Dazed.

Today was one of those days...
When a whole bunch of things that you have been hoping for, but never really expected, all happen at once.
And you are left quaking in your boots (or in my case soggy hip waders) grateful, overwhelmed and terrified.

I spent most of today (a thursday) thinking it was a tuesday.
Meanwhile someone else mistook today for a Friday.
A conversation was had.
Opportunities arose.
My next couple weeks went from being wide open and relaxing to jam packed and busy. But it is a good kind of busy.

Several exciting and terrifying opportunities loom ahead of me, and I am just hoping I will have the courage to seize the right one before I find myself whizzing by.

Practice Yeilds Progress

My fiddle teacher instructed me to video tape some of my at home practice sessions. This is so that I can have a chance to review my technique and posture while not distracted by trying to get notes on key and in tempo. It also gives me a chance to really listen to my playing and recognize errors in tempo and dynamics.

For the most part this is a hugely humbling experience. I will practice a song and think I have it down - until I go to video tape myself. Then my fingers and bow can't seem to get in sync and nothing goes right. It definitely reminds me that I have so far to go to reach the playing ability I aspire to.

I did however manage to capture one video where my fingers seem to co-operate and I even manage to play through some really difficult (for me) sections! I was so proud of myself and the fact that I actually got the good one on camera, that I thought I would share it with you. The song is a traditional fiddle tune called Redwing.

 

You will see that when I play I have almost no control of my facial expressions. Even though in my head I think I am smiling and enjoying myself the camera shows me I have a very serious face of concentration. In the above video I think I smirk once while playing- this is the point when I realized that things were going good and I was going to nail this one.


So it is definitely not perfect but I am certainly making progress. I continue to enjoy my fiddle lessons and am making the most of my opportunities to learn. Lately I have become a bit of a broken record about encouraging people to take music lessons if they are interested. Seriously I know so many young-adults who say they wished they could play an instrument.

What is stopping you?!?!?

You are not dead yet! Get out there, pick up a fiddle, cello, guitar, banjo, clarinet or kazoo and learn to play a tune! Better yet sign up for lessons with a local teacher. Sure you probably won't become some famous musician, make money off of your art, or even perform in front of many people. There will be squeaks and squawks and you might have to start with something more basic than Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. But there is no pressure to be great- Just enjoy music for what it is, have fun, and participate!

What My Life Sounds Like Lately

I have been spending a lot of my free time practicing my fiddle lately and having so much fun! If you were a fly on the wall of my apartment tonight here is a sampling of the songs you would hear in varying degrees of proficiency.

Started out with some classical music- good for practicing technique and challenging. I had a song running through my head and spent about 1/2 and hour trying to figure out what it was. Turns out it was Henry Purcell's Rondeau from Abdelazer. Fortunately I was able to find some sheet music for the song online (written for flute but hurray for playing a C+ instrument again!!) The song sounds beautiful as a violin solo. The notes are surprisingly easy to get but I need to work on my tone a lot to sound this good.

 Non-classical music fans might remember it from the dance scene in Pride and Prejudice.

And then some other dancing tunes. I have been enjoying learning some traditional fiddle standards. Maybe someday I will be providing music at a square dance near you!

Most of the recordings I got off Youtube were by Don Messer- a truly fantastic fiddle player! The last one (Red Wing) is actually close to the speed I play it at- lots of fun!!! Enjoy!

Team Lift

Recently I bought a kitchen cart for my kitchen. I had seen one in a local store for a reasonable price and  had been considering the purchase for awhile. A lack of counter space and cupboard space finally sent me back to the store. I purchased the item and the nice people at the store helped me put the large heavy package into my vehicle. I then drove home eager to assemble my new purchase. It wasn't until I was sitting in the parking lot of my apartment that I realized something. I live on the second floor. There is no elevator in my building. And that package is heavy!

No problem I thought. I am a strong independent woman. I can get this package up and into my apartment. No problem.

After a little grunting, ingenuity, and a precarious balancing of said package on a railing while I attempted for a third time to open the door to my floor, I finally got the package into my apartment.

I then opened it and began to separate the pieces to assemble.
Being a wise person I looked to the instructions. I am not a complete fool, to avoid frustration always read the instructions.
The first instruction: "Two people are required to assemble this item"

Okay.... So maybe not all the instructions are important right??

I proceeded to assemble the cart. Several hours later I was successful! The cart was assembled. The shelves held together. I had counter space. Hurray!!

I began to pick up the garbage and packaging. It was then that I noticed a sign on the cardboard box:

 

"Pfft!" I thought. I am a strong independent woman. Look I got it here and up 2 flights of stairs all by myself. I assembled the cart without any hollering or yelling (just some music: Bastille, and a pumpkin spice latte.) My confidence soared. "Who needs a team?!?" I thought, "I am woman, hear me roar!" I joked as I put away my screwdriver a.k.a. butter-knife .

The next morning I woke up to bruises on my arms and sore shoulders. Later that afternoon I found that the shelf of my new cart kept collapsing. Who needs a team? I DO!

Perhaps I was able to complete things on my own, but I ended up sore and bruised in the process. I sense of independence is good, but I am not an island. 

Last week I was preparing my Sunday School lesson for my class. We were talking about the importance of Christian community. Their memory verse was 

Ecclesiastes 4:12

New International Version (NIV)

¹² Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Hmmm.... looks like this is a lesson I haven't quite learned yet. 

P.S. The collapsing shelf was later fixed with sticky tack. It works excellent now. 

What else do you expect from a girl who uses a butter knife as a screwdriver?!? 

For all you music lovers here is some Bastille for your listening enjoyment: