Musicianship
Within music education, I am an ensemble member, conductor, and instructor. I have helped make music as a conductor, instructor, and member in Jazz, Show Choir, and Musical Methods. Last semester, we put on a mini show choir festival at JMU with songs and choreography that we taught one another. (link available here) In this class, we were given the opportunity to operate as musicians in many different facets. In my conducting class, we are given the opportunity to create music with our peers. (link available here) When conducting and leading a music group, we are acting as musicians even though we are not performing the music. We are inspiring musicianship in our students and creating music together. Beyond music education, I am an active member on my church's worship team. I also have a presence on YouTube as a soloist. These two activities provide me the opportunity to exist and grow as a musician outside of academia.
Since beginning my time at JMU, I have grown as a musician in ways that I never thought possible. Before JMU, I could sight-read, but I didn't understand the mechanics of sight-reading and how intervals work together to make solfege work. One big accomplishment for me as far as sight-reading goes is that I can now sight-read rhythms at a very quick pace; it was almost impossible for me to sight-read rhythms beyond eight notes in my first semester at JMU. I have also learned to make music have feeling and how to get across the meaning of music (which, for me, is often in a foreign language) just by phrasing properly, using crescendos and decrescendos, and really paying attention to dynamics. I have even learned to play a few instruments, which is completely beyond what I ever thought I could accomplish musically. Learning instruments has been very important to me in my growth as a musician because it allows me to be self-reliant when learning and rehearsing music. I can even perform some music now without need for an accompanist because I can take care of the accompaniment myself!
Since beginning my time at JMU, I have grown as a musician in ways that I never thought possible. Before JMU, I could sight-read, but I didn't understand the mechanics of sight-reading and how intervals work together to make solfege work. One big accomplishment for me as far as sight-reading goes is that I can now sight-read rhythms at a very quick pace; it was almost impossible for me to sight-read rhythms beyond eight notes in my first semester at JMU. I have also learned to make music have feeling and how to get across the meaning of music (which, for me, is often in a foreign language) just by phrasing properly, using crescendos and decrescendos, and really paying attention to dynamics. I have even learned to play a few instruments, which is completely beyond what I ever thought I could accomplish musically. Learning instruments has been very important to me in my growth as a musician because it allows me to be self-reliant when learning and rehearsing music. I can even perform some music now without need for an accompanist because I can take care of the accompaniment myself!
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