My experience in keyboard orchestra

My experience in keyboard orchestra this spring phase was good because I always wanted to learn how to play the keyboard, and also I wanted to learn how to read music and what the symbols mean, for me the most challenging thing in class was playing with the to hands at the same time because i get confuse sometimes and memorize the chords too the easy part was reading the notes starting with the key of "C" with right hand, and the fun thing in class were the trips to New York because we ate together we were sharing together, I hope that I'm gonna improve my skills in the future so I don't need to look at the notes in the grand staff paper that Dr. Lansang gave us.

        My experience so far in Keyboard Orchestra is very fun and exciting. Throughout the class I got to build stronger bonds with my already close friends and I got to meet new friends. Coming into the class I wasn't really sure of what to expect and I was kind of nervous. I had never really played piano before but I was very excited to learn. I quickly caught on to how the notes worked and gained lots of confidence each and every day.

        One of the most challenging parts for me in this class was trying to maneuver my hands to the different octaves on the keyboard. One of the easiest parts for me was keeping up with the rhythm while I played as an Ensemble. The most interesting thing I learned in this class was learning how to solo with different instruments and make it sound good with everyone else's notes.

keyboard orchestra

In the month of May, I attended the Keyboard orchestra class was a very amazing class to me. It was challenging and at the same time fun. This class was challenging because we had good piano players in my class who play way better than me. It was fun because we as a class took two trips to New York City two times to watch a keyboard orchestra player play for us. One of the trips we went to was jazz and the other trip we took was the classical music.i enjoyed both trips

On the other hand, I kind of didn't enjoy the class because I couldn't work by myself because we had to share computers with a partner. I enjoyed some of the songs we have being playing especially ''when the saints go marching in''. It was interesting competing with other students like Johnathan Groomes and Francis Jean Paul. I improved in my piano skills because first i didn't know how to play chords but from the help of Dr fletcher and Dennis Lansang. Overall this class was a very great class and I really enjoyed it.

Blog 4

Going into the Keyboard Orchestra class, I did not know what to expect because my origins in music started off with the drums. I was familiar with music notation, such as rests, half notes, sixteenth notes, etc., but familiarizing myself with musical notes, ABCDEFG, proved to make the transition from drums to piano difficult. The class moved at a face pace, and I lost footing early on. In the beginning, I had difficulty with reading sheet music and translating the notes to keys on the piano: in a fashion that stayed on pace with the piano piece’s timeframe. However, through repetition I could gain confidence with each sheet of music. I admire the way Mr. Lansang and Dr. Fletcher play the piano because they read the music without looking at the keys. As an amateur player, I want to continue gaining experience with the piano, so I can also read music without looking at the keys on the piano. I remember Mr. Lansang telling me that playing the piano is similar typing on a computer keyboard because through repetition you will naturally be able to type without looking at the keyboard.

What I really liked about the Keyboard Orchestra was its balance between playing music and learning about music. Dr. Fletcher did a great job demonstrating confusing concepts in ‘How Music Works.' Before this class, I never thought what went into making instruments sound the way the sound or how sound is produced, but because of Keyboard Orchestra, I am confident that I knowledgeable on some musical concepts.

A disadvantage of the class was its scarcity of resources. Most pianos had to be shared and this led to limited practice time. Hopefully, in the future, students will not encounter this problem.

As an individual who often listens to Hip-Hop, I liked being able to hear instruments that I do not often hear in my regular music playlists. Huge shout out to Dr. Fletcher and Mr. Lansang for being able to transcribe their own sheets of music because by diving the parts into different instruments, we were truly able to play as a Keyboard Orchestra.

Keyboard Orchestra Reflection - Justin Bramwell

May 25, 2017

During this month of May I have been attending the class Keyboard Orchestra directed by Dr. Fletcher and Dr. Lansang. During this course we learn the basics music and playing the keyboard. We use GarageBand to play the sounds of any instrument on the keyboard and act as an orchestra playing different instruments for different pieces of music. For me this class was fun, exciting, and informative because I had fun while learning different and deeper details about music. Mostly through the book the we read call How Music Works by john Powell. It mainly talks about the science and psychology of music explaining how music was made and how it is perceived to the human brain. Although I enjoyed this class it was not easy either. It has its challenging moments through the learning process but it was all worth it.
The challenging part of Keryboard Orchestra for me was learning how to read the bass clef. To this day I'm still having a bit of trouble with reading it but I did improve from the beginning. Reading the treble clef is a lot easier for me because I am used to reading it when I play the clarinet. One of my favorite parts in this class is using GarageBand. Creating music while actually knowing what note you are playing feels pretty great for me. All in all this course was great and I do wish to continue playing music.

Keyboard Orchestra Overview

The Keyboard Orchestra class was a great experience for me. I had a lot of fun and was able to practice chords. What more can I ask from a class where you are just given some work, but for most of the time you get to play the Keyboard and Piano. Sure there were times where we just did our own thing on the keyboard for the rest of class, but we got things done. We read a book also called, How Music Works. It taught me many things about the Science of Music that I never knew. I even learned some stuff I thought were impossible.

For the most part, the class wasn't too challenging. I was already somewhat trained in the piano before(but I stopped, I mostly play the Trumpet now). What I'm really happy about is the fact that I got to learn more about chords. The learning of the chords was pretty much the highlight for me. By just learning a few chord patterns, you can instantly play hundreds if not thousands of songs. Songs we are going to perform for the school was not hard. They were interesting though. It was always fun for me whenever we would alas as a class play all the parts and play as an orchestra. With the new skills I learned, I hope I can buy me a keyboard and hopefully play for the convocation of St. Benedict’s and just enjoy myself with the music i can make play and get better.

