11th Grade MP 1 Band Portfolio Update

THREE MUSICAL GOALS FOR JUNIOR YEAR

1. Tone- I have always had a weak tone due to a lack of confidence and air and I feel that if I get a more confident and clear tone I will have a better sound and be a better player. I could try to reach this goal only by being aware of air control while I'm practicing and gain confidence in my music by practicing more often.
2. Improvisation- I want to work on improvisation because I'm not the best jazz player because I was never in one and I feel that if I work on my skills with improvisation I will be a better jazz musician. The only way one can improve on improvisation is repetition, but I could also work with chord progression because I have yet to understand how that works.
3. Technique- I still have an issue with having a too strong tonguing technique and when I play fast my fingers sometimes go faster than my tongue. I could practice fixing this with scales every time before I practice and by being focused on how hard I hit the reed.

This picture is from region band. You can sorta see me.

ESSAY:

Music has shaped my life in many ways.  Just three of the ways are how it gave me friends, confidence and inspiration. A few days ago I was talking with a friend about where I would be without band. Everyone of my friends is in band and my life revolves around my practicing schedule, marching band practices, football games, concerts, lessons and sax quartet rehearsal. I don't use the phrase 'Music is my life' in a light way. When I'm not working on school work, I am working on music. Also, music is a natural high I can use to affect my mood. If I am upset about something I can lock myself in my room and play piano for fifteen minutes and instantly feel better. Music shaped my life by making me a better person.

final portfolio update

GOAL UPDATE:

1. My first goal was to get into SWE and I did so I guess my progress was good. I guess an update for this would be to earn my spot next year by working hard in the group.

2. My second goal was to play more musically. Of my three goals this is the one that I think I gained least in this year. If I am feeling confident, I play with more air but that doesn't necessarily make it more musical, just clearer and louder. I'm hoping to get better at this over the summer for festivals next year.

3. My third goal was to play more confidently. I'm pretty sure this whole year in itself was a confidence boost, and not just in music, so I do everything with more confidence now. To become confident this year I just went out of my comfort zone and decided that if I didn't try for things, like festivals, then I would probably regret it. I'm really glad I did that many times.

MUSICAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

1. I'd say getting into Region Band as a sophomore is pretty good haha.
2. I auditioned for jazz band (literally not even getting in). I guess I'm so proud that I even auditioned because I never had been in it before and jazz band was always something that made me scared because the music is loose and can be played differently than straight concert band music. Also probably the improv. Everyone says it's easy, but it was my first time and I'm just proud that I didn't freak out and run out of the room.
3. The sax quartet this year was really great. Honestly I'm probably the worst one there because I always try to be quiet and let like alto 1 or tenor play out when they have the melody but sometimes that makes me unheard. BUT we did sound good this year for only practicing a week, especially Max, so I think that's a pretty good accomplishment.

CONTRIBUTION TO THE ENSEMBLE:

To be in concert band, everyone has to have a part, I understand that, but to me, I feel that everyone's contributions are the same. It's different than practicing a piece you need to learn by yourself. In a band setting, not only do we all need to practice the music alone, but also practice it together and rehearse. I'm not sure if it was you or Mr. Laird that always said this, but it was 'Practice at home, rehearse at school'. It really makes sense because many people in band think they can just go and play and be ready, but they aren't. So practicing is huge. As a single person in the band one also needs to arrive at rehearsals everyday if they can and I think I've done well with that too. To the band this year, I've been a good contribution.

UPDATE BAND PROJECT YAY

(This is Mikayla McCord)

GOAL UPDATE:

1. Make SWE:
Well, I haven't had my audition yet, but I have worked for it, like listening to the pieces online and practicing every night. Considering I know the pieces well I think it will come down to how confident I am that day/how nervous I am.

2. Play more musically:
I have been working more on this. I think playing musically for me anymore doesn't have to do with memories so much anymore, just if I am feeling confident when I am playing. If I am confident about my playing during that practice session, playing feels really good and I enjoy it. But, if I'm not playing well then I don't really play musically. I still need to learn how to play musically all the time, not just when I feel like it.

3. Play with confidence:
I definitely have more confidence than I did at the beginning of the year, but I'd say my confidence still need a bit of work. Getting to Region Band is a huge confidence boost, so I'm playing off of that currently.



PIECES I ENJOY LISTENING TO:

1. Summer, Highland Falls by Billy Joel


2. Dreams by The Cranberries


3. Glory and Gore by Lorde


PIECES I ENJOY PERFORMING:

1. Flower Song by Gustav Lange

2. Rest by Frank Ticheli
(and Praise To the Lord but no youtube video :( )

LOCH LOMOND

Some elements present in this piece are mostly things that make the piece 'pretty'. Dynamics at powerful points in the piece make it sound powerful and strong, but at the softer parts dynamics make the piece sound more graceful. The tempo changes at intensity as well. To play this piece with the style the composer intended, I have to play with a lot of air at the loud parts and blend better when I don't have an important part. (because the saxes are so loud and amazing ;) ) I also have to 'feel' the music because the emotion of the piece is very sad.

BAND PROJECT/SOMETHING I WOULD ACTUALLY NORMALLY WRITE ABOUT

OKAY! Well, Mr. Sheehan. I mean, you can go through my old posts and read them to find out a biography about me, but to not waste your time, here's a simple one.

My name is Mikayla. I play alto sax, piano and I wish I could say guitar but we aren't really friends at the moment. I just made district band (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) so I guess I can't say I'm bad at saxophone anymore. I've kind of quit piano lately but I'm gonna get back to it maybe. I was in kanit last year so I guess I'm somewhat a percussionist if you count fighting Harber in a power rangers shirt as percussion. I kind of love band. Like it's pretty much all I talk about. Pretty sure I annoy people too much about it.

