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Thursday, January 31, 2013

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

QUOTE:
“My masters are strange folk with very little care for music in them.”
AUTHOR: Johann Sebastian Bach
MEANING OF THE QUOTE:
“Music is used for some people as a symbol of status or a way to be popular and 
  for them has little to do with the art itself.”








COMPOSER
DEBUSSY 


Reverie
(Impression in art)
A state of being pleasantly lost in one's thoughts; a daydream: "I slipped into reverie." 
This term, used in an instrumental piece, suggests a dreamy or musing state.

Reverie by E.A. Hornel




GENERAL MUSIC
01.  INTRODUCTION TO PERCUSSION: FILM (SUBSTITUTE)
.......a.  STUDENTS TOOK DOWN IMPORTANT FACTS and DISCUSSED

ADV. STRINGS
01. STRAVINSKY WORK SHEET (SUBSTITUTE)

BEG. STRINGS
01.  OPEN STRING ONE OCTAVE SCALES SLURRING 2 NOTES WHOLE BOW
02.  YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND IN ME
.......a.  WORKED ON CHROMATIC PASSAGES 
.......b.  PLAYED THE ENTIRE PIECE FOR CONTINUITY 
03.  ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL
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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2013

QUOTE:
“Talent is only the starting point.”
AUTHOR: Irving Berlin
MEANING OF THE QUOTE:
"Talent means nothing without a good work ethic and a good attitude.”









COMPOSER
DEBUSSY



for solo flute
(Performed by Emmanuel Pahud)
Syrinx into a Reed or Pane e Siringa, Book I, illustration from Ovid's Metamorphoses, Florence, 1832 

In Greek mythology the Syrinx was an Arcadian nymph, who being pursued by Pan, fled into the river Ladon, and at her own request was metamorphosed into a reed from which Pan then made his flute.
Pan Flute

Pan and Syrinx
by 
Lewis Gidley

The nymph Syrinx ran
From Goat-footed Pan,
Who sought the coy beauty to gain;
Through grove, over lawn,
Like a startled fawn,
In the haunts of the shepherd swain.
Her long yellow hair,
From her forehead flair;
Stream’d back, as she hasten’d her flight,
Like a cloud that flies
Through the wind-swept skies,
or a swift comet’s trail of light.
Large heat-drops bedew’d
Her brow, when the flood
Of Ladon she reach’d, which arrested,
With its silver sheet,
Her uncertain feet
Whose, speed so rudely been tested.
On each Naiad sister
She call’d, to assist her,
Thus asking them succor to give her;
“O grant me escape,
“By changing my shape,
“Ye Nymphs of the fountain and river!”
They heard, and the prize
Was snatch’d from the eyes
Of Pan, at the end of the race;
For, greatly dismay’d,
He seized not the maid,
But only some reeds in her place.
“Ah, cheat!” then he cried;
But the reeds replied,
With murmurs, reproving his error;
And still as they trembled,
Their shaking resembled
The shuddering emotion of terror.
But some consolation,
To soothe his vexation,
Pan found in a pipe which he made
Of the reeds, to blow
On whose wax-join’d row,
Was his solace in grot and glade.

English poet John Keats (1795-1821)
tells the story of Pan and Syrinx
So did he feel who pulled the bough 
aside,  
That we might look into a forest wide, 
Telling us how fair trembling Syrinx fled 
Arcadian Pan, with such a fearful dread.  
Poor nymph- poor Pan- how he did weep to find
Nought but a lovely sighing of the wind 

Along the reedy stream; a half-heard strain,  
Full of sweet desolation, balmy pain.
GENERAL MUSIC:
01.  REVIEW OF SILLY RULES WORKSHEET QUESTIONS 8-12
02.  ECHO CLAPPING and MUSIC ELEMENTS OF PULSE and RHYTHM REVIEW
03.  ECHO CLAPPING RHYTHM TO FOR CLASSROOM ATTENTION
........a.  INTRODUCTION TO THE SYMBOL OF THE QUARTER NOTE
........b.  DEFINITION OF TERMS MEASURE and BARLINE
04.  EXPLANATION OF USE OF GRAVITY IN THE PRODUCTION OF A STEADY PULSE
05.  RECORDER RULES TO TUNE OF "THE BEAT GOES ON" WITH BODY PERCUSSION ADDED TO       DISPLAY THE MUSICAL FORM

ADV. STRINGS
01.  ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL
........a.  EXTRA PRACTICE ON THE ENDING RHYTHMIC PASSAGE
02.  YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND IN ME
........a.  DISCUSSION OF SUBDIVIDING BEATS IN ORDER TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE                              COUNTING

BEG. STRINGS
01.  SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW (ADVANCE PART-MELODY)
.......a.  PRACTICED A PASSAGE IN DETAIL 
.......b.  PLAYED THE ENTIRE PIECE FOR CONTINUITY
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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013

QUOTE:
“This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly 
  than ever before.”
AUTHOR: Leonard Bernstein
MEANING OF THE QUOTE:
"When you are angry its not the answer. Get your emotions out 
  with your music instead.”






