Friday, March 30, 2007

Moonlight Sonata -- Presto Agitato (3rd Movement)

Been awhile since I posted.

I've been frantically trying to learn the 3rd movement of the Moonlight Sonata. You know, not the slow, melodramatic stuff from the beginning, but the furiously quick, insane bit from the end. This piece has always blown me away and I always thought it was out of my range of skill. This is because I've never had any training or teaching whatsoever. I still use this little cheat sheet with all the notes written besides the 2 clefs and a guide to how long notes are.
Usually, I listen to the music, and try to copy it step by step. It worked with "A Thousand Miles" (Vanessa Carlton), and two songs from "Amélie" (Yann Tiersen). But classical pieces are difficult to analyze, for Für Elise I had to consult the score for the first middle bit.

Now, I started using the sheet from day 1.

And what a miserable day that was. The arpeggio was totally crooked, first note was too loud and long and the three others either were too soft, one of em skipped, or mistaken. I spend that night only playing that 1 arpeggio on my old toy Casio keyboard (50 bucks or something, but still of use).

After I was able to do the arpeggio constantly, with even volume and timing, I gradually started training the left hand. This wasn't as easy at it seemed: although it's only a repetition of 2 notes, the second note is the same as the first note of the first arpeggio, and simultaneous with the second note of the arpeggio. My fingers constantly bumped into each other, and I needed 1,5 day to figure it out.

More posts as I progress, I'm sleepy now..see ya soon!

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Mira -- Winner!



You ever get those moments when you're doing trivial things (read the paper, wake up, studying for midterms) and the radio's on, and you suddenly hear a song that you instantly like? But not in a pop-hit kinda way, that's being played over and over again, but really, appreciate the song despite realizing you may never hear it again.

I had that with "In de daluren" of fledgling singer/songwriter Mira. "In de daluren" is hard to translate into English, you could call it "During downtime" or "During off-peak hours at which your phone charges are reduced". But with the latter, you'd probably have one lousy chorus.

Anyway, Mira is a talented 24 year old Belgian from Antwerp, whose big break was winning the Public Award at the Nekka Night 2005 festival and clinching 2nd place overall. Her first album "In de daluren" is both critically acclaimed and loved by a growing amount of fans.

Her music is a very nice piece of "Belgicana" in which she makes cute little songs about cute and less cute little people and situations. Her lyrics are witty, uncomplicated but sometimes poignant and spunky. In the song "En Uwe Maat" ("And your boy", as in "BF") you get the following passage:

En uwe maat
Heeft een goe-fout Hawaï-hemdje aan
En uwe maat
Waar haalt hij die droge humor toch vandaan
En uwe maat
Loopt gelijk Travolta in Saturday Night Fever
Is wa kik krijg
Van uwe maat

Translated freely:

And your boy
He sure got one lame Hawaian shirt
And your boy
Where does he get those lame jokes and wit
And your boy
Look at him, like Travolta on Saturday Night Fever
He gets to me like nothing else
Your boy

Imagine this song with a jazzy set and sung with such mock that girls will recognize it, and guys will laugh at themselves. Wonderful.

Musically, her first album is a blender of pop/rock, jazz and piano ballad. Vocally, her voice is very similar to Cara of the teen band "Spring", but no other comparisons are present to the latter's bubbly kiddie songs. A keen characteristic is the obvious "Antwerp" accent she deliberately uses, which adds a touch of class (because Antwerp is simply thé greatest metropolis east of New York).

A noteable comparison to be made is that to Vanessa Carlton. Both are classically trained on the piano, and feature light pianodriven pop/rock/jazz on their albums. Live and on stage, they are both "the cute chick with the great voice and piano". Recently, she did a cover on a Belgian show in which she delivered a stellar performance.



So, if you're wondering if Belgium has some great new talent coming up, then look no further! You've found her.

http://www.mira-online.be

Top image courtesy of Mira-Online.be and Peggy Schillemans.