6 days 5 songs 4 languages
Wow I have not written in fourteen days! Well during my absense I have been attending voice lessons and rehearsal..my last one being yesterday. We tackled the Russian song and it was rather discouraging...a reality check that it needs a LOT of attention. I believe that it will go well though, since I did finish writing out all the IPA and I have a recording of Anna pronouncing every word, and I listen to it at least once every day even when I do not have time to work on it specifically. After the Russian song we worked on the English set and it was so much better than before! I believe that by the next time we go over it I will be 100% off the book :o)
Today I have completed memorizing my German set and I did do a victory dance! Now I am working on the French set. I praise the Lord because this recital is starting to shape up good. Please pray or continue to pray for strength physically, emotionally and mentally.
"...for whatever I put my heart and mind to
I will thrive in You Lord."
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Dishwasher
Ok so this post has nothing to do with music but hey this blog is not just about my music :o) So the other day our dishwasher broke again. This past summer I gave up the dishwasher in an attempt to save some money while we were running the air-conditioner more than usual. I had discovered then that it would actually quite save me some time too. But then I started using the dishwasher again. Well now when the dishwasher broke and we started washing dishes by hand, things have been so much simpler. For one thing we use less dishes and then it has provided a fun thing for Stephen and I to do on days that we have an exceptional amount of dishes. Today was one of those days and the funny thing is that in half an hour it was all washed/dryed/put away! When we had the dishwasher it would take half an hour to put everything in the dishwasher...and then next day I would still have to dry some and put them away. Anyhow, all I'm realizing is that sometimes when we have the convenience we abuse it, so instead of doing a maintenance and use the convenience for the times that it would really make a difference, we allow things to pile up for the sake of the convenience. Just something to think about :o)
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Day Fifteen
20 days 12 songs 5 languages
Yes this countdown is starting to sound a little scary! Actually I have one more song to learn to be down to four languages. I think that is encouraging...maybe. So here is some youtube video for
The English songs that I have memorized
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aujrpohHxzk
(this set is in French but I could not find the English version :o) its a rather disturbing performance at times but she does have some great ideas!)
The song left for me to memorize in English is I Can Cook Too from On the Town
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM7r3yiYwO8&feature=PlayList&p=29FA5CA73645FAB7&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=47
(I just discovered Christine Ebersole...I know I'm not too up-to-date with the latest and greatest but in my book she is one of the best)
1) Ich Kann's Nicht Fassen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcr01OIvx9Q
2)Der Ring performed by Elly Ameling,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG_lkbv_ik8&feature=related
The next video/audio has the rest of my german set songs 5-7 Helft Mir Ihr Schwestern, Susser Freund and An Meinem Herzen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsXUZMcUzqc
the last two songs are what are left for me to memorize to have the German set memorized. I hope you enjoy it and get a little taste of what I've been working on!
That's for now
Yes this countdown is starting to sound a little scary! Actually I have one more song to learn to be down to four languages. I think that is encouraging...maybe. So here is some youtube video for
The English songs that I have memorized
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aujrpohHxzk
(this set is in French but I could not find the English version :o) its a rather disturbing performance at times but she does have some great ideas!)
The song left for me to memorize in English is I Can Cook Too from On the Town
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM7r3yiYwO8&feature=PlayList&p=29FA5CA73645FAB7&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=47
(I just discovered Christine Ebersole...I know I'm not too up-to-date with the latest and greatest but in my book she is one of the best)
1) Ich Kann's Nicht Fassen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcr01OIvx9Q
2)Der Ring performed by Elly Ameling,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG_lkbv_ik8&feature=related
The next video/audio has the rest of my german set songs 5-7 Helft Mir Ihr Schwestern, Susser Freund and An Meinem Herzen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsXUZMcUzqc
the last two songs are what are left for me to memorize to have the German set memorized. I hope you enjoy it and get a little taste of what I've been working on!
That's for now
Friday, February 12, 2010
Day Ten
25 days 15 songs 5 languages
On Wednesday I did not want to write much because I was tired but now I am ready to talk about what I learned on Wednesday. I memorized two of my English songs. My English cycle is Le Bonne Cuisine by Bernstein, four recipes from a French cookbook. I picked the cycle because it represents my enjoyment of cooking. The way Bernstein set the recipes makes it for a rather hillarious set of songs, in fact I think there is something about the way recipes are written in French cookbooks that are kind of funny. If you have watched Julie and Julia there is a scene where Julia is reading a french recipe to her husband and it sounded very similar to Rabbit Stew. Something that is half funny and half sad is that my voice teacher is a vegetarian who loves animals, so the one day that I brought the cycle for us to work on she just about regurgitated at the thought of animals boiling in their blood with their liver mashed and other descriptive cooking pictures. I felt really bad for her and in fact I am delaying the time that I will bring it up again :o)
I memorized the first two in the cycle which are Plum Pudding-now first you take eleven pounds of juicy concord grapes combined with equal parts of extra fine Tokeys...be sure they are juicy.... and Ox Tails--are you too proud to serve your friends an ox-tail stew...you're wrong for if you have enough of them you'll find you can make a fiiiine ragout.....
