The Eclectic Piano Player

If anyone who is “old school” like me has attended a high school graduation ceremony lately, I’m sure you were astonished by behaviors you witnessed.

I’m not even going to go down the path of appropriate attire for such an event.  It will be sufficient to say that our society now finds blue jeans and low cut tops appropriate for EVERY venue.

But I do want to comment on how this school failed to control the screaming for every favorite student who crossed the stage.  I had the misfortune to sit in the row right in front of several junior class girls.  These girls had several favorite boys in the graduating class.  I would have moved but I was seated with an entire row of my family members and really didn’t want to leave my seat.  So I stuck it out, much to my own discomfort.

As luck would have it, the girl who had the loudest and highest pitched voice was directly behind me.  Every time she shrieked, I felt a slight pain at the back of my head which then bounced across and hit my forehead.  Interestingly, this pain occurred each time and in the exact same location in my head with every shriek.  I did put my fingers against my ears to protect them from her brutal screeches but I hadn’t thought ahead and brought a helmet to protect my head!  Finally, the whole event was over.

When it was over, I had a roaring headache and some slight nausea.  I took some high powered aspirin and found it had NO EFFECT on this headache.  I want to add that headaches are not something I suffer much from.  A headache is a rare event for me.

Well, naturally, I figured a good night’s sleep would be the end of it.  But I was so wrong!

The next day, I had a slightly different headache.  In the exact spot on my forehead where I had felt the pain of her every shriek, there was now intense pain.  I tried various pain relievers to no avail.  I finally tried something I had in the house for cough suppression and chest congestion which brought some relief.  I believe the section of my brain that was affected had swollen.

I am not often sick and can usually work through any minor aches and pains.  But I tell you this same headache and nausea persisted for FOUR days.

My good friend and retired professional singer (coloratura soprano) had never heard of this happening to anyone.  But both she and my husband thought that this girl’s shrieks were at just the right pitch and volume to cause this.  In other words, as they said, if my head were glass, it would have shattered.

So, this is my warning to you.  If you attend any events and feel such pain from the screaming around you - MOVE!  And also, do what I did - complain to the group that held the event.  This is really quite simple - make an announcement that excessive cheering for students will not be accepted and that such behavior may result in exclusion from the ceremony or re-seating.  Then enforce the rule.

Tags: , graduation, headache

How about it?  Anyone else dismally tired of going to churches (or your own church Sunday after Sunday) and not being able to understand the words the choir is singing, much less adequately hear the harmonies the singers have worked so hard on?  Or how about youth choirs in a huge auditorium?

Being out of town last Sunday, we visited a small church in the area.  The choir had half the singers of our home church choir, was heavily laden with sopranos, two altos, and two men’s voices (baritones).  And yet, each voice could be heard exquisitely well.  And the words were understandable. 

The difference was threefold.  One, the backdrop behind the choir was wood - a natural sounding board.  Two, the backdrop was also shaped in a slight bowl formation, thereby projecting the sound outward.  Three, two tiny microphones were suspended slightly in front of the choir.

Perhaps I’m missing something but it just doesn’t seem to me that the cost to reproduce this in most churches would be prohibitive.  When one considers the effort that is put into the choir anthems every week, I believe the cost of these small changes would be worth every penny. 

Nearly every church has a sound system these days, no matter the size.  They also have someone who operates that sound system, turning mikes on and off.  The cost of these few extra mikes would not be that much.  Nearly every church these days has people capable of selecting the equipment and installing it, without the heavy cost that was incurred for this a few years ago.

Nevertheless, proper projection of singer’s voices is just not something to be overlooked since singing is a major part of most church services.

Tags: amplification, choir, live singers, microphones

Wow!  I was reminded of these days at a recent rehearsal for a church group I am serving in as a substitute.

It was the final rehearsal before the performance, except we would have a brief run-through just prior to the performance.  We’ve worked on this for at least two months, probably three months.  Yet, here we were with a first-time substitute on a tricky part and then, we had the requisite two players who were playing as though they had never seen this music before.

We worked an entire hour and 15 minutes on just this ONE piece.  Yes, these are adults.  Yes, most of them have played other musical instruments before.  Yes, they were acting like the entire thing was a foreign language.

If you’ve ever been the director of a church choir or a middle school band, you’ll recognize the cold chill in your hands and the choking sound in your voice….that’s abject fear and dismay that after all this effort, it’s going to be simply a terrible peformance!

I tried to make the director feel better that this kind of thing often happens just before a performance and that everything will be okay.  She couldn’t hear me, her eyes had that glazed over look of fear.   She needed more reassurance.  So I gave her my reasoning about why these kinds of rehearsals happen.  “They really ARE trying to scare you.  It can’t possibly be this bad!”

All right, by the end of the rehearsal, it was sounding pretty good, if I do say so myself.  I felt confident about the Sunday performance, even though it was only Wednesday night….

So we gathered early Sunday morning, we set everything up.  We began our quick practice.  First attempt:  someone had the wrong instruments in hand…..dash and change those out.  Second attempt:  the concept of subdividing the beats in your head before beginning had completely escaped the people who needed to remember this most.   Stop, request for “focus” from the director.  Third attempt:  well, we got through it but the word “rough” doesn’t cover it.  Fourth attempt:  it might yet be possible.  There is no time for a fifth attempt. 

