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I have been so busy with the piano and a bassoon performance, that I actually have not been playing the Beatles game at all. I guess part of the point of course was to play the piano more, which I have been doing. But since I have been prioritizing the real instrument playing, I have not been playing the game. I actually need a little time to blow off steam, so I don't know if I am accomplishing my goal of needing to "goof off" by playing Brahms.I am pretty goal oriented, and to say I have been stressed out is an understatement these days..So, last night, after a bassoon performance with Kammerwerke, I came home and had a go at the Beatles game in "story" mode.
One of the goals with "story" mode is to collect photographs of the Beatles that you can browse in the game. You do this by accruing "stars" as you play. You can accrue stars by playing accurately when the colored diamonds on the fretboard light up and you get the passages without flaws. The thing that seems a tad 'unfair' or out of balance, or something, is that if you play a song on a higher level, like Hard or Expert, you still accrue photgraphs at the same rate. There is no "weighting" for playing the songs at a higher level. You could accrue enough points at a lower level and achieve the photographs. I have been attempting songs at Hard or Expert and just can't quite get beyond three stars. So I get one or two photographs, but even if I succeed (i.e. don't "Fail") at these higher levels, there is no compensation for doing so at a more difficult level.
I am currently stuck at a "three star" success rate. I "pass" the songs on Hard or Expert at about an average of a 84 % rate. (or a "B"in the high school where I teach) , but since I don't get four or five stars (and I am SOOO close sometimes), I get one photograph. If I lower my level to Medium, it is really boring. But what is the goal really? To accrue photographs and achieve a goal spurred on by extrinsic motivation? Or, is it to get better at the game?
Well, I do know it is a game after all. Still, I don't want to play the songs over and over to "win".
I played Guitar Hero World Tour before this and was succeeding at a 94% plus rate in guitar mode at the Medium level. This got pretty easy. But since I didn't always know the songs on the game, it was a little like "sight-reading" in a way, and I felt like I had accomplished something by passing the songs at first go 'round.
The Beatles songs seem a like whole different thing. I can't isolate the variable, so it is difficult to say if I am playing the game at a higher level becuase the game is eaiser, or because I "practiced" on GHWT, or for some other reason. I do notice that the earlier songs for guitar are harder. I have much more respect for the rhythm guitar role and George's solos than I ever did.
I am not an intense Beatles fan, although I do know about their music, listen to it, and when things get low in the dark months of the year here in New England, I watch "Hard Day's Night: and have a good laugh.I was born too late maybe, I don't know. I also am a sort of Anti-Paul fan. I don't like him. Cuteness wears thin on me and I always wrote him off as a smarmy dude who was lucky to outlive the other ones. Plus whats up with his too-young wives. I know I am being judgemental. But the Beatles game is changing all thins.
For one, the bass parts on the game are tricky. On hard and expert, you can hear how closely they resemble the original parts, and thanks to the marketing aspect of the game, the sound fidelity is ramped up and you can hear much more on the game (even given my ancient TV) than I can hear on the speakers of my 2000 Honda Civic's sound system. Yeah, this music is complex. When you play their earlier tunes based even on 12 bar blues, they include riffs and flourishes that really make them stand out. Oh, so thats the big deal. It's not just their cool three part harmonies, which even as a kid I really liked.
As you play in guitar mode,you also get the opportunity to play George's solos. These are NOT simple (I mean on a real guitar) -- they come up quickly, and in this game, you can really hear them. So I am appreciating what a fine guitarist he was. I KNEW this, but even playing the plastic guitar, using a combination of my ear and game finger-flailing, I can hear and see what he added. I don't think any of the recordings I had brought that forth for me. It cracks me up that you can have a "perfect" solo, a "good" solo, or a "messy" solo. You get extra points for these as well. Cool.
The graphics are fun. I am still so intent on playing the game well, that I think I am missing some of the graphics. I am also still playing in righty bass mode or mostly guitar mode.As you get past "the Cavern" and Shea Stadium in "story ' mode, the graphics get trippier and trippier. I think it is time for a Rock Band party where we can, umm. play together and , er watch the graphics. Or something.
As you get into the later stuff -- Abbey Road and George's sitar work -- the game seems more like GHWT. You are not necessarily tracking guitar work with the game's plastic guitar. In GHWT, sometimes you would be playing a keyboard or something on the silly plastic guitar. Same here. The Beatles left the rock and roll music thing behind them once they departed from their stadium tours and the game reflects this as well.
