Jia-Senior Thesis

-While historical musicology for the main part limits itself to musical objects, documents, and sources, -systematic musicology encompasses a number of composite disciplines: music anthropology, music ethnology, music sociology, music psychology, music philosophy, music aesthetics, music therapy, and music education -an acoustic layer, a structural layer, a bodily layer, a tense layer, an emotional layer, and a spiritual or existential layer. communicating from all music’s layers of meaning to the human consciousness. -something that cannot be described technically and is unmanageable. Another is that we are fearful of being bogged down in a quagmire of arguments over values and ideological contradictions, over philosophical, social, and personal identity constructions https://books.google.com/books?id=1lOx9nr0aHkC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-22/edition-12/ro...

I taught another beginner yesterday, who received some instruction, which she had forgotten. As a result, she had poor posture and position as well as a bad bow hold. However, she was very willing to change. I really emphasized in a comically intense way how important relaxing was, saying no squeezing and no straight fingers. She went through violin "rehab," so I fixed her crooked bow, straight pinky, and straight thumb using a relaxed hand demonstration, draping the fingers over the bow. I also corrected the stiff elbow movement, which caused her crooked bow, and her violin hold, which had no space between the neck and the crevice between the thumb and first finger and was too high up. A common problem was that the hand knuckles were turned away from the fingerboard, almost perpendicular to it. This causes straight fingers that can't reach the notes. I fixed her finger posture by telling her that they needed a squarish shape and needed to stand on the tips of the fingers...

Wesley rankin: I taught a complete beginner today, giving a total crash course on the violin. After going over the anatomy of the violin (strings, neck, fingerboard, pegs, bridge, etc.), I taught her how to support the violin on the shoulder, then demonstrated the proper hand position. Like most beginners, she had a tendency to prop the violin up with her wrist, which should be flat and straight. I emphasized the importance of developing a good foundation to not get held back. Starting from the beginning of essential strings vol 1, we did pizzicato of open strings first, then moved on to first, second, and third fingers. Although she had larger hands, it was still hard for her to do 4th finger, so I just told her it was necessary to keep it curved but did not do too much 4th finger. At the end, I did an introduction to the bow hold, demonstrating a relaxed hold with a curved thumb and fingers. I also reviewed how to read music, since she knew a little about music but didn't remembe...

Wesley rankin community center: We sightread Graduation March together, and I noticed improved sight-reading skills from before, as well as execution of eighth notes. It usually took a longer time for her to get the notes down and learn them, but I taught her to finger the notes first and visualize playing with more planning before attempting them, which helped. If there is a problematic spot, I go through it slowly, sometimes only focusing on one transition to break down the phrase. Through gradual repetition,  she learned the right notes. We also worked on extending the 4th finger, since she had trouble reaching. I taught her to bring the hand towards the neck in a more parallel position and to keep the fingers curved. Although it is very strenuous for beginners, who do not have strong enough finger muscle, it is crucial to build the strength by trying very hard to not collapse it. Music club: working on writing music, drawing the right length of notes, ledger lines, etc.

Music Club after school: I brought my violin with me and taught them how to pluck twinkle twinkle little star. I also went over the parts of the violin and asked them what kind of songs they would like me to play.  Since there was traffic, I could only stay for half of the usual time. I reviewed chord progressions separately for music theory.

Course requests input for sophomores and AP registration.

Week 3: private lessons with Cassandra I noticed she had trouble sight reading so we did exercises to make sight reading faster, such as playing a g major scale and naming the notes. I would also ask her to play a note on a certain string to break down sight reading. I went over accidentals (flats and sharps) and the difference in playing a c sharp as opposed to a c natural. I also went over slurs, ties in rhythm, and keeping a strict tempo. Every week we go over short pieces in the Essentials for Strings books, and I send her recordings of the pieces through email as a reference.

Community Center plans: I went to Wesley Rankin again for music club, but since I didn't bring my violin I had trouble getting the kids to listen to me. Next time I plan to bring the violin, ask kids what songs they like to listen to, learn how to play arrangements of those pieces for the next week. I also will bring blank sheet music scores for the kids to practice writing notes and possibly a bunch of pencils from robotics as prizes. I reviewed notes and rhythms, since they had mostly forgotten from last time. For the next class, I will play Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (the solo I've been working on) and play more to get their attention. I am looking at various simple musical instruments to give out to keep the class more hands on.

