Bach Trivia/Information Day #7

Today, Bach is considered to be one of the most famous and influential composers of all time. In 1977, a spacecraft was sent into space carrying recordings of some of Bach's pieces.
During his life, however, Bach was considered just a normal working musician. Not many people knew much about his music until 100 years after his death.

Bach Piece Day #7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I11wVtn74Rk&feature=related - string quartet playing Bach's "Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring"

Tutti Day - An STE Event!

Hello to all members of Team Tempo!!

Most of your private lesson teachers have probably already told you about Tutti Day on Saturday, November 17. On this special day, the Advanced Chamber Ensemble orchestra will provide the accompaniment for the Junior level students. Everyone on Team Tempo (in my 6:10 group) is invited to attend. Students are expected to arrive for tuning at 2:10 p.m. in the Suzuki gym. Once everyone is tuned, you will play until 4:00 p.m. You will be playing songs from Suzuki Books One and Two. 

So get practicing all your Book One and Two review and get ready for a wonderful day of music-making!!! 

Bach Trivia/Information Day #6

- When Bach tried to quit his job working for a duke, the duke put him in jail for a month. Bach continued to write music while he was in jail. He wrote 46 pieces of music before he was released.

- Bach wrote most of his music to be performed only once, in church services, and then thrown out. As a result, very little of his music was published during his lifetime. Because of this, Bach composed more music than most composers.

(taken from DSO Kids, http://www.dsokids.com/listen/composerdetail.aspx?composerid=8)

Bach Piece Day #6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho9rZjlsyYY - Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" on organ - It's nine minutes long, so feel free to listen to it in the background as you do something else!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rmFleYqNxw - Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" on "glass organ" - super creative and neat - definitely worth a short watch!

Bach Trivia/Information Day #5

Both of J. S. Bach's parents died, so at the age of ten he moved in with his oldest brother, who continued to raise him. J. S. Bach's oldest brother was a church organist, and he helped J. S. Bach become a very good organist as well.

Bach Piece Day #5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clvfdVwyjR4 - Bach's Largo, from Suzuki Violin Book 8 - a beautiful piece!

Bach Trivia/Information Day #4

When J. S. Bach was a child, his father taught him to play violin. J. S. Bach also learned to play the harpsichord, organ, and viola.

Bach Piece Day #4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry4BzonlVlw - J.S. Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1: Prelude

This is a version of the song for 8 cellos instead of just one...

but the same guy is playing all 8 cellos, and has "mashed" them together....very very cool!!!!

Bach Trivia/Information Day #3

J. S. Bach had two wives. His first wife was his second cousin (Maria Barbara Bach), and together they had 7 children. After his first wife died, J. S. Bach remarried (to a lady named Anna Magdalena Wilcke). J. S. Bach and Anna Magdalena had 13 children.
It total, J. S. Bach had 20 children!!!

Bach Piece Day #3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ9qWpa2rIg - Bach - Brandenburg Concertos No.3 - i: Allegro Moderato

A beautiful Bach piece performed (mainly) by string instruments.
(This recording is five and a half minutes long, so feel free to watch the video, or to play it in the background while doing something else!)

Bach Trivia/Information Day #2

Bach lived and composed music during the Baroque era.

Bach Piece Day #2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1ByRGNIpFA - David Garrett, an amazing violinist (who came to Edmonton for a concert last year!), performs "Air" by Bach

Bach Trivia Day #1

The first "chunks" of J. S. Bach information are:

- Bach's full name was Johann Sebastian Bach

- J. S. Bach was born in 1685

- J. S. Bach died in 1750

- Bach was 65 years old when he died

Bach Pieces Day #1

Have a listen to these different versions of Minuet 3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TobXjDXF0s - harpsichord

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on1DDSLdDOo - different instruments - listen for when the violins get the melody!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Frjbb_-4q9U - a "pop" version on guitar - very different version, but cool to listen to!

Bachtober!

So, the first series of posts will all be related to "Bachtober." "Bachtober" essentially means that for the rest of October, we will be learning about the composer J. S. Bach, and listening to his compositions.

Team Tempo, as we discussed in group, you already know how to play the Bach Minuets (Minuet One, Minuet Two, and Minuet Three), and some of you know how to play Musette.

Beginners, you do not yet know how to play any Bach songs, but will recognize Minuet One, Minuet Two, and Minuet Three from your Book One CDs.

As well as listening to your Suzuki CDs everyday, I want each of you to listen to an additional Bach song each day for the rest of October. I will post a link to a different Bach work or two each day. You can listen to these, or your own recordings of Bach's pieces.

As well, I will be posting either trivia facts or trivia questions each day. Pay attention to these, and find the answers to the questions, as they will come in handy during group lessons next week (for the Team Tempo group).

Welcome!!

Hello and welcome to "Amy's Violin Blog"! On this blog, I will be posting links to great music, information about composers and music, violin-related trivia, practicing ideas, etc. We'll just see how it evolves!

Basically, the stuff on this site will complement what we do in group lessons this year.

The end-of-Book-One group has officially been named "Team Tempo," so that is how I will be referring to you from now on. (beginners, you shall be referred to as beginners!)