What's your area of living famous for?

[shostakovich]

Yes, Ethan, it's absolutely essential for becoming even-tempered. "Hit the books" is great advice.<BR>Shos

[brickroot]

I completely agree w/ Liszt. However, I do not think that Liszt encouraged his students to spend 90% of the day indulging in those somewhat secondary activities to becoming a good musician and about 10% doing the actual thing-practicing. Liszt himself spent quite a few hours in the practice room as a developing artist.<P>Just for your information, I am not advocating what I am advocating because I am a stupid fool who can't do school work- I take all honors classes and I have a 4.0 GPA, besides the fact that I do in fact spend a great deal of time reading, and that I have placed in a national competition involving over 700,000 students nationwide in writing a historical paper. But do you really feel all of that is necessary to becoming a great musician? I do not.

[monkeymd2b]

While it's probably not all important for you to become a great musician, it's important for you to learn those things and do those things just so you're a whole person. Think about how many times on these bulletin boards that the point has been made about how few professional musicians (relative to the general population) there are so while it's great you're an excellent musician and know all about musical history, you're going to need that other stuff to relate to others. I dated a guy (briefly) in college who was a biology major (as was I) and I would get so bored of the conversation because all he wanted to talk about was pond scum and that they potentially discovered a new organism. Now, while I thought it was great that they might be on the verge of a new discovery, I really didn't want to hear more because I spent all week studying biology and the other science classes and now it was time to talk of other things. He never grasped that so I had to be mean and just tell him outright that I only wanted to hear science things out of his mouth when we were at school and that it was banned from conversation elsewhere because he was boring me. So you see, even amongst your musical friends, knowledge of things nonmusical and having the ability to discuss such things in an intelligent manner is highly necessary. The only professional schools or jobs that don't care if you don't have a life outside your profession are those schools/job that want your brain power to impress the competition and could care less about your mental health.

[brickroot]

"While it's probably not all important for you to become a great musician..."<P>It is.

[brickroot]

Back to the original topic of hometown stuff..this isn't directly related but Rostropovich is in Pittburgh this weekend conducting and then he's coming again soon to play cello.

[monkeymd2b]

brickroot, I'm a bit confused, in the post immediately before the one you quoted, you stated that you didn't believe "all that" was necessary to be a great musician yet you then quote only one part of my statement ("part" being generous as it appears from the brief quote you used that you stopped at that point in reading my post) and contradict yourself by now saying that "all that" is necessary. Are you wavering in your original stance? Or just misunderstood my point? Or just tired like I am...<P>Just realized that you maybe misunderstood an apparently poorly phrased sentence. I didn't mean to say that it wasn't important for you to become a musician but rather that "While all the information outside of music is probably not important for you to learn to become a great musician..."<BR>This is why I'm a science person and not a Literary arts professional... :p<P>[ 02-01-2003: Message edited by: monkeymd2b ]<p>[ 02-01-2003: Message edited by: monkeymd2b ]

[bignaf]

<p>[ 02-01-2003: Message edited by: bignaf ]

[priya978]

Rostropovich, how old is he? I wish I was there. Do you know if he's coming around L.A. any time soon? (Hopeful.)<P>I just can't say anything except that I agree with you Brickroot.

[brickroot]

Thank you eugene, and he's 75 I think.

[Bobbyq_ind]

Besides the obvious sports teams from the Hoosier state (Indy 500, basketball's Pacers, etc.) we here in Indiana also have some other notables:<BR>- poet James Whitcomb Riley<BR>- naturalist Gene Stratton Porter<P>Oh, yeah, and that guy on late night television, Dave Letterman

[barfle]

Another multi-branched thread - how do we get so far off topic?<P>If I do say so myself, I'm a pretty good engineer. I've taken a lot of math and physics courses, and I've worked in the field for 35 years or so. I studied my craft at school, on the job, and at home. I enjoy the technology and creating new devices.<P>I also was pretty good at English and German, which made me a decent speller (Shos, I already know I make tipos and need a preafrooder) and grammarian (I had to look that one up, though). I'm not half bad at crossword puzzles and other word games.<P>However, I sure wish I knew more about music, and I'd REALLY like to be able to play the piano. Too bad I didn't study those when they were being offered to me in school. I'd be a better rounded personality, and maybe I'd be able to solve some of the mysteries you guys keep posting up here! Just picking up little tidbits of information here and there about music, and classical music in particular, leaves me behind in a lot of conversations with people I would otherwise be able to dazzle with my brilliance. <P>In other words, learn as much as you can, as soon as you can. There's nothing wrong with a violinist understanding the physics and math that make the thing work like it does. I personally find fact that the frequency of half-steps are related to each other by multiples of the twelfth root of two to be a very interesting concept. It took more than a little math to be able to understand exactly what that meant, though.

