Hey guys! Sorry the page has been a little dry lately but final exams are just around the corner and I've been busy studying for them! I sense my older viewers are laughing right now but the younger ones don't get this at all but that's fine with me! Anyways today I am here to talk about one of the bigger hindrances to performing in front of a crowd or simply playing for your family around the holidays; the fear of making a mistake! This doesn't seem like that big a deal but it really does mess with your performance if you don't know the proper way to deal with this situation. Before I start talking about this topic, I wanted to announce a contest! I'll be giving away some Magic Rosin (3G and 3G Ultra) and some advertising space on here if you want to recommend your page to my viewers! I will post an official announcement after I talk out all the details and such. Also, for those who aren't aware, I do a vlogging series on Youtube and I am about to start a full video series on Finale! If you aren't aware of Finale, it's a program which you can write music in and I was thinking about doing a series on teaching the basics to it. If you are interested in the series or have ideas for me, then let me know by tweeting me on Twitter (@sulliadm), or join the Facebook Fan Page!
Now, have you ever felt very ill about playing to family or friends because you were afraid of messing up. Or have you ever been on stage to preform and felt stage freight from being afraid of messing up? I will admit that I had the exact same feel with my recital last Thursday and I got a good taste of what it's like to go through a mini panic attack from actually messing up... But there is a way around that. You have to learn how to continue playing after messing up. This might sound harder than it actually is because for the most part, it's all a mental state of thinking. You have to learn that messing up is just the way we are! We will make mistakes, but they shouldn't stop you in the middle of a performance. The big secret of music is, if you're playing to people who don't know the music as well as you do or are playing to people who aren't very "music savvy" then if you mess up then they probably won't notice. I'm not saying that you should mess up a song nor am I saying you shouldn't practice a piece and go on and mess it up! I'm saying if you mess up while playing a piece, then don't over react to it and either stop what you're doing or freak out on stage.
Here's an example from my personal life. For those who are new to the series, I am a freshman cellist @ Winthrop University. I've been studying with the cello professor there for a few years now and she's been teaching me how to play the Saint Saens cello concerto #1 for around a year now. When one of the other cellist had to give a recital for the graduation requirements, she asked me if I would be interested in playing the first movement of the song for a "half recital" (a recital that doesn't count towards your graduation, but is more for fun and experience). Being the kind of person that I am (a little crazy but will take almost any opportunity to learn and grow), I decided it would be awesome to do it. I went through the usual feeling about the first time on stage "alone" would be good for my personality of being a little antisocial (which it did help). During the performance however, there was a disconnection in tempo in the middle of the song and we got off. When I noticed, I started to freeze up but I noticed I was near a break in my part so I kept going until the break and waited for my next entrance. After all was said and done, I talked to some friends outside who listened and said they only noticed my stopping because I was showing it.
It can be a difficult thing to learn, and there's not really a way to learn this skill besides experiencing it.
Showing posts with label ultra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ultra. Show all posts
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Review: Magic Rosin 3G Ultra
Before I start this review, I want to thank Sarah West for her sample of Magic Rosin's 3G Ultra (click here). This was unexpected but I am so thankful you sent them to me try test out! Now I have another review for you guys out there and thanks to a few anonymous viewers, I have a few changes to my post I want to see if it helps you guys out. For those who aren't regulars and would like to see more from the blog I will have a new post out over the weekend with a contest! So don't forget to checking in!!
Now, let's break down how I conducted my test. Like I said before with Magic Rosin's 3G rosin, I started out with the rosin the testers used regularly by playing a scale and something that they knew off the top of their heads and after running my absorbent microfiber cloth over their strings and bow I applied a generous amount of the Magic Rosin to their bow and they played the same thing. This time however, when it came to the bass players, we had a little debate over which was the best so we had to have a blind audition and I'll explain how that works later.
Since I was unable to get in touch with one of my violinist I used to test the 3G ultra I decided to not to test them for the time being but I feel that it might be too strong a rosin for them. Whenever I get a hold of them I will update the post with the results.
I got a hold of one of the violist I used to test the 3G and after we went through it I feel that it might have been border line between strong rosin and too much bite for them, but it all depends on the player's style and taste. The player and I both liked it a lot like that but I do know how one of the others is with their rosin and that probably wouldn't suit those style of players well. I would recommend this for an electric violist or someone who likes to play electric viola. I give it a 4/5 for viola.