Today I actually spent about an hour and half working on three of the four Spanish songs with my accompanist. I am glad that they have allowed me to choose my own accompanist, for one thing Matthew lives close to us so its not a crazy drive and I have worked with him before so I feel rather comfortable. It is funny because when I worked on those songs at the university the professor suggested I use a metronome and God knows we needed the use of the metronome for Mananita de San Juan. it is a 6/8 time but the way the accompaniment is written the second beat sounds/feels like the downbeat so its a constant fight against the 'feel' and towards the 'know'. I am sooo happy my songs are musically challenging!!!!! I could not have done it any other way even though I am rusty. God is really helping me and I know that when it is all said and done I will be really proud of what I was able to accomplish.
"...and whatever I put
my heart and mind to
I will thrive in You Lord"
now I'm off to cook a pastichio, spanakopita and a greek salad...we are having friends over tonight :o) ciao
On Wednesday I did not want to write much because I was tired but now I am ready to talk about what I learned on Wednesday. I memorized two of my English songs. My English cycle is Le Bonne Cuisine by Bernstein, four recipes from a French cookbook. I picked the cycle because it represents my enjoyment of cooking. The way Bernstein set the recipes makes it for a rather hillarious set of songs, in fact I think there is something about the way recipes are written in French cookbooks that are kind of funny. If you have watched Julie and Julia there is a scene where Julia is reading a french recipe to her husband and it sounded very similar to Rabbit Stew. Something that is half funny and half sad is that my voice teacher is a vegetarian who loves animals, so the one day that I brought the cycle for us to work on she just about regurgitated at the thought of animals boiling in their blood with their liver mashed and other descriptive cooking pictures. I felt really bad for her and in fact I am delaying the time that I will bring it up again :o)
I memorized the first two in the cycle which are Plum Pudding-now first you take eleven pounds of juicy concord grapes combined with equal parts of extra fine Tokeys...be sure they are juicy.... and Ox Tails--are you too proud to serve your friends an ox-tail stew...you're wrong for if you have enough of them you'll find you can make a fiiiine ragout.....
Today I actually spent about an hour and half working on three of the four Spanish songs with my accompanist. I am glad that they have allowed me to choose my own accompanist, for one thing Matthew lives close to us so its not a crazy drive and I have worked with him before so I feel rather comfortable. It is funny because when I worked on those songs at the university the professor suggested I use a metronome and God knows we needed the use of the metronome for Mananita de San Juan. it is a 6/8 time but the way the accompaniment is written the second beat sounds/feels like the downbeat so its a constant fight against the 'feel' and towards the 'know'. I am sooo happy my songs are musically challenging!!!!! I could not have done it any other way even though I am rusty. God is really helping me and I know that when it is all said and done I will be really proud of what I was able to accomplish.
"...and whatever I put
my heart and mind to
I will thrive in You Lord"
now I'm off to cook a pastichio, spanakopita and a greek salad...we are having friends over tonight :o) ciao
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Day Eight
27 days 15 songs 5 languages
don't feel like writing much...especially because it's so late. i tackled two english songs today. I do have a sore throat but hopefully it will go away soon
don't feel like writing much...especially because it's so late. i tackled two english songs today. I do have a sore throat but hopefully it will go away soon
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Day Seven
28 days 17 songs 5 languages
Hello there! So yes there has been a significant silence :o) However, I am back and today it was my first official lesson at the university. My school accompanist's name is Anya, she is Russian, will help me with my Russian song and most importantly she is a great sight= reader and follower. Here is a funny story: today I practiced for 3 hours with about 3 breaks that totaled 30 minutes. After that, I drived for more than an hour in heavy rain that had me driving 10 miles an hour, not because it was backed up. My lesson was great but towards the end of the hour I felt my mind fried...I couldn't sing count...anything related to music, I was finished! So Anya played the same measure about six times and eventually the teacher looked up at me questioningly and the asked 'are you planning to come in" and then I starred back for what seemed like a looong time and the words came out of my mouth "my brain just wants to stop and lay down here on the floor and take a nap" lol I can not even believe the audacity!!! Well the song we were going through was almost over so I pulled through and finished.
Durning the lesson another thing that impressed me was here we were an American, Greek and Russian working on a Spanish song, I don't think any of us speaks Spanish and yet we can make it work just because we 'talk' music!
