The Art of the Spiritual - Part I

Steve and I had great fun planning a presenting a short lecture recital on traditional African-American spirituals a few weeks ago.  Here is a video clip and a little bit of history on the first piece on our program, “Go Down, Moses.”  Enjoy!

The first spiritual to ever appear in print in 1861 (during the first year of the Civil War), this rhythmic, march-like piece tells the story of Moses petitioning to Pharoah of Egypt to free the Israelites from bondage (Burkholder et al., 2006).  The story, as recounted in the book of Exodus states, “And the Lord spoke unto Moses, go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me” (Exodus 7:16).  As one can imagine, African-American slaves in the American South could identify with this struggle for freedom from bondage and this spiritual likely became a song of hope (Burkholder et al., 2006).  The text reads:

Verse: When Israel was in Egypt’s lan’, Let my people go, Oppress’d so hard they could not stan’, Let my people go.

Chorus: Go down, Moses, ‘Way down in Egypt’s lan’, Tell ole Pharaoh, To let my people go.

Verse: Thus saith the Lord, bold Moses said, Let my people go, If not I’ll smite your first born dead, Let my people go.

Chorus

A typical African musical feature, the element of call and response (Burkholder et al., 2006) is exhibited in the verses with the recurring line, “Let my people go!”

-- Resources: Burkholder, J. P., Grout, D. J., Palisca, C. V. (2006). A History of Western Music, 7^th Edition. W.W. Norton & Company: New York.

Making Concerts Happen

We had a great experience with our webinar, “Presenting Concerts in Your Local Community: Creative Ideas for Making Concerts Happen Anywhere” on Monday night!  Hosted by Polyphonic On-Campus, Steve and I used the WCMW as a case study to explore strategies and ideas for creating community-centered events.  We shared our personal insight in getting to know your community, evaluating your assets, getting funded, and creating opportunities.  Ready to make concerts happen in your local community?  Get started by watching our webinar presentation!

Sail Away from the Safe Harbor

We’ve all heard these words before: Just put yourself out there!” “You’ll never know unless you try.” “Get out there and make things happen!”

Often times, it’s just the kind of push we need to let go of our safety net and well, float or sink.  After all, “A ship in port is safe but that’s not what ships are built for,” Grace Murray Hopper reminds us.  And yet, we waiver.  We hesitate.  We doubt.  Why is it so hard to let go?

The unknown is hard to accept.  Undefined, uncharted change is challenging and just plain uncomfortable for those of us who feel perfectly content in the little box we’ve constructed for ourselves.  But I keep reminding myself that there is so much more out there.  The future holds an indefinite number of possibilities and opportunities if I am open to receiving them.  So often, my fears include failure, not being capable (i.e. not being good enough), and getting stuck.

How do I work past that?  Well, everyone fails.  Perfection is not the goal.   Excellence is the journey, not the destination.  Failure is something I need to accept as part of the learning process – the important part is learning from it and moving on.  Being capable doesn’t mean I will always have all the answers.  It means I will always do my best and again, I am willing to learn from my experiences.  Confession: I learn new things from my students all the time.  I learn how to be a better teacher, what works and what doesn’t, how people learn, how to better communicate my thoughts and ideas, and how to facilitate learning.  This constant growth fights my fear of getting stuck and becoming complacent.  It’s impossible to remain the same if you’re open to learning and growing with the changes in your life.

You were not made to be stationary.  You were made to go places, to do things, to make a difference, to set an example, to learn, to grow, to love, to give, to collaborate, to create, to invent, to explore, to dream, and to discover.  What are you afraid of?  Failure?  Losing?  Making the wrong decision?  Starting over?  Write them down.  All of them.  Fear cripples us if we allow it but to name your fears is to destroy them.  So NAME them.  Take each fear – no matter how great or small – and take action.  What do you need to accept?  What needs to change?  What can you learn?  Is this really something worth holding onto?  How would you feel without this fear in your life?  Fear stretches us, challenges us, and makes us stronger in the end if we choose to take action and eliminate it from our lives, piece by piece.

One of my favorite quotes wisely states, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore.  Dream.  Discover.” – Mark Twain

You have far more potential within you than lies within the safety net you’ve constructed for yourself.  Free yourself from the confines of the safe harbor and set sail.  Explore, dream, and discover all that is waiting for you.

Shooting Stars

Earlier this week, I had an eight-year-old student bring this into her lesson – her first composition.  At our last lesson, I asked her to try making up a few of her own songs that used some of the same musical elements she had recently learned (quarter notes, half notes, legato playing, and changing registers).

“Shooting Stars” is a piece for right and left hand in 5/4 time (how cool is that?!), spanning four octaves.  There are repeated rhythm patterns as well as tonal patterns and the ascending tetrachord in each pattern combined with the shifts in register really exemplifies the title.  Notice the “key” in the top left hand corner that indicates hand position (modeled from our lesson book, The Music Tree).  Up to this point, the songs in the book have only included black keys; I love the initiative it took to create a new piece on the white keys!

I’m so proud!

Purpose

This week, I want to live with purpose. 