GOALS:

1. Become more confident.
So I don't know if this is accurate as 'something that's reachable' because I have been trying to become confident for a few years. I guess confidence isn't something that just comes to me. To get more confidence I guess I just have to let go of some of my petty fears. Going into something, like auditioning for district band, I even told myself like 'It's not a big deal if you don't make it, just go and play', but in the moment I freak. I could also try to play for other people more so it's not a big deal when I have to play for the people that matter, aka you haha.

2. Play more musically.
I think when I played piano I did play my saxophone more musically, but now that I've quit, I just have to get 'closer' I guess to my saxophone. To work on this I can listen to the piece I'm playing and try to hear how it is supposed to sound. Or, like what I used to do with piano, find a memory that the piece sounds like and play it thinking of that memory. If the song is sad, find something sad. If it's happy, find something happy.

3. Make SWE.
This one... Well I hope it's possible haha. I think it's measurable since I made district band. I could do it by practicing like every single night like I did for district band so I can try. I can also go to all my sax lessons and get as much help from my teacher as possible.

ESSAYS:

What does music mean to me? Well, music has just always been there. I mean, I'd like to have one of those cute stories where I had been singing before I could talk, playing around on the piano before I knew what notes were, but I don't. To be completely honest, I absolutely hated piano for the first four years I took it. The teacher I had was annoying and made me do these little finger exercises and made me learn scales and I was just like... Why are my parents paying for my personal torture? (And this was before Mr. Kunkle, I did love him when I took from him). So then in fourth grade my parents bought me a new form of torture- a saxophone. This time, I couldn't even breathe when I played it, and I couldn't even play the normal easy stuff I played on piano because it was in a different key. Like what the heck?? I went through elementary school a little easier though. People thought I was cool for playing instruments. Then, band camp. This was just a way of torture that I didn't think I could handle. So enough about my non-musical past. I don't know if it was band or Mr. Kunkle to thank for my love of music, maybe both. Mr. Kunkle got me to love piano in seventh grade with beautiful songs I couldn't even attempt to read that he got me to play. Then around eighth grade band started to grow on me. People didn't make fun of me for being a band geek and I was kind of okay at it. So here I am now, slightly better at saxophone, on a break from piano and I am in love with music. Now how did this long paragraph of my musical past prove what music means to me? If I'm being truthful, I don't know where I would be without music in my life at this point in it. Pretty much everything I have is from music: my friend group, my opportunities, my inspiration. I owe music my life because who knows what I would be doing right now without it. With music, I can express myself. I can be with a group of people that I love and they love me back no matter what happens. I have something that I'm good at and no matter how down I am sometimes I honestly just think about something that's going on at band later or what is going to happen at sax quartet next week and I'm instantly better. Without music, I'm nothing. But with music, I can be something. Yes, I did say can. Sometimes music stresses me out so much I want to scream. It's hard work. I constantly worry about who is the best and whether or not I'm good enough. But it's worth the good moments. Like the time I heard I was good enough for district band. Or that time we went to the first football game and literally got a compliment from everyone. Music is my life now, and that's why it's so special to me.

The six words that describe me as a musician are pessimistic, inspired, dedicated, developing, enthusiastic and hopeful.
Well you can guess why I chose pessimistic. I'm not the most confident player and I don't know why honestly, maybe because I'm so obsessed with being the best. Hopefully I can work on the whole confidence thing so that next year that can be one of the words I use to describe myself. But I also am hopeful and dedicated. I decided to use dedicated along with hopeful because it's not like I sit around waiting for something fantastic with music to happen. I practice all the time and I always pay attention in band, even if saxophones are supposed to be 'relaxing'. But I'm hopeful because I dream about what would happen if... For example, I dreamed what would happen if I made district band. (Sorry I keep bringing that up I'm just SO EXCITED). And from dreaming all these things I thought would happen if I made it, I worked harder. I'm only in 10th grade so I included developing. Never will I ever be a famous saxophone player- that's not my goal. My goal is to be the best I can be, and by developing each year I am living up to that goal. I also included enthusiastic because, well...... Band is pretty much all I talk about. It's the highlight of my day, the highlight of my week when we have a parade or something and marching band is the highlight of my year. (Is that sad?). Band and music make me, me. Like I said in the other essay, I don't know where I would be without it. My last word is inspired. I like to think that I'm one of those musicians that uses inspiration to be talented I guess. Music never ceases to amaze me. There's literally like anything I could possibly think of music-wise and I still wouldn't even be skimming how much music is out there. As a musician, I'm constantly looking for new ways to be amazed and music always has inspired me.


OKAY well you can comment below (I think/hope).

OH and here's my awkward pic of me sadly staring off into the distance during pregame I think. 

(I have no idea why I'm sad like what's up with that?)

What did the ocean say to the sand?

Nothing, it just waved.


HAHAHAHAHAHHAA.


Please excuse me, I'm procrastinating a history assignment.



*crying*

I don't know what I ever did to make my parents hate me

except you know, get good grades, not do drugs and be talented.

adult or not so adult

I guess I've been feeling a bit nostalgic and decided to get back on here. Wow, I was a wreck last year wasn't I?! Well, be happy to know high school is freaking awesome. I love everyone and all my new friends. I finally feel... I don't even know.. Mature I guess? I turned 16 a few weeks ago and I think it's finally hitting me just how different life is when you hit that stupid number. Suddenly, you're an adult. I can drive (with a legal guardian watching my every move). I can get a job (again with a legal guardian watching my every move). And for God's sake, I can even hop on a plane to Germany and grab a beer and drink it (hopefully with a legal guardian watching my every move). So really am I grown up if society expects adults to hold onto me so tightly I lash out and ruin my relationships with family? Honestly I don't know, but I'll keep ya posted.