sonia: Quilted wall-hanging (Default)
[personal profile] sonia
This year's word was music. I just played a short piece in a piano recital for my piano teacher's other students. The teacher and I played a duet of a (so-called) Serbian folk song, although it didn't really sound Serbian to me. Anyway it was fun (!) and I didn't play any wrong notes!!!!

My last lesson was this morning. I've gotten as far as playing all the (Western) scales, and being able to do something very simple and repetitive with the left hand while playing a melody that doesn't jump around too much with the right hand. I can puzzle out a melody I want to sing, which was my main goal.

I realized part-way through the year that I don't love piano as an instrument. Practicing never got fun, although I did manage to put in 10 minutes or so most days through the whole year. So I'm stopping. I may go back to it some day, or take some other instrument, or focus on sight-singing next, but for now I'm done.

Speaking of singing, that's gotten better too, I think partly because of the piano playing. I can semi-reliably sing a middle part on my own! That was a big goal, and I think it required growing new neurons, it took me so long to get there.

It's been a really hard year, in a variety of ways. Singing has always brought up old stuff that was in the way of resonance, and coordinating my hands for piano did some of that, too.

The word I'm picking for 2016 is "ease." Spaciousness. Gentleness. Staying in my comfort zone. There's some defensiveness about it, a part of me that wants to participate in more better faster yesterday! And there's real clarity that this is what I need now. I picked the word a while back, and haven't wavered.

Date: 2015-12-18 07:32 pm (UTC)
elainegrey: Inspired by Grypping/gripping beast styles from Nordic cultures (Default)
From: [personal profile] elainegrey
Thank you for qualifying the scales! I just watched some annoying show that presented the reason sounds sound good to us as they are related by frequency -- but the point is that's how Western scales are made, not other music systems (Christine assures me) and thus it's acculturation not "The Code" of math that makes it "sound pleasant."

Much grrr through the whole three part series....

Date: 2015-12-19 05:31 pm (UTC)
silveradept: A kodama with a trombone. The trombone is playing music, even though it is held in a rest position (Default)
From: [personal profile] silveradept
I think it will be a good word for you. This year's word seems to have worked out quite well.
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