Things I would eventually like to do with Zackary Allen Graber

Not in any specific order:

Water Balloon fight, Tie dye shirts, Go to the dinosaur museum in Chicago, take him to Wyoming, Go to either Ontario or Toronto to show Penny they're the same place, spend a whole night watching Gilmore Girls, learn to cook, dance, road trip, drive a Mini, ride a horse, buy a ring-tailed lemur, go camping, look at the stars, explore a cave, buy and name a star, teach him guitar, travel to see if Nessie is real, explore Paris

To be continued...

Things I love doing with Zackary Allen Graber

Not in any specific order:

Lengthy walks at Shanklin Park, Family Get-Togethers, Swimming, Holding Hands, Napping, Making Cake, Making Cookies, Singing, Texting, Going to movies at Linway, Sitting in our castle, Quick trips to the Brew, Cuddling in the van, sitting on the couch with Pug Rug, talking gangsta, sharing an iPod, watching out the window, Night swimming, Going to the zoo, splitting Mancino meals, Tickle fights, Staring contests, Hugging, getting teased by Penny, Kissing, Kissing in front of Kaitlyn, eating twislers, eating twislers like Lady and the Tramp, Smiling, go to Taco Bell, Kaitlyn's softball games, wondering around Walmart, wearing glow bracelets, watching fireflies, say silly things on accident that makes him laugh, laughing, hit and runs with turkey vultures, illegally going to Michigan, people watching, first fridays....

To be continued....

Oh, It is love.

Oh, it is love from the first time I set my eyes upon yours thinking "Oh, is it love?"

Oh dear
Its been hardly a moment
And you are already missed
There is still a bit of your skin
That I've yet to have kissed
Oh say, please do not go
When you know, oh you know that I must
Oh say, I love you so
You know (oh) you, oh know you can trust
We'll be holding hands once again
All our broken plans I will mend
I will hold you tight so you know
It is love from the first
Time I pressed my hand to yours
Thinking, "Oh, is it love?"

Oh, dear,
Its been hardly three days yet
And I'm longing to feel your embrace
There are several days
Until I can see your sweet face
Oh say, wouldn't you like to be older and married with me?
Oh say, wouldn't it be nice to know right now that we'll be
Someday holding hands in the end
All our broken plans will have been
I will kiss you soft so you know
It is love from the first
Time I pressed my lips against yours
Thinking, "Oh, is it love?"

Oh, your heart may long for love that is more near
So, when I'm gone these words will be here
To ease every fear
And dry up every tear
And make it very clear
I kiss you and I know
It is love from the first
Time I press my lips against yours
Thinking, "Oh, is it love?"

Oh it is love from the first
Time I set my lips against yours
Thinking, "Oh, is it love?"

I kiss you and I know
It is love from the first
Time I set my lips against yours
Thinking, "Oh, is it love?"

Neglection and a side of Writer's Block.

I have neglected my blog. Obviously. I think the last time I posted was before Christmas. But I just don't know what to write. I need a topic.

A Word from the Wise

You are so young; you stand before beginnings. I would like to beg of you, dear friend, as well as I can, to have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and books written in a foreign language. Do not look for the answers. They cannot be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day. Perhaps you are indeed carrying within yourself the potential to visualize, to design, and to create for yourself an utterly satisfying, joyful, and pure lifestyle. Discipline yourself to attain it, but accept that which comes to you with deep trust, and as long as it comes from your own will, from your own inner need, accept it, and do not hate anything.

- Rainer Maria Rilke

Bittersweet

Since my other blog about this was for a separate site, I would like to expand now. In here.

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Embrace all equally!"
-- Author Unknown

Throughout your life, you will meet people that amaze you and that you look up to, and sometimes they're there to stay for a long time or hardly at all. All I can say is that I wish I had more time to spend with you. I love coming to school because I know there is a possibility that I could miss another learning experience or funny moment, and I know that you have opened my eyes and furthered my passion for music, and I wouldn't have wanted this semester to be any other way.

I am so happy that you are the one person who just always listened to what I had to say and you didn't judge me because of it. You are the perfect type of friend and I really hope we can keep in touch! I want to know where you end up. Maybe I'll transfer? Haha. You're going to go far. I have faith in you.

Keep in touch with me! Best wishes! Let's get together sometime. Maybe the IU Music Camp is in my future... :)

Things I learned from Miss Pratt

As most semesters are drawing to a close, I would like to reflect on a student teacher that has been at the High School with me since my first day. She has been like a breath of fresh air, very helpful, and I know my friends and I will miss her. She was always so interested in what we were playing and had so many suggestions and positive words of encouragement. So now, I present my list of things I have learned from Miss Pratt:

- It's fun to see over people love orchestra, too!

