Final finished product

My final Art project! I am very happy at how it turned out. A bow was somewhat murdered to make the painted bow in the making but I wanted it to be realistic like the angel I made for my mother for Mother's Day. I've asked Mrs. Rivenburg if I could display this in the orchestra room or outside of it until the end of the year. I have to wait for her response. I can't wait to share this with the class tomorrow and explain how I got here. I feel like people are going to be confused because my project was to learn how to play the Viola and I painted two of them as my final product. But I will explain and hopefully the confusion will be resolved. As a final statement I would just like to say that Music is Art and it can be expressed in various ways.

Beginning of Final Product

I'm beginning the start to the art piece I'm creating as the final product. I'm really enjoying doing this so far! This will be completed before Monday and brought in to present to the class.

The Star Spangled Banner

For the concert, as a part of our grade, we had to pass off, The Star Spangled Banner. To show that I have been practicing the viola, instead of passing off the song on the Violin, I'm going to be passing it off through memory on the Viola. I'm going to record myself performing it and put it as a part of my presentation. I've been working on memorizing it for about a week now and I'm passing it off today, Friday, for Mrs. Rivenburg. I'm proud of myself that I was able to memorize the piece on both the Violin and the Viola and through memory. As my final product I've decided not to create a Viola piece because I find it awkward to create a piece JUST for the Violas. It might not sound right also. I originally wanted to do my project on something to do with art because I used to be a small artist when I was younger and I want to see if this inspires me to want to take an Art Major in college. So my final product will be an art piece.

Music is art

I made this photo for my mom for Mother's Day. I know my project is on learning how to play the Viola but Music is Art too. I want my final product to have some type of art in it along with the song on the Viola I'm creating. One of my ideas for my 20% project was to draw a Violin and now I'm having more ideas to incorporate the Violin and Viola in an art piece. I don't want to give it away so stay tune to what I'm creating! I think I'm going to start recording videos of me playing the Viola to show my progress on learning how to play it. And when my song is done being put together I want to have the entire Viola section in the orchestra play the song and I'll record it. 

NYSSMA results

NYSSMA results are already here! I got a 21/28 on the solo. It wasn't a perfect score but it was better than I thought I did. I thought I did worse because when I began playing for the judge my bow wasn't rosined well enough so it was creeking against the strings and plus I was nervous and my face was super hot during it. Although I didn't achieve my goal I did enjoy preparing to play for the judge because when I began playing the solo it was difficult and I thought I wouldn't be able to play it at all. But as I practiced more and worked on it slowly, I began to play it at the right tempo and the right finger patterns and I felt confidence each time I improved. I do wish I prepared more for this but atleast I didn't do awful. I also feel like I would have gotten a perfect score if I prepared a level 3 NYSSMA solo instead of a 4. But I was aiming to do well on something more difficult.

NYSSMA DAY!

Today is NYSSMA day!!! I can honestly say that I have confidence in performing my solo. Although I don't think I will get a perfect score but even if I do fail I still habe confidence that I will atleast get a 23/28. My playing permit is read and I have the first 7 scales on the permit memorized and ready to play I just need to work on my solo a litte more before 11:20. I will post how I think did either today or tomorrow and then when my results finally come in then I will post that sheet along with the metal I will ne receiving. Then I can start preparing the second part of this project of writing a song for the violas and playing it with them. I might also perform my NYSSMA solo in front of the entire orchestra class and record it for my final product as well.

NYSSMA Date

NYSSMA is next weekend! I have to admit that I was and still am very nervous when Mrs. Rivenburg told me this. I am going to be working extra these next two weeks and when I finally perform for the judge, I'll post about how I think I did. I will also be working just on learning the viola and creating the song for the violas and possibly the violins for the final product. I need to start memorizing scales which isn't going to be too difficult but when practicing a hard piece, while memorizing seven scales at the same time is a challenge. I will be performing infront of the Judge next Saturday, at 11:20 AM. I have much to practice and hopefully I'll be walking out with the gold!

Memorizing the notes

A way for me to learn the viola notes faster and easier is to write them down many times and ask myself mini questions on each one to see if I can identify them. There are websites where you can fill in the name of the notes to help you learn them, but I can't seem to find ones that are as helpful so I decided to take matters into my own hands and do it myself. This method is efficient and another way I'm going to help myself is using the beginner viola book and ask Mrs. Rivenberg for a viola piece and try to play the song and maybe write in the fingerings and the note names. I hope I'm able to challenge myself in my expedition in learning them and how to play them correctly. Also learning to not get them confussed with the violin notes.

