Recently I've been trying to practice piano for three hours a day, and I think it's affecting me. Both yesterday and today, I've dreamed in vivid detail about practicing piano; with my dreams usually involving a mistake I made, or some part where my hands wouldn't obey my brain.
I bet you're wondering why I'm getting crazy about piano all of a sudden. Well, it isn't really all of a sudden. I've been preparing for this time for months, years even. You see, next Thursday I will be auditioning to get into the music school at Cedarville University.This is a big event for me!
Since I've been preparing these pieces for so long, I've kind of felt like I "had arrived". I mean, I've had a lot of instruction on them, and I think I can play them pretty well! But recently, through a new teacher, and a group class, I've found that I can improve a whole lot more. I've been realizing that I can't treat the piece like an untamed colt, to break and master and then move on. Instead, I must treat it like going on a journey: uncovering layers of sound, touch, technique, dynamics, phrasing, and beauty. And even after my audition the journey will not end. For when does music ever end?
The three pieces I will be playing are Bach Prelude & Fugue in B-Flat Minor (which is considered one piece), Haydn Sonata No. 59, and Schubert Impromptu Op. 90 No. 4. (I've given you links to listen to the songs so you can get an idea of how they go, though I couldn't find one of the Bach piece.) The Bach sounds like it's meant for organ, with slow, chordal passages and a very measured beat. It's very solemn and proud, in a tragic way. The Haydn is very jumpy and capricious, almost like Haydn is just playing around on the piano having fun. That one's probably the hardest for me, just because it's so fast and hard to maintain control. I much prefer slower pieces like the Bach. The Schubert is my favorite, because it's just so beautiful; like a vivid painting cascading down like watercolors from a painter's brush. I especially love the middle section where it switches to the minor key. It's so sad and touching - almost melodramatic!
So I am very excited, and of course nervous for this audition. I am trying to take the advice a good friend gave me: to keep my thoughts focused on God, and the beauty He has created in this music, rather than on myself. That way, I won't be as nervous. I would definitely appreciate prayer for all of this!
~Melody
2.06.2010
Blue
Though my first loves are music and writing, my second love is photography. I bring my camera with me wherever I go, because I can find so much beauty everywhere! So, to share my love, and some of my pictures, I'm going to be posting some of my pictures on here for you to enjoy (but please don't copy them). And I thought it would be fun to group them by color. So this week, the color is blue.
I also thought of a little challenge for you all. Since all my pictures are blue (or mostly blue), I'd like to challenge you to come up with a quote from a song that has the word "blue" in it (just make sure to keep it wholesome). Also, feel free to use my idea - but please link back to me! :D
(taken out of an airplane window)
This is me, but I edited it to make it so I have blue eyes ;)
This reminds me of the verse: "The Heavens are declaring the glory of God!"
I also thought of a little challenge for you all. Since all my pictures are blue (or mostly blue), I'd like to challenge you to come up with a quote from a song that has the word "blue" in it (just make sure to keep it wholesome). Also, feel free to use my idea - but please link back to me! :D
~Melody
2.01.2010
The Grey Havens
This last Friday night, my brothers and I watched The Return of the King. I do think that one is my favorite of the three movies, though The Fellowship of the Ring is a close second (I don't like The Two Towers as much - too many battles). I always cry at the end, when they're parting at the Grey Havens. Just that look that Frodo gives the other hobbits... and the sadness in Sam's eyes...
Anyways, tears aside, seeing the scene of the Grey Havens got me thinking about heaven. Just like at the Grey Havens, there will be partings, even of friends. Thankfully, though, Sam also went to the Grey Havens towards the end of his life. So he and Frodo were together once more. But I'm sure for many of us, there are people that we know, even good friends, who are not Christians and will go to hell. That will be really horrible - knowing they're going to the worst place imaginable and can never escape! When you think of it that way, how can we keep from telling them about God's salvation? It's pretty much a life or death situation!
In the song, "Into the West", one of the lines is "White ships have come to carry you home." For Frodo, the elves, and Gandalf, they were going home. Middle Earth actually wasn't the elves' real home - and for Frodo, Middle Earth was a place where he could never truly be at peace. After all he had gone through, he was permanently scarred with the burden he had carried. So it is with us. This earth isn't our real home; we are citizens of heaven. Though we can experience God's peace here on earth, it will always be at war with our flesh. We are never truly whole until we come into the presence of the Almighty God and worship at His feet.
Thinking about heaven really puts things in perspective, doesn't it? It makes me want to witness to others and put aside my insecurity about how they will judge me. Because really, the way people view me here on earth isn't going to matter in heaven. What does it inspire you to do?
~Melody
Anyways, tears aside, seeing the scene of the Grey Havens got me thinking about heaven. Just like at the Grey Havens, there will be partings, even of friends. Thankfully, though, Sam also went to the Grey Havens towards the end of his life. So he and Frodo were together once more. But I'm sure for many of us, there are people that we know, even good friends, who are not Christians and will go to hell. That will be really horrible - knowing they're going to the worst place imaginable and can never escape! When you think of it that way, how can we keep from telling them about God's salvation? It's pretty much a life or death situation!
In the song, "Into the West", one of the lines is "White ships have come to carry you home." For Frodo, the elves, and Gandalf, they were going home. Middle Earth actually wasn't the elves' real home - and for Frodo, Middle Earth was a place where he could never truly be at peace. After all he had gone through, he was permanently scarred with the burden he had carried. So it is with us. This earth isn't our real home; we are citizens of heaven. Though we can experience God's peace here on earth, it will always be at war with our flesh. We are never truly whole until we come into the presence of the Almighty God and worship at His feet.
Thinking about heaven really puts things in perspective, doesn't it? It makes me want to witness to others and put aside my insecurity about how they will judge me. Because really, the way people view me here on earth isn't going to matter in heaven. What does it inspire you to do?
~Melody
1.26.2010
Music Weaves Throughout My Life
I've been thinking alot about music lately. It's amazing how much music is woven throughout the tapestry of my life, even if it's just in the background. I listen to music, compose it, practice it, teach it, basically live it. Just about the only time music isn't playing in my life is when I'm asleep - but even then I usually wake up with a song stuck in my head!
A huge way music is in my life is through my piano playing. I've been playing piano for about twelve years now, and I'm currently preparing three piano pieces for my audition at Cedarville. (Which is coming up in February!) These pieces have been in my life for quite some time now - the "oldest" one I started playing two or three years ago. They really are so much a part of me that I can play them with my eyes closed! I'm sure my family is getting sick of them by now, but I think they've become a part of their lives as well. I often catch my brothers humming my songs after I'm done practicing.
Music also takes a big role in my writing. Often, the lyrics of songs will inspire me for a poem, or even a whole story. I also usually find one or two (or a whole playlist) of songs that just fit perfectly with the story I'm writing. With my last NaNoWriMo novel, "Rescue My Heart", it was Love Story meets Viva la Vida by Jon Schmidt, More Than It Seems by Kutless, and The Offering by Michael W Smith. (Click on the links to listen to the songs on Grooveshark.) Those songs just really seemed to fit with the story at different parts, and sometimes I drew inspiration for the next scene from them!
At the end of one of my poems (I won't share the whole thing because I wrote it three years ago and it's not very good), I wrote these words: "Music is a part of me. Without it, I would cease to be." Though that is, perhaps, slightly exaggerated, the words are true. Music is the ink for my pen, the haven for my sorrows, the backing to my tapestry. And the best music, I've found, is the music that reminds me of the One who made my tapestry. He's skilfully weaving even as I write - and I'm so glad He uses music as the base for my life.
~Melody
