Gorgeous musical artwork

Some of my favorite pieces....enjoy:)

Til next time
~Givi Girl

Get your hair out of your face!!!

Short and sweet post today! 

This is a simple but necessary point I need to make.  I guess this is more so directed towards girls, but it can definitely be applicable to guys as well.  When you perform, you need to make sure your hair is out of your face.  When you are on stage, you are most likely exposing the profile of your face.  If your hair isn't pulled back, all people would see is your nose! LoL. 







What looks better between these two pictures?    






Other good examples:

Til next time,
~Givi Girl 

Videos of my students

A handful of my students performed at the Allegheny Valley School this past weekend. We'll be done with events in the community for awhile, but in the meantime, here are a couple clips to enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgykS646p2yKm291H4JXZkw/videos

~Givi Girl

Play what your audience wants to hear

Performing can be super fun!! Especially when you have a favorite piece in mind that you are dying to play.




 But...be careful.  It might not fit your audience, no matter how great you may feel about the piece.  Before you select your pieces, ask yourself:

Where are you performing? Is it a casual place? A fancy restaurant? An extremely formal recital, or outside at a festival?  A family reunion?  Are you throwing your own recital like we discussed in the last post?




Who are you performing for? Who's your audience?  Is it a bunch of children at a birthday party?  Is it your uncle who loves Frank Sinatra? Is it a bunch of older folks at a nursing home? Is it in front of a panel of judges for an orchestra audition?

What should you perform?  This is the part where you might be disappointed: despite the fact that you put your heart and soul into your favorite piece(s), that might not be the most appropriate choice because that's not what your audience would want to hear.  For example, my students and I  collaborated with the piano section of our school, and we all played at a church festival this past summer.  The theme was fiddle music, because fiddle music fits the situation.  Let me be more specific about this festival: it took place outside, and the festival consisted of primarily families with young children running around.  There were rides, games, you know...typical festival stuff!! Of course there would be people in the crowd who would enjoy a piano student playing every movement of Fur Elise...but do you think that's what the majority of the crowd would want to hear?



The answer is no.

What would you guess our attire was?  GSOM Tee-shirts (which are on sale by the way!!)  Do you think we'd chose the fiddle theme wearing tee-shirts for our main, extremely formal, annual recital?  Of course not.  That's a totally different type of situation.  But in this case, the event was super casual, laid back, and that's exactly what fiddle music is.  It's also good to play familiar pieces to audiences who don't understand or appreciate the more difficult, classical pieces. 

It's important to play what your audience wants to hear. Don't worry, you'll be able to perform exactly what you want in time.  Just save it for the right opportunity!!!!!

Til next time,
 
~Givi Girl

Violin and...rap?!

http://youtu.be/gEIVzWCRSg8 Now this is something you don't see every day!!!!!!!




~Givi Girl

Throw a private recital

The holidays are coming up...why not add some spark to it this year?




Gather some family and close friends and host your own recital for them.  It could feature just you, you and a fellow musician friend(s), siblings, etc.

Remember, time and place.  Is it Christmas time?  Perform Christmas music.  Is it Halloween time?  How about something more Halloween themed, such as the Adam's Family or the theme song from the Exorcist.  Maybe you can keep it a completely classical performance and select your strongest and favorite pieces. Is it a birthday party for someone? Play the pieces of their selection, plus the traditional "happy birthday song."  Give them the gift of music :)

If you want to make it more formal, here are a couple other tips:


*Make a program.  Just a pretty piece of paper, (either decorate it yourself with stickers or get the specialty paper) with your list of songs.  Make sure to include everyone who is performing and the date.

*Make sure the area you perform is clean and tidy.  You don't want a mess!

*Have a reception afterwards.

*Dress nicely.  (See time and place entry.)

*Perhaps give a brief introduction to a piece before you perform it (composer, description, etc.)



You work so hard, so show it off and have fun with it!








Til next time,
Givi Girl

Keep it CONVENIENT for yourself!

This post is really random, but from my own personal experience, it helps motivate you to practice.

Let's switch gears from music to working out.  For me, personally, it takes a lot of motivation to drag myself to the gym.  I have to change into gym clothes, get in the car, go there, and after alllll that...work out (something I'm not overly excited about to begin with.)  AFTER THAT, I know I have to drive home, shower, re-wash my clothes, and then change into another outfit. 

A lot of this lack of motivation occurred ever since I moved out of my mom's house in Robinson Twp (5 min away from the gym) to Bellevue (20 min away from the gym.)  Why?  BECAUSE NOW IT'S MORE INCONVENIENT.

Now, let's apply this to practicing.  In this case, I'm going to reference my cello since it's more applicable.   My cello is obviously a bigger instrument and it's a bit of a pain to constantly take it out and put it back in it's case.  I find that if it's not staring at me in the face I tend to neglect it because I simply don't want to deal with opening it up.

US HUMANS, ESPECIALLY US AMERICANS, ARE LAZY!!! Why do you think fast food is so popular?? You get to stay in your car, the food is already made, it's cheap....you basically make no effort whatsoever to eat your food. 

Keep your instrument out, (in a safe place, of course,) so you can just grab it easily and play it.

 The less to get in your way of practicing, the better.   Your instrument is saying "Practice me!  I'm right here!  Practice me!" when it's left out. 

Growing up, I left mine on my dining room table that nobody uses. 

Make it convenient for yourself!!!!

Til next time,
~Givi Girl