As a musician, I find myself betwixt and between., I am hearing Beatles music differently -- much more detail -- and this is due to the sound quality and the sym feature of playing Rock Band, as limited as it is. I play a little guitar, and for one thing, I am not keeping the calluses in my left hand in good form by choosing to spend time away from the real instrument and playing the Rock Band instrument. YouTube has some vids of a guy who attributed his ability to play the real drums to the practice he got on Rock Band, I don't have Rock Band drums. Trying to see how the GHWT drums work with Rock band is on my to do list, for sure. But what about my photograph accrual?
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Listening to the Voices
That would be the inner voices. Brahms was another genius in the music world IMHO, maybe or maybe not on the level of JS Bach, but a genius nonetheless. Plus he had a nice bushy beard:
In an attempt to avoid racing over the first two pages of the Intermezzo, I have been focusing on the inner voices. As a bassoonist and alto, I know a little about the value of the middle to lower parts of the staff, and Brahms has given much to consider with regard to them in this pieces. Maybe he meant to call it an inner mezzo, you know like listening to your inner mezzo. (As opposed to listening forever to a diva soprano.) Maybe not. Anyway...
The swell and beauty of his theme is changed ever so slightly and quite deliciously by the subtle chord changes and inversions as carried by both the left and right hands. They are also places easily fluffed over by a less attentive player. Not to mention any names.You could play through the first two pages anyway with sort of approximations of the chord changes. But the warmth that is Brahms is exemplified in this piano piece surely, and it is attention to detail that can express it.
I have spent the last two practice periods focusing on these changes and have been playing them veeeerrrry slooooowly and out of rhythm on occasion (on purpose). It is like a kind of savoring of something very endorphin-releasing. Many such opiates come to mind -- pick your own. But I have been avoiding playing the piece up to tempo, because I have to relearn some of these chord changes 100% accurately, which means unlearning the old ways. But I prefer to think of it as a relearning of his beauty and tripping out on the so lovely warmth that a piece in key with sharps (it is in A, mostly) can provide. Mmmmmmmmmm.
In an attempt to avoid racing over the first two pages of the Intermezzo, I have been focusing on the inner voices. As a bassoonist and alto, I know a little about the value of the middle to lower parts of the staff, and Brahms has given much to consider with regard to them in this pieces. Maybe he meant to call it an inner mezzo, you know like listening to your inner mezzo. (As opposed to listening forever to a diva soprano.) Maybe not. Anyway...
The swell and beauty of his theme is changed ever so slightly and quite deliciously by the subtle chord changes and inversions as carried by both the left and right hands. They are also places easily fluffed over by a less attentive player. Not to mention any names.You could play through the first two pages anyway with sort of approximations of the chord changes. But the warmth that is Brahms is exemplified in this piano piece surely, and it is attention to detail that can express it.
I have spent the last two practice periods focusing on these changes and have been playing them veeeerrrry slooooowly and out of rhythm on occasion (on purpose). It is like a kind of savoring of something very endorphin-releasing. Many such opiates come to mind -- pick your own. But I have been avoiding playing the piece up to tempo, because I have to relearn some of these chord changes 100% accurately, which means unlearning the old ways. But I prefer to think of it as a relearning of his beauty and tripping out on the so lovely warmth that a piece in key with sharps (it is in A, mostly) can provide. Mmmmmmmmmm.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Meeting the Beatles
Tried the Beatles game for the first time with the Wii Guitar Hero guitar controller with absolutely no technical troubles. I started out on Quick Play in order to get a feel for the game and found that the songs there are listed by ranking them easiest to most difficult. In the interest of avoiding being embarrassed, I started at the top with their easiest tunes first on medium. They were WAY too easy. When I tried Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, the first time on expert though, I failed, not to booing as with GHWT, but the band simply stopped playing and you could hear John's voice saying, "I don't know what they're doing."You an choose a No Fail mode, but I skipped that.
Visually,for some of them, the quick play starts you out in a studio with a date displayed, and then once you start the tune, depending on the era, puts you visually into some other animated ambience. The Beatles look a bit like they do in the Yellow Submarine film , so it's not like they are unfamiliar or a mockery of themselves. The issue I am having personally with the visuals is the same one as I had with GHWT. While we have a good enough old school TV, it is not high def and the sound is just out of the speaker unless I crank it, much to my cats' and partner's dismay. So, maybe the visuals are getting lost on me while I am laying. It is as if they play on in my subconscious, but right now I am concentrating so hard on the game that I am not paying attention to the visuals.
