Oh, hi there! Thought I forgot about you, eh?
Nope, it's just been a busy Summer, with doctor visits galore, classes, traveling to see a sick relative, and having family in town. Not to mention a puppy who's managed to end up with giardia, which has been... smelly and time-consuming.
But, as planned, I have returned for another go-around with module 5.1, rejoining my class from before the Summer "break." And boy am I glad to be back. It's nice to see familiar faces and to hear familiar Danish. Plus, I really do like the way our teacher teaches.
In other news, last week I embarked on what I'm calling Project Let's-Find-Out-if-Ruby-is-a Piano-Prodigy.
In preparation for auditions to try to get into a music program at a university here in Copenhagen, I've started to take piano lessons. I've never taken lessons on an instrument, and have only really learned to read music as a singer, so... I'm leaning towards me not being a prodigy.
That being said, I do have the advantage of already knowing quite a bit about music, so the teacher has been able to skip a lot of the basic music theory stuff and jump right into trying to train my hands to listen to my brain.
I'm convinced my left hand is controlled by someone other than me.
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Saturday, January 12, 2013
A Post in Three Acts
Hold on to your hats, 'cause this is gonna be a long one. So long that I've split it up into 3 acts (one of which is a fun announcement, so it's worth reading all of them).
Act I - Forced Home Remedies
Having a cold in Denmark is a pain in the ass. In America, I would head over to the 24-hour convenience store and pick up a bottle of NyQuil and some cough drops, and I'd be good to go. Unfortunately, they don't sell NyQuil, at your local corner store here. And while they might have something similar at the local "apotek" or pharmacy, the pharmacies keep hours like most places in Denmark... they close by 6pm.
So last night, when it was 9pm and I was hacking up a lung, I didn't really know how to proceed. I've had this nagging cold for a few weeks now, but it's gotten worse over the past week, to the point where tea and cough drops aren't cutting it anymore. Some quick Googling told me that there are a few 24-hour pharmacies in and around Copenhagen, but the closest one is 3 kilometers away. That wouldn't have seemed like much if I still had a car, but with a bad cough and temps below freezing, riding my bike there struck me as possibly counterproductive.
As luck would have it, my husband happened to be visiting a friend who had some cold medicine in his medicine cabinet that he was willing to part with, so I managed to finally get a bit of sleep last night.
I can't speak to how the prescription meds are here, but I can say that it's not easy to get over-the-counter stuff that isn't basically someone's grandmother's herbal remedy. Today, when stores opened again, my husband went out and bought some kind of liquid that smells like licorice and is mixed with water, and made me some tea made from thyme. Will they work? Unlikely. Will they taste good? Nope.
Act II - Studieskolen Redemption
Earlier in the week, I was feeling a bit pessimistic about my new Danish class because of this. Well, just as I'd hoped, the woman who will be teaching the class on Thursdays and Fridays is absolutely wonderful. She's been teaching at the school basically her entire career, and really knows what she's doing.
So, I'm still not convinced that I'll learn much on Mondays and Wednesdays, but I'm hoping I can make up for it by learning everything I need to know later in the week.
Act III - The Announcement
I think I neglected to give an update on how my audition went after posting this.
It went poorly.
I was exhausted, nervous, and had just biked to their rehearsal space in the rain. I had worked really hard to warm my voice up enough, and to try to learn the Swedish for one of the auditions songs, and then promptly forgot everything I'd learned. They were extraordinarily nice and patient with me, but it really wasn't good. I knew I could do better, but I knew I was only getting that one shot. I blew it.
But...
Turns out I didn't actually blow it. They called me earlier this week and told me they'd chosen me and one other girl. So... Hey, I'm in an a cappella group now!
We had our first rehearsal on Wednesday, and despite this plague that I'm working through, I think it went pretty well. I'll try to post in advance when we have shows coming up.
Hooray!
Act I - Forced Home Remedies
Having a cold in Denmark is a pain in the ass. In America, I would head over to the 24-hour convenience store and pick up a bottle of NyQuil and some cough drops, and I'd be good to go. Unfortunately, they don't sell NyQuil, at your local corner store here. And while they might have something similar at the local "apotek" or pharmacy, the pharmacies keep hours like most places in Denmark... they close by 6pm.