Week 4 Blog:My Reflection

Spring phase, in my opinion, is when you take a whole month of reflection. You’ve taken your core classes already and all that is left is this one project. This one project, in my case, was The Keyboard Orchestra. During the class, there are many things we went over, with each step of lessons raising the level of difficulty. The first week was the slowest, as we went over things I have known for years, the basics. We went over note names, how to place your fingers on the piano, and other basic necessities of that nature. However, going through that first week wasn’t a challenge for me.

I had two challenges that I faced over the course of the month in this class. The first challenge I had was trying to keep my interest in some of the pieces. Most of the pieces were pretty easy, and when I’d learn them I’d always end up with so much freetime. I wished we got a few more harder pieces to learn, as I would’ve been far more intrigued. The second challenge I faced was working on my patience. I would get a little irritated when some people messed up on their simple piece after an hour of practice. I wouldn’t get ticked with the people that tried to learn their part and still mess up, I would get irritated with the people who wasted the total hour by doing something different and trying to learn their part in the last three minutes of the hour.

Whenever there’s bad, chances are there’s probably a good as well. This project had upsides to it that made me enjoy this class more than I disliked it. I enjoyed playing the more complex pieces we had, I loved learning new songs on my own. I enjoyed the full experience of traveling by public transportation for a trip, and the laughs that came along with it. I love the jokes shared with Kusi, Jonathan, and Precious. I loved sharing ideas and going back and forth with Jonathan on the keyboard, with him playing and teaching me a little about chords, and me playing and teaching him a little about sheet music. I feel as if I learned a little more from my peers than I did from the lessons of the class. But isn’t that what learning is about? You can learn from any and everything. The upsides of this class are what made me excited to come back everyday.

With all the skills I learned, I hope to be able to practice more and become better as a pianist and a musician in general. In the future, I want to be a music producer and recording engineer, and classes like this one are the steps needed to become better and reach that goal. The class forces you to work together and form a chemistry, which is the same chemistry needed when you’re in the studio trying to record a track. I am thankful for my month spent in this class, and when I read this reflection years from now, hopefully I could say I am successful at what I do and I love doing it.  

Keyboard Orchestra Reflection: What a class

Countless face palms, head banging, mumbled swears and any other expressions of frustration. If I could sum up this years key board orchestra class in my opinion it was an interesting project to say the least. It helped me regain the musical side of me which I lost touch with years back. But I can't say it was a walk in the park. There were numerous bumps in the road that even the most advanced players in the class would run into. So if anything, this course can more so be described as a test of patience disguised as a musical class. Despite the frustrations, I did enjoy myself. Great environment, great peers to be around, extremely helpful and tolerable instructors and all in all an excellent first time experience to something such as this. Without a doubt, I will continue to practice long after this project comes to its closing in the upcoming days. And with this final blog post (I think), I'd like to close out by giving a warm thank you not only to my instructors but to my classmates as well. 

Keyboard Orchestra Reflection

The Keyboard Orchestra class has taught me numerous things ever since the first day. It has challenged and allowed me to view music from a different perspective. A primary skill that it has taught me is how to read music. Before taking the class, I was able to read notes but it would take me years just to decipher whether a note is a E or a G. After the first week of the course, I noticed a great improvement in my reading skills. Today, it takes me less than 3 seconds to figure out what note something is, it is almost instant.

This class was also very interesting because it enabled me to see music from a different point of view. In total, we attended 2 live performances. These performances were held by professional musicians and instruments. One group played classical music while the other played traditional Jazz music. I personally enjoyed the Jazz music a lot more because it was much more moving. This course has opened me up to something else I might want to pursue in life. Presently, I am thinking of investing in a piano for myself so that I can use what I learned in class to practice at home.

Spring phase keyboard orchestra class

I had learned how to play a drum set from a very young age, and it was exciting. I wasn't really interested in learning to play other instruments because I felt being able to play the drum set was enough for me. I  always thought that way until earlier this year when I discovered how interesting the piano is and the fact that there are potable once that you can move and carry about unlike a drum set. So I started craving to learn how to play the a piano but all my efforts were to no avail, I realized that the piano was a more intimate instrument than a lot of other instruments, it touches on people's emotions and so I wanted to learn how to play. When I heard of this keyboard orchestra class I knew it was the perfect chance for me to be able to learn the basics of the piano so I can go home and practice on my own and be able to get better at it.
During the course of this class I have been able to learn finger placement on the piano and also being able to read music,with this  acquired knowledge of finger placement and I music reading I would be able to practice at home and get good at  playing the piano. The keyboard  orchestra class was a fun class, because we were able to go watch a live Orchestra performance and a live jazz performance. for both performances we went to New York City and those were my first times to attend events like that. I also want  to thank Dr. Fletcher and Dr. Dennis  for being patient with me and also for giving me an idea  on how to play the piano and also arranging those trips to New York City,  those experiences helped me to understand music on another level.

Keyboard Orchestra class Reflection

My experience at this class was pretty good we learned how to play many songs that are familiar to me and how to play some song I don't think I even heard of. We got to learn chords which I was a quick learner on and some songs that seemed challenging to play but I got through them all. One of the most challenging parts I had is the one I'm currently on called St. Benedict's Prep Brass Quintet I am playing trombone. It was challenging because of the last line I had to move my hands along the keyboard pretty far which I am not used to yet and I also have to get the time right when they play that is why this is the hardest part for me in this whole class that I had to learn. One of the most easiest I played was the first chords we ever learned. When I saw the paper I thought it was going to be difficult but when I started to play it and learn how chords work it was starting to get pretty easy.
                              The chords sounded very cool and it was just amazing to learned that I can play that until I found out that most songs before uses chords so playing those other song I knew or trying to learn them was awesome. Some how learning chords got me to play the piano keyboard very well for example it was easier to learn than before. So no playing the song that was kind of difficult to do I can do them a lot easier now. I can remember what keys are on the keyboard now so I don't have to take that long to see were C and A is at. But the sharp and flat key is not that easy to remember were it is on the keyboard so I'll have to practice.
                              I need that because it is just like typing when you type you have to look at the screen while knowing were the letters are on the keyboard. Just like the piano I have to look at the notes and play so I will still work on that. With this knowledge of piano I can learn how to play a lot of my favorite songs now and it will be easier than just looking at a YouTube video now I know how to play the key on the sheet. So to end things I like to use this skill to practice how to play better and learn some new skills. Learning the piano keyboard is a cool talent  just to use and it maybe be useful in my life just encase I want to play music for a job.This is what I would do with my new skills.