- Cello: one over, one under.

- When teachers express their love for a certain piece, it helps kids love them too. *cough* St. Paul's Suite.... *cough*

- When you grow up and buy adult pants, always buy pants with pockets in them.

- The hardest note to get in tune is a first finger F on the E string.

- Cool people wear Hello Kitty band aids.

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I'll add to this as I think of more. I hope she's successful teaching and I'll see her again sometime. I'd like to know where she ends up - I'll be following in her footsteps one day :)

All Passes - Art Endures

NOTE: I actually wrote this yesterday, November 28th.

Earlier this month I took a trip to Chicago to see the Chicago Symphony for my fifteenth birthday. Before the performance my mother and I were strolling down Michigan Avenue towards the "haunted" Congress Plaza Hotel. As we were walking, I noticed advertisements for a large sheet music shop and violin makers on a building called the "Fine Arts Building."

Sadly, it was closed for the night but my mom promised she would take me back as soon as she could.

Today, I finally got to go back.

I am mystified by this building. Walking in, I felt like I had time traveled back a hundred years. I half expected to see Stradivari himself, working, after being lost in his element after all this time. As I ventured further, I met the elevator operator, who pulled his lever back and sent us flying to the 9th floor, as I watched through the open wall in front of me. It reminded me of 1408. Ha.

I highly recommend checking out Performer's Music, a sheet music shop in suite 904. This was the most amazing sheet music shop I have ever set foot in. Or walking up the stairs to the Stradivari Society. Step back in time for awhile.

Cliche.

I notice as I read facebook profiles that they almost always say "Music is my life." Which is great, we all do. It's turning into a cliche phrase. What does it really mean when you say that music is your life? Do you ever stop to think about what goes into making that (usually terrible) mainstream pop song you listen to? What did it evolve from? And by you not having that one song, could you not have survived? I think you just mean that you find joy out of listening to music - whether it's classical or rap crap.

There is a difference between me and these cliche people I talk about. I make music. I don't just listen to it. And I don't just love it, I am passionate about it. If you took my violin away from me, I would be a completely different person.

Family unhurt in Goshen blaze

Family unhurt in Goshen blaze

This was Brianna's family, keep them in your prayers!

Discouragement.

Since I feel too kind to reply to your email personally, I will reply on here. Since I know you would never read my blog.

I will start by answering your questions.

1 - I am in 9th Grade.
2 - Right now with Madison, I am working on the Bach Concerto in A minor. I recently finished the Vivaldi Concerto mvmts 1/3.
3 - I am not using the book position etudes.
4 - I have no problem with 2 octave arpeggios, and I am learning 3 octave scales.
5 - Every day, I have from the time I get home (around 3:30) until I feel like going to bed to practice. On the weekends, I have basically all day Saturday to practice. Sunday I am in South Bend and I do homework.
6 - I would not have to give up any activities to practice 2-3 hours a day. I get bored, and I play for that long. I'm not on the computer that much. Maybe if I had something to actually practice, I could make good use of my time.
7 - Last year for ISSMA, I played the Gavotte from Book 3 and I got a 9.5 rating. I have improved so much since then.

You have not heard me play privately in a lesson for almost two years. You have no idea what I sound like at this present moment in time. I have improved so much over the summer.

Of the pieces on Interlochen's list, only one is required. Not all. I wanted to do the Bruch concerto. Not that you want to know or anything, but I can already play half of it. If I did that, I could also compete with the SBYSO in the Concerto competition. Not that you'd come to watch anyway.

Although you strongly believe in the order of the suzuki books, I strongly believe that I can do whatever I put my mind to. And honestly, that is what matters to me.

I want to grow up and be a violinist. I want to perform, and I want to teach. I would like to go to Yale College as an undergraduate and double major in performance and Education. I wouldn't mind giving private lessons. But I want to be the type of teacher that is willing to work on what my student wants - If I see that my student is eager to learn, I will teach them all I can. I won't hold them back.

And I won't ever discourage them.

End of an Era - Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls.

V1.
Don’t you ever wonder what
Will happen when it ends?
How can we let go of the
Ones who we call friends?
And I know, it’s only a story, but
For so many it’s more than that.
It’s a world, all on its own where we
Want to put on that Sorting Hat.

Chorus.
I will miss the train ride in.
And the pranks pulled by the twins.
And though it’s nowhere I have been
I’ll keep on smiling from the times I had with them.

V2.
Could there ever be again
Another one like this?
One that’s brought us together and
Started its own music movement?

Bridge.
Soon we will see it closed.
The final chapter exposed.
It’s an end of an era
And I’m seeing clearer
That nothing will ever be the same.