So last night, when it was 9pm and I was hacking up a lung, I didn't really know how to proceed. I've had this nagging cold for a few weeks now, but it's gotten worse over the past week, to the point where tea and cough drops aren't cutting it anymore. Some quick Googling told me that there are a few 24-hour pharmacies in and around Copenhagen, but the closest one is 3 kilometers away. That wouldn't have seemed like much if I still had a car, but with a bad cough and temps below freezing, riding my bike there struck me as possibly counterproductive.
As luck would have it, my husband happened to be visiting a friend who had some cold medicine in his medicine cabinet that he was willing to part with, so I managed to finally get a bit of sleep last night.
I can't speak to how the prescription meds are here, but I can say that it's not easy to get over-the-counter stuff that isn't basically someone's grandmother's herbal remedy. Today, when stores opened again, my husband went out and bought some kind of liquid that smells like licorice and is mixed with water, and made me some tea made from thyme. Will they work? Unlikely. Will they taste good? Nope.
Act II - Studieskolen Redemption
Earlier in the week, I was feeling a bit pessimistic about my new Danish class because of this. Well, just as I'd hoped, the woman who will be teaching the class on Thursdays and Fridays is absolutely wonderful. She's been teaching at the school basically her entire career, and really knows what she's doing.
So, I'm still not convinced that I'll learn much on Mondays and Wednesdays, but I'm hoping I can make up for it by learning everything I need to know later in the week.
Act III - The Announcement
I think I neglected to give an update on how my audition went after posting this.
It went poorly.
I was exhausted, nervous, and had just biked to their rehearsal space in the rain. I had worked really hard to warm my voice up enough, and to try to learn the Swedish for one of the auditions songs, and then promptly forgot everything I'd learned. They were extraordinarily nice and patient with me, but it really wasn't good. I knew I could do better, but I knew I was only getting that one shot. I blew it.
But...
Turns out I didn't actually blow it. They called me earlier this week and told me they'd chosen me and one other girl. So... Hey, I'm in an a cappella group now!
We had our first rehearsal on Wednesday, and despite this plague that I'm working through, I think it went pretty well. I'll try to post in advance when we have shows coming up.
Hooray!
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Pitch Perfect Wannabe
When I was a kid, I was obsessed with two kinds of music: show tunes and a cappella music.
As you can imagine, I was way cool...
An opportunity popped up out of the blue last week to audition for a local a cappella group. I'd been considering trying to find a choir to sing with, and I've always wanted to try a cappella, but I hadn't really gotten around to taking more than a passing glance around the Copenhagen music scene.
But when I saw a posting looking for a soprano for this group, I responded without even thinking.
A few days later, I got word back that they wanted me to come in for an audition on December 12 (that's tomorrow, for those of you keeping track). They sent along music for two songs that they wanted me to learn, one of which is in Swedish.
Oh, by the way, my Danish module 2 exam is also tomorrow.
Busy day coming up.
For now, I'm working on learning the songs, focusing mostly on the words for the Swedish one.
It would be a lot easier if the puppy didn't think I was howling in pain every time I started singing. Every time, he stops what he's doing and jumps up to try to lick my face.
It's sweet, but... not helpful.
And speaking of the pup, he's been having a blast with the snow lately. Here's a recent romp in the dog park:
As you can imagine, I was way cool...
An opportunity popped up out of the blue last week to audition for a local a cappella group. I'd been considering trying to find a choir to sing with, and I've always wanted to try a cappella, but I hadn't really gotten around to taking more than a passing glance around the Copenhagen music scene.
But when I saw a posting looking for a soprano for this group, I responded without even thinking.
A few days later, I got word back that they wanted me to come in for an audition on December 12 (that's tomorrow, for those of you keeping track). They sent along music for two songs that they wanted me to learn, one of which is in Swedish.
Oh, by the way, my Danish module 2 exam is also tomorrow.
Busy day coming up.
For now, I'm working on learning the songs, focusing mostly on the words for the Swedish one.
It would be a lot easier if the puppy didn't think I was howling in pain every time I started singing. Every time, he stops what he's doing and jumps up to try to lick my face.
It's sweet, but... not helpful.
And speaking of the pup, he's been having a blast with the snow lately. Here's a recent romp in the dog park:
Monday, December 3, 2012
Christmas in Denmark: First Impressions
Back home in America, the Christmas season starts earlier and earlier each year. As early as September, stores are putting out Christmas decorations or stocking the shelves with holiday-related kitsch.
