The Performance

I performed my piece today. I was more prepared than I anticipated but it still wasn't up to my perfectionist's taste. I was incredibly nervous; I haven't been that nervous in a long time. Even though I had prepared it to the best I could, it wasn't good enough for me. I felt so ashamed afterwards, I didn't even want to look anyone in the eye.

I got over this feeling, thankfully. Went about my merry way and did some work and when it got to practicing again, I only wanted to play classical even though my major is jazz. I warmed up again, played my 3 octave scales and then pulled out the Vivaldi I had just performed. Guess what happened?

I played it better.

It's mildly aggravating and I'm still kind of boiling over it but it's for the better because I finally got some good criticism on the parts that needed it and I now have the next two movements to work on. The work carries on.

The Change

It's week 7 at the University of Oregon. I've passed all my mid-terms and am currently getting ready to perform Vivaldi's Cello Sonata No.3 in A minor on the bass. I'm only doing the first two movements because I seriously lack the skills to do all 4 right now. It's such a beautiful piece and I've been working on it since week 2. It's so close to being at the level I want it to be but I only have 3 days to get it there so I have a lot of work ahead of me.

I'm a jazz major so classical doesn't come easily to me. I'm currently in the middle of transcribing Paul Chambers' solo on Trane's Blues off the album Workin' with The Miles Davis Quintet. It's been a favorite of mine for awhile now so I'm happy to finally get to do it (I usually forget to). I'm also transcribing some of his bass lines on the tune as well as on So What from Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis.

So far, college has been an amazing experience with lots of challenges. The one thing I really don't like is the food, though.