1/6th way through my 3 hour break…
Yup, as usual I’m on a computer in the Student Union Lab doing my usual internet activities (checking my blog, reading online articles and checking my email), and I just thought that it would be totally awesome if I posted a blog right now just to further procrastinate on the catch-up Psych work I’ve been meaning to do.
I’ll just start with a rant – today I had an Aural Test and it was basically pretty easy since I have near-perfect pitch. I didn’t do any preparation before hand as it was listening to rather simple intervals and melodic and rhythmic dictation which I didn’t have a problem with.
HOWEVER, the piano was slightly sharp. To me, as a perfectionist with near-perfect pitch and used to 440Hz tuning at home on the piano AND the cello (thank god for electronic tuners), it really puts me on edge. Some of the major chords I was listening to sometimes sounded minor and my tutor went through the arpeggios (the whole chord is played first, then as an arpeggio, then as a whole chord again) quickly so I didn’t really have time to listen to each note. I can’t really blame anyone – piano tuners apparently cost a fair amount of money to hire, and considering the thousand or so pianos around the whole University…that’s just a lot of money. Not to mention that pianos are usually only tuned once a year.
So I’ll just hope that I still did well 😀
On another note, my mum had an old friend from University around for dinner a few weeks ago and they were commenting on how fashion in today’s society has stepped up a notch. The friend went on to describe the camouflage pants she picked up at an op shop and how she didn’t really care about what she wore back in her Uni days.
I can definitely tell you people that I spend at least five minutes every morning wondering what I should wear and how to mix it up. Today I’m just sporting a black jumper over a white polo with black jeans and white volleys. My dress sense is fairly simplistic, since I like to focus on colours and simple detail rather than throwing on anything that’s readily accessible.
I find it interesting how society has changed and our tastes have evolved, although I can’t fathom a solid reason why such has happened.
Apart from that, my brother’s away on Music Camp from Monday-Wednesday, so I should probably be dancing in joy at the fact that I’ll have the computer to myself tonight and on Tuesday night and can do homework without interruptions. It doesn’t help that I have to help Mum navigate to the campsite on Wednesday evening (it’s my night off! Grrrrr), not to mention that a family friend’s coming over tonight just to get her son to play a little cello with me.
I feel your pain with picking clothes! I’m jealous of my friends at other unis that can get away with wearing trackies – I always feel too guilty when I see what other people are wearing.
Well I decided to take a look at what people were wearing this morning – most wore jeans but I definitely saw a few trackies. You can pretty much pull it off with the loose and relaxed casual look, really.
In fact, I’m actually wearing trackies today because I decided I’d rather feel relaxed than hip =P.
Hi there.
I’m in year 12 and have been reading this blog ever since I went to this melbourne access day and they told us about it.
The Weirdest thing just happened. I was googling average study scores for economics from previous years when this link from the Age website popped up. It was all about entry scores and than other relevant articles where on the side.
I clicked on this one which was about what kids from 2007 thought of year 12. There was this one kid called Matthew who said he played the cello and was hoping to study music at Melbourne uni this year. That’s when the weirdness kicked in. I remembered that I had read this blog entry earlier in the day and you mentioned that you played cello and were study music.. so anyway (getting to the point) you don’t happen to be the kid that was interviewed by the Age by any chance?? Sorry I don’t want to sound like I’m a stalker, because I’m honestly not (live to far away from melbourne anywayz…), but I’m just curious because there were many similarities between you and that kid.
The links below:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/education-news/reflections-on-year-12-2007/2007/12/16/1197740092837.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2
Yes, that’s me, Eliza =P. That article was in the Tertiary Liftout that is released on the day the VCE Results are released last year.
For further explanation, I failed the audition at Monash so it was pretty clear as to where I was headed, so here I am!
wow, you have perfect pitch? that’s awesome. lol, i’m a flute and piccolo player and we always tune, in bands, by the tuner. So whenever i play in the orchestra and the strings just tune away on their own, I’m always like: uh…. okay, i’ll just twist a little bit out and a little bit in. lol, it works… most of the time.
Here’s the catch, I can identify any pitch that falls within the range of the cello, and I have no relative pitch whatsoever. Did I mention I’m hearing impaired?
As for tuning, it largely depends on the orchestra, but usually they tune by the oboe (if not, then usually flute or clarinet). Although because it’s hard for me to differentiate sounds I just do a little bit sharp then a little bit flat – so much easier to fake it rather than spend an extra 10 minutes ACTUALLY getting it in tune (I’m that hopeless, and I’m at A Mus standard).