COMPOSER
DEBUSSY


Arabesque I
(Played by pianist Ciccolini)


Arabesque I
(Arranged for flute and harp)



Arabesque - Classical Music Definition of Arabesque


Definition:
Depending on the context, the term arabesque has several different meanings.
Originally, it described a style of Arab art and architecture consisting of 
intricate designs of geometric floral, and foliage patterns. 
Similarly, as it applies to classical music, arabesque is a style of music that is ornately decorative. 
Most arabesques were composed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 

GENERAL MUSIC:
01.  PROCEDURES TO GETTING OUT FOLDERS and STARTING THE PRE-LESSON ACTIVITY
02.  REVIEW OF SILLY RULES WORKSHEET QUESTIONS 1-7
03.  ECHO CLAPPING and MUSIC ELEMENTS OF PULSE and RHYTHM
........a.  ECHO CLAPPING MUSIC GAME:  LET'S PLAY THE STICK GAME

ADV. STRINGS
01.  ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL
........a.  EXTRA PRACTICE ON THE ENDING RHYTHMIC PASSAGE
02.  SOMEONE THAT I USED TO KNOW

BEG. STRINGS
01.  WARM-UP
........a.  1ST FINGER SHIFTING DO-RE-MI-FA-SOL and BACKWARDS
........b.  SHOWED CLASS HOW SHIFT CAN BE PERFORMED USING THE NEXT HIGHEST OPEN                      STRING AS A DOUBLE STOP TO HELP WITH INTONATION
02.  NEW SONG:  YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND IN ME (HARMONY PART)
........a.  REVIEWED COUNTING
........b.  EXPLAINED ADDED SHARP (#) and FLAT (b) NOTES and THEIR SYMBOLS
........c.  PRACTICED MOVING CHROMATIC PASSAGE FINGERINGS: "B" to "Bb" ON THE "G"                       STRING

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Monday, January 28, 2013

MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2013

QUOTE:
“There is only one real happiness in life, and that is the happiness of creating.”
AUTHOR: Frederick Delius
MEANING OF THE QUOTE:
“Its more fun to create something yourself then to create something yourself 
  then to have someone else create it for you.”











COMPOSER
DEBUSSY


DEBUSSY PLAYS DEBUSSY:
(Recorded from a piano roll)

This is a player piano with a roll:

This what the roll looks like up close:

ARABESQUE: In music it is an ornate, whimsical composition especially for piano.

Arabesque in Art


GENERAL MUSIC (A NEW SEMESTER):
01.  INTRODUCTION TO THE CLASS
........a.  ENTERING and EXISTING PROCEDURES
........b.  CLASS ROOM GENERAL PROCEDURES 
........c.  FOLDERS FOR CLASS WORK
........d.  PASSED OUT RULES WORKSHEETS
........e.  DISCUSSION ABOUT WHAT WILL BE COVERED IN THIS CLASS
........f.  BEHAVIOR EXPECTATIONS and TEAMWORK

ADV. STRINGS
01.  INFORMATION GIVEN OUT CONCERNING FIELD TRIP NEXT WEEK TO WALT DISNEY HALL          IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES TO HEAR THE LA PHILHARMONIC FEBRUARY 7TH
........a.  PASSED OUT INFORMATION SHEETS GIVEN TO ME BY MR. ROA and EXPLAINED WHAT                  IT SAID
........b.  PASSED OUT PERMISSION SLIPS THAT NEED TO BE TURNED IN BY THIS FRIDAY IN                        ORDER TO BE ALLOWED TO ATTEND
........c.  REVIEWED THAT ALL SCHOOL WORK MISSED BY ATTENDING THIS FIELD TRIP MUST                  BE MADE UP 
........d.  INFORMED STUDENTS THAT THEIR OTHER TEACHERS CAN ASK THAT STUDENTS                        MISSING WORK NOT BE ALLOWED TO ATTEND SO ALL STUDENTS NEED TO GET ANY                  MISSING WORK TURNED IN
02.  PREPARED A PRESENTATION ON "THE FIREBIRD" BY IGOR STRAVINSKY TO SHOW THE             CLASS IN PREPARATION FOR THE FIELD TRIP AS THAT IS WHAT WE ARE GOING TO SEE             PERFORMED  SEE:  http://missjacobsonsmusic.blogspot.com/2013/01/stravinsky-firebird-suite-1919.html


