Result of Practice Session #[insert number here]

Hello for the quite long standby from posting of things. Honestly, with the work I was having, I did not have the time to do posting. PLUS! I was sick for quite some time. But that's all in the past now! :D
Yes! The group (which does not include me for half the time, Ruby and S.Y.) had a practice session. the reason why I came halfway of the session was because of my test, which I can proudly say I failed in. When Anna left to do stuff, Rina and I continued practicing. THEN BAM! I had a brilliant idea. I went to the music room and took (with permission) Mr. I's METRONOME!!! :O

Yes. So for the remainder of the time, we had fun trying to keep the beat while keeping the right intonation. Because of the Super Metronome (S.M.), we were able to do D in Waltzer.


Anyhoo... We STILL NEED COOPERATION FROM SOME PEOPLE. not pointing fingers at anyone (R and SY), but as they say; the more, the merrier!

-Jeff

P.S.
Blah.

Yello!

This may come a little late for most of you, but Rina and I decided that tomorrow is a good day for a group practice. Location is still undecided, but we'll figure something out. There's always the changing room.

I think we will be basically reviewing all the pieces for the concert this Friday (yippeeday!).

We'll talk to you in class tomorrow about it anyway (: See you then.

Copies of scores

Hey guys!

Very glad to see that our Bach Double Concerto is now much, much better (although I apologize for always making mistakes, shameful of me I know) and hoping this streak will last until the concert.

Anna, I need a huge favour from you. I'm holding off the breaking of the lock until Monday in case Jeff comes back with my keys, so until then, could you scan Walzer and Double Concerto for me and post it here? It would be a great help so that I can fix up my Walzer timings and some things I need to fix for Bach's Double Concerto. I'd be really grateful if you did.

Thanks, and have a great weekend. Don't forget to practice! :)

My keys...

Yes, folks, you read that right. Jeff, remember how I handed over my locker key to you last Friday, along with my house key?

Well, I need it back. Seriously. It's embarrassing to be a section leader and use a school-owned viola. Need to set a better example, yanno?

GIVE ME MY KEYS TOMORROW OR YOU"RE DEAD.

How shall I kill thee? Let me count the ways...

Next Practice Session?

We need to plan our practice session. Filipiniana Day is approaching quickly! We do not want to look like fools when we can't do those fast notes Rosas Pandan!

I was thinking Thursday after school, if not then Tuesday. Which do you prefer? Decisions made as quickly as possible are best (: See you then.

Anna

Review on Practice Session 2

All right, so as scheduled, the second practice session took place on September 30. We managed to get more practice than the last one, and for the record, Arcee joined this one, so yay! Since we didn't want to get stuck with the tiny practice rooms, in the end we opted for the changing rooms, which thankfully, no one was using at the time.

Key points we worked on were the faster passages in Pirates of the Caribbean, Walzer and Rosas Pandan. Mr. Ibero told us to work on our intonation for Hungarian Dance no. 6, so that's what we'll be working on this week. Hmm...what else? Our spiccatos are at least more synchronized than before, which is good, but we still have a long way to go. At least the concert is in December, although if I remember correctly we have an in-class one this week.

Finally fixed my copy's bowings for Pirates...haha, sorry 'bout that, Anna. If anyone else has something to add, feel free, otherwise, ciao for now!

Any thoughts on the schedule for the third practice session?

P.S. Must work on spiccato for the next scale pass-off! G major sounded okay for the most part, but Arcee, you gotta ask when you're not sure, otherwise you'll continue to have trouble. Just tell us so we can help you!

Second Practice Session

All right, guys! We made it through A minor, and now we'll probably be having pass-offs on G major by next week. Arce, you better work on your Am!!! Bb and B are going to be the hardest ones, so even if you can't play it straight away without mistakes, it's good to know how the sound of major and minor keys generally sound, okay?

On another note, I won't be here this Friday thanks to MUN Locals, so I can't guarantee a practice session. I've talked it over with Anna and we've agreed that a practice session can take place next week (hopefully with all members present) so we can polish our viola skills. I hope you guys are available next Tuesday, since my Friday next week will be occupied with the first official Anime Club meeting, of which I'm currently vice-president. If not, let's talk it over so I know when you guys are free.