Finally you probably noticed that the number of the songs to memorize has gone down by two! I memorized my first two German songs and as I was understanding more what I was saying I re-realized that it was a man that wrote those songs attempting to communicate a woman's feelings. Therefore, the way her feelings are portrayed idolize her man so much sometimes its funny. But I do love my husband a lot and I am very dramatic in my expression so those songs fit me like a glove. The first part of the recital is pretty much our story from the time we met to the time we had our first baby. The German set is the one that concludes the first part and the first song I would place it to what I would say the day we started dating October 22 :o) The second song Der Ring is for the day we got engaged, November 19!
Ok lights out!
"and whatever I put
my heart and mind to
I will thrive in You Lord"
Hello there! So yes there has been a significant silence :o) However, I am back and today it was my first official lesson at the university. My school accompanist's name is Anya, she is Russian, will help me with my Russian song and most importantly she is a great sight= reader and follower. Here is a funny story: today I practiced for 3 hours with about 3 breaks that totaled 30 minutes. After that, I drived for more than an hour in heavy rain that had me driving 10 miles an hour, not because it was backed up. My lesson was great but towards the end of the hour I felt my mind fried...I couldn't sing count...anything related to music, I was finished! So Anya played the same measure about six times and eventually the teacher looked up at me questioningly and the asked 'are you planning to come in" and then I starred back for what seemed like a looong time and the words came out of my mouth "my brain just wants to stop and lay down here on the floor and take a nap" lol I can not even believe the audacity!!! Well the song we were going through was almost over so I pulled through and finished.
Durning the lesson another thing that impressed me was here we were an American, Greek and Russian working on a Spanish song, I don't think any of us speaks Spanish and yet we can make it work just because we 'talk' music!
Finally you probably noticed that the number of the songs to memorize has gone down by two! I memorized my first two German songs and as I was understanding more what I was saying I re-realized that it was a man that wrote those songs attempting to communicate a woman's feelings. Therefore, the way her feelings are portrayed idolize her man so much sometimes its funny. But I do love my husband a lot and I am very dramatic in my expression so those songs fit me like a glove. The first part of the recital is pretty much our story from the time we met to the time we had our first baby. The German set is the one that concludes the first part and the first song I would place it to what I would say the day we started dating October 22 :o) The second song Der Ring is for the day we got engaged, November 19!
Ok lights out!
"and whatever I put
my heart and mind to
I will thrive in You Lord"
Friday, February 5, 2010
Day Three
32 days 19 songs 5 languages
Friday is another day that I normally would not practice, in fact even the little time that I did spend was tough on my sweet GZ. How much time I spend on a daily basis with my daughter I knew, how much that time is missed while I'm practicing has been evident with a new found separation anxiety almost every time I drop her off at the nursery and the occasional break down (happened today) the minute she realizes I'm practicing. Today I resorted to placing a blank paper next to my music and letting her draw on it while I was practicing. Of coarse once she started thinking that she had heard enough to be able to accompany me I had to set her down...which brought another meltdown. GZ is not much of a cuddler unless she is sick or really tired...and still she has her moments. When I finished what I had promised myself I would finish I went to her bedroom to find her cuddling with her blanket. It did break my heart and I picked her up and cuddled for a while until she was ready to move on. I needed that cuddle time too...I really feel like I miss her. Therefore, I have to remind myself that its only for a couple more months.
On the music side of things I did finish my first run through of L'Hiver a Cesse (The Winter is Over) and now my French set is ready for memorization. I am planning to start the memorizing process next week along side learning the Russian song.
"...and whatever I put my heart and mind to
I will thrive in You Lord"
Friday is another day that I normally would not practice, in fact even the little time that I did spend was tough on my sweet GZ. How much time I spend on a daily basis with my daughter I knew, how much that time is missed while I'm practicing has been evident with a new found separation anxiety almost every time I drop her off at the nursery and the occasional break down (happened today) the minute she realizes I'm practicing. Today I resorted to placing a blank paper next to my music and letting her draw on it while I was practicing. Of coarse once she started thinking that she had heard enough to be able to accompany me I had to set her down...which brought another meltdown. GZ is not much of a cuddler unless she is sick or really tired...and still she has her moments. When I finished what I had promised myself I would finish I went to her bedroom to find her cuddling with her blanket. It did break my heart and I picked her up and cuddled for a while until she was ready to move on. I needed that cuddle time too...I really feel like I miss her. Therefore, I have to remind myself that its only for a couple more months.
On the music side of things I did finish my first run through of L'Hiver a Cesse (The Winter is Over) and now my French set is ready for memorization. I am planning to start the memorizing process next week along side learning the Russian song.
"...and whatever I put my heart and mind to
I will thrive in You Lord"
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