The Wisdom of Tip-A-Cow
Okay, so our own Jenny Locke has posted something awesome. So much so that I'm going to post it here and then elaborate on it a bit.
Here's what she said regarding our poetry exercise over the weekend:
"It did feel kind of weird doing this at first, but then it got a little more natural."
First, I love it because it's honest and real.
Yet, the reason I bring this up is that it describes how many of us feel in the process of becoming expressive artists. I'm less concerned with you guys getting used to reading poetry aloud (you can join forensics for that) but more in the idea of becoming comfortable with musical expression. This idea of expressing emotion through your instrument is new and risky for most of us. But if you stick with it and keep at it you will find, like Jenny, that it gets better and more comfortable. I like that she used the word "natural". Like it gets to be a comfortable part of you. When you let your creative self have some room to play, it's always a good thing.
Trust me. The personal rewards of this kind of dedication to artistic expression pay out in a huge way.
Keep going, no matter how uncomfortable or odd you may feel in the process. Those feelings mean your exploring new territory and you're doing good work!
Here's what she said regarding our poetry exercise over the weekend:
"It did feel kind of weird doing this at first, but then it got a little more natural."
First, I love it because it's honest and real.
Yet, the reason I bring this up is that it describes how many of us feel in the process of becoming expressive artists. I'm less concerned with you guys getting used to reading poetry aloud (you can join forensics for that) but more in the idea of becoming comfortable with musical expression. This idea of expressing emotion through your instrument is new and risky for most of us. But if you stick with it and keep at it you will find, like Jenny, that it gets better and more comfortable. I like that she used the word "natural". Like it gets to be a comfortable part of you. When you let your creative self have some room to play, it's always a good thing.
Trust me. The personal rewards of this kind of dedication to artistic expression pay out in a huge way.
Keep going, no matter how uncomfortable or odd you may feel in the process. Those feelings mean your exploring new territory and you're doing good work!
posted by Aaron Hilden at 6:07 AM
5 Comments:
Everything feels wierd the first time. I went to an acting camp and we were forced over and over to do improv. It's kind of like sight reading. They gave us a subject and an outline and let us go. In music you're given a title, some notes, and you have to make up the rest. You have to interpret what it means for you.
i agree with hayley completely. but also what i like about this blog, is this is something that will help in life in general. being able to express yourself naturally, and comfortably is one extremely important part of life. without the ability to do so, you will not go as far as you definately could, and i think that expression is one big thing that schools dont nessecerally teach. you can learn expression through art classes, and thats about it... maybe speech. but i think they should talk more about expression in some mandatory class-type setting thing. iunno, be worth a try.
another thing i thought of when i read this blog is... "EXCELLENT!! now that this is coming up in band, lets try to get the damn *pardon that* choirs to try it!"
one big issue im having with choir is the fact that we could be soooooo much better if we'd sing out, more expression... being more comfortable, and feeling more natural... ready to take risks... expression, and............. ENERGY!!! one huge aspect of music that is missing from our choirs, and bands... i think energy is missing... either forgotten, or completely overlooked... i guess when people see piano, or something slow, soft, and "charm-you-to-sleep"ish... they think that energy will make it loud, and bombastic... but thats very wrong i think... i think that in music, we... or someone, should address energy for what it really is... and that gets us back on the emotion track i think. using the emotions that the piece brings up to your advantage could definately increase the energy in a good way, no matter what the piece is...
one way i find i get great energy out of my instrument(s) is air support... yet another thing that's overlooked, huh? people i guess dont realize, or dont know how they can play softly while continuing the air support they had when they played the fortissississississississimo parts of the piece. i guess its just something we need to work on along with everything else.
another thing i liked about hayley's comment, was the idea of improv.. and one way we can have the equivalent of that is sightreading... and letting everyone know that, even when we're sightreading, we still need to have the emotions, expressions, and energies there. people dont really know that you can practice sightreading, but its true...
also, i'll probably be asking you about doing jazz improv in future lessons... that is if i have you, i might need to switch if i could so i can have full jazz access for lessons. i'll talk to you about this tomorrow...
well, instead of going on... again, i think i'll take a break and read my book now. i'll see ya tomorrow, and look foreward to more blogs!
~CGJ
and also maybe like improv in jazz band??????? You definetly feel wierd at first... but then you get used to it.. or so i've heard.. i am still not used to it.. oh well.
We all need to learn and improve our technique of taking chances. If you try something one way and it just doesn't work for you then oh well... your can try something different next time. Don't be embarrassed if you make a mistake just learn from it and do better next time. Putting yourself and your emotions out there is what music is all about. We, as a band, should all get together and try it some time. It might sound really cool. Yea!
i find it helps to just start with somethig ffamiliar, like a song from a solo book that you like. and just try a varition on what's written. than after you get cofortable with that you can move on to more difficult things, and work your way up, and just do improv. once you're comfortable you can just let the music flow.
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