This is an interesting project because while I am not the wildest fan of the Beatles, I do like them. I noticed that the more difficult songs for guitar are some of their earliest ones.
Above the tunes in Career mode is a kind of thermometer which display the relative difficulty of the instruments and some of the easiest songs , like "Yellow Submarine" doesn't even inch its way onto the thermometer.
Next stop, I think is "Career" mode, which will put me chronologically in the various venues they played in.
Visually,for some of them, the quick play starts you out in a studio with a date displayed, and then once you start the tune, depending on the era, puts you visually into some other animated ambience. The Beatles look a bit like they do in the Yellow Submarine film , so it's not like they are unfamiliar or a mockery of themselves. The issue I am having personally with the visuals is the same one as I had with GHWT. While we have a good enough old school TV, it is not high def and the sound is just out of the speaker unless I crank it, much to my cats' and partner's dismay. So, maybe the visuals are getting lost on me while I am laying. It is as if they play on in my subconscious, but right now I am concentrating so hard on the game that I am not paying attention to the visuals.
This is an interesting project because while I am not the wildest fan of the Beatles, I do like them. I noticed that the more difficult songs for guitar are some of their earliest ones.
Above the tunes in Career mode is a kind of thermometer which display the relative difficulty of the instruments and some of the easiest songs , like "Yellow Submarine" doesn't even inch its way onto the thermometer.
Next stop, I think is "Career" mode, which will put me chronologically in the various venues they played in.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Counting to Five
The goal of my Resolution 9 project is in part, of course, to shame/bribe/condition/encourage myself to get the piano playing back into shape. In the 1970 move, Five Easy Pieces, Jack Nicholson's character, Bobby Dupea, has turned his back on his family and musical ability to live a sort of aimless life. While I may have started out my life as an adult in some ways not unlike Dupea, Nicholson's character in the movie, it certainly hasn't ended up that way, and some of the other differences are too numerous to go into here.
My story is that I am a middle aged woman who showed some promise as a young musician on the bassoon and the piano, enough that I went to Oberlin as a double degree student with my Conservatory major being the bassoon. I, like Dupea, didn't want the life of daily disciplined practice, so I dropped out of the Con, kept on with my academic studies in the College, and went a long time not playing much of anything except the guitar a little. Then, during the course of several lifetimes on both coasts later, I have picked up the bassoon again, play the piano off and on again here and there, and am a high school teacher. (No, not a music teacher.) So, like a lot of adults who played the piano when they were kids, I am taking it up again with a little more seriousness. A little more. This project is not about Nicholson's character per se whose fate at the end of the film is in some ways the exact opposite of what mine turned out to be. Rather it is about finding a structure by which I can take on trying to capture a small amount of discipline in practice and play the piano on my terms.
In the movie, towards the end, Dupea plays Chopin's Prelude in E Minor, "the easiest piece [he] could think of." The other pieces in the movie are Chopin's Fantasy in f minor, Opus 49; Bach's Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue; Mozart's E-flat Major Concerto K272 and Mozart's Fantasy in d Minor K397. None of these necessarily fall into the realm of "easy". The pieces I have chosen may or may not fall into the realm of easy, depending on any number of things, and the fact that they are not unfamiliar pieces to musicians in some ways make them "harder", if merely for the reason that they are familiar. EVERYONE plays them, knows if you miss notes and they can be played pretty lamely if accurately.
David Hodgkins, musical director of Coro Allegro , intones many at times oft-repeated quotes in order to coach the choir towards its usual excellence, and one of them has to do with the pitfalls of performing familiar music. When the group is rehearsing a piece well known in the classical world, like a Haydn mass or Randall Thompson's tired "Alleluia" [THAT old thing],dutifully dragged out our back pockets for perhaps too many occasions, David will say, "It's like singing the National Anthem! Everyone sings it! Everyone knows it. We can't afford to do it "mezzo blah!'" Or some some such exhortation to avoid mediocrity. He's not just talking about accuracy, he's talking about musicality and attention, and, as he is so often, he is quite right.
