Tartan Tundra Music

What You Need to Know About the Spring Recital

About the Wednesday, May 9, 2012 Spring Recital

Mandatory Rehearsals:
For those playing DR. WHO:
 Monday, April 30 at 7:00 AND 3:00 pm Saturday May 5

FOR ALL Students Performing: Monday, May 7 at 7pm

Place: Meet at Tartan Tundra studio
Parents please remain. Rehearsal generally lasts about half an hour to 45 min., sometimes less.

PLACE: Noel Wien Library Auditorium, Cowles St. Fairbanks

TIME: Students should arrive at 6:30pm. I appreciate adults helping set up the potluck and helping me carry things.

Program starts at 7:00pm. The program will last roughly an hour, to be followed by a potluck afterward. Please bring a dish to share.

IMPORTANT: Instruments should be tuned beforehand if possible.  Ms. Jean will help tune everyone and will check intonation of all instruments regardless, as they can go out of tune in transit. It saves time if the instrument is already in tune.

DRESS: Dress up if you like, but it is not required. Be sure you are comfortable! Dr. Who costumes encouraged!

WHO SHOULD ATTEND: All friends, family and prospective students!

THINGS TO BRING:
It may seem silly, but we sometimes forget the most obvious things!

    Musical instrument
    Music
    Rosin for violins
    Picks for guitars
    Cameras/video recorders--Please, if you take pictures and/or video, please share them with Ms. Jean so she can post them on the Tartan Tundra blog, and Facebook. You’ll be famous!


A POTLUCK FOLLOWS THE PROGRAM
 Please bring a dish or snack to share to help celebrate the accomplishments of our talented and hard-working students. It’s fun to visit with the other families.
Don’t forget to take home your dishes and utensils!
The library wants us to finish by 8:45. Help cleaning up is most appreciated!

Lessons are Skype Only Today

I won't be going into town because of the low temperatures (some of you have -50 and worse). I hear from friends that the ice fog is so bad you wouldn't even see a moose if it were right in front of you. That's bad!

Be safe, stay home, and take your lesson via Skype with me today at your regular time. If you need help with Skype, give me a call. There are instructions linked in the left sidebar.

See you soon!

Cold Weather Doesn't Stop Us!

Since it has been -40° for at least a week now, let me reassure you all that lessons do go on even in these low temperatures!

A full day of lessons is scheduled today, and I'll be there. Should the weather drop to -50° I'd reconsider, and see how many of you can take your lessons at home using Skype on the computer.

Skype is an awesome option during times when you can't come to class. Should you be out of town, or home sick-but-not-that-sick (possibly contagious but not feeling awful), or if I happen to be sick (but not that sick), having lessons via Skype allows us to keep going.

Since I've been teaching via videoconference to a school out on the Yukon for many years, I'm well-prepared to teach that way.

At this point in time I am not yet able to teach from the studio via Skype, I must go home first to use the internet there. But sometime next week I'll have internet in the studio so we'lll be able to Skype from there, too.

Do you have an iPhone 4? Did you know you can use Skype with the iPhone? Once I put in the wireless network at the studio,  we can use Facetime to do lessons, too!

There are so many ways to connect these days that it's amazing! If you have friends Outside or in the Bush who would like to take lessons via Skype or Facetime, let them know I am available.

So stay warm, keep healthy, and I'll see you down at the studio today.

New Year! Lessons Start Jan. 9

Welcome to 2012! The new year begins January 9. If you showed up last week, I'm sorry! However I did send home a sheet detailing what the vacation days would be. Be that as it may, I'm happy to see you all and get started on new tunes, new songs, new things to try that you haven't tried before.

If you are unsure about your lesson time be sure to call, text or email me!

Skype Classes ONLY for Monday, Dec. 5

Don't go into the studio today because I won't be there due to our crazy winter storm and icy roads.

Instead, go to your computer and install Skype, a FREE computer to computer (and if you have an iPhone you can put it on there, too) video conferencing software. I've given plenty of lessons this way and it's a viable alternative for these kinds of Too-Dangerous-To-Drive days.

There are links and instructions in the left sidebar. Please call me or email me as to let me know to log in and give you your lesson!

Fall Schedule, Recital, and Wacky Weather

Weather-Related Challenges

First of all, I'm teaching during our -40°F weather. For many businesses this is a cut-off temperature, but if we let the weather keep us from living our lives, it can be VERY boring!

What is my cut-off temperature? Oh, probably -45°. Vehicles get pretty iffy, and there are enough students who will cancel at those temps. While we are at it, another weather-related condition that would cause me to cancel classes would be a large amount of black ice.

 

Music Challenges

As you know, our Winter Recital is on December 7, 2011, at the Noel Wien Library Auditorium. Students must be there by 6:30 to get organized and tuned up.

I am in search of someone I can hire who would digitally videotape the recital for us. Please give me a call or an email if you know of anyone who can do a good job for us.

