The Burden grows

Yet again the week has trundled on with classes and activities and as we draw closer to Christmas and the end of Semester 1 terror strikes me with all the tasks and assignments that have to be accomplished in this small time period and all the ones that are yet to begin!. All this wasted time I’ve spent watching from the corner of my eye as the workload floods my room just goes to show me how I need to prioritise my work over leisure activities. Its that first initiative to get into gear that I lack and if I don’t start attempting to use it soon I will be drowning in a room of coursework.

But that’s enough negativity for one week. Its time to look at the “glass half full”.

Well the week started well on Monday as my band Feel Free Conspiracy were asked to represent the college with two other bands at the UHI Rock off in Inverness, Eden Court. This will be my second appearance at the showcase as last year I attended with my old band Kaboom with the night turning out to be exceedingly eventful. Lets this year lives up to it. The gig really works in well with our agenda for we are halfway through the process of releasing an album that we hope to bring to a “store near you” by the Christmas break. This vast opportunity will really help to promote us and help to spur us on as we look for gigs and prospects for the band. The big challenge now is to choose our set list and get it as tight as a drum!

With spirits at a high I skipped to my piano lesson Tuesday morning. I had been given I few grade three pieces to work on from the previous week consisting of Merry Peasant by Robert Schumann to Barrelhouse Blues by Tim Richards. I managed to scrape through both with a few hiccups ranging from some Schoenberg inspired clashes and atonality to hesitant silences simulating John Cage’s “4’33”.
Well in my opinion I felt I did these 20th century composers proud that morning.

Apart from these controversial events my teacher felt I had made good progress since our last encounter and so advised me to go for my grade 4 for next year. This is a great assesment for me and now that I have obtained the book and delved into the repertoire I can truly see the scale of the challenge I have set myself. It’s going be a few months of G.Benda’s Allegro assai to Schwertberger’s Honky Tonk Piano Rag with a double helping of scales, arpeggios and the dreaded pressures of sight-reading.

Already struggling under the weight of work Wednesday did not help to ease the burden. At the end of band rehearsals it was clear that playtime had come to an end as we scrappily played through our half finished set. Now with only 6 weeks left we all have went away to learn the other half of the set so that its only a matter of coming in next week and getting the job done.
If that wasn’t enough in composition class we have to write a proposal for the structure of our presentations for next week. With my chosen subject being Indian Influences on Western culture I am struggling slightly with the task. I feel it was a choice that at first seemed to have a vast amount of resources however at this early stage I am finding it a little hard to find relevance in websites and articles. Maybe I’m just looking in the wrong places and just have to delve a little deeper.

A little light was seen at the end of the tunnel that evening as my band had a very eventful recording session. We now have nine drum tracks down and I already feel a lot more comfortable when it comes to playing along to a click helping me to keep my playing to a high standard on record. Vocals and lead guitar were also put down and now we are hoping to experiment I little bit with different instruments to see how they blend together. I have suggested putting in some violin to outline the chords and harmony as this will help build my confidence when it comes to the “four stringed minefield” of an instrument as I am greatly lacking the assurance to perform with it.

In terms of my composition for the Paragon musicians I am at a roadblock at the moment in deciding how to develop the piece causing me to panic as I watch the days fly by on the calendar. The challenge is not in the idea but occurs in the putting together process and the developing of the idea. It is a difficulty I am going to have to overcome if I am to produce a three-minute piece for next week. It looks like I may have bitten off more than I can chew!

Does that glass still look half full? I’m not so sure, but for the moment I am just going to have to spur on and work to the best of my capabilities.