I privately went to another room and prayed for this performance.  I think the director went to her room and did the same, with tears.

And then, the performance time is upon us!  We get up and proceed to our places and luckily, no one trips, falls, or pulls anything down.  We all look as though we are in stark terror!!!!  But we begin.  We play and wondrously, our prayers are answered.  It isn’t bad at all.  A little louder here or there and it would have been great but we’ll take what we can get.

 Thereby proving once again, your players will come through for you. 

Maybe it’s the last pitiful look we give them, through our tears? 

Maybe it’s that swallow of the huge lump in your throat before you bring up the baton?  Maybe the hopeful encouraging smile?  Who knows? 

Does anyone out there relate to this?

Tags: choirs, directors, middle school band, music, rehearsals

You must check this out.  Three 14 and 15 years old boys from Italy sing O Solo Mio and they are absolutely terrific.

And to think we have trouble getting boys to sing ANYTHING at this age, much less classical music.  Surprisingly mature voices for such young boys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqUkUjeF4-c

Tags: Italian Opera, tenor, vocal, young singers

I know that volumes and volumes have been written on this subject.  Just dropping a few lines for young parents considering the cost and effort it will take to provide musical instruction for children.

Aside from the great joy that playing a musical instrument can give a child (and an adult), there are some extremely valuable social aspects as well.  Generally, speaking as a band student who went on to become a middle school band director, I found that the students in the band were generally quite bright, no matter what social rung they come from.  The discipline of being a “team player” in a band helps students to focus on school in a new way.  In short, generally students grades improve after they have musical instruction.

There are also some long term career aspects not generally discussed these days.  Many students are keyboard literate because of pc’s now.  However, many of them never take the time to get really good at the touch typing training and pick up any speed and accuracy.  I humbly suggest that piano instruction starting about age 6 or 7 will help this accuracy and speed problem immensely.  After a few years with piano, they may wish to add a band or orchestra instrument or switch to a band or orchestra instrument.  As a parent and a teacher, we’ve just got to love a subject that gives a kid fun and enjoyment, skills both mental and physical that will last into adulthood, and a great group of kids to hang around, i. e., other band students.

As a teacher, I’ve often heard this lament from parents:  “What if he/she doesn’t stick with.  After all, they dropped of this and then they dropped of that and this is a lot of money for something they won’t stick with.”

The answer - so what if they don’t?  They’re kids, they don’t know what they like or don’t like until they try it…..just like the veggies you want them to eat.  Don’t buy the instrument unless you get a great deal on one; rent a good quality instrument and plan to do so for an entire year.  Every student wants to quit after two or three months because they’re not seeing the progress they wanted - instant brilliance.  But give it another 3 months to a year and they will see progress and start to have fun with it.

Even if they ultimately drop out, they still have gained some valuable listening skills, eye hand coordination skills, and a good concept of how much work it will take to learn to do anything well.  Not everything in life can be microwaved into reality.  Which in itself is a valuable lesson.

 I’ll be posted more suggestions here on how to make the study of a musical instrument work better for young students so stay tuned!

Tags: band, beginner band, musical study, orchestra, piano lessons, playing an instrument

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Tags: bloggers, free link to tool, webmasters

I’ve been receiving a natural wellness/health newsletter from Chet Day for several years now.  He has lots of useful information and a Baby Boomer’s wit as well.  Check out this site:  www.chetday.com   and he has just added a new blog at:  http://agingboomersblog.com

Tags: aging baby boomers, chet day, health, natural healing, wellness

Gone were the good ole days of American Bandstand “It’s got a great beat and you can dance to it!”  The 70’s music is more easy listening with melodies and words you can understand.  We listened (yeah, really we did!) to a performance of great 70’s music yesterday.  We loved singing along.  One of the things I love most about my husband is he can really sing well, on key and everything.  Seriously, he has a really nice voice. We had many favorites but the outstanding ones are John Denver, Credence Clear Water Revival (okay, yeah maybe more 60’s than 70’s but we still like them), Jim Croce Post your comments about your 70’s favorites:  Roberta Flack, Glen Campbell, Tony Orlando & Dawn, Carly Simon, Burt Bacharach.  Of course, Burt wrote so many of these great 70’s songs that were sung by others, he had arguably the most significant input to pop music throughout the 70’s.And hey piano players, just how much of this printed music do you still have and play?  I have one book I just love with all these great songs, long since out of print.  But it’s even nice to reminisce about the PRICE of sheet music back then!!!

Sheet Music: Burt Bacharach Anthology

Tags: 70's pop music, burt bacharach, credence clear water, jim croce, john denver, piano music

A quick post to remind everyone to have a safe holiday; safe holidays are HAPPY holidays.  Today I’m reminded of the folk song used during the Vietnam War peace demonstrations - Where Have All the Flowers Gone?  Not everyone reading this will have memories of someone they knew or knew and loved dying in a war, but if you do, today is the day to remember them especially.  I remember not only those who died that I knew in Vietnam but those whose lives were changed completely by being part of that war.  God bless all who served from Revolutionary War days to Iraq and Afghanistan (and other places) today and THANK YOU!

Tags: Memorial Day, Peace Demonstrations, Vietnam

What’s your favorite patriotic song? 

I have several:  The Star Spangled Banner, America, The Battle Hymn of the Republic. 

Tags: , patriotic songs, Patriotism