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BACH TO THE BASICS
Hey guys, this is Summer and I'm BACH with my twelfth weekly blog! This Week's Goals1. Work on my final product 2. Announce the challenge winner 3. Work on the project as often as I am supposed to practice And The Winner Is...The winner was someone who practiced everyday and tried really hard to get better. She didn't have many people competing against her, but she still tried her hardest and showed a lot of dedication. She truly deserved winning the challenge as she improved tremendously throughout the challenge. Congratulations! All Good Things Must Come To An EndI'm not going to go into detail of everything this project has taught me because that is for my final product, but I am so grateful for the opportunity to do this project, and I am going to try to continue to practice like this the rest of the time I am in band. In other classes, I will also try to work as hard as hard as I did for this project since I saw such drastic improvement. I didn't know if this would be a good project at first because I didn't know if I could truly get anything useful out of it besides becoming a better trumpet player. I was very wrong. I probably learned more from this project than I would have if I was doing anything else. I don't have to be a good trumpet player but I want to be, and doing the project based on something that I am actually passionate about has made it easier to see the benefits that came from it. I could have gone with my second option, which was pretty much just to read more, but I am not as interested in reading as I am playing the trumpet. If I would have done that, I don't think there is any way I could have reached my goals, and I don't think I would have learned as many life lessons. This project has made me improve tremendously, not only as a musician, but also a as a person. I have learned that it takes a lot of work to succeed, and I learned that in order to succeed, I will go through hard times. I have always had a relatively easy school experience. I just understood math without studying. I could figure out my what a passage was saying in English. I could guess my way through history pretty easily, and I just couldn't forget anything I learned in science. After years of not having to work, I never tried extremely hard in band because I figured I could just excel easily. When I switched to trumpet, I caught up to where most people were by hard work, but then I just stopped trying as hard. This project made me realize that when I actually try, I can improve to be better than I thought was possible. I reached all of my goals in this project, and when I started I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to. BACH To No Genius HourLast week was probably the hardest that I have had this year, and I honestly lost some of the passion that I had for playing trumpet because of everything that happened (look at my last post for more details). Doing this project however, made me realize that I am going to go through hard times, and instead of giving up on playing the trumpet, I decided I should prove to everyone that I deserve what I want. I am doing this by practicing a lot so I can become the best because I think the only way to win an argument is to prove everyone else that they were wrong. Overall, this project has taught me a lot. You can't check in next week for another weekly blog, but you can check BACH at my final product presentation!
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Hey guys, this is Summer and I'm BACH with my eleventh weekly blog! This Week's Goals1. Learn the last set of eleven measures in my solo 2. Begin to finalize the plan for my final product 3. Continue to stick to the practice schedule that I set in the beginning of this project Bach To The Original PlanThis week, I came to the realization that there is no way my solo will be ready by the end of this project. I wasn't getting the last set of measures because I saved the hardest for last, and I forgot some of the measures that I already learned, so none of it was coming together. I would be embarrassed playing a video of me playing the solo in front of the whole class if it wasn't good, so I decided to not play my solo for my final product, so I began to review some of the scales. I will be going back to my original goal, and even though I am not playing my solo, it was still really cool that I was able to push myself to get so ahead to the point I thought I might be able to do it. On the day of the Genius Hour pitches, I was scared that I would not be able to play all of my scales in time, but I finished learning them early! Band Is A FamilyThis week was really rough for me to find motivation to practice, and I actually thought about quitting band a few times this week. On Monday, it was announced that there isn't going to be a color guard next year, and I have dedicated my life to baton and color guard since I was five years old. The way that we were told about color guard made it seem like none of us were good enough to make a team. This was devastating to me, and even though that isn't directly related to playing trumpet, the people who made this decision to not have guard involve people that play a huge role in the band. I thought they would have supported a color guard because band is a family, and they know how dedicated I am to color guard and band. I felt betrayed by my own family, so I thought about leaving them. I ultimately made the decision to stay in band since all families go through hard times, but I have lost some of my motivation to practice for my family because it seems like they turned on me. With this being said, I did not practice much this week. Looking BACHNot practicing gave me time to come up with a final product idea that I never thought of before. I don't want to explain too much and give it away, but the idea involves the main theme of my project. I went BACH to learning the basics of my instrument. I always look BACH on the week. I am going to look BACH on my scales for the final product, and that might not make sense now, but it will soon! This week was another rough one, but check BACH next week for my last weekly blog!