List of Accomplishments.

6th Grade
______________________________________________
Goshen Middle School 6th Grade Orchestra
ISSMA Solo and Ensemble - Gold Ensemble Rating
Varsity Volleyball Team
Junior Varsity Basketball Team

7th Grade
______________________________________________
Goshen Middle School 7th Grade Orchestra
ISSMA Solo and Ensemble - Gold Ensemble Rating
ISSMA Solo and Ensemble - Silver Solo Rating
Private Violin Lessons
ASTA All-Region Orchestra Festival Participant
- Honored for Achievement by Goshen Community School Board
Elkhart County Junior Youth Honors Orchestra
Goshen Middle School Yearbook Committee
Goshen Middle School Ski Club
National Junior Honor Society
Varsity Volleyball Team


8th Grade
_____________________________________________
Goshen Middle School 8th Grade Orchestra
ISSMA Solo and Ensemble - Gold Ensemble (1) Rating
ISSMA Solo and Ensemble - Gold Ensemble (2) Rating
ISSMA Solo and Ensemble - Gold Solo Rating
Private Violin Lessons
ASTA All-Region Orchestra Festival Participant
Goshen College Vivace Ensemble
Maple City Chamber Orchestra
Goshen Middle School Yearbook Committee
Goshen Middle School Teen Court
Goshen Middle School Student Council
Goshen Middle School Ski Club
Goshen Middle School Builder’s Club (Secretary)
National Junior Honor Society
Who’s Who Academic Excellence Award

9th Grade
_____________________________________________
Goshen High School Philharmonic Orchestra
ISSMA Solo and Ensemble -
Private Violin Lessons
Maple City Chamber Orchestra
Elkhart County Youth Honors Orchestra
South Bend Youth Symphony Orchestra
Goshen Summer Youth Orchestra
Beginning Orchestra Volunteer
Goshen High School Student Government (Secretary)
Goshen High School French Club

Louis II

Last Monday, I adopted Louis II, successor of Louis I.

More like married him. ;)

He and I are going to have many new and exciting adventures.

Especially now that MCCO has started. It feels so much different now.

Before, I had to TRY to get the sound to come out how I wanted, but now it just pours out. Every violinist needs to find an instrument that sounds good with them and their style. It doesn't matter so much how well your teacher thinks it sounds if it sounds natural when you play it.

I love Louis II.

Audition... Among other things.

Today: Besides missing school (if I miss 4 more days I'll fail all my classes) I auditioned for South Bend Youth Symphony Orchestra. Although it's not exactly the prestigious orchestra of Interlochen School of the Arts, it's the closest thing you'll get around here. The audition went well, or so it felt. I won't know until tomorrow how well I did or what placement I received. There are two main options, Symphonic or Philharmonic, then Violin 1 or Violin 2 inside both of those. If I didn't make Symphonic (since I didn't try out using 3 octave scales) then the most I can hope for is Violin 1 for Philharmonic. Which I wouldn't mind - my goal would be principal violin that way.

I arrived feeling slightly nervous, only to enter the practice room with a dude playing some sort of band instrument, a cellist, and a younger violinist who was scratching out Gavotte from Suzuki book 2 or 3. I opened my case to tune wishing that I could be warming-up in a room that wasn't full of college-aged musicians or people just hanging out. I warmed up with a few scales and practiced a few parts of my piece. I noticed while I was practicing quite a few people stopped to watch, including the Gavotte Girl. The cellist kept plowing on through Bach's Cello Suite No 1 which sounded pretty good, and I'm sure if he wasn't nervous he would have gone a little slower. I felt comfortable in the room and practiced a few other pieces to adjust. Then they called my name.

I was lead up to room 100, up the stairs and to the left. In the room it was rather stuffy and crowded with tables stacked up everywhere. In the back of the room there was a stand, and one table set out with two judges smiling and waiting for me. They picked the scales I was dreading - although prepared for. But what I noticed most is that it wasn't as hard for me as before. It's getting easier to play for people. That's my goal. Results tomorrow.

Music is good.

Light and Dark Rosin: The Difference?

You'll always see the two different kinds of rosin. Dark, and light. But what's the difference?

Basically, rosin is the most important part of your set up, and also the least expensive. It makes the hairs on your bow sticky so they can grasp the strings when you slide it across. You could compare it to fishermen all hooking some fish at the same time.

Light: Some argue that light rosin is the best choice for treble instruments. It's harder and doesn't melt as easy.

Dark: Most people say this is softer, more likely to melt, and has a better grip. Sometimes you get a light rosin with a dark color added.