BEG. STRINGS
01.   REVIEWED INFORMATION GIVEN OUT CONCERNING FIELD TRIP NEXT WEEK TO WALT               DISNEY HALL IN
        DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES TO HEAR THE LA PHILHARMONIC FEBRUARY 7TH
........a.  PASSED OUT THE REMAINDER OF INFORMATION SHEETS GIVEN TO ME BY MR. ROA                    FOR THOSE WHO NEEDED THEM
........b.  PASSED OUT THE REMAINDER OF THE PERMISSION SLIPS THAT NEED TO BE TURNED                  IN BY THIS FRIDAY IN ORDER TO BE ALLOWED TO ATTEND
........c.  COLLECTED COMPLETED PERMISSION SLIPS
........d.  REVIEWED THAT ALL SCHOOL WORK MISSED BY ATTENDING THIS FIELD TRIP MUST                BE MADE UP 
........e.  INFORMED STUDENTS THAT THEIR OTHER TEACHERS CAN ASK THAT STUDENTS                         MISSING WORK  NOT BE ALLOWED TO ATTEND SO ALL STUDENTS NEED TO GET ANY                 MISSING WORK TURNED IN
02.  PREPARED A PRESENTATION ON "THE FIREBIRD" BY IGOR STRAVINSKY TO SHOW THE             CLASS IN PREPARATION FOR THE FIELD TRIP AS THAT IS WHAT WE ARE GOING TO SEE             PERFORMED  SEE: http://missjacobsonsmusic.blogspot.com/2013/01/stravinsky-firebird-suite-1919.html
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Friday, January 25, 2013

WHAT IS A TUNING FORK?



A tuning fork serves as a useful illustration of how a vibrating object can produce sound. The fork consists of a handle and two tines. When the tuning fork is hit, the tines begin to vibrate back and forth several hundred times per second. The back and forth vibration of the tines produce disturbances of surrounding air molecules. Often, the vibrations are so fast that they're not visible to the human eye. Experimentally this can be viewed by dipping a humming tuning fork into a cup of water; it will kick up a surprisingly large jet of water.
Tuning fork vibrations in super slow motion:

The speed of a tuning fork's vibrations is known as its frequency, a quantity measured in hertz (Hz), or vibrations per second.The faster a tuning fork's frequency, the shorter the length of the tuning fork tine and the higher the pitch of the note it plays because it has less distance to move. An example: a very high sound may vibrate at 4,000 Hz. and a very low sound vibrate at 28 Hz. It is the same principle as strings on a guitar; a tight string vibrates quickly and a loose string takes longer to shudder back and forth, resulting in a lower tone.

During the vibration, as a tine stretches outward from its usual position, it compresses surrounding air molecules into a small region of space creating a high pressure (compression) region next to the tine. As the tine then moves inward from its usual position, air surrounding the tine expands producing a low pressure (rarefaction) region next to the tine. As the tines continue to vibrate, an alternating pattern of high and low pressure regions are created. These regions are transported through the surrounding air, carrying the sound signal from one location to another forming a sound wave.
The vibration of 440 cycles/sec causes compression and rarefaction of air molecules 
generating sound waves.



The "tuning fork" was invented by John Shore, English musician to the royal court in 1711 and had a pitch of A423.5. The numbers underneath the musical notes represent the Hertz (Hz) or cycles per second of the sound wave made when the fork is vibrating.

Standard Pitch or Concert Pitch is a universal frequency or note that all musical instruments are tuned to. Today's standard pitch is A440 or C523.3 and this enables musicians to play instruments together in harmony, without clashing pitches. A tuning fork is normally used to set the pitch. Pitch pipes and electronic tuning forks can also be used, but are not as common

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2013

QUOTE:
“Music is given to us with the sole purpose of establishing an order in things, including, and particularly, 
  the coordination between man and time.”
AUTHOR: Igor Stravinsky
MEANING OF THE QUOTE:
“Music is a way of recording the history, culture, and emotions of people
  throughout time.”









COMPOSER
DEBUSSY


DEBUSSY PLAYS DEBUSSY: 
"GOLLIWOGG'S CAKEWALK"
from The Children's Corner #6 (1913)
recorded off of a piano roll

Player piano with a piano roll



RACHMANINOFF PLAYS GOLLIWOGG'S CAKEWALK

PERIODS 1 and 2:
01.  VIOLIN: BOWING ON VIOLIN
........a.  TREMELO TECHNIQUE 
........b.  OPEN STRING SONG WITH NOTE READING:  BLAST OFF
........c.  OPEN STRING SONG WITH NOTE READING: OPEN STRING WALTZ
........d.  REVIEW "PUMPED UP KICKS"
PERIOD 3:
01.  MUSICAL: MY FAIR LADY