[OperaTenor]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by barfle:<BR>[QB] <BR>However, I sure wish I knew more about music, and I'd REALLY like to be able to play the piano. Too bad I didn't study those when they were being offered to me in school. I'd be a better rounded personality, and maybe I'd be able to solve some of the mysteries you guys keep posting up here! QB]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>So, what's stopping you? Don't wanna hear any "old dog, new trick" stuff, either. <P>As far as the detailed knowledge is concerned, I've been focused on being a performing musician, professional and amateur, most of my life, and I'm humbled by the knowledge some of these folks have. I feel like I'm in the company of some real heavy hitters when some of these guys post.<BR> <p>[ 02-06-2003: Message edited by: operatenor ]

[greenvoices]

Here in Cincinnati,Ohio we are noted for Cincinnati chili,which really isn't chili. It's based on a recipe from middle Europe. When the first immigres arrived and went into business the closest they could come to naming their old world creation was CHILI. It stuck. The recipes are "secret", but they have a lot of cloves in it. The big restaurant chain in town is Skyline. The runner up is Gold Star...both started by families from the Balkans. I prefer Gold Star because it's more beefy tasting, not as sweet as Skyline. The town is divided into camps. Either you are a Skyline or Gold Star devotee. We are also noted for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. They are great. Each year PBS airs the Pops' Christmas concert. We are noted,too, for a football team called the Bengals. Lost more games in the AFL than any other team. There is always next year.

[Judybug]

Central California is noted for its agriculture. Tree fruits, vegetables, cotton, corn, grapes (table and the kind for raisins), you name it, we have it. California has been the number one milk and cheese producer in the country for about a year and a half. (Sorry, Wisconsin)<P>Aside from agriculture, we have Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and Yosemite National Park. <P>We're in the geographical center of the State of California. About 1 1/2 hours to snow skiing in winter and about 2-3 hours to the ocean. Not a bad place to raise children and anything else you might be inclined to grow.<P>William Saroyan was born and raised in Fresno. The Civil War Revisited (held in early October) is the largest annual civil war reenactment in the United States and has ben for at least three years!

[jaycee23]

Iowa City, IA. Home of the University of Iowa, and my beloved Hawkeyes. Land of the cornheads and home to one of the most prestigious creative writing programs in the land. Frost, Yeats, and Harper to name a few. <P>On another note, I was reading some of the posts regarding the inclusion of education in the ability to play and perform music. However, there is one thing that may be lacking in this particular arguement. To get anywhere in the world today, you must have common sense. You could be the next Marie Curie when it comes to book smarts. But, if you don't know how to interact with other people, you will be shunned by the world. The ability to interact with people requires knowledge. Current events, like sports and news are great to know about when in a conversation. Also, knowing the three R's always help. You can't sound like you know what you are talking about when you don't speak intelligently. This includes vocabulary, english, and speech. I could go on for hours on how each subject is used by everyone today, but I would be up even later than I already am. (which is not good, I have a philosophy lecture tomorrow!) So, I leave you with one thought: More knowledge = more success. bon soir, mes amis!

[treebeau]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DaGreatJC:<BR><STRONG>... bon soir, mes amis! </STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Ethan,<P>What the heck did he say?<BR> <P>Regards,<BR>Tim B.

[EJA]

"Good evening, my friends." Oh, you meant the rest of that? I have no idea . . .

[shostakovich]

They're just kidding, DaGreat. How did the lecture go?<BR>Shos

[treebeau]

Philosophy 101. "Never put Descartes before the horse." (yes, Descartes is French) <P>Regards,<BR>Tim B.

[dai bread 1]

The ability to sell is the key to success. You have to be able to pursuade others to buy whatever you're selling, whether it's better mousetraps or the key to cold fusion.<P>To do that, you need to keep learning, and to keep focussed. More than that I don't know. I'm not a good salesman.