opus 4, no 1: post five (vlog and interview)

(ididn'tliketheotherheaderssoi'mgoingbacktotheoriginalsorry)

Hello! I am back. I didn't really do much last week (relatively) and I am Very Sorry for that. Oops.

My main issue is I can do something 24/7 for around two weeks, and I can spend so much time on it that it becomes really Great, but then my interest shifts and everything messes up again. (i am so sorry for last week's lack of interest. this is why i can't have nice things, like cool grades and high self esteem. haha)

Do Not Worry. I will fix this (somehow). In certain cases I can push through low-interest blocks with Sheer Willpower. (or die trying T_T)

Also, my last post got a lot of different visitors. Thanks! I'm also really sorry because that was probably my lowest-quality post, most likely. Whoops.

bUT let me just move on from that for now. Haha.

the overview: what will I learn this week? what will I do?

• History: I will be continuing on the idea of different types of jazz. I will focus on the spread of jazz.
• Musician: Probably any cool musician I come across during my history research.
• Actual Playing: A recording of improv, most likely! I've been practicing it a bit at home to a combo of F7, Bb7, and C7 chords. :)
• Theory: Improvisation-related stuff, so probably blues scales.
• Other Stuff: My interview and vlog will be below.

My vlog turned out fairly bad, because I had initially planned to overlay my drawings on top and Movie Maker Would Not Allow Me. As such, it's just me talking and some black screen with piano in the background.

And here are some of the MS Paint drawings I initially intended to put in the video.

RIP Jasmine's Vlog Plans, 2017-2017.

Now, onto the interview. I had a slight mishap with my possible interviewees and now I have two. Oops. 

Anyways, I had ten questions for both of my interviewees and they can be found on this google form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdPAJEpW5w-ARJdHEo2nmdjBkzZWGT-TCca_37__vSm12Nc0Q/viewform?usp=sf_link 

I shall post the first interviewee's answers now, and the next one in a bonus blog post.

My first interviewee is Mr. Mark Miller, from www.jazzpianoworld.com . He works as an online jazz piano teacher for people everywhere. Several free lessons can be found on his website, which I have used as references for my own research.

(The answers are relatively short, so I have included them in full.)

I have more answers from Mr. Conahan, another experienced pianist, and I will probably include those in a bonus post.

This week I have commented on Arthur's, Chongwoo's, and Ellie's blogs.

opus 3, no. 1: post four

Hello, all! Sorry about the confusion with posts: from now on I'll just label the actual posts "post #". Also, I realized that the intro week was actually more of a week 0 than a week 1, so I pushed it back so that this is week 3 now, not week four. Whoops.

And since we're starting the ~~second half~~ of the Genius Project, I'm switching up the headers a bit. It was getting kind of boring.

On the other hand, this looks terrible. Be prepared for constantly changing headers (or I might go back to the old ones after all).

Anyways, back on topic. This week, I've been surprisingly busy (at least, busier than expected), so I will probably skip the history this time around (I might still have the musician bio). Instead, we will finally get a recording of my Moon River (it is not good) and my improvising (it is even not-ter good).

the overview: what will I learn this week? what will I do?

• History: Dead. I am caving from Things I Need To Do This Week. It's an unfortunate death, but a necessary one.
• Musician: Should things work out, I will do Bud Powell, since I've pushed him back far enough.
• Actual Playing: Moon River. Unfortunately, I do not have the means to write my own version of the song. Even less fortunately, this means I may have to sing it. All I have to say is that, for your well-being, you should Not Listen to it. I'm a pianist, not a singer.
• Theory: I really need to learn the structure of the blues scales. I've pushed it off long enough.
• Other Things: I will do my interview this week. I will not chicken out. I will be Responsible.

Okay, now let's move on to the Actual Playing.

i'm sorry the header is slightly off center

Now, as you may know, this week's actual playing consists of my halfway project - a shorter jazz piece called 'Moon River'. It's a really simple song, but I like it and I knew beforehand that I wouldn't be able to commit to a huge song.

Consider it a 'warmup' to my final project. So, yeah - Moon River. That is what I'm playing. *insert badly drawn hipster album cover*

Haha, just kidding. I made one.

#1 album on iTried

So. About this song. I actually sing in it, so I'd like to include a disclaimer. Jasmine Han is in No Way Responsible for any damaged eardrums of any kind. I would have invited my other friends who can actually sing, but unfortunately there is an issue of time (and sticking to my schedule).

Okay. I've delayed long enough. here it is (I'm crying it is a Mess). I also had to make a video because Blogger doesn't want to diversify its selection of acceptable file type submissions.

(i strongly suggest you do not listen. even on a good day, i cannot sing and this was not a good day. Please Do Not. especially amanda since she's a buttface.)

blERGH. I'm sorry. On a good day, I can hit that Low C, and obviously today was not a good day. Also, the piano is ridiculously simple - if I had more foresight I would probably have chosen a different song. I consider this step a Major Failure. (I am sorry. AHhhhh)

Aside from that, I will probably be posting the instrumental version later on. 

This is a short post, but since we have a snow day tomorrow (the snow day calculator says 99% and it is Never Wrong), I shall have more time. ;)

(Or maybe instead of making more posts, I'll add to the back of this one. Nina Z style.)