Now, going into my personal range of specialty I spent almost a week testing the rosin with my cello and I think this IS the best rosin for cellos I've tried, which ranges from student quality to $35-40 professional rosin. I found this to give me the clarity I need while also projecting well and sticking to the strings. I ran this by a couple of other cellos and I was hearing the same results from them as I was from myself. This rosin is made for cellos except for students or cellist who use very sensitive strings. I give it a 5/5 for cello.
Finally, we have our tests from the bass players! I found this series of test (yes, it took multiple trials to get through all of the tests and make a well rounded decision!). We started out with the usual method of testing rosin and discovered the huge differences between other commercial rosins and Magic Rosin. The first is the clarity of rosin, which most are either gritty, muddy or don't give the projection that is desired. Magic Rosin went and not only made it clear but it also gave us a lot of projection that the other rosin's gave us. After a few tests like this we got to the point that we thought we were hearing things so we had a blind study between Magic Rosin 3G Ultra, Magic Rosin 3G, and two competitors rosin and acquired four identical bows. We went and rosined all of them up with some rosin and had a random person write down the bows rosin to when they handed it to us and hands down we felt the Rosin 3G Ultra had everything else beat. I give it a 5/5 for bass.
It is hard to believe that there is rosin that can be used for all four instruments but it really exists! And for the price of a few cakes of Magic Rosin, you are making a wise investment into not only yourself but your students if you teach privately or in public schools. For more about the rosin click on the link above. If you would like to follow the blog, follow me on Twitter (click here), Facebook (click here) or email me directly! I want everyone to message me by any (or all) of those methods above and tell me one thing you want to see changed or one thing you like about the blog and share this with a friend!
Now, let's break down how I conducted my test. Like I said before with Magic Rosin's 3G rosin, I started out with the rosin the testers used regularly by playing a scale and something that they knew off the top of their heads and after running my absorbent microfiber cloth over their strings and bow I applied a generous amount of the Magic Rosin to their bow and they played the same thing. This time however, when it came to the bass players, we had a little debate over which was the best so we had to have a blind audition and I'll explain how that works later.
Since I was unable to get in touch with one of my violinist I used to test the 3G ultra I decided to not to test them for the time being but I feel that it might be too strong a rosin for them. Whenever I get a hold of them I will update the post with the results.
I got a hold of one of the violist I used to test the 3G and after we went through it I feel that it might have been border line between strong rosin and too much bite for them, but it all depends on the player's style and taste. The player and I both liked it a lot like that but I do know how one of the others is with their rosin and that probably wouldn't suit those style of players well. I would recommend this for an electric violist or someone who likes to play electric viola. I give it a 4/5 for viola.
Now, going into my personal range of specialty I spent almost a week testing the rosin with my cello and I think this IS the best rosin for cellos I've tried, which ranges from student quality to $35-40 professional rosin. I found this to give me the clarity I need while also projecting well and sticking to the strings. I ran this by a couple of other cellos and I was hearing the same results from them as I was from myself. This rosin is made for cellos except for students or cellist who use very sensitive strings. I give it a 5/5 for cello.
Finally, we have our tests from the bass players! I found this series of test (yes, it took multiple trials to get through all of the tests and make a well rounded decision!). We started out with the usual method of testing rosin and discovered the huge differences between other commercial rosins and Magic Rosin. The first is the clarity of rosin, which most are either gritty, muddy or don't give the projection that is desired. Magic Rosin went and not only made it clear but it also gave us a lot of projection that the other rosin's gave us. After a few tests like this we got to the point that we thought we were hearing things so we had a blind study between Magic Rosin 3G Ultra, Magic Rosin 3G, and two competitors rosin and acquired four identical bows. We went and rosined all of them up with some rosin and had a random person write down the bows rosin to when they handed it to us and hands down we felt the Rosin 3G Ultra had everything else beat. I give it a 5/5 for bass.
It is hard to believe that there is rosin that can be used for all four instruments but it really exists! And for the price of a few cakes of Magic Rosin, you are making a wise investment into not only yourself but your students if you teach privately or in public schools. For more about the rosin click on the link above. If you would like to follow the blog, follow me on Twitter (click here), Facebook (click here) or email me directly! I want everyone to message me by any (or all) of those methods above and tell me one thing you want to see changed or one thing you like about the blog and share this with a friend!
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