Reflection Number 1
In this first reflection, I watched a video on the evolution of musical notation. My observation from this video was no matter what you write or how you write, different symbols can be interpreted as musical notation.
Here is my take on irregular symbols used to represent music
Reflection Number 2
Mis-mapping is a common occurrence with musicians. The way a performer stands or hold their instrument could potentially be harmful to them in the future. Personally, I have mis-mapped my arms and back. I was unsure of where the bone in my arm connects to my shoulder, and because of this, I was getting very sore whenever I played for elongated periods of time. It was getting to the point where I was having to take a break multiple times to relax my arm and stretch. When I properly mapped my body, I became aware of where my joints actually connected and could hold my flute up in a way that was not going to injure me. I also made an incorrect assumption about where my spine was connected and the proper way to stand so as not so get a sore back. I would hunch over, or overcorrect and stand far too straight and would end up with a sore back. When I became aware of where my spine was really connected and how it was curved, I became more conscious of how I would stand or sit to avoid getting a sore back. Learning about the anatomy of my body has really helped me grow as a musician, not only withstanding and holding my flute but also with my breathing which betters my tone. I am very glad I have properly mapped my body.
Team-Building Exercise
My chosen team-building exercise is to split the class into two or three small groups and have them create a “human knot”. The groups will stand in a circle, shoulder to shoulder, and reach out one hand at a time and grab a random person’s hand across from them, and repeat the same procedure with the other hand. Once everyone in the group is holding another person’s hand, they will then begin to untangle themselves without letting go of the hand they are holding onto. The goal is for the group to be untangled into a circle, still holding hands.
The object of this exercise is to strengthen communication skills. Doing this exercise will so because each person in the group will need to problem solve ways to untangle each other, and will have to thoroughly communicate with the other people in their group, and more specifically the people they are holding hands with when it is best for them to move to untangle. If the group members do not communicate their ideas, they will not be able to untangle themselves, therefore not completing the task.
Body Percussion
Buffy Sainte-Marie and Tanya Tagaq
Buffy Sainte-Marie and Tanya Tagaq are two Canadian Indigenous singers. This particular song came into creation when they were invited onto the Polaris Music Prize, which is a SoundCloud podcast that invites previous winners of the Polaris Music Prize to collaborate on a song. The song the Sainte-Marie and Tagaq have collaborated on is based on George Attla, who is a dog sled racer that competed in the first-ever Iditarod dog sled race in 1973 and is the subject of the movie "Spirit of the Wind" in 1979. Within the song, Buffy Sainte-Marie vaguely explains the story of a dog sledder, and this particular dog sledder had tuberculosis and was not necessarily able to win a dog race if he wanted to, however, he persevered and managed to win, even with an illness holding him back. The meaning behind the song and lyrics is meant to be encouraging. In an interview with Polaris Music Prize, she talks about how she wants her listeners to feel encouragement and power from the song and its lyrics. If something is holding you back, you can push through and make what you want to happen, happen.
After listening to this song, I felt happy, confident, and like I could conquer anything I wanted to. The major sound in the music made the song have an upbeat feel to it, so it would be unlikely to feel sad while listening to it. The lyrics are motivational to me, and after listening and reading the lyrics, I feel inspired to work hard at the things I want to accomplish.
Reflection #7
When I came to university, I had to take private lessons. Part of the lessons is a masterclass with other flutists that have the same private teacher. As a masterclass, it gives us the opportunity to perform for each other and become comfortable with performing. My teacher had chosen a piece for me that a lot of first-year flute students play. I knew the piece beforehand because I had played it with my private teacher at home, however, I was not confident with the piece. So, my private teacher and I began to work on this piece so I could perform it for my masterclass. The piece was fun and enjoyable, however, there were sections that I was really struggling with. When I was practicing on my own, I felt more at ease, and could usually make it through the passage. When I had to play in my lesson, I would tense up and become unable to play the more difficult runs to the best of my ability. I always got very frustrated with myself because I knew I could play the runs and I was just getting in my head thinking I could not just because I was playing for my teacher. When my teacher told me she thinks I was creating a “block” for myself, just within my head, I felt crushed. I became so frustrated with myself that my teacher didn’t believe I could play the piece well enough to perform for my masterclass.
