Marching band trip

Well it's almost the end of the football season which for me means the end of marching band. But before we finish up for the semester we have one last big away game in Louiseville, KY. We are leaving Friday around noon and will be staying overnight at a hotel before the game on Saturday. We expect to arrive back in Memphis early Sunday morning. Honestly, I view this trip as a chore, but I still plan on having a fun time.

Music Website Review

Musicians constantly need new equipment, another instrument, to replace a mouthpiece, and other things to stay on top of their game, but where do they go to buy all these items? Large music stores are not as common as the local Wal-Mart so musicians usually go to the internet to find what they are looking for. Woodwind and Brasswind and Musician’s Friend are two popular websites online that sell all types of music equipment from instruments to accessories. Both are impressive websites that meet any musician’s needs, but both also have some distinct differences.

             Woodwind and Brasswind is an extremely useful site to find exactly what you are looking for. The website has a great design that makes it very easy for the user to find what they need. The homepage gives the user an excellent overview at the different selections and products the site has to offer. There is a toolbar near the top of the page that has all of the products categorized under a set of tabs that make it simple to find a certain type of instrument or different accessories for that instrument. You can also narrow the search for the product you need selecting the brand or by using a price range. If you are on a tight budget then the website has options for products that are used or are on sale. In addition there are a few ads near the top of the page but it is at least relevant to the content of the website. The website also has a Facebook page where you can keep up with the latest offers from the site and comment on the products.

            Musician’s Friend offers the same products as the previous site, but it falls short due to some key factors. The website is not as easy to navigate as with Woodwind and Brasswind; instead of all the types of products being displayed on a toolbar you have to find a tab and search for whatever it is that you need. Contrary to its name, Musician’s Friend is unfriendly to wind players. To find woodwind or brass instruments you have to search for the “brass and woodwinds” option under the search tab, and even then the user is given a small selection. The homepage itself only displays guitar and percussion instruments. In fact, under the search tab it mostly lists different types of guitars and percussion instruments.

            In conclusion, I strongly recommend Woodwind and Brasswind for its convenience and wide range selections. Musician’s Friend may be a good place to check out if you play guitar, keyboard, or percussion, but it is very inconvenient for wind players such as myself. For wind players looking for the things that they need, Woodwind and Brasswind is definitely the best place to go.

Chanson Et Passepied

Well the end of the semester is drawing near, which means that my saxophone jury is also approaching. A jury is a test in which a music student passes off repertoire for faculty and then graded based on the student's performance. I began working on my prepared piece in late August and has been the center of my daily practice. The title of the piece is Chanson Et Passepied composed by Jeanine Rueff. The piece begins with a slow, tranquil melody but then becomes a faster, playful song. The tempo and rhythm in the fast part has given me the most difficulty, but it has become better. My favorite part of the piece is in the slow beginning section. Overall i have put a lot of work into this piece and I hope I play it well at my jury.

(Here is a recording. I do not own it.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8crYOKrXUM8

George Washington Bridge

Alright so my next symphonic concert is coming up and I'm pretty excited. our theme for the concert is New York City. My favorite piece that we're playing is George Washington Bridge by William Shuman. Shuman wrote the piece as an aural representation of the structure of the bridge which he crossed nearly everyday to go to work. The piece gives the bridge an almost human personality; it is definately an awesome and well written piece of music.

Here is a recording:
www.youtube./watch?v=qnBKKXNXxRU&hd=1

Most challenging piece

So recently my sax studio received a piece that we have to be able to play together by March, 2014. The piece is Mendelsohnn's Presto Octet, and I have to say it is absolutely the hardest piece that I have ever played before. Although its an octet we have ten people playing: four altos, two sopranos, two baritone saxes, and two tenors. The piece fetures very challenging rythems and there even altissomo notes that I need to be able to play. Still, even though its a difficult piece I'm sure that I'll be able to learn it through lots of practice.

