Flute and Violin (Nov-Dec)

Activity:Flute and Violin Class
Date: November ~ December (Flute on Sat, Violin on Wed)
Time: 45 min a week  (3h per month)
Type: Individual
Organization: Lotto Music Center (phone no. 2569 9110)

Hours:  12 hours - Creative (3 per month, 2 instruments, for Nov and Dec)

Like I said in my update here, I am going to just put updates as to what I did in music class each month, and then have a summary post at the end of CAS, since it wouldn't make any sense to write (and no one would want to read about) the same exact reflections every single month.

Bit of background information, I have been playing flute for about 4-5 years now (give or take some time since I stopped for while when moving to HK). However, I haven't been playing violin as long ( like 2-3 years max).

Nov & Dec flute
I recently took my ABRSM flute exam (for the first time ever) for Grade 4 flute on November 5th and managed to get a score of 111 (just 9 points away from a merit, which is pretty good and much higher than I was expecting :D )!

I am currently not preparing for the Grade 5 exam (due to school work etc...) so I am practicing out of the "Koehler Progression in Flute Playing: Opus 33" book and "76 Graded Studies for Flute- Book 2" book.

The former book focusing more on articulation and phrasing (which I was docked points from in my flute exam and need to work on) and the latter book focusing more on pieces in keys with three or more sharps/flats (keys of the Grade 4 pieces had at most 2 flats or sharps, and the scales only required I do the ones with 3 or less) so it is a bit challenging learning, getting used and memorizing these keys.

Outside of class, I am trying to learn "Badinerie from Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor" by Bach (which I got off the internet), mostly because it sounds really cool and challenging due to how fast the piece is.

Nov & Dec violin
I am currently learning pieces out of a Violin Method book (sorry it is so vague, the book is a Chinese one and the only words it has in English are "Violin Method"  on the cover...)

Right now in class I am mostly focusing on my double stopping ( where you draw the bow across 2 strings at once to get a chord) since I am having a lot of difficulty with getting clear notes while double stopping.

Outside of class, I have mostly been playing random Christmas carols (Carol of the bells, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer stuff like that) and whatever else I can "play by ear"

That's all for now! Happy New Year!
- Rebecca 

Update 2

November is almost over (well is over at the time of posting but not at the time of writing) so I here is an update on my long term projects/activities things I might do in December.

Also my CAS week trip reflection is a bit messed up and unedited (trying to fix it at the moment, also I haven't received any pictures yet, so that isn't quite done yet... sorry about that)

For my Flute and Violin class:
- I am thinking about just posting an updates every month on what I did under a "music" label, writing my reflections at the end of this year (since all the reflections and learning outcomes are pretty much the same for every class) and just linking all of the monthly updates to the end of the year reflection thing, I don't know yet...

For Newspaper Club:
This is a brand new thing in our school (I started it along with a few of my friends), so sorry for the delays, we are still trying get all the newspaper articles from the younger years, getting the format for each page right etc... Hopefully, we will have the first ever addition of the school newspaper released before December starts!

December/ Future things:
- I am going to a baking class with a few of my friends ( Creative )
- I am participating in a baking sale for our school's Christmas Carnival with all of the money being donated to a charity in Hong Kong (Service)
- I am helping to create a Christmas stall for the Christmas Carnival ( Creative )
- More Flute, Violin and Newspaper club...

More things posted soon!
     -Rebecca