I don't like to talk. If you couldn't tell by these blogs, I actually love to talk about certain things. Aside from shyness, one of the main reasons why I'm not exactly talkative, is because I have slight trouble communicating my thoughts into speech. I usually have to think about what I have to say, before I say it. That's why I prefer typing, is because I can think about every sentence. I've practiced at it though, and I'm much better than I was before. Still, if I were asked a question, I would need a moment to process it, and then sort out my own thoughts, and then answer.
This tends to cause for panic in the classroom. I get called on, and I fear of taking too long, so either I end up saying "I don't know", or try to make an educated guess (which never works out well when you're under a severe amount of stress). Once in music theory, I was asked to identify the fifth in a B flat scale. Now, I easily know the answer to that, which is F. I spent my four years in highschool, wasting my musical knowledge on learning that the third note in any arpeggio is the fifth, and I knew that the third note of a B flat arpeggio is F, which is the fifth to a B flat scale. However, somewhere in the cluster that was me trying to get my answer out as quickly as possible, I somehow got B flat mixed with A flat, and so I ended up saying "E flat". Thankfully, people were kind enough not to laugh. The professor asked again, but I was too embarrassed to answer, so he had to call on someone else to answer.
But heck, that's probably just stuff everyone deals with, and I'm complicating things at this point. I don't really know at this point.
Well, with all that said, thank you all for putting up with the wall of text that is today's blog, and have a good night.
Outside of being able to learn songs and pieces by ear on my cello with minutes, to some extent, I have a lot of trouble making the connection of listening, and writing. I can name notes easily. I ace all of my dictation quizzes in music theory. However, when it comes to words, I always have trouble of processing. This makes it a real problem when the professor decides to just go full-out lecture without writing anything down on the board. Just then and there, I give up taking notes, and just try and absorb the information I'm hearing. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
One thing I should also mention, is that I have autism. Keep in mind, this does not make me any less intelligent than the average human being. Even with something like autism, I am able to comprehend like most people. However, they don't call it a disability for no reason. My mind doesn't exactly work the way it does for anyone else. In a way, I guess you can say that it's programmed differently. Rewired, even. I go on a bit of a one-track system, and multitasking is not my strong point. At least with something to copy down on the board or projector, I can look up and down. With listening, I have to do two things at once,
So why do I have no problem with music, when it comes to listening and dictation? I honestly don't know the answer to that. I believe it has something to do with the fact that language has all of these syllables, tones, and meanings to each word, that is being processed at once, whereas with music, it's a little more straightforward and not as complicated.
Anyways, back up to the whole "one-track system", this makes it hard for me to do homework as well. When I have an assignment on my mind, I will work on it until it's finished. This tends to bite me in the butt, as I've had to turn in things late, and that didn't exactly help my grade.
On top of that, there is one other thing that does give me a bit of a challenge, in daily life, If you were to meet me, you would probably not think of me as a very talkative person. Now, it's not exactly because I don't like to talk. If you couldn't tell by these blogs, I actually love to talk about certain things. Aside from shyness, one of the main reasons why I'm not exactly talkative, is because I have slight trouble communicating my thoughts into speech. I usually have to think about what I have to say, before I say it. That's why I prefer typing, is because I can think about every sentence. I've practiced at it though, and I'm much better than I was before. Still, if I were asked a question, I would need a moment to process it, and then sort out my own thoughts, and then answer.
This tends to cause for panic in the classroom. I get called on, and I fear of taking too long, so either I end up saying "I don't know", or try to make an educated guess (which never works out well when you're under a severe amount of stress). Once in music theory, I was asked to identify the fifth in a B flat scale. Now, I easily know the answer to that, which is F. I spent my four years in highschool, wasting my musical knowledge on learning that the third note in any arpeggio is the fifth, and I knew that the third note of a B flat arpeggio is F, which is the fifth to a B flat scale. However, somewhere in the cluster that was me trying to get my answer out as quickly as possible, I somehow got B flat mixed with A flat, and so I ended up saying "E flat". Thankfully, people were kind enough not to laugh. The professor asked again, but I was too embarrassed to answer, so he had to call on someone else to answer.
But heck, that's probably just stuff everyone deals with, and I'm complicating things at this point. I don't really know at this point.
Well, with all that said, thank you all for putting up with the wall of text that is today's blog, and have a good night.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Inactivity
My apologies for the inactivity. I've been a little all over the place, and I've still been recovering from Halloween (had a bit of a crazy night). I'm also still new to this whole blogging thing, and so trying to keep up with the schedule has been proven challenging for me.
Unfortunately, I have had no time to look up things for composing jazz. I've fallen a little behind on my college work, and I've just been trying my best to make up for it. College has a bit more of a consistent pattern than my highschool had, and trying to get used to it has been proven a bit difficult.