Teacher Profile

The following is a profile for my saxophone teacher, Allen Rippe:

Allen Rippe was born in Danville, Virginia. His father played violin and piano and it was he who had inspired Allen to become a musician. He originally wanted to play the sax, but his parents insisted that he learn how to play the clarinet because the clarinet was cheaper than many other types of instruments. Allen bought two clarinets: one to use for practice at home and another to use at school. Although he did enjoy playing the clarinet he desired to learn the saxophone. After several months the band director had encouraged Allen to take up the saxophone. The band director had told Allen’s parents that “he was a saxophonist playing the wrong instrument”.

            Allen could not yet afford to buy his own saxophone, so for several months he would borrow other people’s saxophone to go home and practice, but eventually he saved enough to buy his own. He made his first public appearance when he played a performance with the Junior Walkers and the All-stars at Motown, VA. He had played a piece entitled “Hot Cha”, the first piece he ever played onstage.

             In 1967 he began to attend Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and studied there until he graduated in 1971. Afterwards, he went on to attend Hartt College of Music at the University of Hartford at Hartford. While he was there he won the concerto contest to play a solo. As he performed he was noticed by a conductor for the Hartford Chamber Orchestra; Allen performed with them twice. He graduated with his bachelor’s degree in Music Performance in 1974. Immediately after he went on to get his Masters in Music from the University of Michigan in 1976and was selected to be in their wind ensemble. From 1976 to 1978 he worked as a visiting artist in Statesville, North Carolina until he applied to work on staff at the University of Memphis. Allen has been at Memphis for thirty-five years( during his fourth year he went to go teach saxophone in Israel).

            Allen Rippe is a man dedicated to music and is very influential to those he teaches. Any of his students can agree that he is passionate about his instrument and strives for his students to succeed.

Brooklyn - Youngblood Brass Band

Hey everybody!

So I'm part of my university's marching band, and naturally one of the things we do is play pep tunes for the football games. We play a bunch of great songs but my favorite tune is Brooklyn by the Youngblood Brass Band. I really like Brooklyn because of its upbeat and jazzy sound and is a very fun piece to play. I particularly like the section with the syncopated rythem and echo. Brooklyn was recorded by Youngblood Brass in 2003.



Here is the link to a YouTube recording.

Disclaimer: I do not own the channel that uploaded this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxH9Dg1JLio



                                                                                                              (source: Google Images)

Trial by Music

In my later years of high school I began to take an interest in honor bands. An honor band is basically a prestigious wind ensemble comprised of high school students from all over the state or region. Being a participant of such an event signified that you were among the best student musicians in the area. Although I already held a good standing in my high school’s band, participating in the honor bands would give me an opportunity to actually play with more serious musicians

I did not get off on a good start though; I constantly practiced for upcoming auditions, but I was never able to make the ensembles. It did not help that my main instrument was alto saxophone. It would be worth noting that auditioning for a place in any ensemble as an alto sax was very competitive. It was the section that usually the largest amount of people try out for, and is usually the smallest section in the band. Also, I became extremely nervous whenever I went in for my audition. I would be so worried that I would mess up something that I really did mess up, and there were many times that right before I auditioned I would over practice, which caused fatigue. Still, the smaller county and regional bands did not compare to the one that changed everything.

In the fall semester of my junior year I decided to audition for the Mississippi Lions All-State Band, the highest band in the state. It consisted of two auditions: a preliminary round that everyone tried out for and a final round for those who were good enough to receive callbacks. They had audition music prepared for according to section of instrumentation to be practiced which was very difficult. The auditions were held at Pearl High School near Jackson, MS. It was about a three hour drive from my town to Pearl, and the auditions started early in the morning so I would have to arrive the day before and stay overnight. I decided to travel with my friend, a clarinetist who was the only other person from my school auditioning, and his mom to the audition. It was a decision that I would soon regret.

