Musical group of the day: The Turtle Island String Quartet

Here’s their website,

And their Myspace

These people seem to be fairly well-known. I’m not sure why I haven’t heard of them.

I saw Evan yesterday, and I promised him I would learn Blue Rondo (Dave Brubeck) on the violin before the next time I saw him ^_^ As a girl who stays true to her word, I began researching this morning. I tried to find a recording with violin, and I happened upon a recording by a standard string quartet:

http://tagoo.ru/?search=Turtle+Island+String+Quartet&artist=on

(it’s the first one, press the little play button to the right)

So, of course, I sent it to Evan, and we were discussing something or other that prompted me to look them up and see if they had a Myspace.

They do.

They’re pretty cool… It’s not as though there have never been other groups like this, but it’s certainly not the most common thing on the face of the earth. Or maybe that’s just because I’m super-involved in classical stuff that I’m just that sheltered to jazz string groups. It’s a refreshing and interesting sound, and they’re obviously all incredibly talented.

I guess what I really like is that the classical component isn’t completely gone. You can still hear some patterns and techniques common in classical pieces. I appreciate this kind of group because they’re incredibly innovative without killing old traditions.

You know me… I’m deathly afraid that classical music is going to die out :p Our generation sucks.

Anyway, check them out!

P.S. I intend to find sheet music for such an arrangement of Blue Rondo and force some of yous guys who play violin/viola/cello to learn and play it with me. Lol.

LOL BRUCH.

♫Dahhh, dah duh dah DAH…dah duhhhh dahhh…..duhadhduh dahh dahhhhh dah dah dah duh dah dah-yah dah duh dah DAHHHHHH. DAHHHHHHHHHHH-AH!

Dahhhhh, duhdahhhh, duhhhAHHHHH. Duhhhdaduhdsfj;rhjhjnthjet’jheaahhh, DUH DAHHHHHH, DUUHHHHHHHHH. DuhhAHHHHH, duh DAAAAUHH, daaauuhhh, dauuhhh, DUHHHH, DUH DAHHHHHHH.

Coming along

For the first time in a while, my teacher said “nice job,” at my lesson. 

I mean I know she ALWAYS thinks I’m good, but she’s been cracking down especially hard since college auditions are coming up.  It was good to hear from someone else that I’m making some progress.

I still have to step it up, though.

That’s all for now, I guess :p

Evan! (And a college visit, but whatever.)

Yesterday my dad drove me (and Matthew) about an hour and a half to visit a college. I’m not gonna talk about which one it was because we’re dealing with where people live and stuff, so I’m trying to keep the details to a minimum.

Anyway, I’ve been there once before for a general tour, but this time I went in for an information session with the assistant director of the music department. When I went for the general tour, I ended up wandering into the director of the Music Ed program’s office, and I got to talk to him for a little while, but yesterday’s visit was much more informative. I have to say, I would be happy if I ended up at this school. I’m going to schedule a lesson with one of the violin teachers there.

Not only would it be TOTALLY AWESOME to get some feedback from one of them, but it also might be another excuse to go see Evan ^_^ He lives really close to there.

I went over to his place after my appointment at the college. This is only the second time I’ve met him in person. (last time was in April. We went to see a Tally Hall concert. ) Basically we are SO COOL. I brought my violin, and we played violin-piano duets. He also tried to teach me how to improvise, but that failed because it’s incredibly difficult to break twelve years of classical training XD And besides all that, I’m EXTREMELY insecure/nervous about everything, so it was weird. But it was a cool thing to learn a bit about, and I’m really glad he wanted to teach me ^_^ He taught me a couple songs he wrote (which were awesome, btw, if you’re reading this) and we played a bunch of video game music, such as Zelda, Kirby, Yoshi, Mario, and Starfox.

Well anyway…I guess the moral of this story (even though there’s no “moral,” or “story,” present) is that I think it’s really awesome to have a friend who will just PLAY MUSIC WITH ME. I mean I’ve been in chamber groups/orchestras, and nothing quite compares with the relationships you form with those people. Especially in chamber groups, when you’re practicing and working together frequently. However, all those were semi-formal experiences, and when we hung out outside of rehearsal, no one wanted to whip out his/her instrument and play for fun, which is exactly what I did yesterday with Evan for quite a while. I hope I meet people in college who will play with me just for fun. Even now, I really want to get together an informal chamber group. I don’t know how realistic that is. I tried to have a duet with Joan during sophomore year, but that didn’t really work out because it was sort of on a whim. When you’re dealing with most classical string players, if something isn’t TOTALLY STRUCTURED, then it just won’t happen. (This relates DIRECTLY back to the improv thing.) Which I understand, but I’m a little looser than that, or at least I’d really like to think so >_>.

My idea of “living on the edge,” is placing all the beats in weird places on cadenzas. What. A. Rush.

Well, thanks for being awesome, Evan And to all you classical string players out there; just try to loosen up and have fun once in a while. Things can get REALLY competitive/uptight, and if you don’t let go once in a while, something that you love doing is going to become something you dread. Or something that eventually gives you a stroke. LOL. (Wtf, not funny???) So mess up on purpose, change around the piece you’re working on, whip out your instrument and dance around while you play! (I DON’T DO THAT >_> )

Not that this is relevant, but making up interpretive dances to orchestra music is LOADS of fun.

…Bye!

I hate the DMV >:|

You know who I hate more than the DMV?  MYSELF.  FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO BACK INTO A FREAKING PARKING SPACE X_X

I KNEW I should have practiced more.  DAMN IT.  THAT’S THE ONLY THING I DID WRONG!!!!!

