Conversations in Music

It’s fun to have cousins that share the same interest in music and playing music as you do. Some of my cousins have been interested in music since they were very young and have learned to play different instruments throughout the years competing in several competitions. When we were younger we never talked much about music or ever played together, probably because at the time I was taking my not so favorite “piano lessons” and didn’t care too much about music until I started playing the guitar on a regular basis.

In the recent years we’ve had many opportunities to play together with our different instruments. My cousin started playing the guitar a year or two after I started. Whenever we got the chance to play together, which is a rare thing considering he lives in Louisiana, we’d always save some time to jam. It’s always more fun to play with other musicians whether it’s one person or a group of people. For me it’s always a time of encouragement to try new things, and it amazing how you can actually have a conversation through music with the other person. Sometimes you’re just communicating that you really like the sound of something by adding to it, telling the person to “take it away” by quieting down and playing for a background piece, or maybe you don’t like the sound you are creating and you decide to take a different twist to it, therefore, you make eye contact or watch closely to the fingering of the other person at the same time changing the mood of the music. I’ve been able to play with many different style musicians throughout the years a former rock band lead guitarist, fellow “self-taught” player, a worship leader, and my own family whose musical instrument consisted of guitars, mandolins, banjos, pianos, trumpets, and drums.

It’s a pretty fun experience and if you play a piano, banjo, guitar, flute, trumpet, or mandolin I would encourage you to get together with at least one other person who likes to jam. You will have entertainment for hours while learning new things and sharing your own discoveries as well.

A Short Story- The Spider

So as you might already know I’ve been playing guitar for church for the past six years. And let me tell you that I’ve experienced many adventures along to way. I was thinking about one funny story, and thought I would share them with you.

It was a regular Sunday morning where we sang, announcements were made, and then the Pastor got up to preach. Towards the end of the sermon I realize that there was something big and black slowly coming down from the ceiling. I looked a little harder and then I realized it was a spider that was hanging by its thread just to the left of the preacher (it’s a small church, and I was not the only one who saw it). It climbs down then stops, climbs down some more then stops, and climbs down some more. All this time I’m watching it closely to see where goes for the following reasons: I can’t stand spiders, and from where I was sitting it looked like it was going to land right on top of my guitar. Which I needed to play in about six minutes. I was getting nervous about the spider that was about to land on my guitar, and wondered if anyone else was seeing the same thing.  I leaned over to my friend and asked if she saw the spider. She too had been watching it for the past couple minutes. I kept watching the little black dot.  At first I thought it landed on my guitar, so at that point I was trying to figure out what I was going to do if it was sitting on my guitar. I would have probably flicked it off somehow, that would have looked really funny. Then I saw it crawl up the side of the piano that was sitting right next to it. I was relieved that it was not where I was going to be, but I kept an eye out. I would not want a surprise visitor to come up next to me while I’m occupied playing the guitar. I would have not enjoy that! Haha! Later I found out that several others were watching the spider as well, and it brought a lot of laughter and chitchat after the service.  Anyway, there’s just a story for the post this week!  

Soundtracks- we’ve all heard ‘em!

They’re quite interesting when you start to pay attention to them, which I find intriguing that most people (including myself) don’t actually notice the music as a song, yet someone created that piece of music and has given it to many musicians to record and use for a particular movie or TV show. Obviously I’m not talking about the soundtracks with lyrics, such as in musicals, but rather the pure music soundtracks.

I’m not a huge movie person, but when I’ve watched movies I recently have been noticing the background music in them. It always seems to come in during a transition scene, dramatic scene, sad scene, and those of which have some dramatic emotion. We’ve all heard them, but have you ever stopped to actually listen to the tune? Even the TV commercials have some sort of tune to them.

Every soundtrack is going to be different and sometimes it’s not even created by actual instruments, and it may be a computer or keyboard. Go watch your favorite movie and try and figure out whether it’s created by an orchestra, one man band, computer program, or a keyboard.

Here’s an example of a song being created by a keyboard- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq1UVboz36E

Here’s an example of a song being produced by a one my band (I’m sure you’ve all heard of the Piano Guys, right?)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FblHCHOLAcQ

You should look up the making of some soundtrack sometime, I’m sure it will make up become more appreciative of the all the work it takes to put 30 seconds of music to that one commercial or TV show.

 

 

 

Random tunes, Winnie the Pooh, and Christmas!

Every now and then when I’m in a random mood I play random music or listen to random songs. This post is going to be random- I'm giving you a warning now!

When I don't want to do something or think about doing something, but I know that I have to do it (like for instance write a blog post *cough-cough*) I'm normally drawn to the piano. I guess it’s a way I can sit and think, get in the zone, talk myself into getting things done or just delay/waste some time. If I'm being honest, it’s probably the last reason.  So what do I play when I'm thinking or stalling my to-do list? Sometimes it is something pretty and put together, something that doesn't sound as good, something monotonous, it might even be the Winnie the Pooh theme song. You know you are singing it in your head now….admit it! You're welcome. J

Anyway, once I was done playing some repetitive, random tunes on the piano I grabbed my laptop, got on the couch, and started typing. As I was considering what to write about I began thinking about Christmas music. Yes, it’s a little early to be thinking about Christmas, but recently for some crazy reason I've been in a Christmas-y mood and have been craving the Christmas lights, Christmas snow (even though I am not ready for it to be that cold quite yet), and Christmas music! So I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite artists I like to listen to during the Christmas season. If you're looking for a joyful, upbeat, toe-tapping style of Christmas songs go check out Beckah Shae, Francesca Battistelli, or Scotty Mccreery if you're into the country sound. Or maybe you want a more traditional sound of those wonderful hymns and seasonal songs you might enjoy Point of Grace or 33 Miles a little more. These are not the only artists that have put out great variations of Christmas songs, but they are some of my favorites.

What are some of your favorite artists that have produced their own versions of Christmas songs?