But it's ok. I like my classes. The teachers are nice, and the subjects have been interesting. My classmates have been proven helpful too. I've studied and practiced with them, and it's very nice, to work with these people. I entered this school, with one focus in mind, and that was education. I don't usually have any particular interest in socializing with people, but I honestly don't mind, being chatted up every once in a while. Back in highschool, I have always been stuck with disruptive delinquents that did not want to learn, and only served as a mere distraction. This is different, though. My classmates are not here because they have to be. They're here because they want to be. They are working hard to try and make a good future for their lives, and none of them show any signs of giving up anytime soon. It's nice. As I am writing this, I am listening to one of them practice the piano right now.
In music theory, we are learning about tension. A V7 (five-seven) chord is used to build up tension, and then it resolves into an incomplete I (one) chord. I guess it makes sense that a V7 chord is used for this. The dissidence of the chordal seventh does give for a bit of a suspenseful feel to it. I currently don't have enough knowledge to expand on this though. I will, once I have more information.
We've also started learning minor scales in Solfage. Changing the tone isn't enough apparently, and so there are certain syllables that are changed, corresponding to the changes that are made in notation.
For example, here is a C major scale, and a C minor scale:
C D E F G A B C
C D Eflat F G Aflat Bflat C
The "flat" notes are slightly lower in pitch than the natural notes, but not low enough to go down a whole scale degree (unless if it's a chromatic scale we're talking about). Now, it's a bit of a mouthful to sing: "E flat, F, G, A flat, B flat", so that's where solfage comes in.
Here is a major scale in Solfage:
Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do
Now here it is in minor:
Do Re Me Fa Sol Le Te Do
Everything that has an e in it is pronounced as "ei", (Mei, Lei, Tei). This makes it less confusing, when we have to sing harmonic and melodic minor scales.
A melodic minor scale is when you the sixth and seventh are raised on the ascending...
C D Eflat F G A(natural) B(natural) C
Then they're lowered on the decsending.
C Bflat Aflat G F Eflat Dflat C
So in Solfage, it would be like this:
Do Re Me Fa Sol La Ti Do
Do Te Le Sol Fa Me Re Do
Then in a harmonic minor, only the seventh is raised, and this doesn't change while it ascends or descends. So it goes like this:
C D Eflat F G A B(natural) C
Do Re Me Fa Sol Le Ti Do
It's a little tricky to sing, and can easily get mixed up. I didn't quite understand when my choir friends tried to explain to me why all this voice stuff is tricky. Now I know.
With all that said though, thank you for reading, and I'll see you later!
Unfortunately, I have had no time to look up things for composing jazz. I've fallen a little behind on my college work, and I've just been trying my best to make up for it. College has a bit more of a consistent pattern than my highschool had, and trying to get used to it has been proven a bit difficult.
But it's ok. I like my classes. The teachers are nice, and the subjects have been interesting. My classmates have been proven helpful too. I've studied and practiced with them, and it's very nice, to work with these people. I entered this school, with one focus in mind, and that was education. I don't usually have any particular interest in socializing with people, but I honestly don't mind, being chatted up every once in a while. Back in highschool, I have always been stuck with disruptive delinquents that did not want to learn, and only served as a mere distraction. This is different, though. My classmates are not here because they have to be. They're here because they want to be. They are working hard to try and make a good future for their lives, and none of them show any signs of giving up anytime soon. It's nice. As I am writing this, I am listening to one of them practice the piano right now.
In music theory, we are learning about tension. A V7 (five-seven) chord is used to build up tension, and then it resolves into an incomplete I (one) chord. I guess it makes sense that a V7 chord is used for this. The dissidence of the chordal seventh does give for a bit of a suspenseful feel to it. I currently don't have enough knowledge to expand on this though. I will, once I have more information.
We've also started learning minor scales in Solfage. Changing the tone isn't enough apparently, and so there are certain syllables that are changed, corresponding to the changes that are made in notation.
For example, here is a C major scale, and a C minor scale:
C D E F G A B C
C D Eflat F G Aflat Bflat C
The "flat" notes are slightly lower in pitch than the natural notes, but not low enough to go down a whole scale degree (unless if it's a chromatic scale we're talking about). Now, it's a bit of a mouthful to sing: "E flat, F, G, A flat, B flat", so that's where solfage comes in.
Here is a major scale in Solfage:
Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do
Now here it is in minor:
Do Re Me Fa Sol Le Te Do
Everything that has an e in it is pronounced as "ei", (Mei, Lei, Tei). This makes it less confusing, when we have to sing harmonic and melodic minor scales.
A melodic minor scale is when you the sixth and seventh are raised on the ascending...
C D Eflat F G A(natural) B(natural) C
Then they're lowered on the decsending.
C Bflat Aflat G F Eflat Dflat C
So in Solfage, it would be like this:
Do Re Me Fa Sol La Ti Do
Do Te Le Sol Fa Me Re Do
Then in a harmonic minor, only the seventh is raised, and this doesn't change while it ascends or descends. So it goes like this:
C D Eflat F G A B(natural) C
Do Re Me Fa Sol Le Ti Do
It's a little tricky to sing, and can easily get mixed up. I didn't quite understand when my choir friends tried to explain to me why all this voice stuff is tricky. Now I know.
With all that said though, thank you for reading, and I'll see you later!
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