Hey guys, this is Summer and I'm BACH with my tenth weekly blog! This Week's Goals1. Learn the second set of eleven measures in my solo 2. Begin to plan for my final product 3. Continue to stick to the practice schedule that I set in the beginning of this project Sleep Is For The Weak (not really...)This week was rough. I had a ton of homework which made me sleep and practice less. I started off the week with a very little amount of sleep after trying to get my Precalculus and AP World homework finished, and that played a toll in the rest of the week. I then had to work two days of the four day week, and I was busy the other day, so I just didn't have time for homework. Thursday night, I fell asleep at 11:30 P.M. while in the middle of reading for English, and then I woke up at 4 A.M. with my bedroom light on and stayed up the rest of the morning so I could finish. I stayed up as late as possible most days trying to get all of my homework done, but I didn't always, so I worked on it in SMART lunch. With this being said, I didn't have time to practice more than two times this week. "I Gotta Go To Work, Work, Work" - Fifth HarmonySaturday, I volunteered at Art Smart for the band, and I went to my best friend's birthday party. I was planning on practicing Sunday to finish my solo, and then I got a message from my manager. "Someone is really sick, can you please work at ten tomorrow?" I can't say no to my manager, so I decided that I would just deal with it, and I worked from 10 A.M. to 9:30 P.M. with a little break in between shifts. I did not have enough time to finish learning the second eleven measures of my solo. Looking BachAs if this week wasn't already rough enough, I just checked my website and saw that both edits I made last week on my last blog post were not saved. I changed the title right after I posted the blog on Sunday, and I posted the video on Monday around 4:30 P.M. I am going to try to post it again after I post this, so we will see if it saves! Overall, this week was rough, but we only have two weeks left, and I am going to finish strong! Check BACH next week for another weekly blog!
Hey guys, this is Summer and I'm BACH with my ninth weekly blog! This Week's Goals1. Learn the first eleven measures in my solo 2. Get more people to participate in the project 3. Continue to stick to the practice schedule that I set in the beginning of this project Rough RoadsThis weekend, my family went to Mebane when they had tornado warnings. We were driving into the area with tornado warnings, and the roads were wet and full of traffic. My mom was yelling at my brother when he was driving, and it wasn't an enjoyable ride. Then we got to the Tanger Outlets in Mebane, and we had a ton of fun, and we made memories of running from store to store trying to not get soaked. After a very difficult journey, we were able to reach our goal, and even though there were rough spots after reaching the destination, we made the best of it. This week, there were a lot of bumps in the road to achieve my goals. I had color guard auditions which were exhausting, and I had to work the other nights. There were multiple times when I was called into work last minute which limited my practice time, but I did make enough time, however, to learn all eleven measures that I was supposed to for my solo. I will record these tomorrow to show you because I was going to today, but I had to work from 11:30 to 9:15 instead of 5:00 to 9:00 which was the shift that I was planning to work originally. Practice Makes PerfectI have been able to recruit more people to sign up for my practice challenge, but only one person has actually sent me videos of them practicing this week. I honestly thought that the turnout for this project would have been better, and I think that if I continue to talk to people, I will be able to recruit more people to participate and send videos. Looking BachDespite a rough week, I was able to accomplish my goals. I stuck to a pretty regular practice schedule, and the results were evident. Part of being a band student is overcoming obstacles so you can practice to help yourself improve, and also help the whole band in return. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and the band is only as strong as the weakest player. I am hoping that I can continue to help encourage people to practice so that the weakest player is as strong as the strongest. Next week, I want to double the number of participants and make sure that each person sends me at least one video. Check BACH next week for another weekly blog!