Now everything is messed up!!  I can’t drive to CMC because I have to wait until July 17th to take the test again!  CAMP STARTS ON JULY 7TH.  MMMGGGGHGRHIEAJEWGTWE.  I better still be able to go.  I paid for that with my own money.  My dad says he can take me in the morning, but he can’t bring me home.

*SIGH*

… Perhaps I can carpool with one of the kids from the next town over.  HOPEFULLY O_O.

New Priorities

Now that it’s summer, I don’t have to deal with pesky school XD No more homework and no more stupid “friend drama.” I always use summer as a time to re-prioritize. So here they are, in descending order of importance:

College/Violin – This is my last stretch before auditions, so I’m gonna work my BUTT off. I’m gonna try to be ready by early auditions (December) so I have a better chance of getting in. That means PRACTICING A LOT. And now I have the time   This really means the world to me…this is the first step towards the rest of my life.

Work – I’m starting my new job at the movie theater on Wednesday. I dunno if I’m gonna keep my job at Quiznos. The movie theater should be better anyway because, not only will they give me more hours, but there are lots of kids close to my age working there. Unlike Quiznos, where I work with a bunch of people in their mid-twenties. Don’t get me wrong…they’re cool, but I can’t actually make friends with them and hang out with them because that would be weird and my mom would kill me O.o ANYWAY, I need to pay off the violin, help with college, and help with a car, so this is really important

Family – I’m going to be leaving home in about a year, and I’ve been taking my family for granted for the past seventeen years O_O I really just want to be there for them as much as I can while I’m still around. I’ve already started helping out more because my mom went back to school at the beginning of this month and she needs someone to do housework and watch my brother, Matthew. Speaking of Matthew, I really want to better my relationship with him while I’m still home. He and I have never gotten along too well, given that he’s almost nine years younger than I am. I just don’t want to go off to college yo have him forget about me or be happy because I was mean to him :p I also really want to be there for him because he’s going to public school next year. He doesn’t show it, but he’s really scared, and I want him to know that he can count on me when he can’t count on his friends and when our parents wouldn’t understand. To sum it all up, I’ve been a really crappy sister, and I want to change that so he doesn’t remember me that way.

Body image/self-esteem – This past year I hit rock bottom with the eating disorder.  I’m much better now, and I intend to improve even more…or at least keep things the way they’ve been.  I’m not going to compare myself with others, and I’m going to make an effort to make myself look pretty.  I’m not going to subject myself to bad treatment by myself or others.  I deserve the best.

Health – Like I said, I’ve just recently begun to recover from an eating disorder, so this isn’t so much about weight as it is about nutrition.  Since before the eating disorder, I’ve had issues with eating right.  I want to work to fix that so I can be happy.

“New” Friends – I need new friends. Lol. I can’t really go into detail without hurting anyone’s feelings, so yeah. I’m going to try to hang out with new people.  I’m not going to completely ditch my old friends, but I need a fresh start.  I want to hang out more with people like Bene, Lili, Susy, Evan, and Andrew (not really a new friend, but still).

Letter of recommendation

Today at school I didn’t have any real finals. First was child development, which consisted of make-up work and preparing the preschool** for next year. The theme next year is Winnie The Pooh, so I had to trace Tigger’s head onto a placement eighty billion times.

Next was orchestra, which we didn’t have to go in for unless we missed lessons. I was gonna go home, but MY RIDE DITCHED ME (ANDREW!!), so I did what I always do when I’m bored; I went to the orchestra room to chill with Mr. Meade, my orchestra teacher. I drew summer-related doodles on his chalkboard and talked to him about the repertoire for next year, Suzuki colleges, and youth orchestra. Then the girl who had missed her lesson, Melissa, came in, and we helped Mr. Meade organize folders for graduation. We’re playing Pomp and Circumstance, some weird March, and Beethoven’s Ninth.

After we were finished, the three of us went to the AV room to put all the sheet music we didn’t need in the recycling bin, and for some reason I decided that would be the right time to ask Mr. Meade to write my letter of recommendation. He was all “Hmmm, well…let’s seeeeee…” and he messed with me until I thought he was serious until he said yes

It’s not like I expected him to say no, I’m just really glad it’s official! I knew I was going to ask him as soon as I started thinking about getting letters of recommendation. Sure, it was partly because he’s my orchestra teacher and I’m going into music, but it’s also because we’re pals Hahaha. He’s a really nice guy, and he knows me as a student, as a musician, AND as a person.

So just a word of advice…when choosing teachers to write letters, take into consideration how well you do in their classes, how you behave in front of them, what they’ve helped you accomplish, what your relationship with them is like, and if their field corresponds with the one you want to go into. You probably already knew that, but still. Lucky for me, I want to do exactly what Mr. Meade does; teach music in a public school.

**NOTE: There’s a preschool in my high school, and in child development class, part of the curriculum is to work with the kids in the classroom and plan curriculum for them.  Their last day was a week ago.

School’s out..almost :p

I just realized I haven’t posted for almost a month. NOT GOOD. Unfortunately, I don’t have much to say…which would explain why I haven’t posted for a while. Life is uneventful lately. I’m hoping once school lets out I’ll have more violin-related things to write about because I’ll be practicing my butt off rather than studying my butt off (I just finished an English final on The Handmaid’s Tale – great book for any girl who doesn’t already greatly appreciate living in 21st century America where she’s a person rather than an object). This summer is ging to be my prolonged craming session. I hope to do college auditions in December so I have a better chance of getting in.

By the way, we just unearthed the video camera to film my brother’s school play, so I think I’m going to use it to film myself playing the 1st movement of Bruch and then I’ll post it so my friend who lives far-ish an watch it.  And, of course, anyone else who wants to.