In the Failure is Hard, But Learning is Key article by David Gorman, I directly relate to Ghislaine. They start to feel this mental block when they reach a certain part of their art, and I feel a similar block when I reach certain points throughout pieces that I find difficult. It’s as if I know I won’t be able to play it, or at least believe I am going to mess up some aspect of it, so I tense up, start losing focus, and end up playing it far more incorrectly than I would have I hadn’t had this block when I perform or present a piece to my teacher.
In the second article, Patterns of Joy - Your Internal Compass by Babette Lightner it speaks about people blaming secondary things for one’s emotions. This seems relevant to me because people tend to blame other people or other elements, rather than evaluating themselves and figuring out if they are the reason for their emotions. They do not want to believe they can cause their own discomfort and find it easier to find something else to blame it all on. I am definitely susceptive to blaming outer elements, rather than evaluating myself and what I have done to make myself feel this way. It is better and more effective to sit back, look at what has happened, how it makes me feel, why it makes me feel that way, and what I can do to fix what has disappointed or upset me.
http://www.learningmethods.com/failure-is-hard-but-learning-is-easy.htm
Reflection #8
Bouncing a basketball can be a very difficult skill to learn, but with a lot of practice and focus, one can become very good at bouncing a basketball with control. To learn how to bounce a basketball, one must determine their intention; would they like to keep the ball in one place, or be able to move around with it and continuously bounce it? Once they determine what their intention is, they can begin to attempt to succeed at completing their goal. After their first attempt, they can step back and assess what happened. If they were fairly successful with getting close to reaching their goal, then they can practice it, or try something a little bit harder than their original intention. If they were unsuccessful, they can decipher where they believe they went wrong, and what can be done to be successful in their next attempt. Do they need to reposition their hand when bouncing the ball? Should they move slower if they are trying to walk and bounce at the same time? Once they determine what should be altered, they can try bouncing the ball again. While bouncing the ball, they should be analyzing how well they are completing their task and reaching their goal. One can repeat this process over and over until they feel they are bouncing a basketball as well as they want to.
Reflection #9
Today while I’m practicing I will focus on my tuning while playing my piece…
While I was playing through my pieces I would record myself, then listen back to hear my tuning, specifically focusing on the held notes. After I was finished playing a movement, I would stop the recording and listen to it in its entirety, listening closely for moments when I would go out of tune. I would sometimes mark it in my music if it was a major tuning issue, if not, I would keep it in mind and retry certain sections that I tended to have the most difficulty with. When I was satisfied with the sound, I would record myself playing through the piece again. If specific notes still gave me trouble, I would try note bending, until I found the proper mouth position to put the note in tune. Pretty much every time I experimented like this, I was successful in getting the proper tone.
Today in my lesson I will experiment with rhythms that are not written in the music…
There is a fast passage of music I am learning and I am struggling with keeping it up to speed without messing up the notes or my tonguing. My instructor and I will slow the pace down of those specific passages, and pick a rhythm that is not the one that is written. We play that passage together with our chosen rhythm, and once that is easy to play, we switch up the rhythm again and try it that way. Once I believe I can play the notes correctly with the original rhythms, I try it on my own.
When I try this technique, it is sometimes successful, in the sense that I can then successfully play the passage with little to no mistakes. However, when I go to practice the next day, or even later in the day, I sometimes can not play the passage as well as I did after playing around with different melodies.
Today in band, I will experiment with musicality in certain pieces…
One of the pieces I play in band has consistent legato markings and I have been struggling with making it sound musical, and not just playing what is written. While I’m playing, I will experiment with only lifting slightly on the ends of notes instead of abruptly ending them, and adding with more dynamic changes to give the illusion that the music is going somewhere, instead of remaining the same. Lifting the notes when they’ve been held for their whole value made the piece sound better and flow easier. Changing the dynamics was difficult because there was multiple flutes playing the same part, and just me changing dynamics did not make that much difference.