Reflection of Keyboard Orchestra

When I first heard about this class, I thought it was going to be very boring and just playing piano, but it was about playing different instruments in a keyboard, and that is how it was a little fun. At first I didn't want to take this class, because I signed up for Backpacking Commander, but since I wasn't in the list, I made a decision to join this class. We just didn't learn how to read music and play chords, notes. We read a book called "How Music Works", it was about how music was sounded and how to make perfect pitch. Even though I sort of know how to play a piano, I was taught about the difference of a minor and major chords, and use my fingers properly.
The fun part about this class was a couple days ago, we get use our own instruments on a keyboard and make a solo using, F, A, B flat, G, D, and C. That was the most fun part of the course. However, the most boring and difficult part is that Dr. Fletcher talks a lot, and it makes me sleep. It was very hard for me to get up. This class had two field trips, but I couldn't attend, because I had a track meet while everyone else is on the field trip, what a disappointment. Next week, we will be performing five songs on the stage of the Conlin Auditorium, and I hope the performance will come out very well.

Keyboarding Orchestra reflection

My spring project was the keyboarding orchestra. When I first went to the class the hardest thing for me was to read a music sheet. It made no sense to me that in music they only used 7 letters of the alphabet. But then after we read a book that helped us understand more about music and its mechanics. The easy parts of the project was probably playing the instruments themselves.

  The fun part of the projects was the field trips and playing music pieces together as a class.

The school trips to musical shows showed me how each instrument looked and sounded right in front of me. When we are in class and we play pieces of music together it always excite me. The reason that happens is because we was able to play together as one. With my new skills I hope to master even more instruments, but the one instrument I have my eye on is the drums. I don’t know why but whenever I see someone play the drums I'm attracted to it like a moth to a fire.

Reflection on Keyboard Orchestra Class

I don’t think I have enjoyed a class as much as Keyboard Orchestra (KO) in years. Going to school every day, taking classes Math, English, Science, Latin, in Winter and Fall terms always usually became a boring routine I am used to. Many students enjoy taking these core classes where you sit down, take lectures and do work. In Keyboard Orchestra we get to not only read and practice notes of a song to come together and create a masterpiece but we also get breaks to do what we want. The breaks we get keeps more of us focused on our main goal in the class for the day, to get those notes down. KO has taught me how to play, and read notes for a piano, I was surprised to see what I could do, and the teachers encouraged me. I had never ever played a piano before in my life, and I never thought I would have been able to play one. The only instrument I ever played was a guitar but I was in Fifth Grade and I already forgot how. The most fun I have in KO class is when everyone has their part down and we all play together. I enjoy it because it emphasizes the whole Orchestral theme and the combined sounds make me smile and shows me what a couple of notes and people can do. Another thing that I enjoyed as well were the field trips. In school none of us really have a field trip unless we are invited to one that has space, or if we are taking a class which absolutely needs a field trip to help us understand things, like for art class, we went to see an Opera and the whole class enjoyed it, days later everyone was inspired about Opera singers, and the art of music. The Field Trips in KO were absolutely fun for me, we got to not only learn about musicians working together to play pieces of music or the instruments they played, but we also got to walk around New York as a class, and enjoy the streets. I was surprised that our teachers had that trust in us, and I am glad we as a class didn’t let our teachers down. There wasn’t much that was challenging for me except learning the longer notes, and sometimes having to share the computer all the time with my partner, it made it harder for me to practice and focus on my part. Minutes after I’d forget how my part goes because of listening to so many other people play. From everything I have learned, I hope to continue to study and play the piano and maybe even guitar since they are related in a way of sound. I am glad to have taken Keyboard Orchestra class and I hope other people have as well.

reflection

I had many good experiences in the keyboard orchestra class. This is because I got to do many things that I wouldn't be able to do if spring phase didn't exist. For example I got to go on field trips to New York to go see musicians perform in concerts. Those were experiences that I will never forget. Another thing that we did was learn about many different instruments and see how they work. We also learned to play different songs on the keyboard but we changed the instrument to make it sound like an orchestra.

The thing that was challenging for me was being able to read the notes and then playing them. Also playing with other people was challenging because I had to listen to them so we could sound better together. In the class I enjoyed playing the keyboard and learning songs on my own. I also enjoyed listening to different kinds of music that I wouldn't have listened to if I wasn't in this class. With the new skills that I learned I hope to learn more things on the piano.

Reflection for Keyboard Orchestra

    Keyboard Orchestra this Spring Phase was fun due to the fact that I learned a new skill in a matter of a few weeks. This class wasn't challenging or easy it was in the middle because although I somewhat knew how to read notes, I knew that needed some help with knowing how to properly know how to match the notes with the keys on the piano. At times I still have a hard time knowing where the correct keys are, its not as bad as when I fist started. I remember when I had to look at my hands to find the keys but now I am able to play the notes and keys without having to look at my hands. The parts I enjoy the most is when we get together and play all our instruments together or when we explore with the music and end up making something good by surprise. With me now knowing that I can play the piano and read notes better than before, I will keep practicing it till I'm close to mastery so that I can be more confident in pursuing my dreams of  being a producer and working with big stars while working with something that makes me happy. So this class helped me love music more and actually makes me want to take it more serious.

