Posts made by BigDub

@dr-go said in Artist on BOARD:

@bigdub said in Artist on BOARD:

@georgeb
Thanks, George.
...a one time payment of $100 ( USD) to the Light Houses of NJ
Just kidding. I would never do that! I appreciate your kind words

Light-en up Bigdub on our friend GeorgeB.

See you have been taking advantage of the legalized Marijuana laws in NJ and light-ing up there as well. A bit uninhibited you are.

Also note the light is out. In the lighthouse, that is.
I also figured the Brooklyn Bridge has been sold enough by now, so why
not start a franchise to be a lighthouse keeper? There are 37 lighthouses in NJ, so there’s plenty to go around.

@georgeb
Thanks, George.
You can do that, did you know?
You sign up by sending a one time payment of $100 ( USD) to the Light Houses of NJ, in trust with US Coast guard, fwd to Wayne R Mathisen Studio. And away you go!
Just kidding. I would never do that! I appreciate your kind words

Here is a new piece. This is a lighthouse from NJ called East Point Light. From Cumberland County in the Delaware Bay

Somebody said to me, “you’re not the dumbest guy in the world, but you better hope he survives the bad car accident he was in!”

@dale-proctor said in Traits that make a great sight reader?:

@bigdub said in Traits that make a great sight reader?:

@dale-proctor said in Traits that make a great sight reader?:

What we really need is an app that just plays the dang trumpet for us...

I know you don’t want that

Of course I was joking, but I don’t want to follow the bouncing ball on an iPad that turns the pages for me, either...

True.

@dale-proctor said in Traits that make a great sight reader?:

What we really need is an app that just plays the dang trumpet for us...
I know you don’t want that

I am not joking here. I see a possible app or program coming where the player will be able to see a progress bar running below the staff indicating a very close proximity to where one should be in the music.
The tempo would have to be adhered to, naturally. I could see this being possible.
I would definitely like something like that.

@dr-go said in Keying ~fingering:

LOOKING AT CUTE CHICK OUT IN THE AUDIENCE

Clearly he is a droid, though.

@j-jericho
I think I must be a robot.

@dr-go said in Traits that make a great sight reader?:

@bigdub said in Traits that make a great sight reader?:

@fels said in Traits that make a great sight reader?:
Often there is no time to preview a piece. There’s a book full of music, and you don’t always have an idea what is going to come up next, so you might have but a few moments to get an overview of it.

Perhaps a course in speed reading may help your sight reading skills!

Sounds like homework.

@fels said in Traits that make a great sight reader?:

I agree with Rowuk's earlier comments as a fundamental basis for sight reading. I will add:

Like any other skill -- you have do do it a lot. Accept sub invitations, play pieces you have not seen before.

Take a few minutes to survey the piece and perhaps mark the score. OK, the purists a say that is no longer sight reading. But down beats are down beats and a little visual reminder helps.

Listen to those around you. Accepting the music will help in terms of understanding your part and being able to play on sight.

This is very good. As I read this, I realize these are things I have been trying to do. It has helped, for sure. The point is, I think there are traits that enable some to be naturally better at sight reading than people like myself, who struggle with it more.
Often there is no time to preview a piece. There’s a book full of music, and you don’t always have an idea what is going to come up next, so you might have but a few moments to get an overview of it.
It is like everything else, really. Practice, repetition ( but with different music every time ) and scan ahead a little wherever possible.

@dr-go said in Traits that make a great sight reader?:

Add to the challenge of sight reading that most the parts I get are for C instruments, so in addition to sight reading I am also transposing the notes as I go, and trying to remember to add two sharps to the written key signature.

Man up. It’s good for your brain.

@dr-go said in Traits that make a great sight reader?:

I believe the hardest part of sight reading is being able to count. What really trips me up the most is reading where NOT to play (the rests) more so than were TO play (the notes). It all comes down to the rhythm, the feel of the song. That is what I find most challenging regarding sight reading.

I was thinking the same thing the other day. The rests. Long rests. If only there was some kind of an app for waiting out long rests. A little count down.....one measure to go, 1,2,ready, play, right?
I think for me, it’s laziness. I try my best to find sections of the music, like road signs to get around having to actually count 28 measures.
I celebrate the little “helps” like key changes and time signature changes during the rests. Those are dead giveaways. That’s my goal. I think I work harder at that than I would to just count.

@dr-go said in Traits that make a great sight reader?:

Two Main Rules:

1. Sight Read Often

2. Sing it before you play it, and if you're Rapier, sing it to yourself and all will be fine.

The point of being able to sight read, in my mind, that you can pick up the piece of music and play it. No preparation, no study, no premeditation. Like picking up a book or newspaper and reading it without ever having seen it before. That’s what I consider a good sight reader. I marvel at a pianist who can read a piece for the first time- and there are many more notes, two staffs, and two clefs to consider as well!
I do think my sight reading has come a very long way, mind you. Up until about 8 years ago when I started playing with the community band and basically had all new music all the time, I was not being challenged much. It was in a church setting playing stuff I more or less knew and could play first time without any trouble. It was also not as difficult or intricate.

I claim no expertise in this subject, but maybe a lot of experience and observation. Let’s get that out of the way first.
First, let me say I am not a particularly good sight reader. I have gotten better through osmosis, maybe because I sit next to people who are, so it elevates me to some degree. It seems to me that some of the great sight readers might have a strong aptitude for math. See the opening remark: it is my observation and experience over the years, not fact or scientific study. They have the numbers and fractions right there in their heads, constantly ticking off like a computer. Easy stuff for them.

My problem with sight reading, I think, stemmed from my relying too much on my ear. I’d hear it the first time through and know how it went, rhythmically and the tune was in the vault already, so, once again I escaped really having to figure it out on my own.
So am I way off base or is there some validity to this?

You might remember I had mentioned having to do a cat portrait. Actually 3 cats....same client. Here are the three ( it might take two posts )

@dr-go said in Any organists?:

Started out playing the Hammond B-3 at a night club in Mt. Washington called the Golden Roster. I played there one weekend once a month for over a year. Here is a pic of me at one of the gigs. I was 7 years old at the time.

Clearly you were a lot cooler then, Doc.
I, on the other hand lean more toward the organ donor side of things. Says so on my driver's license.

@dr-go said in On the, “ I wish I had had a little more sense of history” topic......:

@georgeb said in On the, “ I wish I had had a little more sense of history” topic......:

@kehaulani

I actually like playing Strangers In The Night, but I skip the Dooby dooby dooo at the end.

I sing Strangers In The Night if I first partake of some Dobby dooby dooos just prior to said song breakout...

This is of course legal in Colorado... and of more recent, New Jersey, as BigDub probably knows.... and perhaps, we may see more abstract art offerings from BigDub as a result, yes?

Well, if I was so inclined, there would probably be a lot less productivity.
As far as playing Strangers in The Night, I seem to end up playing more TO strangers in the night. They haven’t heard me play yet, so I can surprise them at least until they can escape for the exit

@barliman2001 said in How about a "Random Meaningless Image...let's see them string"?:

@bigdub Extremely rare... especially as in that picture a heron is standing in for the stork...

He was an auxiliary back up. The Stork had a day off, maybe

@dr-go
Very rare