I listened to a Vivaldi piccolo concerto earlier today and the thought occured to me that what today's classical musicians play a piece might not be the same as how the first musician to play the piece played it. I'm not saying that we've lost what Bach and Mozart had in mind, I just think there's a possibility that we could have deviated a bit.
There isn't, the way I see it, one really solid way to pass down specific ways to play notes. The written music doesn't change, but with how subjective music can be played, I think the way the dots on the pages have been played has to have changed. There weren't any recordings devices in the eighteenth century, at least I don't think so. We could pass some things down through people, but nobody's lived quite that long.
I dunno. It's just an interesting though to think that, from the same sheet of music, two different concertos could have been played, one at its first showing in the Baroque period and another when said concerto was recorded in 1995.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Four Points
I have a difficult time accepting Christianity as "the" faith. My main reasons include the following:
1. I don't think that I should believe in something just because my parents did or society tells me to. Most people just take the faith their parents give them and I don't want to be a Christian just because my dad is. Also, I think society sees Christians as better people than Atheists. You hear phrases like "good little Christian boy" and what not, but rarely good things about people who aren't Christians. (Then again, it might be that people with strong faith tend to be "better" people than atheists/agnostic, but then again.) I don't want to be that person who is just too lazy to think about religion, but that's the label I think society gives to Atheists.
2. There is plenty of evidence to show that God, or at least some deity, exists, but there is also plenty of evidence to show that there's nothing out there.
3. There are dozens of other faiths in the world that have just as much or even more merit than Christianity.
4. Sometimes, it seems that people only care about Christianity when there's a tragedy in their life or they need something to cling to. It would be a good things for society to have something to cling to, a sort of reassurance that there is good in this world when the world actually isn't.
Here's a video that I'm sharing as a metaphor of my current personal religious conflict. Both sides have their merits and their pitfalls and I can't decide which one has more pro than cons.
1. I don't think that I should believe in something just because my parents did or society tells me to. Most people just take the faith their parents give them and I don't want to be a Christian just because my dad is. Also, I think society sees Christians as better people than Atheists. You hear phrases like "good little Christian boy" and what not, but rarely good things about people who aren't Christians. (Then again, it might be that people with strong faith tend to be "better" people than atheists/agnostic, but then again.) I don't want to be that person who is just too lazy to think about religion, but that's the label I think society gives to Atheists.
2. There is plenty of evidence to show that God, or at least some deity, exists, but there is also plenty of evidence to show that there's nothing out there.
3. There are dozens of other faiths in the world that have just as much or even more merit than Christianity.
4. Sometimes, it seems that people only care about Christianity when there's a tragedy in their life or they need something to cling to. It would be a good things for society to have something to cling to, a sort of reassurance that there is good in this world when the world actually isn't.
Here's a video that I'm sharing as a metaphor of my current personal religious conflict. Both sides have their merits and their pitfalls and I can't decide which one has more pro than cons.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Introductions And Such
If you're reading this, there's a good chance you already know me, but I feel a need to include a standard opening post before this blog really gets going.
I'm a 17-year-old male who weighs 200 pounds, is 6'4", and looks like just about every other typical white guy on the block. I have a younger brother, who I love very much, and a younger sister.
I am currently in my senior year of high school in a school in Iowa with about 1,800 students. I get good grades despite a horrendous work ethic. I'm one of those people who takes a really tough schedule and gets by without excelling or failing. I've done a lot with the AP program at my school and with the credits I've stolen via exams, I'll likely be able to graduate from college in 3 years, though I doubt I will want to. I plan on majoring in Chemical Engineering and though I'll probably change my major, I can assure myself that I'll study some derivative of science as a career.
Outside of academics at school, I pretty much live music, if you'll pardon the cliche tone. I dedicate somewhere between 10 and 30 hours of each week to playing trumpet in my school's music program. I am a part of our school's marching band, jazz band, wind symphony, symphony orchestra, show choir combo (show choir band), and a seemingly infinite number of other pointless band activities. I bitch and moan about it plenty, but as a whole, I like being a part of the band, though I could do with less practicing of music I know and more free time to spend chilling with my friends.
Music on my own time, however, is much different. I play guitar here and there, but due to my below-amateur guitar abilities, I spend most of my time listening to music. I enjoy the classical and jazz music that I play at school, but that's not where the bulk of my listening material lies. I'm one of those people who says they like everything, although that's not honestly the case. My favorite styles are progressive rock, metal, and a few variants and combinations of them. My least favorite genres are rap, which I enjoy very seldomly, country, which I'll only listen to when its actually folk or blues, hip-hop, which I'll only dig when its really R&B, and this emo crap that the music industry is trying to sell to ignorant little 12-year olds. Basically everything else (classical, jazz, blues, folk, pop, punk, indie, and "rock") is awesome. I don't claim to know everything about every genre, but I do claim to be diversifying my listening habits and expanding my taste lately. I record my non-myspace and non-youtube listening habits with last.fm. Should know what I'm talking about and care, my profile can be found here. If I ever get my lazy ass around to writing reviews, I'll probably share a few with my readers. Wait, why am I saying "readers" when I only have one?