Earlier I stated that we'd be playing the Dr. Who theme for this recital, but since there is no string music available for it, it has become a real challenge to create parts for our various instruments using a piano score. Therefore, in order to be fair to the students, I've decided that we will do the Dr. Who Theme during the Spring Recital, which will give everyone a good chance to learn and practice the music. I'm sorry it didn't work out, but just wait, it will be brilliant when we do it next Spring! 

 

Schedule Challenges

The Holidays are coming, and by now you all should have received a Fall Schedule sheet. If not, here are the important bits:

1. No Thursday or Saturday classes on Thanksgiving weekend.

2. Recital December 7, at the Noel Wien Library. Students should arrive there by 6:30. Help setting up and carrying equipment is greatly appreciated!

3. Payment for December and January is due:

The last November day you have your lesson

Thursday, Nov. 17

Saturday, Nov. 19

Monday, Nov. 28

Tuesday, Nov. 29

Wednesday, Nov. 30

 

4. To facilitate figuring out how much to pay, here is a list of the teaching days in December and January

IN DECEMBER (the last lesson day in December will be the 22nd)
Monday  3 lessons
Tuesday 3 lessons
Wednesday three lessons
Thursday four lessons
Saturday three lessons

IN JANUARY, starting the 9th of January
Monday  4 lessons
Tuesday 4 lessons
Wednesday 3 lessons
Thursday 3 lessons
Saturday 3 lessons

 

5. The last day I teach in December is December 22nd. The first day I teach in January 2012 is January 9th.

 

I hope this helps everyone keep our schedule straight! I have handouts with this same information, as well as an information sheet on the recital, down at the studio, so pick one up if you haven't yet.

Recital Preparations! TARDIS Builders Wanted! Rehearsal Schedule!

Dr.who.theme.10

I just downloaded the Dr. Who theme music for piano, which is, as far as I know, the only version available. Now to convert it to bite-size pieces for violin, viola, mandolin, guitar and voice!

We are going to have to work hard to have it ready by December 7!

We will have two rehearsals, and these are mandatory rehearsals. I don't charge for this extra time, but we all have fun and learn a lot! They are held at Tartan Tundra Studio, however will will most likely spill into a larger room so we can all play together.

Saturday, December 3, 5:30

Tuesday, December 6, 6:00

We will practice our three group pieces: Boil Them Cabbage, Carol of the Bells, and the Dr. Who Theme.

Who wants to help build a cardboard TARDIS? We will need a refrigerator box, at the very least. Perhaps I can get a store to donate one. We'll need blue paint and a good place to make it, as I doubt blue paint would look good on the carpet in the studio!

Costumes for this recital are encouraged! If you want to dress up as a Dr. Who character, that's great! Just be sure it doesn't impede your playing ability. It would be very hard for a Dalek to play Carol of the Bells, for instance!

Winter Recital Date Changed! Take Notice!

Every year I try to avoid setting the recital date for the same day that the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District has their concert. So far I've failed at this and some students have had to either miss the recital or the school concert, or their parents have had to go to great lengths to get the students to both.

This year I decided to put our recital earlier, on December 5, instead of the 12th, because that's when the school district usually has their concert. Lo and behold, the school district (of course) changed the week they did their concert and put it on the 5th of December.

Can I say ARRRGGGHHH?

I called the library and tried to switch it back to December 12. All Mondays in December are already booked. Therefore, for the first time we will have our Winter Recital on a WEDNESDAY!

NEW WINTER RECITAL DATE: Wednesday, December 7 at the Noel Wien Library Auditorium. All the same elements apply. Students must be there by 6:30 for tuning and set-up. Please bring a potluck dish to share after the performances are over.

We must finish by 8:45, so due to the number of students performing, each must choose just ONE piece that is fun, but not too long! I'll be helping everyone choose their pieces these coming weeks.

We will have two rehearsals just as we did last year. New this year: we're going to have one prop that kids can have fun working on. We will need a large refrigerator box, so if you have one, don't throw it away!

I'll be sending home an information sheet two weeks prior to the recital at the latest. But mark your calendars for the new date!

October Lessons Are On!

Everyone get your picks out, bows rosined up and ready! I'm back from New Mexico, have a new grandbaby and my violin and bows all got a throrough going over by the very wonderful folks at Robertsons & Sons violin shop. Back to working on new tunes, tunes for our recital in December, and it's now time for HOLIDAY MUSIC!

So I'll see you this week at your normal lesson time.

Sign up NOW, Fall Schedule

There will be no lessons while I take a vacation for the remainder of September. However I am still accepting students during this time, and can be reached by all the usual media: email, phone, text. Be sure to use the cell number to text me, 456-FIDL doesn't accept texts! Check the sidebar for more contact information.

I can give Skype lessons during this time, too! If you have questions, once again, I am available at my email, jeanofiddler at gmail dot com, all phone numbers and if you have my cell number, feel free to text.

Lessons begin again the first week of October! Come to the studio at your normal time on your usual day and I'll be there!

Our Winter Recital is on December 5. And we will start choosing music right away! I have some FUN group pieces planned. This is a good time to start thinking about what you'd like to play/sing.I'm very excited about our recital. It will even involve a group work party to construct some simple scenery....just you wait, it's going to be great!

See you in October!