Composing, Criticism and Criteria

Hello and welcome back.

These past few weeks have been full of gigs and excitement and now its back to college work, piano practice and composing!

My piano lesson this week was very helpful as I learned about the approach and method that should be applied when leering a new piece. My teacher noticed how I try to rush through a piece with mistakes flying form left and right and so if I just slowed down, analysed and picked out the difficult sections I would gain a better understanding of the piece and over time would learn it quicker. Already I have noticed a difference however I am still miles away from my target of passing Grade 4 but with steady progress I should reach my it by June next year.

Rhythm Wave rehearsals took place in the evening. This week was mainly a maintenance session were I learned about tuning Timbales and how to the get the best sound out of them. As well as playing through the usual set Ronnie did a run through of his up and coming lecture where my trombone makes an entrance playing some Brazilian melodies over the top of the rhythms. The melody itself is very straightforward however playing it and parading at the same time is a skill in itself. My first few attempts were futile but as we practiced a gradually picked up the pace and kept up with the fast percussive patterns.

On Wednesday instead of my usual drum lesson in the morning there was a maintenance lecture in the theatre about tuning drums and care for equipment. For me it was almost demoralising seeing rows upon rows of beautiful cymbals and drums as I carried around what can also be described as a bag of tin. I feel that I need to invest soon in some decent equipment.
Apart from this the lecture was very interesting and now I can’t wait to get back home and sort out my mess of a kit. Its a pity I cant practice up in my flat...electric kits just haven't advanced enough yet and its just not the same with a piece of rubber.

Later in the day in composition class our year was told each person would have the opportunity to write a song that members of the class would perform. I haven't really done this before in a popular music concept but I look forward to the challenge. Not only will the opportunity help to hone my skills of other instruments but also will help with my leadership skills as I interpret to others how I want the song to be played.

Speaking of composition, the day finally came on Saturday-after 8 weeks of stressing over three minutes worth of notation- as my finished piece was played at Glasgow University...relief. The venue was very intimate with around 40 people attending to hear the programme of ten pieces. I was very honoured to have been guided and taught by John Maxwell Geddes and to have all the advice from the three Paragon musicians who performed it. I have learned so much from the course and have taken a great deal away from it. Now I just have to wait for the recording of my piece to be processed and I shall have a hard copy of "Swallowed by the Trees" by "Mark MacSporran"... good times. This will act as good evidence in the development stage of my graded unit as I create my portfolio.

That’s about it for this week and as the term comes to an end it seems that so does the workload. Just one Beatles performance left. Lets hope we are ready.