Week 1: reading notes, basic rhythms (half, quarter, eighth, whole notes). They learned the notes  pretty quickly, but had trouble processing the concept of rhythm (when I asked to clap twice as fast, they just clapped really fast, not two claps per beat. I explained how many notes per beat they should clap, but most of them only learned by imitating my clapping pattern, not by reading the notes.) Week 2: I should go over basic rhythms again and try to reemphasize the concept, and review notes. I also need to go over rests again, and introduce time signature. I am working on making a printout that covers each lesson's basic information in a simple format using noteflight and ms paint.

I started teaching on Wednesday and continued Friday. I helped with recommendations for a Bach string quartet (Aria), specifically with the violin 1 and violin 2 parts regarding intonation, dynamics, and rhythm. I gained a student through Wesley Rankin (lessons on Monday) and am helping lead their music club. The time I spent in orchestra helped me get into the mindset of identifying problems. Although I saw a lot that could be improved, the challenge was limiting it to things that could be quickly improved because of the upcoming competition date.

Followed up with Wesley Rankin community center. In the meantime, found resources on music education to build on a comprehensive curriculum using https://www.musicedmagic.com/, https://www.thoughtco.com/music-education-4132854. This blog discusses the use of technology in music https://midnightmusic.com.au/blog/. Music theory curriculum: https://www.musictheory.net/lessons

Teaching the left hand: Focus on the contact points: on the right side, hold the neck right above the base knuckle joint of first finger. On the left side, hold by the pad of the thumb. Thumb should be relaxed and straight, there should be a U-shape under the neck between thumb and first finger, there should be no squeezing. Wrist should be straight, fingers always curved. The challenge is in placement; learning the correct placement of the notes without markers takes time. Intonation is tricky because there is no visible marking of where to press. I could have students sing the scale on each string using a tuner, then have them match the note on the violin. Students should place all fingers down at once to secure the position. https://teachsuzukiviolin.com/the-violinists-left-hand/ Imagery helps in performance anxiety: A way to prevent memory slips and redirect focus onto music is to create a story or imagery that is associated with the piece. Noa Kageyama's blog has articles...

Continued correspondence with Wesley-Rankin Community Center (they have an after school music program, which I am able to volunteer in and teach violin/piano.) Worked on final paper: key notes for right hand bow technique from Ivan Galamian, one of the most prominent teachers of the 20th century: http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:175821/datastream/PDF/view -demonstrate fluid bowing motion without holding the bow, using only forearm and relaxing the wrist common problems: stiff 4th finger, aversion of lower half of the bow, stiff arm and abrupt bow changes, low elbow - "Ivan Galamian describes his bow hold by placing the tip of the thumb both on the stick and the frog opposite to the middle finger forming a circle. The index finger is positioned at a minimal distance from the middle finger and touches the bow at a point between the nail and middle joint (closer to the middle joint). The middle finger contacts the stick at the nail joint and the ring finger is ...

Contacted Wesley-Rankin Community center, inquired about their after-school music programs. I researched various teaching methods that would be synergistic with kids and compiled a list of things needed to happen in preparation. (violin sizing, learning how to read music notes and rhythm, inspiration, convincing them to keep playing, etc.) The teaching methods used by violinmasterclass are good for instilling a proper foundation in beginning musicians. The hardest part would probably be getting kids to listen to me without nagging. http://ldsp01.columbusstate.edu:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11075/133/beginningteacher00coeaCSU.pdf?sequence=3

Absent all day at state robotics competition.

Touched up and reviewed UT application and UC Berkeley application to send in, revised the supplementary essays one last time.

Finalized application for UT Austin, revised essays and supplements and finished information for the application.

Compiled essay for Apply Texas application to UT Austin on what environment I was raised in, and compiled the prompts for the new essays I have to write as well organizing the old essays to reuse for dec 1.

Since the common app EA deadline was the next day, I edited/polished all my supplementary essays and reviewed my application to turn in and secured additional materials such as my music supplement through making a slideroom account.

Oct. 17,19, 23, 25, 27 Practice for All-State Orchestra Audition. This year's audition material included De Beriot Etude 20, Mazas etude 23, and excerpts from Eine Alpensinfonie and Symphonic Metamorphosis. The excerpts are very difficult technically, with tricky passages, uncomfortable string crossings, difficult intonation and rhythms, etc. All State has been a highly desired goal for me, and since it is so competitive, I really needed extra time to practice that has been taken away by college apps, club obligations, and school work. Each practice session consisted of a general run through of excerpts and then deliberate practice over areas I had trouble over using different practice techniques such as groupings, metronome work, isolation, slow practice etc. I wish I could say I was prepared enough, but my E-string unraveled during the first audition excerpt.