We left early in the afternoon and arrived there that evening and stayed in a fairly cheap hotel near the school. The next morning we got up, ate a small breakfast, and headed to the school. We arrived a little late, which annoyed me because by the time I signed up for a time the only times were later in the day. The warm-up rooms were specific to each section. As I passed the flute and clarinet rooms I could hear the soft, pretty melodies being practiced, but when I approached the room for the saxophones it sounded like war that was being fought with sound. I went to a corner of the room and practiced my repertoire for about an hour. My audition was still several hours away so I either walked around or listened to the other players in my room. The other players were always challenging each other; they would have their own competitions to see who could play their scales the fastest, or who had the best intonation, and so on. To someone who was not used to all the playing they would probably get a headache. The entire event seemed as if it was designed to be as intimidating as it could be, hearing all these good players and the air in the whole place was thick with tension. Needless to say, this did not calm my nerves one bit, but none of it was as intimidating as the audition itself.

When it was finally time for me to go I walked up the stairs and made my way to the audition room. As I walked became extremely nervous and my heart was pounding in my chest. I handed the assistant by the door my audition card and he showed me in. There were five judges in the room (which was very intimidating since most other auditions had only one or two) who analyzed me head to toe. The judge in the center instructed me to play my major scales, prepared pieces, and then gave me a piece to sight read. The audition did not go very well, my scale and pieces were pretty mediocre, but the sight-reading was terrible. “Thank you” was all the judge in the center said then I left the room. As I walked back to put my instrument up I reflected on how bad my audition went, but hoped it would be enough to at least make callbacks. It would be a few hours before the results would be posted.

When the results were finally posted I ran and fought through the crowd to see how I did. I made it to the front and scanned the placement sheet from the bottom up. I didn’t get far. Out of the fifty plus altos that auditioned I was thirty-six, and only the top twelve made callbacks. I just stared at my name, not believing that I did so poorly. As I walked away my friend who I came with ran up to me. He made callbacks, six out of about fifty (the top thirty-six make callbacks). This news only made me feel worse about myself, that he made it and I didn’t. The ride home was miserable; my friend and his mom were celebrating his accomplishment while I just sat there feeling like I was the ultimate failure. When I got home I  I was determined to return as a much better musician.

A couple weeks later I looked up the audition music for next year’s audition and practiced rigorously every day. I remember practicing my scales over and over, trying to make them as perfect as possible, and countless hours working on the prepared pieces. My friend was also going back to audition, but this time I decided to go there alone so that would not be distracted and to avoid the same horrible ride home the previous year. On the morning of the audition I practiced in the parking lot behind the hotel by myself, just me and my music, instead of being in the middle of that chaotic warm-up room. I walked to the audition room once again with the same nervousness I always felt. Before I went in stopped and prayed a quick prayer asking God to keep my mind at peace. The audition, while I still made a few errors, was a lot better than the first time around. Instead of waiting in the school all day for the results I went out to eat and see the town to take my mind off of it. When I went back the results were already posted. I placed in at eleven. I could barely contain my excitement, all my hard work had paid off.

I went back the next weekend for the final audition and placed seventh, but only the top six made the band. While I was a little frustrated that I didn’t make the final cut, I was still happy with my improvement from the previous year. My success continued on to the other honor bands as well. I placed in the high chairs at all of the ensembles I tried out for. I participated in the honor clinics at Desoto County, Delta State University, Mississippi State University, University of Memphis, and even the University of Alabama. I had accomplished what I set out to do: I proved that I was a great saxophonist. I did not only prove this to the judges though. I proved it to myself.

Welcome and Introduction

Hey everybody and welcome to my music blog! Before I get into the purpose of this blog let me tell you a little bit about myself.

My name is Christian and I'm a college freshman. My major is saxophone performance and I am considering to double major, but I don't know in what yet. I absolutely enjoy listening to classical music and jazz, but I also like some popular music(I am a big fan of Skillet).

Many of the entries I'll post will usually be a short commentary about a piece I am working on or a piece I've heard that I really liked, and I will post a link to a recording of it. I will also post about some of the music experience I encounter during my first year of college.

Why do I like music so much? It is because of the baeuty and fascination that music creates. Music is used to express joy, tranquility, excitement, sorrow, anger, and all other kinds of emotions. It is a story that is portrayed through sound. It is a universal language that everyone can understand.


"Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom." -Charlie Parker