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.

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

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

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!