Blog post: three

I find it a lot easier to practice piano on my own then play in front of people. Therefore I decided to challenge myself and get my friend to record me. This friend had laughed at me when I said I was planning on teaching myself the piano. He thought I couldn’t do it. Although I am no Beethoven I am able to play simple songs including Row row row your boat, twinkle little star, the Dreidel song, a blues scale and a slow version of Fur Elise. I had to get him to record me playing the song a few times before I got rid of my nerves and was able to perform the song with little error. If you had told me I would be able to play the piano by the end of the term I wouldn’t have believed you. I believe this experience has taught me a lot about inquiry and about music concepts. I have learned about personalized learning and how students can help structure their own learning. I am proud I learned to read treble clef and I learned to play some basic piano songs and one more advanced song. I tried to use my left hand for fun while playing Fur Elise to see if I could do both but it was too challenging. I plan to continue practicing the piano as I am really enjoying it. I am hoping to learn to play faster and to play with two hands. I am saving up to purchase my very own keyboard so I can continue to improve. Learning how to create music will help me in my future teaching as music is universal and everyone enjoys it. Music can take you on a journey and help you express yourself. I could play piano in my classroom with my future students. Playing the piano is useful to help students learn about many music concepts such as tempo. I could use piano to accompany my students. For example if I was teaching them how to sing a scale I could play the piano to make sure they were singing in the right key.

I attached two different videos of me playing Fur Elise…

Blog post: two

In class the other day we learned some important music skills that help me with my understanding of how music works. I now know that when playing a C on the piano you are not only hearing the C instead, you are hearing a series of notes vibrating. I also learned every note has an enharmonic note. For example is B flat is the enharmonic note for C. Lastly I learned the piano creates its sound from hammers rebounding off the strings which is a simple concept I never thought of. At the moment I am struggling to read treble clef so I have been using a youtube video that shows which keys need to be played for the song Fur Elise. I am going to try to learn to read the music although it might take some time. I have been filling out worksheets to help my understanding. Fur Elise is a challenging piece for me. I have been practicing the notes but I am unable to play the song at the speed it is supposed to be played at. Therefor I am learning a little slower version. In music terms I will be playing lento rather then allegro. I can play some parts of the song fairly fast but other parts I need to play slower. I decided it would be best to play the song in a slower tempo so I could play with consistency. Although I have found it can be rather challenging staying on tempo even with all the practice I have been doing. I have been practicing three times a week. I am still finding the song difficult to play as I am such a slow learner. It can be frustrating learning a new song luckily Fur Elise is fairly repetitive. When you do play a couple measures without mistakes it is a great feeling. One of the reasons people enjoy creating music so much is the immediate gratification you get after learning.

Blog post one:

For my mid term video I had sticky notes on the piano keys in order to remember which notes were which. I have now learned that middle C is always the left of the two black keys so I am able to play without the sticky notes. Looking back on my videos I realized I wasn’t playing with only the right hand as I was supposed to. Instead I was using both hands which made it easier at the time but now when I am trying to play a more advanced song I am having troubles reaching all the keys using one hand. I have had the realization that I may have not chosen the best instrument for my abilities. I am a person who types using two fingers. I am finding it challenging to stretch my fingers to the distances needed for the piece especially because I have broken one of my fingers when I was younger. Nonetheless I am having fun learning and trying my best. Right now I am learning to play Fur Elise a lovely piece composed by Beethoven. I decided to learn more about the song so I did some research. I learned Fur Elise is written in A minor. I had no idea what A minor meant so I did some more research where I learned about the 12 major scales. Major scales follow the pattern: tone, tone, semi-tone, tone, tone, tone, semi-tone. Every major scale has a relative minor scale. For the song I am learning the major scale is the C scale which is relative to the A minor scale. Fur Elise was composed in 1810. It was published by Ludwig Nohl 40 years later. Therefore the song was published after Beethoven died. Most sources believe Beethoven wrote Fur Elise for Therese a women he wished to marry others believe he named it after Elisabeth Rockel a friend of his.