The Piano Lesson

I began cultivating my skills as a violinist at the ripe age of seven. As a naive child, praise and flattery caused an inflated ego, and compliments became detrimental to my growth as a musician. My biggest regret is failing to realize at a young age that great violinists are not defined by their achievements, but rather their sphere of influence created as a result of music. My senior year of high school served as a rite of passage towards becoming a mature musician. I finally took the…

Chopin's Prelude Op. 28 No. 2 is a haunting moment in the film Autumn Sonata. Its disjointedness and somber melody matches Eva and Charlotte's complex relationship. Charlotte's interpretation further provides insight into her narcissistic anxiety and fear of being powerless through her explanation of Chopin's manliness and how he conceals its pain, and by how the pianist must take control of this pain in order to emerge triumphant in the song. By admitting to the “almost ugly” sound of the piece…

"Dumdiddleydumdum, dumdum" is the riff that has inspired multiple songs and many artists. In "Liberating the Students Voice" Mark Holding explains to his students how this applies to college essays. They all must follow a set of rules but in the end, they are all completely different. This seemed very interesting to me since I have never seen it in that way. For instance, The Who and Bow Wow Wow are both from complete two different music genres but they somehow found a way to use the same riff…

me feel calm and peaceful. The tempo was slow at the beginning, and then the piano suddenly came with the fast tempo while the violin was slow. Sung Chan who played the piano gave an impressive performance at the first movement. The scale had changed from minor to major, and major to minor that made the audience changed in mood. The violin and piano in this piece had already given a lot of mixed feelings. Both the piano and violin had played solo at last movement. Also, the tempo and dynamic of…

The violin is a four stringed instrument constructed out of wood to produce a melodious sound. It has been said that the violin is the instrument closest to sounding like the human voice. The violin with its gracefulness and beauty is an instrument worth learning. Learning to play the violin will be a tedious process, but if you give your time and effort the violin will be a rewarding pastime. The first step in playing the violin is purchasing the equipment. There are many things needed to…

On Monday, October 19th at 7:30pm, I attended the USA Piano Ensembles “Fall Concert” at the Laidlaw Recital Hall. The concert contained five different pieces of music. The first piece of music performed was called “Die Fledermaus Overture.” This piece was composed by Johann Strauss (1825-1899) and it was arranged by Makoto Goto. The piece was played by Tracy Monk and Tobin Nelson on one piano. One person was seated next to them and they would turn the page while they played the piece. The piece…

A Certain Music draws you in from the very first page. A story of a nine year old child who knew no friends, only her mum and her dad were best friends, until one day she hears the most beautiful music coming from a house in the Reisnerstrasse. When you pick up the book you can't stop reading it, because you are so intrigued of where the story is going to take you. It is a unique story of a friendship between a very famous composer, who could not hear, but yet was recognised worldwide for his…

Have you ever wondered what famous musicians thought? Ludwig Van Beethoven once said, “To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion in inexcusable.” Beethoven was a famous composer in classical music and believed in this quote very much. I believe this quote is about passion and not worrying if you will succeed or not. I agree with Beethoven, because I too believe that passion is important. I believe this quote means that it doesn’t matter if you fail at something, because you…

The piano is one of the most beautiful and most influential instruments invented. It also happens to be my personal favorite instrument. Several members of my family play the piano as well, my mom is a pianist and has recorded several albums playing the piano in accompany with her voice. Needless to say I have grown up listening to the piano and is crucial in my developing interest in music. All this personal history with the piano has made me interested to learn about the piano. In this paper I…

Now Make We Merthe is a collection of early Renaissance English carols and rounds sung by The Purcell Consort of Voices, Boys of All Saints, the London Brass Ensemble, David Munrow, Bernard Thomas, Michael Oxenham, Don Smithers, John Sothcott, Francis Grubb, Tess Miller, and Michael Morrow (Now Make We Myrth). This CD is a compilation of three different recordings. One recording was done in 1965, the next was in 1966, and the third was in 1969. The highlights from all three of these recordings…