But there are other things that go into picking the best rosin for your instrument. Where you live and your climate could change what you should use. Your type of strings and brand of rosin may or may not mix well together. Some rosins can increase the build-up you get making you have to clean it more - although you should wipe it after you play every time.

One brand of rosin compared to another can completely change the tone of your instrument.

Also, another factor... whether your bow is made of synthetic hair, or horse hair. Horse hair is always the best for playing.

Update.

I'm kind of sad to say that beginning orchestra is over for this year. It's one of those things that no matter how hectic the day before was, you keep on going back. You get to share what you know with the little kids and sometimes add your few cents about what you think is important, tricks, and tips, that will help them be successful. I know there are some things I wish my helpers would have told me that would have helped. I get to be silly and make mistakes too - and I think that helped some of the kids to keep coming back. And now, they know someone older than them they'll run into sometimes. :)

I think I learned a lot about myself and was able to correct some things about my own playing in the process. Going back and re-learning the bow hold made me more confident in my own.

I can't imagine not doing this for all the summers through High School. :)

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I really want to learn to play the viola d'amore. I have no idea where to buy one or where I could get lessons (although Rachel Barton Pine said she'd give anyone who wants one a lesson....)

I've also got a baroque violin coming soon. I'm going to try and get a special fingerboard put onto it along with a matching tailpiece. Then I'll have to look for a baroque bow.

I'm starting to understand why Rachel quit school and homeschooled instead. There is just so much to do and learn plus school it's hard to balance it all!


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School starts Friday. I'm excited. Not really nervous, because as long as I have a map I'll be fine. I'll just highlight my different classes and color code them so that I know how to get there easily. Orchestra is first period. 3 days a week I'll wake myself up in the perfect way. :)


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I'll add more to this later.

Repose en paix, mon chat

Today I would like to look back on a cat, a little friend, I've had since I was 3 or 4. Even through the end he's been the greatest little friend for me. I'm guessing he died last night before we got home from Toronto - otherwise I'm sure our friend Gary would have told me, since he was keeping us updated in texts. He died alone. When we got to the house, I knew he was gone, and I didn't want to go down to the basement and get him. Before we left, I knew he was sick and probably wouldn't make it to see us again, so I told him, "Little buddy, if you need to go while we're gone you can. I understand. But that doesn't mean I don't love you and want you to." Three days later I got the text that his legs were failing him and he was having trouble getting around... and I knew it was getting closer to being the end. I used this song for Pup when he died in mama's arms two years ago, and I'm going to use it again.

You're in a better place, I've heard a thousand times
And at least a thousand times I've rejoiced for you
But the reason why I'm broken, the reason why I cry
Is how long must I wait to be with you

I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
I've never been more homesick than now

Help me Lord cause I don't understand your ways
The reason why I wonder if I'll ever know
But, even if you showed me, the hurt would be the same
Cause I'm still here so far away from home

I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through
somehow I've never been more homesick than now

In Christ, there are no goodbyes
And in Christ, there is no end
So I'll hold onto Jesus with all that I have
To see you again
To see you again

And I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won't you give me strength to make it through somehow

I've never been more homesick than now.
-Homesick, Mercy Me.

A Great Night

Yesterday my mom and I drove to Millennium Park in Chicago to see Rachel Barton Pine get the Great Performer of IL award for 2010. Afterward she played a concert consisting of her three groups - her Trio, Illinois Symphony Orchestra, and Earthen Grave. During her first performance, it started pouring rain and storming. Now... Millennium Park is nice, but it's outside. So to go along with the amazing baroque performance we had a little extra bass beat in the background. She went on through her Symphony performance which was great, and then Earthen Grave played, and I didn't know an electric violin could sound so cool. Haha. Most people had given up on staying dry by this time and were splashing in the puddles but mom and I refused to give up on the umbrella. There was a crazy dude dancing in the aisle and yelling things during the concert.

Then I went to stand in line to meet her, and I was pretty much in the front of the line. I took my bridge off my violin at home and had her sign it. When I told her who I was, she remembered me from an email I wrote her telling her how ironic we were in comparison. How cool is that?! I still need to tell her that she likes Maude Powell - my orchestra teacher's name is Mr. Powell. She took a picture with me and I accidentally deleted it on the way home, and I cried about it. I'm not ashamed to say so. I'm trying to recover it using www.cardrecovery.com but I'm not sure if it'll work - but I really hope so.

2010 Great Performer of Illinois Award

2010 Great Performer of Illinois Award Presentation & Concert | Explore Chicago

I will be attending this tomorrow night. I am going to see Rachel Barton Pine, a violinist. We have many similarities; red hair, the violin, middle names, last names, and string choice. I hope to get to meet her - she usually sticks around for autographs (says on her website) and so it would be interesting to meet her. Maybe we're related?