And every year, radio stations have an unofficial race to see who can switch to 24-hour Christmas music first. Once they do, all of the other stations who'd planned to do so rush to change their format until after the New Year.
And don't get me started on the ridiculousness of Black Friday.
As I'm sure a lot of Americans will agree, the holidays can be an extremely stressful time. Have to get the best gifts for the best price, have to find something unique, have to impress the family and the friends and bake (or buy, in my case) more cookies and pies than necessary.
Call me a Scrooge if you will, but it's been a while since I was actually a fan of Christmas.
In Denmark, though, it seems to me a much nicer thing. A few tasteful decorations go up here and there in November, but most wait until December 1. And the decorations that do go up are so much less garish. It just strikes me as a much more subdued, tasteful thing, and less of a competition to see who has the most "cheer."
As far as Christmas traditions in Denmark, I don't really know much about them yet. I can tell you that Danes generally do their celebrating on Christmas Eve, as opposed to Christmas Day.
And then there is the company Julefrokost.
I have yet to experience one myself, but these are Christmas parties hosted by companies all over Denmark. Technically, "Julefrokost" means "Christmas lunch," but it's generally more of an afternoon-into-evening-into-early-morning kind of thing.
And they're notorious.
It's traditional for employees and their bosses to eat and drink more than is good for them, and to act out. Rumors abound about how the divorce rate jumps up right after Christmas because of all of the Julefrokost indiscretions, and how bosses and employees are known to regularly hook up at these parties and then never speak of it again.
I'm sure that's the case at some of them. In general, though, it sounds a bit like a "big fish" story to me. People love to appear to have a wilder life than they actually have.
This Danish Christmas season started with a little bit of snow here in Copenhagen, so I thought I'd share the latest picture of our puppy, Wooster. Here he is, enjoying his first snow day:
And every year, radio stations have an unofficial race to see who can switch to 24-hour Christmas music first. Once they do, all of the other stations who'd planned to do so rush to change their format until after the New Year.
And don't get me started on the ridiculousness of Black Friday.
As I'm sure a lot of Americans will agree, the holidays can be an extremely stressful time. Have to get the best gifts for the best price, have to find something unique, have to impress the family and the friends and bake (or buy, in my case) more cookies and pies than necessary.
Call me a Scrooge if you will, but it's been a while since I was actually a fan of Christmas.
In Denmark, though, it seems to me a much nicer thing. A few tasteful decorations go up here and there in November, but most wait until December 1. And the decorations that do go up are so much less garish. It just strikes me as a much more subdued, tasteful thing, and less of a competition to see who has the most "cheer."
As far as Christmas traditions in Denmark, I don't really know much about them yet. I can tell you that Danes generally do their celebrating on Christmas Eve, as opposed to Christmas Day.
And then there is the company Julefrokost.
I have yet to experience one myself, but these are Christmas parties hosted by companies all over Denmark. Technically, "Julefrokost" means "Christmas lunch," but it's generally more of an afternoon-into-evening-into-early-morning kind of thing.
And they're notorious.
It's traditional for employees and their bosses to eat and drink more than is good for them, and to act out. Rumors abound about how the divorce rate jumps up right after Christmas because of all of the Julefrokost indiscretions, and how bosses and employees are known to regularly hook up at these parties and then never speak of it again.
I'm sure that's the case at some of them. In general, though, it sounds a bit like a "big fish" story to me. People love to appear to have a wilder life than they actually have.
This Danish Christmas season started with a little bit of snow here in Copenhagen, so I thought I'd share the latest picture of our puppy, Wooster. Here he is, enjoying his first snow day:
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Be Cool - Go Back to School
I apologize for slacking on posts this month. So much on my mind right now, but it's been tough to gather all of those thoughts and put them together into a coherent post.
Not that this one will be any more coherent than the rest. But it's always a goal.
So, apart from the wedding and the move and everything that goes along with those endeavors, the most daunting thing on my mind right now is the prospect of trying to go back to school, once we move and I've learned Danish well enough to be admitted into a program.
It's complicated, both logistically and psychologically, for me to take this plunge.
