Thursday, June 22, 2006

A little practising leads to......

Well...I started practising again yesterday.....and it wasn't all that bad. I have some new techniques to work on...and I think that's the key. I don't seem to have incentive to practise unless I have something specific to focus on. So, I remembered some thoughts that my brother had on how I play and how I could improve and so have started working on that....not huge amounts daily, but enough to help improve and get my embouchure back in shape...after the lengthy lay off since the last concert in May. For the record, I play french horn and play in the KSO (Kamloops Symphony).
Music has always been a significant part of my life, whether it be listening or participating. I am professionally trained, although no longer a paid professional and having had that training, I find so much more enjoyment in ALL kinds of music.

Obviously my preference is for classical, but when travelling (by car), I find that country and western fits the bill admirably...(I can see the purists wincing now!!). I'm a total classic rock and roll fan, and if my knees would let me, I would be dancing around the house to hits from the 50's and 60's.

I listen to the Vinyl Cafe with Stuart McLean pretty regularly, and so get a good dose of Canadian talent....which I really like. There is so much diversity in Canadian music and it's all good. I'm also a fan of Celtic music, (my roots are Irish)....there's something haunting about a lot of it.

There are two types of popular music which I just can't seem to get my head around and that's rap and heavy metal. The rhythms of rap are great, but I just can't seem to listen to it for any length of time....and as for heavy metal...well....I just don't have the ears for it.

There is another section out there called alternative rock and sometimes that's quite intriguing. It seems to be more expressive in some ways....has more to say....but that's only my take on it. It's kind of a vague definition and it covers a lot of music that doesn't seem to fit into any of the other genres.

We live in a musician/non-musician household and as such, a certain amount of give and take is required with regards to music. I'm sure my DH probably gives more than he takes, but when we travel, we both make decisions on the CD's that will go in the 6 disc player. We try to alternate his music with mine....and NO OPERA!! Of course, when music is not the answer, we always have the audio books to pop into the cassette player and that keeps us enthralled for a good portion of the trip!

So I'm reading back over this posting and thinking that it seems somewhat stilted....which maybe is how I'm feeling today....hopefully the next posting will flow more smoothly.....until then....

Slainte !!

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