Hello fellow bloggers, the time has come for me to end this blog and move on to bigger and better things in my life. Jk, I have nothing better. But still, the year is almost over (2 full days of school left woo), which means that 20-time will be over in a day. On exam day we are having a 5 minute lightning talk where we share what we did for our project, but besides that I am done. This project has been fun, yet I feel as if I wished I would have had more time to play the oboe. Junior year is awful so I never had any time to do anything for almost three or four weeks at a time, and then probably 2 weeks of nothing and the cycle repeats. Because of this, I didn't have that much time to play the oboe. To be completely honest, though, I probably could have practiced a little more than I did, but when I wasn't doing homework or volunteering or going to school, all I wanted to do was lay in my bed and watch Netflix. House is actually the best show in the world, though, so it was worth it. I am thankful I got the opportunity to learn to play the oboe through this 20-time project. I've always wanted to play the oboe, and learning to play it was like a dream come true :) It also helped me grow a lot in my musical skills and my memorization skills. It helped me memorize new things because I had to learn soooo many new notes. I actually find myself trying to finger the oboe notes when I play the clarinet. Don't know if that's a bad thing or not.... Anyways, I don't think I'll be able to play the oboe over the summer, which is sad :( I'm going to be in France all summer and I could bring my oboe with me on the plane and attempt to learn some more while I'm over there, but I don't really want to lose a school's instrument half way across the world... My uncle has a clarinet, though, so I'll be able to play that! I'm actually so excited to go to France this summer because I get to volunteer at a camp for little children for a month, go biking and climbing in big trees with my cousins for two weeks, and then convince my mom to take me shopping in Paris when she comes up for the last week of the summer :) Maybe I'll use my new-found blogging skillz to write my own blog while I'm there! I'll probably get 500 followers in my first day and become famous!
Anyways, I don't know what else to say in this blog. It's been real.
See ya never,
Julia
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Sunday, May 25, 2014
The Joy of Music
Hello fellow bloggers! Recently people have been asking me why I chose to play the oboe. It also surprises me how people don't even realize the benefits of music... So I have decided to inform you all (my wonderful audience) on the wonders of music and why I chose to play the oboe.
In my opinion, music is the most cognitively pleasing thing that a person can do for themselves. When people listen to music, the different songs have effects on various parts of the brain, such as memory and vision. This can lead to higher brain function in reading and mathematics. Music also makes people feel emotion. When playing or listening to music you enjoy, it stimulates different parts of your brain and can make you feel joy and reduce your stress. Listening to the right kind of music can relieve depression, as musical therapy is often used on patients with emotion distress. I chose to play the oboe because I have a passion for music :) Music lets me relax from my daily life. When I'm super stressed I like to play songs I know how to play well on the piano. That way I can just play for hours on end because I don't have to get frustrated and I sound great :) The oboe is a little more frustrating though, but I always feel 10x better when I know I've mastered a song (like hot crossed buns!).
Also, I recently put a video of my quintet from the Michigan Youth Arts Festival on youtube for my gramma to see it, but here's the link so you all can watch it :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwfZVp9r6nw
So far I have two whole views on it (I know, I'm so popular).
So I really don't have anything else to say... I'm still working on the oboe and I hope to have a piece learned by the date of our presentation in 2 or 3 weeks!
Also, I've been reading some other blogs from other students in my English Class (who are also doing the 20-time project) and I'd have to say that my favorite blog that I've been reading would be my friend Cindy's blog ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwfZVp9r6nw ). She's extremely talented and her poems are beautiful :')
Okay goodbye friends! Until next time- Julia
In my opinion, music is the most cognitively pleasing thing that a person can do for themselves. When people listen to music, the different songs have effects on various parts of the brain, such as memory and vision. This can lead to higher brain function in reading and mathematics. Music also makes people feel emotion. When playing or listening to music you enjoy, it stimulates different parts of your brain and can make you feel joy and reduce your stress. Listening to the right kind of music can relieve depression, as musical therapy is often used on patients with emotion distress. I chose to play the oboe because I have a passion for music :) Music lets me relax from my daily life. When I'm super stressed I like to play songs I know how to play well on the piano. That way I can just play for hours on end because I don't have to get frustrated and I sound great :) The oboe is a little more frustrating though, but I always feel 10x better when I know I've mastered a song (like hot crossed buns!).
Also, I recently put a video of my quintet from the Michigan Youth Arts Festival on youtube for my gramma to see it, but here's the link so you all can watch it :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwfZVp9r6nw
So far I have two whole views on it (I know, I'm so popular).
So I really don't have anything else to say... I'm still working on the oboe and I hope to have a piece learned by the date of our presentation in 2 or 3 weeks!
Also, I've been reading some other blogs from other students in my English Class (who are also doing the 20-time project) and I'd have to say that my favorite blog that I've been reading would be my friend Cindy's blog ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwfZVp9r6nw ). She's extremely talented and her poems are beautiful :')
Okay goodbye friends! Until next time- Julia
Thursday, May 8, 2014
My First Video!
So by tremendous popular request, I will be putting up my first oboe video. This song is entitled "There's a Hole in My Bucket" and I think I play it rather well if I do say so myself, so try not to get too taken away by the amazing oboe skills I have picked up over the past few weeks. I would also like to thank Jasmine Purtell for supporting my wonderful song choice :') I hope you enjoy!
Okay, so I hope you were all wowed by my oboe song. There'll be many more songs to come, so if any of you would like to leave a request for me to play, just leave it in the comments below!
Progress on my oboe playing hasn't actually been all that great though. Next week I still have three days of IB testing, so I probably won't have the opportunity to play my oboe at all :( I have been looking at a few different songs to play, though, and I have found a few potential ones that are around 1-2 pages long. I can't reveal what I'm playing yet though, but once I know I'll tell all of you wonderful blog viewers.