Logistically, it's a matter of finding out what I qualify for financially. This has brought up the somewhat controversial question of SU. SU is a government agency/program that provides a stipend for Danish students attending university in Denmark. That bit isn't all that controversial in Denmark. The Danes pay high taxes, and this (on top of free tuition) is a benefit that they see from those taxes. It becomes controversial when you're a foreigner who is potentially also eligible. According to the SU website, I may be able to receive this stipend as well, since my fiance is an EU citizen. If I am given "equal status" to that of a Dane because of my marriage to him, then I would be eligible to receive all (or most) of the benefits that a tax-paying Dane would receive, without having grown up there and paid taxes there my whole life. That being said, we will be living and paying taxes there starting this summer, and have no specific plans to leave, so this issue is far less controversial in my mind than it is for many Danes and expats.
The psychological complications with this school thing are far more complex and irritating. It's all about insecurity.
Worrying about whether or not I would even get into a music program makes me scared to try. Truth is, I realized recently that I'm the musical version of the jock whose career peaked in high school. All of my major musical accomplishments happened when I was a junior and senior, with some minor overflow into my first 2 years of college. Most of the friends that I've met in the last 10 years have never even heard me sing (bad karaoke doesn't count).
The logistical issues are issues that I can deal with through research and patience.
The insecurities will take a bit more to get past.
Not that this one will be any more coherent than the rest. But it's always a goal.
So, apart from the wedding and the move and everything that goes along with those endeavors, the most daunting thing on my mind right now is the prospect of trying to go back to school, once we move and I've learned Danish well enough to be admitted into a program.
It's complicated, both logistically and psychologically, for me to take this plunge.
Logistically, it's a matter of finding out what I qualify for financially. This has brought up the somewhat controversial question of SU. SU is a government agency/program that provides a stipend for Danish students attending university in Denmark. That bit isn't all that controversial in Denmark. The Danes pay high taxes, and this (on top of free tuition) is a benefit that they see from those taxes. It becomes controversial when you're a foreigner who is potentially also eligible. According to the SU website, I may be able to receive this stipend as well, since my fiance is an EU citizen. If I am given "equal status" to that of a Dane because of my marriage to him, then I would be eligible to receive all (or most) of the benefits that a tax-paying Dane would receive, without having grown up there and paid taxes there my whole life. That being said, we will be living and paying taxes there starting this summer, and have no specific plans to leave, so this issue is far less controversial in my mind than it is for many Danes and expats.
The psychological complications with this school thing are far more complex and irritating. It's all about insecurity.
Worrying about whether or not I would even get into a music program makes me scared to try. Truth is, I realized recently that I'm the musical version of the jock whose career peaked in high school. All of my major musical accomplishments happened when I was a junior and senior, with some minor overflow into my first 2 years of college. Most of the friends that I've met in the last 10 years have never even heard me sing (bad karaoke doesn't count).
The logistical issues are issues that I can deal with through research and patience.
The insecurities will take a bit more to get past.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Folksy Sing-Songin' in Scandinavia
Let's talk music for a bit, shall we? I'm a big fan of singer-songwriters who are actually good at both. I have a serious pet peeve when it comes to folks who make their living as singers but aren't actually any good at it. That being said, I'm encouraged that there seems to be some really great singer-singwriters coming out of Scandinavia these days. For example, The Tallest Man on Earth, a great talent out of Sweden:
And then there's First Aid Kit, a really great duo who also happens to be out of Sweden:
Okay, so actually there's some great stuff coming out of Sweden. Where are the great Danish singer-singwriters? I'll need to find some.
And then there's First Aid Kit, a really great duo who also happens to be out of Sweden:
Okay, so actually there's some great stuff coming out of Sweden. Where are the great Danish singer-singwriters? I'll need to find some.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Mom Says I Should Be a Writer
When I told my mother that I was considering going back to school for music when my fiance and I move to Denmark next year, she had the reasonable motherly response: Make sure you have something to fall back on. She's been giving me that advice since I was a little kid who dreamed of being a Broadway star.
She was right, of course.
This time, her advice included "I think you're also a really good writer. Something to consider." Now, my mother has always been the smart one, so I realized I'd be a fool not to consider it. However, writing has never struck me as something I had enough skill with to make a living at it. So...
I'm giving it away to you for free.
You're welcome?
She was right, of course.
This time, her advice included "I think you're also a really good writer. Something to consider." Now, my mother has always been the smart one, so I realized I'd be a fool not to consider it. However, writing has never struck me as something I had enough skill with to make a living at it. So...
I'm giving it away to you for free.
You're welcome?
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