TKO Week 3 Blog

The name of the group that we say was The Gotham Jazzmen, and we saw they perform at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. We went to see a jazz concert. There were six men playing the piano, the drums, the double bass, clarinet, a horn, and the trombone.  But what was so different about the guys drum set was that it wasn't full, he only had parts of it. In each song the band would do a part together and then do a solo with some background on the double bass and drums. Sometimes I’m Happy was my favorite song. The Host had to cut it short, The jazzmen was going to do it but they got to into the music that they lose track of time. The cut it short because they had another event that day. I loved the Jazz performance because I'm use to listening to Jazz music and haven't listen to it in a long time so I was overjoyed when I was there. And to be real honest I did go to sleep for a good minutes because I always listen to Jazz before I good to sleep because it put me in a good mood.

Week 3 Blog

The jazz concert I saw yesterday at Bruno Walter's library at Lincoln Center on May 16, 2017 had 6 people playing 6 instruments. It was piano,clarinet,drums,trombone,cornet,and the bass. They were called Gotham Jazzmen they are the ones who played last night. The drummer didn't have a solo every song but when he did it was a pretty long solo when he got it. The drummer had some type of medal brushes that he used when he got his solo. It was pretty cool seeing those brushes for the first time and seeing someone play it.

                           When he was using the brushes he was sliding it on the drums and hitting it with the other one he had in his hand. I think he used the brushes so that when he was playing the drums he can do it a little quiet than playing it with the regular drums so it basically to muffle the noise. I also noticed that the piano was facing sideways to the stadium so the noise can bounce of and towards the people. Well at the end they had to end short and out of my favorite song up a Lazy River was my favorite.

Week 3 Blog

On Tuesday, May 16, 2017, we went to the New York Public Library for Performance Arts to watch a jazz band play for free. The name of the group is The Gotham Jazz Men. The style of jazz that they played is commonly referred to as New Orleans Jazz or Dixieland Jazz(though people don’t like when you refer to it as that). There are six musicians in the band, playing the piano, upright bass, drums, cornet, clarinet, and the trombone respectively. The drummer had an unusual set-up, as he did not have a bass drum and he played with brushes instead of normal drum sticks.

The drummer didn’t solo on every song like the other players. When he soloed, it was shorter than the other instruments as well. The singer made his voice sound gravely, as a way to imitate Louis Armstrong. My favorite song was “Your Feets Too Big”, followed by “Who’s Sorry Now”, “When The Saints Go Marching In”, “Sweet Sue”, “Sunday”, “What a Little Moonlight Can Do”, “Rosetta”, “Sometimes I’m Happy”, “Up a Lazy River”, and “It’s Wonderful”. The concert ended with a lady walking in and telling the band they had to stop playing, because it was time to prepare the room for another event that would be happening in that room.  

I liked some aspects of the concert, but I didn’t enjoy it how I thought I would. Some of the songs didn’t hold my interest much. I loved the piano in most of the songs, along with the cornet and upright bass. But when “When The Saints Go Marching In” was played at the end I was ecstatic. I enjoyed the trip as a whole, and really hope there’s at least one more trip.

Questions for TKO Week 3

1. What was the name of the group we saw and where did they perform?

The name of the group we saw perform was the Gotham Jazz Men. They performed at the Bruno Walter auditorium in New York.

2. What was the specific style in which they played?

The Gotham Jazz Men played Jazz in the New Orleans style.

3. How many musicians were in the band and what did they play?

There were six musicians in the band. They played the piano, upright base, cornet, clarinet, and the drums (high-hat, brush, drum sticks, snare drum, and crash symbol)

4. What was unusual about the drummer’s set-up?

Playing without a bass drum and occasionally using brushes are the factors that made the drummer's set-up unusual.

5. What general format did each of the songs take (what happened in each song)?

For each song, they introduced the melody then each musician, except for the upright bass, took turns soloing. Usually, the drummer soloed last.

6. Did the drummer solo on every song?  When the drummer soloed, was it for as long as the other instruments (describe in detail)?

I cannot recall if the drummer soloed on every song, however, I do remember him soloing a majority of them. Whenever the drummer performed his solo, he did not play at the same duration as the other instruments.

7. What did the singer do with his voice when singing?  Who was he imitating?

He distorted his voice to make it sound gravely, in an attempt to imitate Louis Armstrong.

8. What was your favorite song (listed in order below)?

1. Rosetta
2. It’s Wonderful
3. Sometimes I’m Happy
4. Up a Lazy River
5. Sunday
6. Sweet Sue
7. What a Little Moonlight Can Do (Oo-ee-oo)
8. Your Feets Too Big
9. Who’s Sorry Now?
10. When The Saints Go Marching In

9. How did the concert end? Why?

The concert ended with a woman signaling to the musicians that they had to cease playing. She did this because they ran over their designated time.

10.What was your overall reaction to the music?

Overall, I enjoyed the music much more than what we heard at the NY Trinity Church. The jazz the musicians played had a rhythm to it, and it was fun to watch them improvise music on the spot. I liked listening to the pianist's attempt to imitate the voice of Louis Armstrong. And, I learned that drumming does not require a base drum because throughout this musical piece the drummer used his high-hat to set the pace. My favorite song (When the Saints Go Marching In) sadly got cut off toward the end of the performance, however, overall I appreciated their performance.

The Gotham Jazzmen

On May 16, 2017 the keyboard orchestra went to Lincoln Center in New York, to listen to a jazz concert played by The Gotham Jazzmen, they were a group of 6 musicians who played “Dixieland” Jazz they were composed by: a clarinet, piano, cornet, contrabass trombone and a drummer.The drummer was using a kind of brush, the musicians were playing all together at the beginning and end of each song and they also did solos when they were playing, but the only one who didn’t have a lot of time for his solo was the drummer but in my opinion he was the best doing his job, the singer was singing with a deep voice trying to emulate Louis Armstrong  , I liked all the songs but my favorite was When the Saints Saints Go Marching In which was the last song when we were living. The concert started at 12 am and finished earlier than we thought because the time ran out and an employee from Lincoln Center interrupted the show saying that they gotta finish their show, In my personal opinion I enjoyed this show than the other one in St. Paul’s chapel.

