New School Year, New Teacher

It's now about a month into the school year and I think I'm starting to get the hang of everything.  I no longer feel like I have a thousand new questions each day to ask someone about and my classes have finally gotten into a good groove and routine which makes class planning so much easier.  The best part of it all is that my principal, apparently, thinks I'm doing a great job and is being super helpful and supportive.

Not everything has been smooth sailing.  I've already had something stolen by a student.  Luckily he went around bragging about it and they found him.  He wasn't one of my students which was great to find out, but still not the best experience a new teacher could have.  On second thought, maybe it was - call it a reality check.

By the way, it is extremely true that teachers hear some of the most amazing things from their students every day.  Here's just a sample:

ME: Okay, everyone at measure 69.  Ready, go . . . (silence)
STUDENT: Wait, were we supposed to be singing?

Monday
ME: What are we going to have on Wednesday?
STUDENTS: A quiz.
Tuesday
ME: What are we having tomorrow?
STUDENTS: A quiz.
Wednesday
ME: Get out a sheet of paper and get ready.
STUDENT: Wait, we're having a quiz?

Day of Parent-Teacher Conferences
STUDENT: (to a friend) I can't talk.  I have to be good so Mr. Davis says good things about me to my parents tonight.
ME: Yes, because one day is going to make such a big difference on your record.

STUDENT: (said as fast as humanly possible) I really love music and being in orchestra and choir it's so much fun and I don't know if you knew or figured it out or if someone told you or anything but I have ADHD so that's why I have so much energy all the time and have a hard time staying still but luckily I have you first period and so I don't have as much energy then but just in case you didn't already know.
ME: Trust me, I knew.

That's just a tidbit.  Anyways, I find that I already have had to plan out the Christmas concerts and so not only have I been busy listening to all the music I can to figure out a programme but I've also had to write a couple of arrangements myself.  When you get to a point that you just desperately want to perform this particular piece but can't find a decent arrangement anywhere you decide it would be easier just to write it yourself.  It's fortuitous, really, because then if anybody else is trying to plan a Christmas concert or programme then this post is pretty timely.  Let me know what you think.  It's a pretty simple arrangement but I didn't want to do too much to it.  It's meant for a beginning choir so that's why the harmonies repeat quite a bit.  Hopefully everyone else's year is starting out just as eventful as mine!

Stress Relief for the Holidays

Yet again it seems as though the holiday season is upon us.  Although I'm not the biggest fan of Halloween at least I can appreciate the time of year it rings in.  Yay, Christmas! :)

Not that everything is always so joyous and wonderful.  Just this week I failed to pass on my recital preview at university which is a major disappointment.  That doesn't mean I won't graduate because I do get to try again though I don't know when at this point, but it also doesn't change the fact that it hurt a bit.  Mostly I've been trying not to think about it.

However, I will mention one thing that I've blogged about before: how great my friends are!  As soon as I got the news my friends became the biggest support to me and it meant so much that they were there when I needed them!

With all that going on I haven't been much in the mood to practice voice quite yet so I've filled my time fulfilling an obligation I committed to a couple of months ago.  I have a friend who was recently assigned as her church choir director and she asked if I could do an arrangement of Joy to the World and O Come All Ye Faithful together and, until now, I haven't had much time to do it.  Guess what I did this week instead of practice? ;) It's been a good stress relief and I hope that I did what she was hoping for.  If not I suppose it will be back to the drawing board.  The parts are mainly derived from the LDS Hymn book and it's not anything amazing, just simple and intended for a congregational choir.  As with most pieces I post here, I'm sure this will sound much better in real life.

Joy to the World / O Come All Ye Faithful - Arr.

I Finally Finished!

Somehow, at long last, after a very long week I've finished another song!  It only took me a month to finish a new piece.  Why would this take me that long?  I wrote the first two-thirds in two days.  Whatever.

How long a week, you ask?  It's no big deal.  Not like it's the second to last week of the semester and suddenly every project is due in every class.  Can't tell you how much I enjoy that.  Probably about as much as I enjoy placing a spider on my face.  Nah, that's a little harsh, maybe just gnawing off a limb.

Now all of that is done and I can focus my attentions on other things.  This isn't necessarily one of the most important things I could accomplish right now, but I'm still happy!

Again, if there is anyone reading willing to help me out so I could have a proper live recording of something I would owe you so much - like cookies or something...  If you want to read the lyrics so you know what's going on, feel free.

If I should die

A Little 20th Century

Last semester I took my final semester of music theory which dealt primarily with twentieth century music (atonality, modes, twelve-tone, serialism, etc.) a lot like the music in this picture.  Weird, huh?  I like it!  Anyway, towards the beginning of the semester we had a composition project.  We had a lot of constraints on the project but the main thing is that it had to have a tonal centre (and mine does . . . ish . . . D dorian).  I didn't care too much about the project so I wrote the whole thing in about thirty minutes or so.  It probably would have been a lot better had I taken more time on it, but I still kind of like it.  I'm hoping eventually to write a little more music in this type of genre because, in my time at school, I've come to love it!

As a note, this is probably not for everyone since it's really weird and out there, but I'll post it anyway.

Theory Project

Choir Music!

I'm starting to feel as if all I'm preparing to post up here is really old pieces I wrote when I was just barely beginning, but I know I've come a long way and that my stuff is actually good now.  To prove it to myself I wrote this choral piece this afternoon as a challenge to myself to write something without hearing what it sounded like first relying solely on my voice leading abilities.  I'm actually a little proud of me, if I do say so myself! :)

I don't think I'll ever write words for it, so I guess I'll just call it an "invention" and leave it to be sung on "ah" or "ooh" or something like that.

(Okay, people really don't realise how much out of my comfort zone I am when I post things here.  It's terrifying!)

Choral Invention in C-sharp minor