"Five Easy Pieces" also refers to a set of 4 Hand Piano pieces by Igor Stravinsky, which he composed from 1916-1917, upon completion of another set called Three Easy Pieces. But as of yet, this isn't about that either, although I love Stravinsky. I did do enough conservatory time to nail the intro to "Rite of Spring" on the bassoon.
The "easy" part is also related to attention, focus, and time management. I do not have tons of time to devote to this particular project, so I want to make sure I am present in a kind of Buddhist way when I am.
Four pieces I have chosen are not the Bach and Mozart featured in the film, indeed not Bach or Mozart at all, and the fifth is as of yet undetermined. My choices are based on my desire to see a project through. All of the pieces except the new unchosen fifth are already on the road to completion, but in working on them, I have been not been following good practice techniques. As well, I am working on avoiding the self-defeating thinking that I MUST play the MOST difficult pieces in all the land technique-wise (as determined by some committee of shameful and invisible judges) to demonstrate that I am a competent musician. I have bashed my way through some Chopin Ballades like hacking through a bamboo forest with a machete only to have the conquered measures lie slain in my wake, "gotten through" but joylessly. And this because I was misusing my time. Instead of savoring some of it, I worried about "finishing the piece" to say I could play it. Bah. Maybe this is about being older and wiser. I love Chopin, that tortured soul, but I might love to play Brahms and Ravel more.
Focus is the key. I have half-learned the following piano pieces and when I pull them out, I tend only to play the parts I really know. There are errors I always play, play in fact so much they are starting to become part of the way I play the piece (oh dear) and I am simply stuck on the first few pages in most. So, four of the Five Easy pieces:
My story is that I am a middle aged woman who showed some promise as a young musician on the bassoon and the piano, enough that I went to Oberlin as a double degree student with my Conservatory major being the bassoon. I, like Dupea, didn't want the life of daily disciplined practice, so I dropped out of the Con, kept on with my academic studies in the College, and went a long time not playing much of anything except the guitar a little. Then, during the course of several lifetimes on both coasts later, I have picked up the bassoon again, play the piano off and on again here and there, and am a high school teacher. (No, not a music teacher.) So, like a lot of adults who played the piano when they were kids, I am taking it up again with a little more seriousness. A little more. This project is not about Nicholson's character per se whose fate at the end of the film is in some ways the exact opposite of what mine turned out to be. Rather it is about finding a structure by which I can take on trying to capture a small amount of discipline in practice and play the piano on my terms.
In the movie, towards the end, Dupea plays Chopin's Prelude in E Minor, "the easiest piece [he] could think of." The other pieces in the movie are Chopin's Fantasy in f minor, Opus 49; Bach's Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue; Mozart's E-flat Major Concerto K272 and Mozart's Fantasy in d Minor K397. None of these necessarily fall into the realm of "easy". The pieces I have chosen may or may not fall into the realm of easy, depending on any number of things, and the fact that they are not unfamiliar pieces to musicians in some ways make them "harder", if merely for the reason that they are familiar. EVERYONE plays them, knows if you miss notes and they can be played pretty lamely if accurately.
David Hodgkins, musical director of Coro Allegro , intones many at times oft-repeated quotes in order to coach the choir towards its usual excellence, and one of them has to do with the pitfalls of performing familiar music. When the group is rehearsing a piece well known in the classical world, like a Haydn mass or Randall Thompson's tired "Alleluia" [THAT old thing],dutifully dragged out our back pockets for perhaps too many occasions, David will say, "It's like singing the National Anthem! Everyone sings it! Everyone knows it. We can't afford to do it "mezzo blah!'" Or some some such exhortation to avoid mediocrity. He's not just talking about accuracy, he's talking about musicality and attention, and, as he is so often, he is quite right.
"Five Easy Pieces" also refers to a set of 4 Hand Piano pieces by Igor Stravinsky, which he composed from 1916-1917, upon completion of another set called Three Easy Pieces. But as of yet, this isn't about that either, although I love Stravinsky. I did do enough conservatory time to nail the intro to "Rite of Spring" on the bassoon.
The "easy" part is also related to attention, focus, and time management. I do not have tons of time to devote to this particular project, so I want to make sure I am present in a kind of Buddhist way when I am.