This trip was special in particular. I did a lot of things I wouldn't have done if I was not in this class. First of all I took the train in New York which was a very funny experience. Then I saw a beautiful water fountain with a cool place to sit on. But the best part was the music. When we got there it was a group of old men and i thought that the music was going to be boring. But then they were playing all types of songs and each song had its own story to it. My favorite instrument out of the whole group was the cornet. What attracted me to it was the shape of the instrument.

Week 3 blog

On May 16, 2017 I went to see the Gotham Jazzmen perform at the Lincoln Center, in New York, they played in the style of traditional jazz. In the band there were six people and the instruments they played were trombone, cornet, upright bass, drums, clarinet, and the piano. The drummer had an unusual set up because he did not use regular drum sticks he used sticks with brushes at the end. So the drum sounded different than what I thought it would sound like.
Each song had a general format which was first the piano player sang the melody, then everyone would play their own solo. After all of this the song would end. The drummer did not solo every song and he did not solo as much as the other players. The singer changed his voice and made it sound different. He was imitating Louis Armstrong because that is how he sounded because he smoked a lot and he sang a lot so his voice got worse. My favorite song was when the saints go marching in. The concert ended suddenly because a lady came out and told the players to end the show because they had to set up for another show. The music was different than what I usually listen to but it still sounded nice and I enjoyed the concert.

NYC Jazz Trip

Yesterday’s free Jazz performance was done by a group called the Gotham Jazzmen. They performed at the Lincoln Center, specifically in the Bruno Walter auditorium. The specific style in which they played was traditional Jazz. There were 6 musicians in the group and each played either the piano, the upright bass, the clarinet, the cornet, the trombone, or the drums. What was unusual about the drummer’s setup was that he had no bass drum and that he played them with brushes the majority of the time rather than drumsticks. Each song had a similar format. There would be a period in which all the instruments played (usually at the beginning and end) and then there would also be a time in which 3 or 4 instruments played a solo. The drummer did not solo every song, only a few. He did solo longer than most instruments and he was given the “spotlight” whenever he did so. Sometimes the singer would make his voice a bit more gravely to match the voice of Louis Armstrong. My favorite song was Sunday because it was easier to understand. The concert ended with one of the staff signaling the group to “cut it”. The last song they played was When the Saints Go Marching In. My overall reaction to the music was actually very different than I expected. I thought it was going to be something boring but I was actually interesting.

The trip to New York to watch a live jazz performance

The Gotham jazzmen were at the New York City public library and they played songs like, New Orleans jazz, traditional jazz, Dixieland jazz. They had instruments such as Contra Bass, clarinet, piano, trombone, cornet and a drum set that doesn't have a bass drum. 

They played the song at first as a group and then the clarinet, cornet and trombone soloed the song while the drummer soloed some of the songs. My favorite song was Rosetta and I enjoyed the show even if it didn't end well because a lady came in and told them to stop because the space was going to be used for something else that day. Majority of the people in attendance were also very old people and the pianist was imitating Louis Armstrong.

Gotham Jazzmen Trip

May 17, 2017

On May 16, 2017 the Keyboard Orchestra went on a trip to see a jazz performance. It was in the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the Lincoln Center in New York City. The jazz band that played called themselves the Gotham Jazzmen and played New Orleans Jazz music. There was a total of six members in the band; a cornetist, trombonist, a pianist, clarinetist, a double bass player, and a drummer.

In the performance the drummer had no bass drum and also used a type of brush to play the drum with which gave off a cool effect while he played it. He also had a solo almost every song where he would just freestyle like the other instruments during the song. All the songs that he had a solo on was great because he played some really great upbeat rhythms. The pianist had acted as the singer as well and he usually sang similar to the voice of Louis Armstrong’s voice by adding a gravelly tone to it. The songs that they played were great and my favorite one out of all of them was Rosetta because the clarinet solo was great and the clarinetist played so fluidly which made it even better. Soon the performance had to end because the Bruno Walter Auditorium had other programs going on and cut them off earlier than usual. For their last long they busted out playing When The Saints Go Marching In almost immediately. Overall the performance was great and what really amazed me was how the gentlemen were able to play all the songs they did without needing  a music sheet or score.They were also constantly listening to each other for their cue to come in or out to play.

May 16, 2017

Yesterday we went to see a jazz group called GOTHAM JAZZMEN. The style of music they played was New Orleans Jazz. It was 6 people in they group and the instruments that were played were the Drums,Piano,Cornet,Clarinet,String Bass, & Trombone. I was a little confused when i noticed the drummer didn’t have a full drum set up. I later found out that he did that purposely so he wouldn’t drown out the other instruments. They played about 10 songs but my favorite was called Rosetta. Something I found interesting was that the singer was imitating Louis Armstrong, he surprisingly sounded almost exactly like him.

At the end of the performance i was shocked because i didn’t expect those older people to be able to play that well and as long as they did, especially when they did their solo’s.

The Jazzmen concert

On Tuesday may 16, 2017, the piano class took a trip to Journal Center in New York City to watch a live Jazz performance. The group that performed were called the Gotham Jazzmen. They played specific styles like the Orleans jazz, Traditional jazz, Dixieland jazz, and the Mazon jazz. There were 6 musicians on the stage and they played instruments like piano, trombone, cornet, drums, clarinet, string bass. They played 10 songs which consisted of Sunday, rosetta, it's wonderful, sometimes am happy, sweet due, up a lazy river, who's sorry now, your feet's too big, when the saint go marching in, what a little moonlight can do. The show ended miserable because the lady came in and said time is over so we had to leave the auditorium but overall, the show was amazing. They ended the show with a song by Louis Armstrong “ when the saint go marching in”.

