When a Cell Phone Interrupts a Concert or Event

This seems to be happening more frequently: you're at a concert, gymnastics meet, jazz club, tennis match, movie or church, you're at a dramatic or intense moment when a cell phone rings. It cuts across the conversation, the action or a performance.

This video was making the rounds last week on various social networks, entitled: "Haydn Killed by a Cell phone." It shows just how loud a cell phone can be in a concert hall:

This is a video I showed my students last year. When a cell phone interrupted a concert, the violinist incorporated the annoying Nokia ringtone into his performance:

One more for you, in which a New York Philharmonic concert was halted because of a cell phone ringing:

It really kills the moment. Not only that, it can also shatter a musician's or athlete's concentration to the point of rendering them unable to carry on (especially if it's a young person).

If it happened to me, I'm not sure if I'd be as quick-witted as the violinist above or as polite as Christian Zacharias. Depending upon the piece, I might stop. I'd definitely be bitchy. I would even be tempted to call up the cell phone owner to the stage and let him or her try playing from the point of interruption.

If the cell phone user is close to the stage, perhaps I'd even ask for the phone and answer it. I could picture how that conversation could go:

Me: Hello?

Person calling: Hi. Can I speak to X?

Me: I'm sorry, (s)he can't come to the phone right now. (S)He is at a concert right now and your call just interrupted my performance... 

Leaving your cell phone is disrespectful on so many levels. First, it's disrespectful to those on stage, be it a musician, athlete or pastor. It has taken them hours of care and hard work  to be prepared to stand before you.

Second, if it's disrespectful to the composer (if it's a music performance), the teachers/coaches and all other individuals and groups involved with making that performance, service or event happen.

Third, it's disrespectful to the other patrons. Perhaps they had to scrimp and save to attend that event. Or, they had to juggle their schedule around. Either way, they made a choice and/or sacrifice to be there.

I know, I'm probably preaching to the choir. The ones who need to hear this message probably don't read my blogs. Perhaps the only thing that would get through to those people is if their special moment is rudely interrupted. However, they still probably would deny that they are guilty of doing the same thing.

A friend of mine mentioned that in Japan, cell phone signals are blocked in some concert halls. My piano families and I joked that there may come a time when we will have to check-in our phones before setting foot into a concert hall, church or event venue.

Is it that hard to put the phone on "Silent" or "Vibrate"? Last time I checked, it's as easy as a swiping down to get your quick menu and pressing a button.

Cell phones interrupting concerts or events, as frustrating as that is, is not the main issue. Rather, I think it's that we as a society can't seem to handle being fully present "in the moment", as this video sadly demonstrates:

Music Practicing 101: The Looping Drill

The Looping Drill has become my favourite practice drill as of late. It is great to use at any stage of music mastery, the learning stage, troubleshooting, polishing, memorizing or reviewing. It is an effective way to practice only what needs more work.

Start by playing through your piece or technical exercise. When you hit a snag, play that bar five to seven times before moving onto the next one.

I find that usually by the third repetition, my fingers start to "get" it. However, it isn't until the fifth to seventh repetition that I start to consistently get it.

You can combine the looping practice drill with the Smarties Drill or any other drill to improve your accuracy and consistency. Here is a video demonstration of me using the looping drill:

I am in the process of revamping my Music Bag of Tricks, which are cards that show many of the practice drills my students and I use to achieve efficient and organized music practice. My gaming hobby is heavily influencing the design and set-up.

My Music Bag of Tricks will be tested by a handful of teachers and students before making them available to the general public. They will be available for music students, music teachers and any musician seeking for new ideas on how to practice music efficiently. Stay tuned!

My Misaka Mikoto Cosplay

This year, I decided to do an "easy" cosplay: Misaka Mikoto from "To Aru Kagaku no Railgun". She's a Level 5 esper who can manipulate electricity, one of the strongest espers in Academy City. She is nicknamed, "Tokiwadai's Ace" or "Railgun" for her trademark move:

Here's my cosplay creation journey to give you an idea on how to cosplay:

Step 1: Get source material.

Step 2: Start with the hardest element.

Step 3: Know your skill level. A skilled seamstress I am not. Value Village is my friend.

Step 4: Make your modifications. Forty minutes later and I wind up with an unfinished vest.

Step 5: Make the character specific elements.

Step 6: Get your odds and ends. The loafers were hard to track down. I wound up getting these in the kids' section at Payless for 50% off. The knee high socks were from Adene's. I picked up the hairpins from Wal-mart.

The other two items hard to find were the temporary hair colour for my eyebrows and a large enough coin for launching Misaka's railgun. A lady at a hair salon recommended I get creamy eye shadow to colour my brows. Maybeline's Color Tatoo line works like a charm.

One of my friends found two big coins at the Farmer's Market for 50 cents apiece.

And now, for the big reveal:

To learn more about cosplay, check out my last entry, The Art of Cosplay.

I've Got No Phone and I am Fine

I was halfway to my car appointment when I realized that I left my smartphone at home. If I turned around to get it, I would have surely been late, so I pushed forward.

Luckily, I brought my messenger bag containing books and writing materials. In that 75 minutes, I managed to read through one chapter of a Peter Block's "Flawless Consulting" and write out four blog posts.

It is truly amazing how much we can accomplish without any distractions. I think it's safe to say that my smartphone is as much of a distraction as it is a work tool.

Although I have turned off some of the notifications that are sent to my phone, I still race to my phone when it chirps, beeps or blinks.  For the time that I went to my car appointment and back, life was pretty quiet. And it was good.

The Art of Cosplay

Cosplaying is one of the ways I express my inner geek. Short for "costume play", it involves much more than dressing up in costume. For many, it's a labour of love, involving countless hours to either make their character's outfit from scratch or to track down components that can be modified.

That's only part of the equation. Cosplay also involves becoming your character. That is, learning some of your characters trademark moves, poses and catch phrases so that when you're geeking out at an anime convention or comic con, you are that character.

People actually will chase you down like paparazzi to take your photo:

You can also enter cosplay contests.

Here's a video I found of some fantastic cosplaying at Anime Expo 2013:

Next up: photos of my latest cosplay project.