Music Camp is On!

I had a plan...

February is far enough in to winter and far enough from spring to be an excellent month to shake up the schedule a little with some sort of alternate activity.  Last year we tried a 3-day trip to Lake Havasu City.  It was satisfactory, but not something we care to repeat.  This year, I decided it would be a good month to try out the idea of a One-Woman Music Camp.  I did a little pre-planning, and chose February 24-28.   Then life happened, as it will.  A sudden and sorrowful trip to Tucson to gather with family after the sudden passing of a way-too-young nephew eclipsed Music Camp plans.

Back home this past Monday, I was uncombobulating myself.  As you probably know, this can take longer than one anticipates.  However, I had made a commitment to an outside event for my original Camp dates, and rather than cancel and let Music Camp slip-slide away due to inertia, I decided to let that event be the motivation to go ahead with Camp. 

THE OVERALL PLAN

I wanted a 5-day Camp.

I wanted to maintain minimal regular duties.  Keepers:

1) The quickie morning house straighten.

2) Some sort of exercise.

3) Any standing appointments.

4) Make dinner.

5) Yoga and Meditation. 

I wanted to let the Camp develop as I went along; uncharacteristically, not over-plan.  Which is not the same as not planning at all!

Here's what I had loosely planned:

1) Maintain my regular violin and piano practices.

2) Finish a Great Courses set of videos "Understanding the Fundamentals of Music". 

3) Choose a Theme of the Day for focus.

4) Go to one live music event.

5) Watch several music-related movies I'd acquired for the Camps Sally & I did and didn't get to.

6) Blog the Camp.

Here's how it's going:

Day 1:

Violin and piano practices:  Check.

Great Courses episode:  Check.

Theme of the Day:  Build my personal music library with purpose:  Check.

This turned out to be a lot of fun.  It's been a topic that's been on my mind for awhile with no action; Camp seemed like a natural place to address it.  Some on-line research got me on track.  First, identify what I like to listen to.  Second, acquire it or some means of listening to it.  I went through my existing library (currently on my Media Player) and identified the various genres/styles.  All over the place: pop, new age, classical in the instrumentals I play....

From there, I can acquire/listen to more of the same artists or, as suggested, choose one of the many on-line radio stations and listen to similar music and find new artists. I'd already picked AccuRadio as my go-to station, and pulled it up again with a new eye.  

Not only can I find styles I already like, but there's a choice of genres from literally around the world.  No end to the trying-out here!  Another suggestion that came up was...NPR Tiny Desk Concerts!  I'd not listened to them in a long while.  I've been wasting my time with mindless news feeds on my phone as I'm eating my before-bed snack.  No more!  NPR Tiny Desk Concerts are so much more rewarding!  And always there's the ubiquitous YouTube as a limitless resource. I can do some discovery there, and also try out any given artist a little more extensively.

I dipped a little in to learning about classical music.  Surprising to me, even though I enjoy playing classical music on both piano and violin, listening to it has always felt...complicated.  There's too much going on for my ear to understand it.  Do you think I found "An On-line Course to Appreciate Classical Music"?  You know I did.  

I did a little shopping, too.  A Camp without shopping?!  Not to be!  When I disposed of my vinyl collection last year, I made note of a handful of albums I wanted to replace with CD's for my permanent library.  Amazon had all but a few of them.  Some of them are old enough that it appears there's been no release on CD!  I might give them up and enjoy them on YouTube when I get the hankering.  There's a way to make a Favorites list on YouTube that I'll have to investigate.   

I've got the Tiny Desk Concerts assigned to a regular time.  The challenge will be to start integrating more purposeful listening in to already busy days. And the Music Appreciation course.  And setting up a Favorites list on YouTube.  I'll bet I can!   

Live musical event:  Check.

In the evening of this day, I attended a local event called "Violins of Hope".  What a story it is!

A man who emigrated to Israel as a boy, escaping the Holocaust, became a world-renowned violin maker. 50 years ago, someone brought him a violin that one of the Holocaust victims had played to be restored.  He didn't restore that first one-it was still too close.  Twenty years ago he was ready, and he put out a call for violins belonging to Holocaust victims, and it became part of his life work to locate and restore as many of these violins as possible.  A very cool part of this is that they're not special violins, they're "everyman" violins.  Violins anyone could afford.  Played before and during the Holocaust. The 66 restored instruments, violins and some cellos, are now on a world-wide tour.  An educational program has been developed around them describing their stories, and they are played in concerts.  There are general-public events like the one I went to, and there are extensive school programs.  Scottsdale Center for the Arts has the main exhibit, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, and Flagstaff was included in the statewide tour.  Guess what?  All free.  To remind those of us who know the history, and teach the ones who don't, what can and does happen if we allow it.