The Gotham Jazzmen

The group we saw yesterday was The Gotham Jazzmen, the group performed at the Bruno Walter library in Lincoln Center. They played Traditional Jazz or New Orleans Jazz. There was six men in the band, one played the piano, one played the clarinet, one played the  drums, one played the trombone, one played the cornet, and one played the upright bass. The drum set was smaller than a normal drum set and he didn’t use regular use sticks he used brushes and he didn't have a bass drum.  As they were playing it started off with the melody and then the different instruments played by themselves while the piano, drums and upright bass played or they let each instrument have their solo. The drummer didn't solo each song but when he did have the chance to he played a little bit longer than the rest. The singer  made his voice seem gravel like Louis Armstrong in order to give it the jazz feel. My favorite song was "Sunday" or "Sweet Sue". The concert ended with the lady who manages the stadium where they were playing. Told them that they had to stop because they had to leave because another performance was supposed to happen. But they knew that the went over their time so when they were going to perform a few more songs than she cut them off. So they ended with “When the saints go marching in”. I liked this more than the last trip even though classical music is good it tends to make me fall asleep but with this time i was entertained myself and had a good time.

The Jazzmen of Gotham

May 16th marked the day the 2k17 Keyboard Orchestra spring phase class took a trip to New York's Lincoln Center to witness the Gotham Jazzmen perform within the Bruno Walter Auditorium. The group played Dixieland Jazz, better referred to as New Orleans/Traditional Jazz. The band contained of six elderly men accompanied by their trusty instruments. The instruments included in the performance were the clarinet, trombone, acoustic or contrabass, cornet, grand piano and a drum set with no bass drum. But I must say, that drummer sure can play up a storm.
On the topic of "playing up a storm", there was an extremely noticeable format amongst each song. The Jazzmen would always begin together, then eventually break off into solos as the initial melody comes to a close. The drummer however, did not play a solo, id say he had about one or two. They lacked in length as well (weren't as long as the others but had the right timing to be jut right). As for singer, he spoke/sang in a rough sort of gravely kind of way (as if he were mocking or imitating the great Louis Armstrong. Of the ten or so songs, my favorite would boil down to "Your Feets Too Big". Although I enjoyed myself, all good things must come to a close. The concert was concluded due to an other event being set to occur within in the auditorium, cutting the performance (as well as our enjoyment) short.

Gotham Jazzmen

Yesterday on May 16, 2017,  we saw the Gotham Jazzmen perform at the Bruno Walter Library. We took the Path train and then the Subway to go the Library. The Library was in the same building as the as the Lincoln Center. The Gotham Jazzmen were playing Traditional Jazz or  New Orleans Jazz. The band was made of six men with six different instruments. The instruments played were the cornet, clarinet, piano, drums, Trombone, and the Acoustic base. While the drummer did play a normal Drum set, instead of using sticks, he used a brush for the drums.

For each song, there was a general format/order. The band would always start together with a melody playing; eventually, have each instrument player would play on their own as a solo after the melody. The drummer did not solo for each song, but only had about one. The drummer’s solo was not as long as the other solos for the other songs. The singer who was also the pianist was growling his voice as he was trying to imitate the way Louis Armstrong sang. Of the songs, I would have to say my favorite song was When The Saints Go Marching In. The concert ended because there was an event set to happen in the Library, which meant they had to end the concert earlier. My overall reaction of the music was that music can be so varied from classical music to jazz and even to modern day pop.

Week 3 TKO May 16th Field Trip To Lincoln Center

On Tuesday March 16th, we as a class went to view a Concert at Lincoln Center to view a Jazz group perform. The name of the Jazz group we saw was the Gotham Jazz Band and they performed at Lincoln Centers Bruno Walter Auditorium stage. The band performed in a New Orleans Jazz or Traditional Jazz style. There were about 6 musicians and each of them had an instrument: A piano, Trombone, Cornet, Upright Bass, Clarinet, and Drum. The Drummer's setup was pretty weird, he used the snare and hi-hat the most, but he also used a pick looking stick to play the drums, they were called Brushes. In each song the Pianist, Clarinet, Cornet, and Trombone player each would have a solo to play in order. The Drummer didn't have a solo on every song, out of the ten he soloed on probably 6 or 7 I’d guess. I didn't try to recognize the timing on the Drummer's solo but I don't think his solos lasted as long as the others, they were a bit shorter, but it varied, because he soloed shorter and sometimes longer. The singer made a gravelly voice when he sung, it was very similar to Louis Armstrong who he was imitating. My favorite piece of music at the performance was Rosetta, it just had a more interesting vibe to me, the solo's caught my eyes and ears the most. The Concert ended unexpectedly even to the Performers. A lady came in advising the musicians that they had to stop performing, it was because the stage had to be set up for another concert. I really enjoyed the music, I felt more interested and attentive than I think I did at the Trinity Church performance.

Week three blog

On Tuesday the 16 we went to New York  and we watched a jazz concert. One of the things the things that was interesting to me was the drummer especially when he got his solo.I learned that he was using a brush which sounded weird to me but after i saw today in class and how it works it became pretty interesting then i thought how complicated it might hard it might me. My favorite song at of all of them is  Your Feet's to big. Thats my favorite because its very funny its talking about big feet and i know people with some big feet. But thats its jaden im out oo-ee-oo

New York Field Trip

On Monday, May 8th our spring phase class which is Keyboard Orchestra took a trip to New York, to listen a concert which was in St. Paul's Chapel near to World Trade Center. It was performed by a group of musicians called New York Baroque Incorporated which is consisted of good musicians from differents parts each one this performance started at 1pm and finished at 2pm the place was full of people, some of them were standing in the back of the room.

