Returning to a project is always an interesting experience. In part, it is exciting to pick up where you left off and come up with new ideas. In part, it is extremely difficult because you have to pick up where you left off and come up with new ideas. Why did I stop blogging to begin with?
Life happened. After completing my master's in flute performance, I spent a few years playing in local ensembles/chamber groups, teaching lessons, and blogging. Then I decided to take a few classes in the music education realm to see what I thought about that. I liked it, which makes sense because I like teaching.
But the biggest change happened when my husband got a new job and moved our family to a new state. It goes without saying, there were a lot of changes and adjustments made. I, for one, started a second master's degree in music education. Two years later, I have completed my master's in music education and I am EdTPA certified.
But now what? I am more experienced as a teacher because of the opportunities presented through the degree program including the culminating experience of student teaching; but I am not, at present, teaching in a school as a full time job.
I won't lie. I am disappointed. I did not think that I wouldn't have a job this year and that is a lot to take on mentally.
So, in part, I am here for my own mental wellness. I don't do well with idleness. I like being busy and having things to do. This blog gives me a purpose. I also greatly enjoy learning and writing about music. While I try to build a studio again and find my place as a music educator in my new musical landscape, I am going to keep myself active and happy.
For starters, let me share a piece I discovered earlier this year. I was invited to work as an aural skills instructor for a summer music camp and all of the counselors and instructors had been asked to play a piece in a recital for the campers. The previous summer, I played Ian Clarke's The Great Train Race. I love performing and when given the chance, I like to learn/play a piece that exposes students to something new and/or unexpected. I like to entertain and surprise. I mean, you can't do this all the time, but for an informal recital for a summer camp it almost seems called for, don't you think?
Thus began one of my many YouTube musical journeys - you know, the ones where you start one place and through clicking the suggested videos you end up somewhere completely different? Well, this particular listening experience led me to the piece "Wake up!" by Tilmann Dehnhard.
The piece is straightforward tonally and rhythmically. What makes it fun is the instrumentation. It is written for piccolo and alarm clock. I kid you not, the title is "WAKE UP! für Piccoloflöte und Wecker." Even more delightful, or not ( depending on your mindset), is that it comes with a tiny alarm clock. Here it is in all of its glory:
Anyway, the piece is a little jazzy and is meant to sound improvised. The alarm clock sounds four sixteenths on beats two and four. You, the piccolo, fill in the rest (I hope you enjoy my play on words as much as I do). As noted by many players, you have to tune the piccolo to the alarm clock. My alarm clock was a slightly flat C. Probably the most difficult thing for me was balancing with the alarm clock. When I practiced, there was no issue because the alarm clock faced me. As it got closer to performance, I started practicing with the alarm next to me, but facing away from me. As the piccolo line goes into the upper register as the piece progresses, it became difficult to hear the alarm clock and therefore maintain tempo. I don't know if you know, but the piccolo can out-sound an alarm clock. There are very few silences in this piece, three instances, and they are all at the beginning. If you get off-tempo from the alarm clock, which can be easy to do when you are having fun, there will be silences that are not written. The final fun fact I will share with you is two-fold: 1) while playing straight sixteenths on a concert C in the final measures you turn off the alarm clock and 2) the last note is a high C. Turning the alarm clock off is fun because if the audience isn't fully paying attention they won't even notice. And because the piece wasn't a test of endurance already, you get Prokofiev-ed by Dehnhard when he throws in a high C at the end. Here is a recording by the composer himself. Enjoy and Wake Up!
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