Inspiration From Overseas

Welcome to the last blog post of the semester! I cannot believe that first semester is coming close to an end! So far, I have gained a lot of musical insight during this project, and I cannot wait to learn more next semester!

As stated in my previous blog post, I was unable to practice over Thanksgiving Break because I was going on a cruise to the Caribbean. However, I had the opportunity to attend numerous shows while on the ship. The show that stood out the most was called “My Life in Music” because it showcased famous songs from the stage and theater. In fact, I was so intrigued by the play that I decided to find the sheet music for my favorite song from the show: “Time to Say Goodbye” by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman.

Image by Edward Hoa via Pinterest

“Time to Say Goodbye” is written in the key of G major for most of the song and switches to the key of A major for the last section. The G major key signature contains only 1 sharp (F sharp) while the A major key signature contains 3 sharps (F sharp, C sharp, and G sharp). This key change presents a challenge since there is a significant increase in the number of sharps, but luckily, it only lasts for a couple of measures.

The most challenging component of the piece is the rhythm since most of the notes are either triplets or sixteenth notes. However, these notes in particular are easier to play than traditional triplets and sixteenth notes since many of the notes are played like a scale, meaning that the note that immediate follows is often one finger above or below the previous finger in terms of finger placement. Additionally, the tempo is going to be slower than normal because the song is meant to be sung in operas, making it easier to play the notes.

While playing the piece, I found myself forgetting to play the “coda” when appropriate. This means that the player will play until the measure marked “D. S. To Coda”. Immediately after that measure, the player will play the measure marked with the corresponding Coda sign (looks like a backwards S that is divided diagonally) until the “To Coda” measure pops up. The “To Coda” measure indicates that the player will jump to the measure marked by the other Coda sign (looks like an oval with a cross) and play until the end of the song. Additionally, I often played the triplets like eighth notes rather than in the appropriate rhythm. My most significant strength was having strong intonation during the measures written in the key of G major since there was only 1 sharp to look out for.

Overall, I learned that it is much easier to play opera songs because they are often riddled with scales and are written in a much slower tempo than most songs. Furthermore, I learned that it is extremely challenging to play triplets when it is proceeded by an eighth note since I tend to carry the eighth note rhythm onto the triplets, which is completely inaccurate. For myself, I learned that I pay little attention to the markings when playing, which is especially troubling when there is a coda in the piece since jumping to the wrong measure at the wrong time simply messes up the entire piece. On the other hand, if I were to play a note out of tune, it would not necessarily jeopardize the entire song since I could quickly fix the note, making the mistake less noticeable. For the rest of the semester until my next blog post, I plan on performing more duets in front of my family since the holidays are around the corner. Additionally, I plan on learning more scales and different positions such as third position and second position.