I liked the concert it was the first time that i see an harpsichord, also I liked because I was near to them, it is completely different than when i listen to music in my headphones and also I liked because they were coordinate, but i didn't like the last of the last song.

Hello its jaden im back here on the blog me and the class went on a trip to New York. The reason why we went was to see a orcrestra play at a church.The expericne was nice we laughed and joked.But walking around was nice but when we got into the church. Naheem fell which made me laugh but then we had to wait for them to tune the piano or the organ i cant remenber then they started to play. One of my favorite parts was the end when the guy started to singing a weird voice which made me laugh and other people. I noticed that the guy playing the organ was swaying back and forth which signaled the other musicians so they stay in harmony with each other.

NYC Field Trip - May 8 Concert at St. Paul's Chapel

On Monday, May 8th, the Keyboard Orchestra watched a live performance in Manhattan. It was a live musical performances that usually happens during the night time but it  happened during the afternoon, around the time when people are on their lunch breaks. The group that performed was the New York Baroque Incorporated. The performance happened in St. Paul’s Chapel, an old church which has been there for a long time.The name of the concert was Bach at One.

As students of st Benedicts prep, we went to watch a live performance. we could have watched it on youtube. Watching something from Youtube is way different from watching it live. When you are  watching something live, you get to see all the things that aren’t shown on Youtube. When you are watching it on youtube, you just experience some little stuff and you only listen to the music. When you are watching them live, you must give the musicians your undivided attention. When i am watching the pieces being played, i meditate on how or what they are doing and i be having questions everywhere. At the end of the day, We watched what is true of watching a performance, live.

Concert in NYC - May 8

Our keyboard orchestra class took a trip to St. Paul's Chapel in New York on Monday may 8th. During arrival, we watched a group of musicians who go by  "New York Baroque Inc.". They performed pieces from different composers such as Telemann (1681-1767) , Bach (1685-1750) as well as Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. They performed two songs by Telemann (Gradus Ad Parnassum and Du aber, Daniel, gehe hin). St. Paul chapel was one of the oldest places being used in New York usually all the old buildings has been vacated.  They also looked at each other when they were about to sing or play a different piece to make sure that they were all ready.

For certain parts different instruments were leading the group in the piece. We know this by them switching positions one would be at the end and then they would be in the middle when it was their time to play a song. There were various adjustments made so that we as watchers knew that it was a different instrument or different piece of music being played. First being they would move. Second being they would look at each other to make sure everyone was ready to play. Thirdly they would take time to tune their instruments before moving onto the next song, which sounded like they were making mistakes but it was apart of the plan so they could play together as a group. I really enjoyed the orchestra that was playing and it broaden my view in different things.

BLOG Questions: Response (NY Trip)

On Monday, May 8th, 2017 the St. Benedict's keyboard orchestra class took a trip to St. Paul's Chapel in New York. Upon arrival, we witnessed and group of musicians who go by  "New York Baroque Inc.". They performed pieces from Telemann (1681-1767) , Bach (1685-1750) as well as Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. For their first and second pieces, they performed two songs by Telemann (Gradius Ad Parnassum and Du aber, Daniel, gehe hin). For their third and fourth pieces, they performed two more songs but this time by Bach (Jesus Christus, unser Heiland and Sehet! Wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem). For their fifth and final piece, they performed Jimmy Page's and Robert Plant's Stairway to Heaven. 

In all honesty, the "up front" experience didn't feel all that different compared to listening on some headphones or from a speaker. But I do think being in front of the musicians is still very beneficial. There are somethings you wouldn't quite understand (or just miss out on the overall experience on) if you were to just listen on headphones or speakers. Things like the extremely quick tuning between songs would sound like a bunch of random noise to a headphone or speaker listener. Also, I'm sure a speaker or headphone listener would be unaware that there weren't any composers for the musicians. Other than those examples, there really wasn't much else that really grabbed my attention and made the listening experience much different. If anything I dozed off more in the up front experience, than listening to it through a device. 

New York Field Trip

Even though, I didn't go on the field trip because of a track meet, yesterday in class I learned some things about the concert that was going on two days ago. On May 8, 2017 the Keyboard Orchestra class went on a trip in New York City to watch an orchestra music concert. The concert was called Bach at One which was located at the New York Baroque in New York in St. Trinity Church. The orchestra concert started at 1 o clock in afternoon right after their lunch break and was supposed to be seated before 1 o clock so they can see the whole concert. In the concert there were some instruments I didn't know and didn't even know that it existed. Some instruments like the alto recorder, oboe, flute, an instrument that looks like a giant violin, and the clarinet. If I didn't had a track meet that day, I would've went to the concert, and if I did, it would be a good experience for me and my very first time going to an orchestra concert. The band was consist of Bach, Buxtehude, Krieger, Telemann, and Heinichin.

About the concert, even though they didn't have conductor, they started the music at the same time, because the music started with the big violin. All of them didn't start at the same time, or one of the musician started doing the counting very silently.

Bach at One

Nyeem Jenkins

On Monday may 8th our class went to see Back at One at St. Paul church.The concert I went to used music from there old times. That is why most of there music looks different today. Like the oboe if you never seen one saw that one then seen a real one in our time it will look significantly different. Who composed or made up the act of the concert were Bach and Telemann. They even performed "Stair way to Heaven" which is a very popular song back then. I like the performance overall; it was great.
                                    I noticed the way they played at the same time. When I was there I noticed it sounded very good but I had to look it over to see what they were actually doing. The way they can play together nicely. It is because they were looking at each other and when the middle person started to signal that he was about to start playing the waited then they all played at the same time. This is kinda really cool and helps me think that they have practiced a lot of times. I can't do that at all so I give them congrats on doing that. This was a cool trip and I hope we can go on one again.

