Thursday, March 8, 2018

Life Values . . . Not Note Values

As a school music teacher, I taught the typical music stuff: time signatures, rhythm, harmonies, notes, etc. 

However, in my classroom, I wasn’t as concerned about teaching note values . . . as I was about teaching life values.

It was not uncommon for our rehearsals to take unplanned detours to discuss tangential topics of music—such as . . .




Paying the price of practice (not just in music, but for anything we want to be good at in life),

If you’re going to fail, at least fail forward (again, not just in music terms, but as a general rule in life),


Seek to express, not to impress (this, of course is very important in the arts, but transcends to so much more. I often told students, “I really don’t care as much about the sounds coming from your instruments as you think I do.  Yes, of course I would like you to master the music.  However, it pales in comparison to the concern I have about students showing kindness to each other, respecting instructors, and in general being good citizens.  What impresses me isn’t necessarily when someone hits all the notes perfectly.  What impresses me is when a student opens the door for someone carrying a drum, or the student who picks up a piece of trash not knowing I’m looking, or the one who is quick to say thank you . . . and so on.”

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Stars Were Gleaming & The First Noel

Arranged this piece a few weeks ago.  My daughter Liberty took care of the illustrations :)

Enjoy--


Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Judy and Jim's Wedding

Here's a piano arrangement I put together for Larry Unger's "Judy and Jim's Wedding" song.

I found this lovely waltz tune in a book I bought at the John C. Campbell Folk School book store near Brasstown, North Carolina.

Enjoy.

Ashokan Farewell

Ashokan Farewell has long been a favorite of mine.  I love hearing it on the violin, but considering I don't play the violin . . . I decided to play a rendition on the piano.  

Enjoy--


Thursday, March 17, 2016

The Mountain Dulcimer

A few years ago, my mother gave me a mountain dulcimer for Christmas.  I didn't really know what to do with it, and certainly didn't know how to play it.  I decided I'd place it on a shelf until I found time to learn it.  Well, it sat . . .and sat. . . and sat. . . patiently waiting for an opportunity to make music.  Finally, last week, I decided to figure-out how to play this instrument!  
After a while, I started to get the hang of it.  Now it's my favorite instrument to play after work.

Here is a sample :)


One of my favorite waltz tunes . . .

Last year, I visited the John C Campbell Folk School in North Carolina.  While there, I bought a little music book with waltzes.  The waltzes were written with just the melody line.  However, with a little improvisation and creativity, one can create a nice little arrangement.  Here is my favorite waltz from the book--

Judy and Jim's Wedding