Blog#1: My favorite musical instrument (Natsumi)

                              Hello.  Today I want to talk about my favorite musical instrument.

 This is my mandolin.

  The mandolin is stringed instrument like the guitar. However, it is smaller and has higher tone than a guitar. Though a guitar has 6 strings, a mandolin has 4 pairs of strings.                             

 Mainly, it is played in an orchestra which is composed of them and other stringed instruments,for example,the Mandela,the mandocello,the guitar,the contra bass.Some times,  the flute and percussion(the cymbal,the snare drum,the grancassa,the xylophone...etc)are played together. This is more detail explanations and pictures about mandolin.

 I like playing the mandolin and listening to the sound of it. I belonged to the mandolin club in my junior and high school days. Because my mother belonged to the mandolin club in her high school days.My mother sometimes told her experience in her school days and played the mondolin in front of me in my childhood.And I had graduately been interested in the mandolin. When I was 8 years old,I and my mother went to the regular concert of the club to which my mother had belonged. this was my first time to listen to live mandolin's performance. When my mother and I talk about the mandolin, we are aroused each other. 

  My club activity was for four and a half years. It had many concerts:a regular concert in the end of April, a contest called "The guitar and mandolin festival" held at Osaka in the end of July, the scool festival in the end of October every year. Besides, it had many opportunity which we played in public as community service,some examples of the places are Akasaka Sacas and Roppongi Hills...etc. and at the open school of my school. Thus, my club had many concert, so days of activity were too many and I felt hard again and again. 

 My club invited musical director. He taught us many skills of performance. in addition, he was an arrangementer and a composer and aconductor. So, we could perform the music composed by him and ask him to arrange popular music for mandolin orchestra. In regular concerts of every year, he conducted two pieces of music in our orchestra.

 

 

  This music is our club played at "The guitar and mandolin festival" in Osaka. It is composed by our club's music director.

  Practice was too hard to continue belonging to the club so I felt that I want to retire on my way again and again. However, I could continue belonging to the club until my rerirement when I was in my second year at high school. 

  What I felt most pleased in my club activity's days was that my mother bought a mandolin for me when I was in my third year at junior high school. Until then, I used my mother's mandolin. She bought it for me why I could have continued belonging to the club. I felt very happy because I wanted to have my own. In addition, my parents spent much money on my club activity, for example, having a camp for practice in every summer, going to the contest in Osaka and so on. So, I want to continue having a feeling of gratitude for my parents.

 

  

I sometimes play the mandolin at home nowadays. And I want to play it in an orchestra again someday.