Trip to the live Baroque Performance

On May 9,2017 during the morning and afternoon, the Keyboard orchestra class went on a trip to a live performance at St. Paul’s Chapel In New York. Their performance was made up of a combination of some from the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, who were the singers, and the others were from New York Baroque incorporated, who were the instrumentalist. The two Baroque composers whose music was being play Bach and Telemann. We went to the performance for us to exhibit the difference between how live music from an actual instruments sound and feel rather than from just a computer which lacks the true sound/feeling of the instrument. While the performance was not the the first live performance I saw, it was the first time a saw a whole performance actually focused on music from the Baroque time. They used a Harpsichord, which I have never seen before and is the classic baroque keyboard, an old Obo from the baroque period of music with no modern day mechanics added and even an old cello of the baroque period. The performers had no conductor/director. They all had to both communicate and trust each other. You could see how both the singers and instrumentalist were aware of what's going on and interactive with the audience with much eye contact and energy being showed to the audience.

While I did enjoy the performance, frankly, I must say that i need to be more interactive with the performance rather than just sitting and aimlessly listening to it. There were points in the concert where I was sleepy and just dozed off suddenly. I wasn’t sleepy because I did not enjoy the music, but because I was not attentive or interactive with the music. I enjoy listening to classical music, with baroque being one of my favorite, but for me just sitting on the seat is not enough. I realized that, When I started to follow along with the translation of the lyrics from German, I became far more attentive, alert, and awake.

Classical Music Live

I enjoyed listening to the string and choir ensemble performed by the New York Baroque Incorporated, May 8. Going into the performance, I did not know what to expect because my musical experience was limited to Hip-hop songs on my iPhone. When I first walked into the Trinity Church, I was greeted by the sound of a musician tuning a harpsichord. Being the piano's predecessor, I found it interesting to learn that before performances both harpsichords and pianos need to be tuned. Also, I learned that main difference between the piano and the harpsichord is that the harpsichord remains at the same volume. Overall, I was a fan of the classical instruments because they sounded beautiful when played in harmony. And, the vocalist did a great job synchronizing with each other. Before this concert, I did know of the existence of Bach and Telemann, and I am grateful that I received the opportunity to hear their live renditions with classical pieces of instruments.

Something that I did not notice until I rewatched a taped version of the performance was that communication still occurs during a live performance. The string and choir ensemble were able to play nicely together because they focused on their sheet music and made an effort to communicate with each other through eye contact and hearing one another's music. Throughout the performance, especially when the choir sang, certain musicians would turn or make eye contact toward their partner so they could focus on their music to ensure that they were in harmony.

Bach at One Performance

May 10, 2017

On Monday, May 8, the Keyboard Orchestra class went on a field trip to see an orchestra performance called Bach at One by the New York Baroque Incorporated in St. Paul’s Church within the Trinity Church Wall Street. The concert happened around one o’clock in the afternoon during people’s lunch break and the seats in the church was quite full with some other schools, tourist, and some elderly people. The performances and music pieces were based around the composer J. S. Bach and other contemporaries such as Buxtehude, Krieger, Heinichen, and Telemann. The performers mainly used period instruments which are instruments that we made during the time. Overall the performance was great and I would want to go to a performance.

My personal favorite piece was during the Vivace section where the music was played in a lively manner. In this certain part, where the oboe, recorder, violin, guitar, piano, and cello were being played, some of the instruments had a solo making them a highlight for some time. The cello, piano, and guitar acted as a background for the other instruments. Usually what happened was that the other instruments playing the melody would either back off or play at a lower volume so the instrument playing the solo would be heard more clearly. The solo player was then able to move freely in pitch because there wasn't too much interference with the other instrument. My favorite solo was the oboe player because I play the clarinet which is part of the same family and it was interesting to watch a professional play.

Francis Jean-Paul

On Monday, May 8th, the Keyboard Orchestra watched a live musical performance at a time that is not usual for these type of performances. Live musical performances usually happen during the night time. This performance happened during the afternoon, around the time people have their lunch break. The group that performed was the New York Baroque Incorporated. The performance happened in St. Paul’s Chapel, which is a part of Trinity Church. The name of the concert was Bach at One and the compositions played were from Bach and Telemann. The three main pieces played were played with period instruments, and played with the techniques used during the time of Bach and Telemann.

As a class, we went to watch a live performance, which we could have easily watched a recording of when it was uploaded. However, Youtube and a live performance are two different things. While watching something live, you get to see all the things that aren’t shown when just a song is uploaded on Youtube. When you’re at home just listening to the music in your headphones, you might not even be paying attention to the music! When you’re watching the songs you hear in your headphones performed live, however, you must give the musician/s your undivided attention. While watching the pieces being played, my brain had questions everywhere. How did these musicians get to this point? Do they tired of always performing? What made them choose to perform this type of music? How do you prevent yourself from messing up without the help of others? These musicians from NYBI did what they do for a living, perform. We watched what is the true way of watching a performance, live.

First Live Classical Concert

     On Monday, May 8th the Keyboard Orchestra class went to St. Paul Chapel/ Trinity Church. We went there to watch the New York Baroque Incorporated which is group of professionals musicians who preformed a few songs from Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Philipp Telemann. These professionals used instruments from the period of Bach and Telemann which are more difficult to use than modern instruments ,and as a finale performed the song "Stairway to Heaven". The reason we took this trip was because a good amount of the class never been to a concert so it was a new experience to so we can get a new genre of music in our mind.
     Being close to instruments rather listening to them on TV or in my headphones actually give you good feeling and actually being able to see it being played was fascinating. In comparison it was more of something to experience than all the rap concerts I've been to because it was something new and exciting to watch. Yes rap concerts are more lively and has more adrenaline pumping than a classical music but it opens up your mind to think of different things in life.