Oboe

picture source

What are the TOK and SOK in Oboe? How do we teach this to a beginner?

TOK is a thumb octave key and SOK is a side octave key. First have the student play the lower note. Then the teacher presses the designated octave key for the second note. Notice that the upper notes will be flat and that a faster air stream is required for the upper notes. The student then practices the exercise with pitch adjustments using increased air speed and/or a firmer lip cushion. 

Three ways the pitch can be varied on any double reed.

1. Changing Embouchure: (firmer cushion for higher and softer tone, softer cushion for lower and louder tones)

2. Air speed: Fast (higher pitch) Slow (lower pitch)

3. Amount of reed that is in mouth: More reed in mouth for higher and louder tones. Less reed in mouth for lower and softer tones.  

Bassoon

Common pedagogical problems (both physical and musical) that we often see in the beginning Bassoon player.

 ·        Reed problem: Not enough reed in mouth or too much reed in mouth (Flat/sharp sound) Dry reed won’t vibrate and make sound.

·        Embouchure problems like lips over teeth too far and chin bunched up.

·        Fingering problems such as lacking knowledge of alternate fingerings,  incorrect use of whisper key, incorrect use of half-hole fingerings, and lacking knowledge of flick keys which can cause breaks between pitches and inaccurate pitch sound.

·        Breathing problems: Lack of support for upper register, air used incorrectly

Flute

Basic things about Flute Teaching and Learning

1. Flute Assembly (head, middle and foot joint)

Step 1 Open the case which the brand name is shown on the top. Place the foot joint on the middle section. To avoid pressure on the keys, grab where there are no keys. Turn foot joint to accommodate length of right pinky, key rod of foot should align with the middle of keys of the middle joint

Step 2 Place the head joint on the middle joint. Align so that the center of the embouchure hole is in line with the center of the keys. 

2. Daily Care of the flute

1) After playing, swab the bore using a dry cotton cloth threaded onto the cleaning rod and wrapped over the end of the rod. 2) Wipe off fingerprints with a cotton cloth 3) If there is moisture under pads or if pads are sticking, insert absorbent cloth between key and tone hole and gently close keys.

3. 6 step body position check for flute playing position

1) Head up  2) Bring flute to mouth  3) Flute should be parallel to lips  4) Flute may be parallel with floor  5) Chest up  6) In sitting position, right elbow should not hook over back of chair

4. Developing a aperture

Verbalize and explain how to do air on hand [pencil dot] exercise

Samulnori

I want to introduce Samulnori today since I wrote about "Jing" last time. Samulnori is a Korean traditional percussion music and Samulnori performers wear the traditional clothes for performance. It is very rhythmic and entertaining. It requires four different Korean traditional instruments such as Kkwaenggwari (small gong), Jing (larger gong), Janggu (hourglass-shaped drum), and Buk (a barrel drum). Buk has a lower sound than Janggu and Jing has a lower sound than Kkwaenggwari. Kkwaenggwari sounds very annoying actually because it is very loud and relatively high in pitch. Each of the four instruments represents a different weather condition: the Janggu represents rain, the Kkwaenggwari is thunder, the Jing is the sound of the wind, and the Buk represents clouds. The formation of the performers is in the picture below.

http://samulnorimexico.blogspot.com/

  I give you this link to look at the actual performance to get the idea what Samulnori is.

Korean Music Samulnori

A Korean Traditional Gong, "Jing"

From my music classroom method II class, some people were interested in my Korean gong, "Jing." The Jing is a large gong used in traditional Korean music. It can be used in Samul nori music, pungmul, and daechwita music of Korea. The gong is made from brass and struck by a soft clothed hammer. Some people wanted to know how much it is and where to buy. I did not know that it is so difficult to find the place to buy it in America. I could not find any American website for selling Jings, but I found many Korean websites in Korea that sell Jings. The price of the gong in the picture is $250, which is not bad at all! You can ask someone to send it from Korea or you can visit Korea in order to buy this instrument. If you do so,  I recommend you to watch Samul nori performance in Korea. It will be fun and educational for all of us!

http://www.kugakki.com/shop/shopdetail.html?branduid=55&xcode=007&mcode=000&scode=&type=O&search=&sort=price

Silver Apples of the Moon

An american composer of electronic music, Morton Subotnick is best known for his Silver Apples of the Moon. This is the first electronic music which was commissioned by a record company, Nonesuch. Silver Apples of the Moon was written in 1967. This music can be accepted as highly abstract. For me, it is abstract and I do not like this kind of music personally. The rhythm is not regular and there is not noticeable consequence and patterns in this music. However, there is a sense of a regular rhythm at some point in this music. The electronic instrumentation has a variety and appear section by section. Electronic music can express something that acoustic classical music cannot express. It sounds like a future and technology. In my opinion, the title, Silver Apples of the Moon indicates our possibility to go to the moon and even find apples there. I do not know if you like this music or not (because I don't), but I will put the link for the recording.  

Music technology in 1979

Even in 1979, the interest in music technology was huge. This video, The New Sound Of Music is a BCC history documentary from the year 1979. This video is about the development of recorded music from the first barrel organs, pianolas, the phonograph, the magnetic tape recorder and the concepts of electronic music development. In addition, EMS Synthesizers and equipment were introduced in this film. This film also introduces a invention of a robot music that several instruments are played at the same time by using the holes on the paper. It is fascinating to see the organ making sound, as the music page is rolled. Even though it does not look fancy as these days' music technology equipment, at least it gives me the notion of  fun that can be found in music technology. Isn't the piano that is played without a performer interesting? I recommend you to watch this video!