What I've done this week and what I need to Improve on

This week I have been going in almost every day for extra help to work on my solo. The first day I went in, I did better than I expected but Mrs. Rivenburg says I still need a lot of work. I've been struggling to do low 2s and the correct bowing. This weekend I'm going to go online and work on the song that I'm going to create for the violas. Mrs. Rivenberg said that doing a song for just the violas would be a better alternative than making one for the entire orchestra. There is this website I found that allows you to create sheet music and it puts the line measures, notes, accidentals and any other thing required for the musical piece, at the top of the page and you customize the page the way you want it and print it out. I think I'm going to title my piece, "Ciola Voncerto," to switch up "Viola Concerto" so it is unique and known that it was created by someone who isn't a professional. But who knows, maybe it will become known!

More ideas and Progress

NYSSMA is less than a month away! I have been working on the second page of the solo and noticed that the third page is very similiar to the first. That will make it easier to learn in the end. Other things I need to start memorizing is scales because the NYSSMA judge will randomly select about seven scales to play so I'm going to ask Mrs. Rivenburg to help me prepare for those more. I'm also going to be going in for extra help before first period more often to prepare for the solo. I have thought about a final product more too. This boy named Sean in my orchestra class prepares music for the entire orchestra and it inspires me to want to do that myself. However, I don't know the notes for the Bass and Cello and I want the final product to be primarily on the viola and maybe the violin. So maybe I'll make a piece for the violas and ask Mrs. Rivenburg if we can play it in class and I will record it. For the solo I could ask the judge if I could record myself performing it as well.

Chugging Along

I'm learning the notes on the D string and A string, which are the last two on the right and I have to say I'm starting to get them confused with the violin notes. The Viola notes are completely different from the Violin ones because for example, open D string on the Viola would be played as the note "C" or two fingers on the A string for the Violin and all of the A string notes for the Viola would be played on the E string for the Violin. The difference between the Viola and the Violin is it's lowest string is the C string and it doesn't posses an E string, the highest. The Viola's lowest string is G, which the Viola has, but it's highest is E, which the Viola doesn't obtain. The order of the Viola strings from lowest to highest is: C, G, D, A, and the Violin's order is: G, D, A, E. That is why everything is a shift and it gets confusing along the way to learn notes that I am already familiar with but they are played differently on a new instrument.

Ideas for Final Product

Some ideas I've been thinking about for a final product for my 20% project are: creating my own song performed on the viola, performing a song or part of a song, and taking a video of my achievements and if I am cabable of playing a level four musical piece on the viola. Part of my final product will already be the NYSSMA sheet that the judge will fill out and tell me what I did well on the solo and what I need to improve. However, if I get a perfect score, then there will be no need for improvement. I'm really terrifed to preform in front of a group of people when It's just me doing it by myself. This is why performing is just a thought. Other ideas could be preforming in front of my parents but the idea I enjoy the most is creating a video of me playing and showing my progress. But I have hopes that there will be more options later on, throughout this journey, that will open my eyes up more and will inspire me to choose it as my only option for my final product.

Beginner Viola Book and NYSSMA Solo

I've been taking it slow and starting off with mastering the first page of, "Allegro." There are three pages total and I'm doing well so far. The only part that trips me up is towards the end when I have to switch into third position.

Learning the Notes

This Morning I learned how to play, "Mary Had A Little Lamb," on the viola!! I only needed to recognize the notes, "G," " F#," and "E." I'm excited I was able to not get the notes confused with the violin ones.

20% project info

For My 20% Project I'm going to learn how to play the Viola while practicing my Level Four NYSSMA Solo on the violin. The piece is called, "Allegro," by J.-H. Fiocco. My goal is to get a perfect score which is a 28 on my solo and when I learn how to play the viola I want to be able to play a level Four piece on that as well. My orchestra teacher, Mrs. Rivenburg, has given me a beginner Viola book and is encouraging me to look up work sheets so I can learn the notes on the viola and be able to recognize them. I've always wanted to learn how to play the Viola because I think it is a beautiful sounding instrument and I've been playing the Violin for 8 years so I think its time to expand beyond that. Also I want to be able to continue playing in college. I don't want to end the experience in Highschool. By learning new skills on each instrument I will be approving my abilities and if I end up suceeding in my goals of a perfect score then that will look very good for college. Being able to play a second instument in the orchestra will not only look good for college as well but it will be an achieving goal for myself because I would be accomplishing something I've always wanted to do.