Hey guys, this is Summer and I'm BACH with my eighth weekly blog. This Week's Goals1. Learn the 2 octave C Scale 2. Announce the practice challenge, and get people to participate 3. Continue to stick to the practice schedule that I set in the beginning of this project 2 octave C scale: The Last ScaleI finished learning my scales! The C scale was the hardest by far. It was very difficult to get the high C to come out, and as you will be able to tell in the video, that note didn't have the best tone. I am going to continue to practice that scale, and hopefully I will get the high notes to have better tone and sound less like nails on a chalkboard. Bach With Some ChangesI have once again changed the music that concert band will be practicing. After a rough rehearsal on Monday, my band director decided it would be best if we don't start another piece because we already have quite a few. We are going to practice with the three movement piece "Prelude, Siciliano, and Rondo." I am hoping that the participants practicing will help make all three movements amazing. Monkey See, Monkey Don'tThe idea of the practice challenge was based off the idea of "monkey see, monkey do." I would show that I have practiced so much, and that would encourage everyone else to practice. We also added an extra incentive to make more people want to participate. Where I was originally going to make the challenge open to everyone across the three bands, I thought I would have problems with getting too many videos. I thought almost everyone would participate. I know that a few people in symphonic band have asked me if they could participate, but I had to turn them away because we decided to only open it to concert band. The problem is that only four people in concert band want to practice for the challenge. I have been talking to individuals trying to get them to practice, but it hasn't worked. Current leader board: Looking BACHEven though the practice challenge currently doesn't have as many people in it as I would like, I think it will help. I will start practicing my all district solo next week, and I'm not working too much, so I should have a lot of time to practice. I am going to try to continue to get people to practice with me. I am hoping that at least four or five more people sign up so about one fifth of the band is practicing. Despite the practice challenge not being as successful as I hoped for it to be this week, I still got a lot accomplished. I finally finished learning all of my scales. I am looking forward to learning the solo, and continuing to grow my practice challenge. Check BACH next week for another weekly blog!
Hey guys, this is Summer and I'm BACH with my seventh weekly blog. This Week's Goals1. Learn the 2 octave C Scale 2. Finish developing the practice challenge, and make a newsletter for it 3. Continue to stick to the practice schedule that I set in the beginning of this project 2 octave C scale: Cashiering Not RecordingIt is 12:05 AM on Sunday. I just started writing this as I just found out that later today, I have to work from 11:30 in the morning to 9 at night. With that being said, I will not have the chance to make videos of my progress as I am not allowed to practice at night because my neighbors hate it when I do. I was not able to reach the C above the staff consistently, so I think it will be best to have an extra week before I record it so I can make the scale better. BACH On ScheduleThis week I was able to stick to the practice schedule for the most part. I practiced almost everyday, and I did show a lot of improvement considering how difficult this scale is to learn. I had many chances to practice during the school day which helped tremendously, so this week I think I'm going to focus on getting all of my homework done before the day it is due so I can utilize the free time I have at school to practice. BACH For A Win Practice ChallengeOn Tuesday, I talked to my band director about how the practice challenge would be most successful. I was originally planning to have each person in all three ensembles set their own goals, and there were less specific practice requirements. As I was bouncing ideas off my band director, we decided that I should limit the participants to only the people in concert band. I also decided that all participants will practice the song Themes From "Green Bushes" throughout the whole challenge. I was originally planning to have the participants sign up this last week, but after talking to my band director, I am going to wait until Themes From "Green Bushes" is handed out. I will record the band when we first start practicing the piece this coming week and then again the last week of the challenge. This will show how the individual progress contributes to the whole band's success. Looking BACH On The WeekOverall this week was pretty successful. Even though, I was not able to finish learning the two octave C scale, I was able to practice consistently and finalize the rules and process of the practice challenge. The challenge will be rolled out Monday, and each person will begin sending me their practice videos. I am looking forward to having more people in concert band practice, and I can't wait to see how it helps the entire band improve! There are great things coming to the Davie County High School Concert Band! Check BACH next week for another weekly blog!