If you guys want to practice this Friday as well by yourselves after school, I encourage you to do so! Jeff and Anna can take charge, so you guys can practice Rosas Pandan, especially the measures which have Es and Bs, since the key is in E flat and B flat. The spiccato in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest can also be further improved if you guys have time.

Regardless, let's all practice hard this weekend and come back better violists for next week. Remember, Pista sa ISM is only a month away, so the two Filipino pieces have to be worked on as much as possible until then.

Pirates of the Caribbean - uploaded score!

Hello dudes,
I have successfully uploaded the newest updated version of Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest with new bowings. I hope we can agree on all of them. If you're unsure about something or spot a mistake (indeed), leave it in the comments. I'll change it as soon as I can and re-upload it.

The most important page is No. 1 where there was some confusion about the slurs and up-bows. Most of the things I just wrote clearer, so there's no misunderstanding, and Rina and I made sure that it finishes logically.

Violas have to be together, especially in this piece, because we get such nice LONG bows - it'd look awesome if everybody did it the same way. Unified, like.

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Editing the bowings.

Hello, fellow violists!
I'm aware that the bowings Mr. Ibero assigned are, however meant to be good for us, are not actually working. Therefore, Anna and I discussed this and came to the conclusion that we'd have to change some of them to make our lives much easier.
Anna should be able to scan the new bowings, hopefully, and we'll update you guys on the latest news.
Also, it seems we won't be able to come through with the practice session this week, so I encourage people to just practice for next week individually. Apologizing for the inconvenience, and hope you guys are enjoying the new piece, Pirates of the Caribbean. I sure am!

Thanks!
-Rina

Ghibli Music

Yay, we started the Ghibli pieces! If you don't know what that is, it's the group that makes all of the Hayao Miyazaki animations, like "Princess Mononoke" or "My Neighbor Totoro" or "Howl's Moving Castle". I've uploaded the three pieces we sight-read today. Please read the comments before you download! Thanks.

Piece: My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ)
Composer: Joe Hisaishi
Instrumentation: Full orchestra + vocals
File Type: Mp3
Comments: I'm sure many of you know this movie, and most will recognize this as its theme song. When you listen to the piece, try to comprehend its mood - light, bouncy, joyful. Okay?
Download

Piece: Path of the Wind (風のとおり道)
Composer: Joe Hisaishi
Instrumentation: Acoustic
File Type: Mp3
Comments: Also from "My Neighbor Totoro". A calm, serene sort of piece, and with a fitting title, I'd say. Pay attention to speed and dynamics!
Download

Piece: Seaside Town (海の見える街)
Composer: Joe Hisaishi
Instrumentation: Full orchestra + vocals
File Type: Mp3
Comments: This one's from "Kiki's Delivery Service" ("魔女の宅急便"), also a very light theme emphasized by the first part played in piccicato. Now this one apparently has three different names (urgh), the other two being "Meguru Kisetsu" ("めぐる季節") and "Kaze no Oka" ("風の丘"). Confusing, but I thought you should know, just in case.
Download

After a bit of thought, I liked "Path of the Wind" the best. Especially 'cause violas get melody. GO VIOLAS! But please leave comments stating your opinions, okay?

Review on Practice Session 1

This was an interesting enough practice session, seeing that the total actual 'practice' time amounted to maybe 10 or 15 minutes. Unfortunately, it was only us three that met up, the other two head health-related issues. I'm sure we all had fun though, us the weird JAR trio.

What did we practice? Mostly the tinkly-twinkly part in Tchaikovsky's Waltz, which, I have to say, we get better at by the day. Not much else.

We definitely should do this at least once a week, even if it's just scheming about taking over the world, one instrument at a time... (:

Anna

ps.: And we drew a gigantic alto clef onto the whiteboard! That counts for something!