Socially, I'm still learning about who I am, in all honesty. I'm generally an introvert and while I can have tons of fun talking with my friends, I rarely feel comfortable around new or unfamiliar people. I am single at the moment and my history with girls is pretty bleak. I've only had one real girlfriend. There's always college.
During this year's election process, I was a really big Obama fan, so much that I ignored Obama's faults and blamed all of society's problems on Sarah Palin. I was such an Obama fanboy in the past months that I disgust even myself. After the election, when I started to realize a few of Obama's faults, mainly his inexperience, I thought I might want to try out an independent perspective on politics. I call myself an independent at the moment, though in all honesty, I'm left of center.
And finally, the inspiration for this blog: religion. I was raised Catholic and I've pretty much disconnected myself as much as possible to pew-sitting and line-reciting. I've been going to some services and odd classes at my friends' church. At the moment, I don't consider myself a Christian or an Atheist and I'm certainly not agnostic. Right now, I really feel that both Christianity and Atheism have the same amount of merit, and the way I see it, neither completely answers my questions.
I'm a 17-year-old male who weighs 200 pounds, is 6'4", and looks like just about every other typical white guy on the block. I have a younger brother, who I love very much, and a younger sister.
I am currently in my senior year of high school in a school in Iowa with about 1,800 students. I get good grades despite a horrendous work ethic. I'm one of those people who takes a really tough schedule and gets by without excelling or failing. I've done a lot with the AP program at my school and with the credits I've stolen via exams, I'll likely be able to graduate from college in 3 years, though I doubt I will want to. I plan on majoring in Chemical Engineering and though I'll probably change my major, I can assure myself that I'll study some derivative of science as a career.
Outside of academics at school, I pretty much live music, if you'll pardon the cliche tone. I dedicate somewhere between 10 and 30 hours of each week to playing trumpet in my school's music program. I am a part of our school's marching band, jazz band, wind symphony, symphony orchestra, show choir combo (show choir band), and a seemingly infinite number of other pointless band activities. I bitch and moan about it plenty, but as a whole, I like being a part of the band, though I could do with less practicing of music I know and more free time to spend chilling with my friends.
Music on my own time, however, is much different. I play guitar here and there, but due to my below-amateur guitar abilities, I spend most of my time listening to music. I enjoy the classical and jazz music that I play at school, but that's not where the bulk of my listening material lies. I'm one of those people who says they like everything, although that's not honestly the case. My favorite styles are progressive rock, metal, and a few variants and combinations of them. My least favorite genres are rap, which I enjoy very seldomly, country, which I'll only listen to when its actually folk or blues, hip-hop, which I'll only dig when its really R&B, and this emo crap that the music industry is trying to sell to ignorant little 12-year olds. Basically everything else (classical, jazz, blues, folk, pop, punk, indie, and "rock") is awesome. I don't claim to know everything about every genre, but I do claim to be diversifying my listening habits and expanding my taste lately. I record my non-myspace and non-youtube listening habits with last.fm. Should know what I'm talking about and care, my profile can be found here. If I ever get my lazy ass around to writing reviews, I'll probably share a few with my readers. Wait, why am I saying "readers" when I only have one?
Socially, I'm still learning about who I am, in all honesty. I'm generally an introvert and while I can have tons of fun talking with my friends, I rarely feel comfortable around new or unfamiliar people. I am single at the moment and my history with girls is pretty bleak. I've only had one real girlfriend. There's always college.
During this year's election process, I was a really big Obama fan, so much that I ignored Obama's faults and blamed all of society's problems on Sarah Palin. I was such an Obama fanboy in the past months that I disgust even myself. After the election, when I started to realize a few of Obama's faults, mainly his inexperience, I thought I might want to try out an independent perspective on politics. I call myself an independent at the moment, though in all honesty, I'm left of center.
And finally, the inspiration for this blog: religion. I was raised Catholic and I've pretty much disconnected myself as much as possible to pew-sitting and line-reciting. I've been going to some services and odd classes at my friends' church. At the moment, I don't consider myself a Christian or an Atheist and I'm certainly not agnostic. Right now, I really feel that both Christianity and Atheism have the same amount of merit, and the way I see it, neither completely answers my questions.
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