A Long Awaited Song

This week, I found myself having less time to practice than usual. I usually try to devote at least 3 hours of practice per week, but I had trouble setting time aside due to another week of endless assignments and tests. However, I stumbled upon some sheet music for one of my favorite classic Disney songs and could not wait to practice.

Image by E.Tsuchiya5126 via musescore

“A Whole New World” is written in the key of G major, which is also one of my favorite scales since the single sharp note makes it easier to play in tune. However, in measure 29, the piece switches to the key of B major. Additionally, the song starts off slow but speeds up when the key changes.

Although the original song does vocally change key during its highlight, I do not believe that the composer who transcribed this particular sheet music used the correct key for the highlight (when the voices show more emotion and intensity and the song is sung in different notes). As a result, I had trouble playing the second portion of the piece because the key choice made my playing sound weird and out of tune since it sounded so different from the original. However, the key choice for the first half perfectly matches with the original, so I was at least content with that decision because I was able to play those notes with better intonation. It was also really difficult for me to play the note in measure 19 in tune because the previous notes were lower, so I had to quickly adjust to the higher pitch of the particular note. Also, I had to be careful because it was really noticeable if I played the note out of tune since it was the highest pitched note of the song and stood alone for a little over a measure.

Overall, I learned how to recognize if a transcribed song is written in the right key. Although an incorrectly transcribed song is still a song, it is extremely difficult to play especially if the song is well known because the notes may seem unnatural in comparison to the original song. For myself, I learned that my intonation for the higher pitched notes is not as strong as I thought it would be. I think I tend to overlook these notes because they do not take up the majority of the song, so in my mind, it is okay if I am out of tune for a couple of measures. This is a huge problem since it is more noticeable when I play those notes out of tune because of the unpleasant sound. Next week, I plan on practicing my intonation on the upper strings using a variety of exercises and scales. I also want to finally start looking for music for the final product because the deadline is coming up soon. So far, I am leaning towards a Disney song or a slower pop song because classical songs are often too complex to learn in such a short amount of time. Since I am not the best violin player, I want to find a song that is not too difficult and fun to play.