Regarding Friday, September 5 practice session

To all Violists and Agents:

The Practice session will still be at Friday, but the what concerns us now is WHERE we will practice. The idea running through the us, the J.A.R. group is that we could practice in Ms. A's room, as referred to by Agent R and I, but we will have to see about that because it will be used by Mr. Fernandez and his elementary disciples until 3:15. I, or the other J.A.R. group members, will talk with him to see if it is possible to practice in the room after he is done. Of course, there is the band room Agent A suggested, so we can consider that too. There is no guarentees of obtaining one of the rooms for our purposes, so if we can't use any of them, then we'll have to just cram ourselves into one of the practice rooms. any other ideas will be supported(I think).

Agent J, OUT!

After School Practice, Week of September 1-5

Yes, violists, we are having our first official practice this Friday, after school from around 3 pm to 4 pm. Everyone is invited, well to be frank, encouraged to join as we'll be practicing Walzer and Hungarian Dance no. 6.

The plan is to work on Section D of Walzer (which, by the way, sadly, still sucks since we can't seem to synchronize with the orchestra from what I've heard...and not to worry, I'm having the same problem too) and other troublesome spots like measures 164 onwards and so on. As for Hungarian 6, we'll be practicing the triple notes and make sure we're all in tune, then just enjoy the syncopated notes.

If you guys have any other measures you'd like to work on, just say the word and we'll do it.

Let's do our best for the concert this December and kick some ass.

-Rina

P.S. I like our new piece a lot...the mass pizzicato effect is really something, huh? Although it sounds a little creepy.

Recuerdos de La Alhambra Midi Files

Man, I'm so kind and selfless! Here's the next piece's hearing aid. the only thing I left out was the last part where there was supposed to be a fermata, but I didn't put it in because I forgot. :P

As usual, find anything wrong with it, tell me 'cause I'll fix it.

Another thing to note is that if you are wondering what the "Tempo #" is for, it's the speed of the music. The higher the number, the faster it is. Okay?

Piece: Recuerdos de La Alhambra (Memories of the Alhambra)
Composer: Fransico Tarrega
Arranger: Tim McCarrick
Transcriber: Jeff Gallardo
Instruments: Viola
File Type: Midi
Time of Transcribing: around 4 Hours

Tempo 40
Tempo 50
Tempo 60
Tempo 70

From your awesome transcriber,
Jeff

Hungarian Dance No. 6 Midi Files

Once again, my (kind of) great clicking skills have been useful and have brought you "Hungarian Dance No. 6" Midi Files! Yay! No need to thank me. Just doing my part in viola society.

Piece: Hungarian Dance No. 6
Composer: Johannes Brahms
Arranger: Clark McAlister
Transcriber: Jeff Gallardo
Instruments: Viola
File Type: Midi
Time of Transcribing: around 5 hours

Files-
Tempo 50: Download

Tempo 40: Download

Tempo 30: Download

-Jeff

P.S:
The music is kinda messy, since only the major places of tempo changes are heard.

If there is anything wrong with the notes, or you just want to complain about my horrible transcribing, then email me.

Waltz and Hungarian

I'm good. These are the pieces we're playing by my favorite orchestra in the world. Enjoy! (And practice!)

Piece: Serenade for Strings, 2. Waltz
Composer: Pyotr Illich Tchaikovsky
Performer: Berlin Philharmonic
Conductor: Herbert von Karajan
Instruments: String Orchestra
File Type: Mp3
Download

Piece: Hungarian Dance No. 6
Composer: Johannes Brahms
Performer: Berlin Philharmonic
Conductor: Herbert von Karajan
Instruments: String Orchestra
File Type: Mp3
Download

Anna

Attention: To Violists of HS Orchestra

I will be posting up the midi files upon request. if there is any piece needed, then please send me an e-mail and I will be able to turn it into a music file.

My E-mail: jeffgallardo@gmail.com (Simple enough, isn't it?)

From your friendly violist,
Jeff "Midi-man" Gallardo

P.S.-
Don't expect the midi files to pop up in the blog just after a couple of minutes upon request. These things take time, you know. :)

Waltzer Sound File

Piece: Serenade for Strings, 2. Waltz
Composer: Tchaikovsky
Instruments: Viola
File Type: MIDI

Very Slow
Slow
Medium
Fast

Courtesy of Jeff