New Post? OMG!

Congratulations Mr. Musical Mind, you've managed to not post for an entire semester. Maybe that means my mind is only musical...momentarily? Momentarily musical. That's probably it. My mind is quite momentary these days.

But it's off to East Carolina University to study choral conducting with Dr. Dan Bara, an Eastman School of Music DMA recipient as well as a graduate from the University of Michigan. It will be a challenging two years, but I've never been one to turn down too many of those. After three years of experiencing what teaching choral music is like in the rural high school, I am ready for a lot more guidance.

Reelfoot

I am a believer in the idea that music is all around us all the time. Sometimes it's in the form of "noise," but noise can be musical...not necessarily lyrical or up to our standards, but musical. Music is evident in nature, and here I post not noise, but nature's music in pictures on a cold, rainy day.

Finally! Choral Music!

Today I had the pleasure of conducting UT Martin's New Pacer Singers on Hymn to the Creator of Light. It was quite a different choral experience than I am used to. Usually I have to fix notes over and over and over and over...and over. Not so today! They actually allowed me to move beyond notes and make music. :::sigh::: I love my occupation.

Frisbee Day

I know it isn't necessarily "musical," but it's in my mind and worth blogging...

What to say?

Well...I guess it's about time I wrote on my Mom's condition. She's been diagnosed with cancer. I'm not certain as to how to take it, really. I am in firm belief that "all things work for good...," and I know where the good is in all of this. The good is, ironically, death. Seeing our Lord face to face. That's the easy part of the whole thing. Knowing that the end is easy is comforting. But knowing the process to the end is hard. Chemo. Surgery. Constant medication. Medical bills. On and on and on.
I think everyone believes somewhere deep down that their mother is invincible, as all of us reflect on, "sit up straight" and "don't eat that" and "don't touch that hot stove" and "if you're friends jumped off the empire state building, would you do it too?" I mean, knowledge like that is impeccable, so moms have to be stronger than the stoutest people living, right?
But if she could give me one more childhood piece of advice, I'm sure it would be something like, "don't cry over me, we know who's in charge so stop wasting time...there's a whole world of things to which to attend" (and she would say it EXACTLY like that, for she constantly corrected my grammar and still will as long as she lives).

But as I think on this process of cancer, of pains and sorrows, of bills and therapy, I can't help but remember, "where, o death, is thy sting..." And that's why I am at ease with this cancer issue and frustrated with it simultaneously.

Thomas Tallis

I have recently flooded my ears with Tallis' O sacrum convivium, as recorded by The Tallis Scholars. I can't say that I am even slightly an expert on how Tallis should be performed, but this group has done exceptionally well. Though I don't know anything about the group - their education, experience, etc...- at this point in my life and experience, I'll take their word that they are who they say they are: "The Tallis Scholars," and I will learn from them. As I listen, each note does something dynamically...nothing sits or twiddles thumbs. It's very exciting to listen to, and I can only hope to learn to teach people to sing in such a manner as this group. Good stuff.

vibrato

Am I the only one in the world who thinks vibrato can "hide" the voice? I mean, I like it...but I think I like it in moderation. If there is too much of it, I think it can really hide that true quality the voice possesses. If there is only a little, even no vibrato, I think it focuses on the quality. Sure there's the immature sound that comes with no vibrato, but I think a voice can certainly sound mature without vibrato as well. I listen to recordings of straight tone pieces of choral music, and I can tell that adults are singing. I can tell when solid children are singing as well. I may be wrong, but I still think that vibrato can cover up someone's true voice...something to be studied, I guess.

Statistics

I never thought I'd find myself taking a statistics class...I guess as soon as a person doesn't "see themself" doing something, they find they are in the middle of it. So here i am in the middle of this stat. class, and we have talked about the natural phenomena of central tendencies (where most people are average). I in no way exclude myself from "central tendency," for there are a lot of things I have to learn and I cannot ever learn everything there is to know about anything. But since we have talked about central tendency, I have observed my classes differently. Esecially teenagers. Especially choir. Motivating adolesence to go beyond their tendencies is a full time job. Those tendencies so often don't even get to the pinnacle of the bell shaped curve...and sometimes their efforts don't begin to climb it. Now, don't get me wrong...there are teenagers who are motivated and who excell in their work, but I'm talking about the majority of them. It's hard work, but I like it.

I guess I wouldn't have a job if the theory of Central Tendencies didn't exist.

Pummeled

59 - 20. UF - UTK football.

Man.

What's playing...?

And it's been too long since I have laid bare some thoughts...you might start to get the idea I'm not to musical, or mindful...or not too mindful about musical things and vice versa. Yet, where to begin...?

I'll start with what's on my iPod. Recently I put a piece on it by Rene Clausen called Tonight Eternity Alone, I had the privilege of singing it in high school my sophomore year with the All-state Honor Choir. Yeowzers. Quite a piece of choral music. Unaccompanied. Serene. Ethereal. It leaves you with such a solid aesthetic of truly experiencing something beautiful. Not too many words to it, but there are so many fascinating chords that let you hear a great balance of dissonance and consonance. If there is a piece of music that I remember dropping everything else so I could learn it, it's this one. I don't recall exactly what it was that commanded my attention to the piece, but every time I listen to it a whiff of nostalgia passes through my senses. I would do people a disservice if I did not do my best to create memories such as these with choral music.

I also put a really fun piece on my iPod called Betelehemu. The piece is from Africa, and the arrangement is scored for SATB choir, begining with this instrument called a Rainstick. It really sounds like rain! Way cool! Eventually adds some drums as the basses and tenors sing about Christ's birth in Swahili. The altos and sopranos join the fun and it turns into a really fun celebration piece.

The next time you see me, you MUST ask me to let you hear these two pieces!