Romanticism: It’s happening! #CClasses
This is session two of three in this round of the Connecting Classes project. What’s happening here is a different sort of teaching where actually… Read More »Romanticism: It’s happening! #CClasses
cello
Cry me a river
I love the idea of dressing up and why not do this with a melody? There is so much that can be learned from listening… Read More »Cry me a river
Making it melodic
Thinking about melody, there are a few components that are common to all music – pitch and rhythm. None of the topics in #MUS654 deal distinctly with rhythm, but it is interwoven into everything. Yesterday in my made-up melody example, I used different rhythms to give meaning to the notes. It made me think. There are some pieces of music where the notes are constant, and then what? It is not always the rhythm that points to the melodic line. The components of music can be shuffled so that one comes to the foreground while something else, that maybe more constant, fades more into the background.Read More »Making it melodic
It’s a physical thing
There is no other way to say it. Playing a string instrument, and any instrument (yes, I include singing), is a physical thing. We are… Read More »It’s a physical thing
Learning in Public: Part 3
This is a critical post about performing. I take you inside my mind to illustrate the good and the challenges of performance. Going from the practice room to the public platform is something that all musicians do. In school, at university, or with a teacher this is something that is trained into you and facilitated. There is performance class, there are opportunities to ‘air’ the music first, but what happens when you leave that environment and are on your own? Do you keep it going? Do you still push yourself? Few graduating musicians are likely to play the same concerti they prepared for their final recitals as recital material and certainly not as regular ‘gig’ material. And what of the learning opportunities? When you leave your teacher’s studio, there are no more regular performance classes, and depending on what you do there may not be any peers to play for….unless you create the opportunities. This is the story of the opportunity I created, my thought processes, and the results. I’m learning in public. (Featured image CC-BY-NC by C Steele)Read More »Learning in Public: Part 3
Learning in Public: Part 2
This is the second post about performing… I had the pleasure of performing with one of my children. A couple of weeks ago I said… Read More »Learning in Public: Part 2
Live performance
People have asked when I would post some performances… Here you are! This is a live performance of Gabriel’s Oboe played by me, on cello,… Read More »Live performance
Ah, the Cello Weekend !
I love this time of year. It is all go – there is a buzz in the air from the springtime as everything wakes up, but there is also that sense of drive as students prepare for exams and recitals, and people in general come out of the woodwork after the winter months. It’s then that we gather for the Cello Weekend. I have been running these events since at least 2004 (I’m not actually sure when I started them, but I found an old poster the other day) and every year we do something different. This year we had a lovely range of people who came from all over and I’m not sure there is actually another event quite like this one. The thing is that we all take part – the 8 year old beginner with the graduating music major and the retired professional. All play in the same cello orchestra and I think it is fair to say that all are challenged.Read More »Ah, the Cello Weekend !
Time to practice
Cello cello cello cello cello
That’s where my brain is at the moment. Every year I do a recital at the University and every year there is a moment when I wonder why why why? I don’t have to. Nobody requires me to, it’s not part of my job. But somehow I need to. It is very important to me to put myself through the paces, to learn and do the same as I require the students to do, but it’s a balancing act and it’s no more easy for me than it is for them or anyone. It takes time. I’ve started waking up early, going to bed late, even waking up after everyone else has gone to bed. I think the music just creeps into your blood.
So
Practise practise practise! (or practice in ‘Americanish’ as my children used to say)
I very much enjoy the process, the sound, and having something to say – a voice – where I don’t have to have words. If you asked me what the music means, I wouldn’t have words, but it is full of meaning. I’m happy to talk about that, but maybe another time.Read More »Time to practice
Live music + cupcakes + David Preston = my book launch!
It’s all about that #YesICan. Self-efficacy. The book. This Tuesday 5:30-6:30 GMT is the time to share and celebrate, and yes, the event will be live-streamed.
I’m not so good at celebrating or accepting compliments of any sort, and somehow I have managed to make this event into something that I am really looking forward to and am so excited to share – and, no, I am not going to stand on a soap box and talk at people. I am going to do the book – show you what it says on the tin. The event is to celebrate and launch my book Fostering self-efficacy in higher education students and it has also been billed as a Learning & Teaching event by the University of Chichester, where I work. I love that – it is absolutely lovely, and makes me feel valued and supported ‘at home’. I am very grateful. There is a very special guest coming to say a few words – My good friend and colleague David Preston (He founded the Open Source Learning Foundation and I am pleased to be able to say I am also one of the co-founding members of the OSLF, which is in it’s infancy yet, but international links and projects are springing up already) is on the plane at this very moment winging his way from LA to England (the land of tea and cakes that I call home).Read More »Live music + cupcakes + David Preston = my book launch!