The Everyday Musician

Sometimes it’s really nice and relaxing to sit (or stand) alone and play my instrument.  I love to do this sometimes as a relaxation exercise, although “exercise” sounds too directed for what I do. I sort of meditate with my music.
However, it’s also a lot of fun to play with others.  I play regularly […]

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Have you ever noticed how many rhythm terms we use, or how common rhythm is, in our everyday lives?
“You’ve got some rhythm going”
“I’m in the groove” (this has special meaning for us bass players)
Habits are more strongly formed by rhythmic repetition (albeit somewhat slow tempo)
Meter (or metre) in poetry and children’s rhymes
Or how many of […]

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By the time I got done writing the following comment to add to Sherry’s good post on “marking music to help us focus”, I figured it was too long to add as a comment.  So, here it is as a second post.  If you have time to read only one, then read Sherry’s instead of […]

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Perhaps it’s the peace-inducing power of making music, or perhaps there’s a very fundamental aspect of our being that the rhythm of music, and especially “participated” music, touches.  After all, if a strong rhythm is present, it’s been documented that listeners’ heart rates will basically start keeping time with the tempo (within physiological limits).   I […]

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We have a stone campfire ring in our backyard, and during the summer months we make pretty good use of it (on days when it’s not windy, that is.) A few years ago as we were sitting around it, one of my kids brought out one of their “beginner” guitars (aka, small plywood guitar-shaped-box.) It […]

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I recently read an article about a PBS special entitled The Music Instinct: Science & Song.    The article was written by Chuck Colson, and reads in part:
The footage was part of a recent PBS special, The Music Instinct: Science & Song. The program was an exploration of, among other things, music’s […]

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Here is an amazing piece of music history unfolding before us.   An everyday musician has instantly, from the world’s perspective, become a star, Susan Boyle. I guarantee that you will be stunned to see and hear this YouTube video, which has already been viewed 11 million times in just a couple of days: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY
Susan Boyle is an extraordinary everyday […]

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For an intimate glimpse into the power that music has in binding people together, you should see the recently released documentary film Young @ Heart. The documentary follows a singing group of about twenty seniors, ranging from 72 to 93 years old. They sing rock classics.
This is real. The Young at Heart […]

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Althea was my piano teacher, and one of my very favorite people ever.  She was positive about everything she said and taught.  She called her students “her children.”  For sure, her music studio felt like a foster home, safe from the emotional hazards of childhood.
There are many kinds of music teachers; I wouldn’t want to […]

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Music tells a story through sound. 
Many kinds of stories can be told through music, drawing from the full spectrum of emotions that can arise from within us.  Emotions can arise in a blink of time, such as fright in a dramatic instance of the unexpected.  Emotions can also arise gradually, such as a sense […]

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