Hey guys, this is Summer and I'm BACH with my sixth weekly blog. This Week's Goals1. Learn the 2 octave B Flat Scale 2. Create the google form for people signing up to practice 3. Continue to stick to the practice schedule that I set in the beginning of this project 2 octave B flat scale and arpeggio: Spring BreakI did not stick to the practice schedule. I honestly didn't do anything that I should have over break until the weekend because I was relaxing. I did break up the time that I was practicing today by reading a chapter of "Born A Crime" and then practicing, then reading a chapter before practicing again, so I wasn't straining my lips as much as I could have been. With that being said, I did finish learning the scale, and that means that I was able to play the B Flat above the staff. This also means that I can play two notes below my final goal of playing a C! My 2 Octave B Flat Scale: Practice ChallengeI have not quite decided exactly what the reward for winning the practice challenge will be, but I did create the form. In the form, they will tell me their name, instrument, and main practice goals. I have also thought about how I will roll out this challenge. I will explain Genius Hour, and my success with the continuous practice. I will create an information sheet explaining the purpose of this project and show how the participants can earn points, and I will send out a link to this blog. I am planning to announce this project Tuesday, and they will have until Thursday to sign up, and at that point I will have all participants sign up for a remind chat. The Google Form: BACH To The Future, Looking Ahead...I got quite a bit accomplished this week, and I only have one scale left to learn! After I learn the C scale next week, I will work on the solo as the participants in the practice challenge work on their projects. I am looking forward to being able to see if there has been a difference in how fast I can learn new music since I learned my scales, so I am excited to start learning the solo. We are also starting to learn new music in band class, so I will have to balance learning all of that music. Next week, I am going to create a tab on this website for the practice challenge, and I will roll out the project as I mentioned above. Great things are ahead of us! Check BACH next week for another blog!
Hey guys, this is Summer and I'm BACH with my fifth weekly blog. This Week's Goals1. Finish learning the second octave of the A scale 2. Learn the 1 octave E scale and arpeggio 3. Continue to stick to the practice schedule that I set in the beginning of this project 2 octave A scale and arpeggio: 1 octave E scale and arpeggio: More Setbacks...This week I had the flu, and I could barely even move, so I definitely couldn't practice. I had these symptoms until Wednesday, and I still didn't practice after that because I had to makeup so much school work. This is going to show that I definitely did not meet my last goal of sticking to the practice schedule. I am a strong believer that if you set your mind to something, you will be able to do it, and I knew that I had to finish both scales, so I worked really hard Sunday morning, and I got them done. My 2 octave A scale and arpeggio: My E scale: Adding To The ProjectI only have two scales left to learn! Last week I mentioned that if I'm ahead of where I was supposed to be by the end, then I would learn the All-District Honors Band Solo. I am definitely going to finish the scales ahead of when I was supposed to, so I decided that I am going to learn the solo. This will start the week that I finish learning my scales, and I will have 5 weeks to (hopefully) finish learning it. In order to do so, when I get the solo, I will break it into 5 sections, and learn a new one each week. Helping The WHOLE BandOne of the goals I had for this project was to create a challenge for other band students to practice as much as they can. I have been trying to find a good way to do this, and as of right now, I think I know what I'm going to do for the most part. I'm going to announce the challenge to everyone in band so that they have 5 weeks to practice, and each participant will sign up with a google forms. Each participant will then make at least 3 videos each week. One video of their goal for the week, one video of them practicing, and one video of their final product. Each video will earn the participant one point. They may get up to six additional points by sending a video of them practicing each day. They may also get an additional 2 points the last week by making a video at least a minute long explaining how the practice helped them improve. Throughout the whole time that they are practicing, I will keep a Google Spreadsheet of each person's points that they can all access. The winner will get a prize, but I haven't decided what it will be yet. Goal Video Example (Don't mind the thumbnail...) Practice Video Example The End Of The Week Progress Example Video Looking BACHOverall this week, was pretty successful even though I did not stick to the schedule. I am looking forward to finishing up with scales and beginning to learn the solo. I also think that the practice challenge will be very fun to do with the rest of the band. I think that there are great things to come with this project, and it is very exciting. Check BACH next week for another blog!
