musical doodle

Sometimes I get bored at school, which results in me locking myself in a practice room with intentions of practicing my viola, but I usually end up messing around on the piano. Well that happened to me yesterday, and I came up with a little musical "doodle."  Of course it's in a somewhat Baroque style. What else would you expect from me? 

The paintings are by the Baroque Dutch artist Gerard ter Borch.

If anyone wants sheet music for this just ask me. It would be a fun little piece for a beginning pianist. 

this weekends postcards

Here are the postcards I received this weekend!

This first one is from Utah, US

The other is from the Czech Republic!

rondo no. 1

Hello again! I thought I'd share a little summer project with everyone. I'm a music student, and as I'm sure you've figured out I love everything baroque. I loved learning theory at school, and decided to write a short little baroque-spirited rondo! This could be performed on a keyboard instrument, or perhaps a soprano and alto instrument duet. I'm thinking about playing each part on recorder and putting it together. I love baroque recorder.

The pictures accompanying the music depict everyday people from the period (some earlier, some later baroque.) Please let me know what you think in the comments!

Thanks for any input :)

P.S.  If you want the sheet music for this, just let me know. It would make a nice beginning pianist piece.

a few favorites

Hello again! I thought I'd share a few of my favorite postcards today. I'm a member of Postcrossing. A postcard exchange program. It's tons of fun! As I get postcards in, I'll post them here as well. Since I haven't received any this week, I'll post a few favorites. 

This first one is from a lovely young musician in Boston! She even drew some of Bach's cello prelude under my address. :)

This one came from Vienna. It shows the Mozart memorial! I think that should pretty much sum up why it's a favorite!

This next one is so unique! The sender (from Russia) created it out of some card stock and old stamps! I love it.

This one came from New York, but she got the card in Venice. I love this theater! So beautiful.

Okay.. So this last one isn't from Postcrossing members... It's actually a vintage postcard, that was sent from Oklahoma City in 1914! It's amazing to see such an old picture of OKC, and writing from a person living their everyday life.

I have postcards from over 36 different countries. It's so fun to see what is in my mailbox each day! I look forward to sharing more of these treasures with other people!

snuff heaven

One of my favorite things to indulge in is snuff tobacco! Later I will make a post about snuff, and why I do it, but for now, I just want to share my collection of snuff scents!

(categorized by brand)

Toque:

Spanish Gem

Whiskey & Honey

Absinthe

Pomegranate

Raspberry

Lime Toast

Toffee

Original

Natural

X-Mas Pudding

Quit

Cheese & Bacon (not a favorite)

Vanilla

Coke (soda)

Cherry

Wilsons of Sharrow:

Thyme & Lemon

Rosemary

Strawberry

Rum & Blackberry

Crumbs of Comfort

Cherry Menthol

Irish High Toast No. 22

Rose

McCrystal's:

Original & Genuine

Clove

Silver Dollar:

Raspberry (a favorite)

Apricot

Natural

Original

Cherry

Spearmint

Fribourg & Treyer:

Bordeaux

Old Paris

Kendal Brown

Molen's:

Gingerbread

Abraxas:

Premium Batch

Club

Cerise

Ozona:

English Menthol

Kendal:

Jasmine

Dry Orange

Mint

6-Photo:

Medicated No. 66

Natural

Fubar:

Grunt

I think that's it...It's a long list, and they are all (mostly) delectable in your nose!

Do you snuff? If so, what are your favorite scents? Comment below :)

baroque criticism

So, lately I've been going to the gym to try and get into better shape. I always do about an hour on the recumbent bikes. They sometimes can get boring, but as long as I have some good music to listen to, it's all good! So, what do I usually listen to? It really depends on what mood I'm in. Some nights it may be Philip Glass, others Lady Gaga, but tonight was Vivaldi and Pergolesi.

Baroque music is one of my passions. I find it one of the most beautiful and underrated eras/genres of music. I go to a pretty big music school, and you would be quite amazed at how many music majors, people who want to continue music for the rest of their life,  find baroque music ugly or, the ornamentation annoying! 

I'm sitting in music theory class.

Professor: "Today we're going to talk about inventions."

Me: "Yay!! How exciting!" I think to myself.

The professor turns on a recording over the sound system of one of Bach's inventions. It is being performed on a harpsichord, with utmost skill and beauty! I am instantly in heaven. I adore this sound. The beautiful ornamentation... ah....

But once it ended, people actually complained. They said the harpsichord was absolutely disgusting sounding, and when one student suggested the ornamentation was annoying, 4-5 other people chimed in and agreed!

There's been many other incidents at school, where I have noticed people being annoyed, or not liking baroque music. There are a select group of people at my university, who simply won't or can't appreciate instrumental music at all... I know not all vocalists are like this, but there are some out there who could never see the beauty in a symphony.. "If it's not Broadway, it's not beautiful."

I guess this is just me seeing the importance of appreciating all sorts of musics. Nationalities, eras, genres, instrumentation, setting, etc. 

P.S. To any of you who dislike baroque music, I fully understand it's just a taste thing! No hard feelings <3