Four pieces I have chosen are not the Bach and Mozart featured in the film, indeed not Bach or Mozart at all, and the fifth is as of yet undetermined. My choices are based on my desire to see a project through. All of the pieces except the new unchosen fifth are already on the road to completion, but in working on them, I have been not been following good practice techniques. As well, I am working on avoiding the self-defeating thinking that I MUST play the MOST difficult pieces in all the land technique-wise (as determined by some committee of shameful and invisible judges) to demonstrate that I am a competent musician. I have bashed my way through some Chopin Ballades like hacking through a bamboo forest with a machete only to have the conquered measures lie slain in my wake, "gotten through" but joylessly. And this because I was misusing my time. Instead of savoring some of it, I worried about "finishing the piece" to say I could play it. Bah. Maybe this is about being older and wiser. I love Chopin, that tortured soul, but I might love to play Brahms and Ravel more.
Focus is the key. I have half-learned the following piano pieces and when I pull them out, I tend only to play the parts I really know. There are errors I always play, play in fact so much they are starting to become part of the way I play the piece (oh dear) and I am simply stuck on the first few pages in most. So, four of the Five Easy pieces:
- The Pineapple Rag by Scott Joplin (Been there, done that old Maple Leaf One.)
- Intermezzo in A by Brahms , yes, that one, I am somewhat embarrassed to say
- Ravel's "Dead Princess" Pavane
- Someday My Prince will Come - the jazz waltz version of it, not the Disney version of it
- ???????
Monday, September 7, 2009
Five Easy Pieces + The Fab 4 = Resolution #9
As someone who has been playing Guitar Hero World Tour (GHWT) on the Wii for a year or so now, and as a musician,I do wonder whether I am making good use of my time when I play the Wii game. Like many folks I bet, as I got good on the game, I wondered if my playing of the real guitar was better, as I hadn't picked it up in a while. I can say that GHWT does nothing for developing calluses and the grip stregth for barre chords. Still, I did pull out the guitar this summer and thought, "Oh yeah, I can play this thing. Remember?" But I do think my musical skills help me at GHWT. Great.
I am also a bassoonist, but I don't need too much additional motivation/bribery to play that instrument as I have regular opportunities to perform throughout the year. The thing niggling at me, like a splinter in my mind, as Neo would say, is the piano. I am actually a fairly skilled if nervous pianist. I love to play. I almost never do. Since I have been playing the bassoon and singing in a choir for years now, my piano playing when I DO it, is better and better, and I finally know how to really practice. But I don't play enough. So, here's my deal.
I thought it would be fun to try the Beatles Rock Band game for the Wii when it comes out. Like I have all this free time as a school teacher besides. And I wanted to finish some piano pieces I have in various stages of completion and maybe pick up some new ones. Hence the Five Easy Pieces.
My pact: I have to practice the piano mindfully for 15 minutes (15 minutes of mindful > 30 minutes of goofing around on it, believe me.) Then I get to play the Wii game. I have not come up with a timeframe for the game yet. And no, it doesn't have to be daily, although I will have to schedule it somehow.
The next post will be about the Five Easy Pieces, what they are and what I mean by their being "Five Easy Pieces", but my Resolution 9 comes from the equation outlining the relationship between my piao goals and the Wii Beatles game. And it must be at least the 9th time I have resolved to play the piano more. And who doesn't like a pun. I know I do.
I am also a bassoonist, but I don't need too much additional motivation/bribery to play that instrument as I have regular opportunities to perform throughout the year. The thing niggling at me, like a splinter in my mind, as Neo would say, is the piano. I am actually a fairly skilled if nervous pianist. I love to play. I almost never do. Since I have been playing the bassoon and singing in a choir for years now, my piano playing when I DO it, is better and better, and I finally know how to really practice. But I don't play enough. So, here's my deal.
I thought it would be fun to try the Beatles Rock Band game for the Wii when it comes out. Like I have all this free time as a school teacher besides. And I wanted to finish some piano pieces I have in various stages of completion and maybe pick up some new ones. Hence the Five Easy Pieces.
My pact: I have to practice the piano mindfully for 15 minutes (15 minutes of mindful > 30 minutes of goofing around on it, believe me.) Then I get to play the Wii game. I have not come up with a timeframe for the game yet. And no, it doesn't have to be daily, although I will have to schedule it somehow.
The next post will be about the Five Easy Pieces, what they are and what I mean by their being "Five Easy Pieces", but my Resolution 9 comes from the equation outlining the relationship between my piao goals and the Wii Beatles game. And it must be at least the 9th time I have resolved to play the piano more. And who doesn't like a pun. I know I do.
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