Hey guys, this is Summer and I'm BACH with my fourth weekly blog. This Week's Goals1. Successfully play an A Natural above the staff consistently 2. Learn the 2 octave A scale and arpeggio 3. Continue to stick to the practice schedule that I set in the beginning of this project 2 octave A scale and arpeggio: JUST PL(A)Y ITI played an A Natural above the staff consistently! When I first started this project, I honestly did not think that I would be able to play the higher notes that I was planning to, especially at the pace that I wanted to be able to. Reaching the A consistently this week showed that I can do everything that I wanted to for this project, and that I might be able to do it ahead of schedule. When I was creating the goals for this project, I asked all of my band friends what they thought I should be able to play, and multiple of them thought that I wouldn't be able to play the C, but after this week, I think I will definitely be able to. A above the staff: Sidetracked...This week I experienced more difficulty sticking to the practice schedule. I performed in two band concerts where we were judged this week. Naturally, I wanted to ensure that I was ready for those, so I spent a majority of my time practicing my concert music, and not enough practicing my scales. I planned to make up time lost from practicing this weekend, but then I got sick, and it hurt really bad to play an A above the staff, so I didn't try. Instead, I decided to play the one octave A scale for this week to show some progress. I will continue to practice the A scale and post the 2 Octave one next week, and hopefully the 2 octave B flat scale as well. I was originally planning to get one scale every 10 days, however, so I'm not too far behind for not finishing the A scale. My 1 Octave A scale: Still Ahead Of ScheduleSo far, I'm about 9 days ahead of where I wanted to be as I should still be working on my one octave E flat scale. If this continues, I am going to try to also learn a solo by the end of the project. Because of copyright, I can't post the sheet music of this solo on this website. However, if I begin to work on this solo, I will be on track for auditioning for All District band in January of 2020 as I will know my scales and solo. Even if I don't completely finish the solo, beginning to learn it will be a great accomplishment for me during the Genius Hour time frame as it means that I was able to hold myself to a higher standard than I originally expected. A Look BachOverall, this week had a few goals left not achieved, but it shouldn't alter the success of my final project. I'm hoping to keep pushing myself to finish one scale a week in order to be able to play my scales by the end, and hopefully begin to learn my All District solo. Next week I do not have any band concerts, so I should be able to get back to my schedule and post my two octave A scale and my two octave B flat scale. Week four of Genius Hour was a little rough, but hopefully next week will be better. Check BACH next week for another blog!
Hey guys, this is Summer and I'm BACH with my third weekly blog. This Week's Goals1. Successfully play an A flat above the staff 2. Learn the 1 octave E flat scale and arpeggio 3. Get back on the practice schedule that I set in the beginning of this project 1 Octave E flat scale and arpeggio: An Amazing AccidentI made quite a few mistakes this week, but this one in particular was a fantastic mistake to make. In the beginning of this project, I set a goal to be able to play a C above the staff by the end of the project. This Thursday I accidentally played a D flat above the staff which is even higher than a C. The D flat did not come out very well, but it did make it tremendously easier to play a G and an A flat with good tone. Since that day, I have been able to consistently play G and A flat above the staff, and for the most part, they were played with decent tone. Playing the G and A flat right after the D flat: A (Flat) Major SetbackThis week I originally planned on learning my A flat scale, and up until today, I thought I did that. Then I looked at the scale sheet and realized that there wasn't an A flat scale on it, and even if there were to be one, I would have been playing it wrong. The A flat scale has four flats, and I was playing it with three, and the scale with three flats is the E flat scale. Luckily, I had to learn the E flat scale anyways, so I was able to take what I knew from the "A flat" that I was trying to play and apply it to the E flat scale. What I was trying to play: As you can see, all of the notes in that scale are the same pitches as the ones in the E flat scale, but the scale that I tried to learn begins on A flat instead of E flat. A video of the "A flat" scale that I tried to play: RecoveryAfter learning the wrong scale this entire week, I was able to learn the E flat scale in a matter of minutes by applying the skills of the other scale to the E flat. This scale was much easier to learn than the A flat one that I created myself, and I think that playing the made up scale made me a better musician as I had to learn to play even higher in order to get the A flat out consistently. Especially after Thursday when I accidentally played a D flat, I was able to play A flat every time I tried. E Flat Scale and Arpeggio: Setbacks Are Motivation For ComebacksMy friend named Rayden came up with this quote, and I told him the first time I heard it that I thought it was great. This week was a great example of this quote since last week was rough. I didn't stick to the schedule of practice, and I had to try hard on Sunday to get the scale done in time. This week I did much better sticking to the schedule, and the progress was evident. This week was the first week that I achieved all three of my goals consistently. I was able to play notes that I wasn't planning to play this week, and that was a great achievement, especially after how rough last week was. I think that if I continue to stick to this schedule, I will be able to see even more progress in the coming weeks. Week 3 of Genius Hour was a success! Check BACH next week for another blog!
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Summer ThurlowI'm a sophomore in high school, and I've been playing trumpet a little over a year. |