And lastly, I have been reading this really amazing food blog for the past few weeks, and it's one of my favorite ones that I have come across. It's written by my friend Sarah, who shows her blog viewers new recipes each week. If you want to check out her blog, it's http://sarahmakesfood.blogspot.com
Monday, April 28, 2014
Where Art Thou, Oboe?
The title for this blog is actually so accurate because I probably haven't touched my oboe in two weeks... Which is why I have been avoiding writing this blog. School actually sucks and it seems as if all my free time (besides Easter break where i watched 24 hours of House he he) is absorbed in schoolwork or studying for the Chem AP. And even though I do love the oboe, I love getting a higher GPA more than that. But, I have been listening to some pretty good oboe players, and they inspire me to learn more :') I will now insert some videos of the oboe playing because I just think it's the prettiest instrument in the world.
This first one is actually a song I'm currently playing in band, but I thought the oboe part was so pretty I had to put it in here :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
The second one one is a solo performed by Marcel Tabuteau (my mentor's favorite oboist in the world) in the Philadelphia Orchestra. He starts playing a part of his solo around 3:45
And lastly, the third one is actually my quintet performing, but there's an oboe in it so you all can see that. I thought since I wasn't playing the oboe for the past few weeks, I thought it would be fun to show you all what I have been working on :) Sorry if this recording isn't very good though, it's after districts (a few months ago) with only about 4 rehearsals. Trust me, we sound much better now. We're also performing this quintet at the Michigan Youth Arts Festival if any of you want to come and see us play (because I know you do). Sorry if the recording is sorta long, i tried to shorten it because it was originally 7 minutes, but you can just skip around and find the cool parts. And when we actually play for the MYAF, i'll be sure to upload a video! :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiNRURF_IcI
Friday, April 11, 2014
Oboe-ing it up
So I feel as if I should write this blog...but to be honest todaysmeet has captured my attention for the time being.
ANYWAY
Another successful week of playing the oboe has passed! I finished the beginner book that my band teacher has given to me and I will be traveling to a music store on Saturday to see if I can get a new book to further my oboe skillz. Before playing the oboe it seemed fairly hard, but after a while I realized that it's not that hard and that I'm actually pretty good at it (if you get past the squeaky noises when I play high notes). Some of my favorite songs I played out of my fifth grade level book were "Joy to the World" and "There's a Hole in My Bucket". "There's a Hole in My Bucket" is actually the best song in the world and you should all go search it on youtube if you've never heard it before.
Realizing that I'm actually pretty good at the oboe has given me more hope for my future performance as well. Now that I know my song won't have to be restricted to 10 notes anymore, I can play a lot of beginner songs that sound more complex. I was told by my friend that a lot of the baroque pieces for oboe are fairly easy, so I may be able to play a baroque piece for my performance :)
Okay well I'm going to peace out now, but I'll keep you friends updated on what I'm doing next and maybe post a video soon.
-Julia
ANYWAY
Another successful week of playing the oboe has passed! I finished the beginner book that my band teacher has given to me and I will be traveling to a music store on Saturday to see if I can get a new book to further my oboe skillz. Before playing the oboe it seemed fairly hard, but after a while I realized that it's not that hard and that I'm actually pretty good at it (if you get past the squeaky noises when I play high notes). Some of my favorite songs I played out of my fifth grade level book were "Joy to the World" and "There's a Hole in My Bucket". "There's a Hole in My Bucket" is actually the best song in the world and you should all go search it on youtube if you've never heard it before.
Realizing that I'm actually pretty good at the oboe has given me more hope for my future performance as well. Now that I know my song won't have to be restricted to 10 notes anymore, I can play a lot of beginner songs that sound more complex. I was told by my friend that a lot of the baroque pieces for oboe are fairly easy, so I may be able to play a baroque piece for my performance :)
Okay well I'm going to peace out now, but I'll keep you friends updated on what I'm doing next and maybe post a video soon.
-Julia
Friday, March 28, 2014
Oboe Player in Da House
Hello fellow bloggers ☺ I am Julia and this is my blog about learning to play the oboe. I've always found the oboe to be a magestical instrument and it has always seemed to razz my berries, so I've decided to pick it up and learn to play it. I already play the piano, clarinet, and ukulele, so I don't think learning a fourth instrument will be thaaaaat hard...
If any of you were wondering what an oboe looks like, here's a picture. And contrary to popular belief, one can actually get the oboe to not sound like a dying duck if the right techniques are used. For my 20-time project I will attempt to learn some new oboe techniques so that I will hopefully be able to play an oboe song at the end of the school year. If any of you wanted to learn to play the oboe, I would recommend that you check out this website:
http://www.learntoplaytheoboe.com/
If any of you were wondering what an oboe looks like, here's a picture. And contrary to popular belief, one can actually get the oboe to not sound like a dying duck if the right techniques are used. For my 20-time project I will attempt to learn some new oboe techniques so that I will hopefully be able to play an oboe song at the end of the school year. If any of you wanted to learn to play the oboe, I would recommend that you check out this website:
http://www.learntoplaytheoboe.com/
It's full of advice from different oboe reeds to buy to what teacher you can get.
I know, I'm so helpful.
I haven't actually started playing the oboe yet, so my project hasn't exactly started yet, but I am determined that when I begin playing it that it will be awesome. I got some recommendations on oboe reeds that I've ordered and I got an oboe to play on!
I hope you all enjoy my blog :)
-Julia
I know, I'm so helpful.
I haven't actually started playing the oboe yet, so my project hasn't exactly started yet, but I am determined that when I begin playing it that it will be awesome. I got some recommendations on oboe reeds that I've ordered and I got an oboe to play on!
I hope you all enjoy my blog :)
-Julia
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