Reflection #10
The articles Posture: The Great Big Rump by Dr. Nick Drengenberg and By Intention Alone by David Gorman focuses on the lack of concentration people have on their actions and how they hold their body. In Dr. Drengenberg's article, he speaks on the lack of focus on posture when we are consummed with other activities. If we become engaged in an activity and are unfocused on our own body, we do not think of the way we hold our body, therefore causing aches and pains, mainly in our back and neck. He also touches on how people tend to separate their body from their mind. However, our body and minds are us, not to separate beings, and need to be thought of as "me" not as another thing attatched to my brain.
In David Gorman's article, he has a discussion with an actress who was recording a song and how she fixed some issues she faced while singing. They discussed thinking of an issue as a physical object that they need to get to. Visualizing ways to "physically" get to that obstacle proves to be more affective than simply thinking of solutions to a problem you are unsure of. Another way to pinpoint a solution to a problem is visualize where you want to improve and when you are trying things that could get you there, picture if that solution has gotten you to reach that solution.
Both of these articles have gotten me to think in a different way about how I hold myself while I am sitting or doing other tasks, and attempting to multi-task with simple activities, like focusing on my posture while I am typing on a computer. These articles have also gotten me to problem solve in ways I have not before by being more creative and visualizing my issues, rather than keeping them inside my head.
http://www.learningmethods.com/posture--the-great-big-rump.htm
Reflection #11
My goal at the beginning of this semester was to become more responsible and practice more frequently. I have worked hard to organize my classes and the projects or assignments I had due each week. I have a calendar on my desk where I sit everyday, and it displays each activity I have going on each day. I also have a list written out on my computer, displayed on my home screen, that lists the activities I have coming up. As I complete each task, I erase it off each list I have. It makes me feel accomplished and less stressed when I have one less project waiting for me to complete. I also had a journal that I keep of each practice I did. I would write down my start time, how long I spent on each exercise, and what I need to improve on. I keep a chart of my scales; which scales I need to work on, and the speed each scale is at.
A challenge I faced was my lack of time I had to practice throughout the week. I was consistently busy throughout the day, and only had a free hour here or there that I used to practice. Unfortunately, it is really hard to find an open practice room in the middle of the day so some days I would be unable to practice at that time. I do not enjoy practicing at night, because by the time all my classes and band practices are over, I just want go back to my room and do homework so I can relax. Some nights I would force myself to go back to the Music Building so I could get some practice in, but it is never productive because I would be tired. Another challenge I faced is that some of the courses I did not thoroughly enjoy some of my courses, so I would put off completing the work because I simply did not want to do it. This in turn would stress me out more because I would have less time to complete the assignment. Next time I face these challenges, I will wake myself up earlier to go practice or not leave the Music Building until I have gotten some decent practice in. I will also find what it is that is making me want to procrastinate, and work my way through it so I will get all my work done in advance to the due date.
I would like to continue staying as organized as I have been. I really like the way I have kept all my activities displayed and organized. In the future I would like to be more motivated to practice, even when I am tired and would prefer doing other work. To motivate myself to get out and have a productive practice, I will tell myself:
"Picture where you want to be. You're not going to get there by doing nothing."
Reflection #12
I personally really enjoyed this video. I found it to be very helpful in giving me new ways of thinking when I speak to others, and more importantly, my future students.
I would like to share some of my favourite quotes from Brené Brown. Near the middle of her talk, she mentioned a metaphor about classrooms that goes like this; "It's like you have a classroom full of turtles without shells, and the minute they put their shells back on, they're protected from their peers from their teacher, from whatever. but no learning can come back in." I found this quote very powerful because young students are very impressionable and anything you say to them can affect their way of thinking. Brené Brown then goes on to say to "not ever question the power you have with the people you teach," As a teacher, you hold a lot of authority over students, and a lot of students look up to their teachers. No matter what is said to a student, they will take it to heart. Brown also states "shame is the threat of being unloveable" when she begins discussing the differenced between shame, guilt, humiliation, and embarrassment, and I personally believe that is a great way to describe what shame does to a person.
Along with explaining the differences between shame, guilt, humiliation, and embarrassment, she also explains the "shields" students, and all people for that matter, pick up when they feel shame. They either move away, move toward, or move against. Discovering ways to best "breakthrough" to these students is important so each student will still learn and not feel negative towards themselves.
I feel this a very impactful speech, and I believe all teachers should listen to this talk so they are away of they speak to students, and how students speak to themselves so the teachers can assist their students in the best way possible.