ADV. STRINGS
01.  PIRATES OF CARIBBEAN
........a.  PLAYED THROUGH FOR CONTINUITY
........b.  WORKED ON ANOTHER SPECIFIC PASSAGE TO GET SPEED
02.  PARADISE
03.  MY HEART WILL GO ON

BEG. STRINGS 
01.  PARADISE (HARMONY PART)
02.  ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL
........a.  REVIEWED SOME SECTIONS
........b.  PLAYED  THE ENTIRE PIECE

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Thursday, January 24, 2013

THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2013

QUOTE:
“Achievements, seldom credited to their source, are the result of unspeakable drudgery and worries.”
AUTHOR: Richard Wagner
MEANING OF THE QUOTE:
“The audience rarely knows of all the time and effort that goes into 
  the production of an art form.”









COMPOSER
DEBUSSY


Clair de Lune 
(Originally written for the piano.)

Clair de Lune
(A deleted scene from Disney's "Fantasia"
Stokowsky arrangement)
Stokowsky conducts his own arrangement of Clair de Lune


Clair de Lune
 Played by violinist David Oistrakh
http://missjacobsonsmusic.blogspot.com/2010/04/debussy-claire-de-lune-played-by-van.html
http://wheredihearthat.blogspot.com/2011/09/clair-de-lune.html

PERIODS 1 and 2:
01.  VIOLIN: BOWING ON VIOLIN
........a.  TIGHTENING and LOOSING BOW
........b.  BOW LEVELS ON VIOLIN 
.............1)  SILENT BOW ROCKING
.............2)  SPRING OF BOW AT EACH MAIN BOW LEVEL 4X
.........c. BOWING MIDDLE to TIP USING ELBOW (UPPER HALF of BOW) 4X EACH STRING
.............1)  EXPLANATION OF DOWN and UP BOWS
.............2)  SILENT DOWN and UP MOVEMENTS WITHOUT VIOLIN
.........d.  BOWING 4X EACH STRING
.........e.  OPEN STRING SONG "PUMPED UP KICKS" (HARMONY: GG/DD/AA/EE)
...............1)  STUDENTS BOW UH (UPPER HALF OF BOW) TO THE ACCOMPANIMENT
...............2)  AS STUDENTS PRACTICE WITH MUSIC TEACHER CHECKS EACH STUDENT AS TO                           PROPER BOW TECHNIQUE.
.........f.  OPEN STRING SONG "BLAST OFF" USING NOTE READING (TO CONTINUE TOMORROW)

PERIOD 3:
01.  VIOLIN: LEFT PIZZICATO CYCLE OF STRINGS
........a.  REVIEWED WATCHING THE CONDUCTOR DIRECTIONS
........b.  LEFT THUMB PLACED AT CURVE OF THE VIOLIN NECK
........c.  PAD OF THE LEFT POINTER FINGER DEPRESSES EACH STRING 8X WITH A SPRING                       ACTION
........d.  REPEAT ABOVE DIRECTIONS and PULL THE STRING TO THE RIGHT TO PLUCK THE                      STRING
.............1)  PLUCKED EACH STRING 4X (DEPRESSING THE STRING DOWN BEFORE PLUCKING                         EACH TIME)
........e.  OPEN STRING SONG "CRIPPLE CREEK"
..............1)  REVIEWED NOTE NAMES and RELATED NOTES TO THE OPEN STRINGS
..............2)  SANG NOTE NAMES AGAINST RECORDED ACCOMPANIMENT
..............3)  REPEATED THE ABOVE DIRECTIONS and ADDED RIGHT HAND PIZZICATO

ADV. STRINGS
01.  PIRATES OF CARIBBEAN 
........a.  WORKED ON ANOTHER SPECIFIC PASSAGE TO GET SPEED
02.  STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN
03.  WHAT MAKES YOU BEAUTIFUL

BEG. STRINGS 
01.  WARM-UP 
........a.  OPEN STRING SCALES SLURRING 2 NOTES ON A SINGLE WHOLE BOW (WB)
........b.  OPEN STRING SCALES SLURRING 2 NOTES AT THE LH and UH OF THE BOW IN                              PREPARATION TO SLUR 4 NOTES ON A BOW
04.  SOMEBODY I USED TO KNOW
.........a.  REVIEWED A SPECIFIC PASSAGE FOR COUNTING and FOR BOWING
..............1) PULLED APART THE FIRST FEW PHRASES INTRICATELY FOR PROPER BOWING,                             ARTICULATION, and COUNTING
..............2)  DISCUSSED THE IMPORTANCE OF PROPER ARTICULATION and  HOW IT CAN BE                            USED TO HIDE MANY PLAYING MISTAKES and ERRORS

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