I want to tackle my ever-growing to-do list with purposeful effort, use of time, and decision-making.  I want to make great things happen for the WCMW this week (currently putting together some very exciting [and adorable!] sponsor/donor packages!). 

I want to finish reviewing my 2011 financials and file my taxes this weekend.  I want to update my grade book so I can give back the stack of papers and quizzes that have invaded my workspace.  I want to refuel by exercising and spending more time outside. 

I want to spend my working hours working with purpose so that I can be true to the boundaries I’ve set for my personal life.  I want Friday to be more like this.  I want each day to count for something.

I read a quote yesterday that reminded me how powerful purpose-driven days can be:

“Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, but with great and strong purpose in your heart.” – George B. Hinckley. 

Let’s live this week with purpose, meaning, and intention.  Be intentional about the way you work.  Eliminate distractions.  Make decisions.  Work hard.  Invest yourself in what you do.  Go forward with purpose.  Let’s do this!

This Week

This week:

• We enjoyed several sunny, warm days and afternoons with the windows open.

• I made banana pudding for the first time.

• We got a little carried away and tried to grill out one night. (We gave up and cooked inside once it got cold enough to see our breath.)

• I attended an awesome branding webinar that got me all kinds of fired up for the months to come.

• We gave an informal lecture recital to an audience of almost thirty enthusiastic listeners (recap coming soon!).

• I encountered a few instances of plagiarism in my students’ papers.  Though struggling with how to deal with it, I am determined to turn this into a teaching opportunity.

• We finished our federal tax return.

• I introduced SD to the (southern?) expression, “Land sakes alive.”

• We haven’t driven the car since Saturday!  It is so nice to work from home.

• I celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with my children’s choir by teaching them Irish hymns and two Irish group dances!

• I got the latest Elle Decor in the mail and I plan on carving out some time this weekend to skim through it.

• We had some awesome teaching moments.

• We spent some time preparing for our WCMW webinar next Monday, March 19!  Sign up here – it’s free!

Happy weekend, friends!

Surround Yourself with Those Things

"In order to lead a fascinating life - one brimming with art, music, intrigue and romance - you must surround yourself with precisely those things." - Kate Spade Art.  Music.  Intrigue.  Romance.  Who wouldn’t want to surround themselves with these things?!

We all have days where we feel surrounded by those less-than-pleasant people, places, or tasks.  Take control of the things you choose to surround yourself with and make sure they’re the things that inspire you and fire you up.  For me, that means escaping to the empty conference room on my lunch break (with a wall of windows where I can look out on the world) so I get that necessary 20 minutes of solitude in a busy teaching day.

When working from home, I surround myself with good music that keeps me focused and working hard and a little inspiration board hanging over my desk to refresh my energy and attention span.  Five-minute detours to Pinterest also work to clear my head and inspire my creativity.

The people I choose to surround me are encouraging and inspiring – they work hard and challenge me to constantly reevaluate my priorities.

Lead a fascinating life.  Who’s stopping you?

Dinner Conversations

I love dinner conversations with SD. 

Though our meals might range from gourmet (think étoufée-style shrimp and grits) to KFC (think fried chicken and macaroni and cheese) and more often than not, we eat at the breakfast nook rather than at the dining room table, I love this time of the day we get to share together. 

Sometimes, we talk about the things that happened during the day; other times, we listen to our favorite radio show online (since it’s not syndicated on our NPR station) and play the “name that tune/composer/style period/nationality” game. 

And some nights we get caught up in nerdy intellectual conversations about music teaching and learning.

And I love every minute of it.

Tonight, over plates of apple pancakes, raisin bread toast, and cheese grits, we started talking about our students and the progress they made in their lessons this afternoon. 

“My student is solid.  She can play in E Major now – four sharps!” Steve said. 

“My student said tonight that she sometimes finds it easier to sight-sing her music before sight-playing it – yes!” I said, excitedly. 

We talked about our own experiences with learning to sightread and the effects of singing on the audiation skills (the ability to hear and comprehend music silently) and musical development of instrumentalists.

Our conversation lasted through dinner and our dish-washing/drying time. 

It’s just so interesting to me to reflect on our musical pasts: comparing the ways we were taught, sharing experiences we’ve had, and exploring the ways we’ve developed into the musicians we are today.  It’s amazing to watch part of this process unfold with the students I see each week – to watch them make connections, to let them figure out a new rhythm pattern on their own, to see them light up when they realize the freedom they have in learning to transpose.

This is my everyday. 

Every class, every lesson, every rehearsal is an opportunity for me to be a better teacher and present new information in the clearest way I can. 

I want to inspire, encourage, and challenge my students to work hard, practice hard, set goals for themselves, be curious, try new things, and never stop learning.

Image Credit: Last year’s WCMW.  Find out all that’s in store for this year right here.

March: Getting Organized

March is the month I get into major organization mode. 

It’s been a few months since I’ve done any major planning (I tend to do the bulk of this work for school and choirs in the summer and again in December/early January) and this midpoint in the semester seems to be a good time to reevaluate, catch-up, and refocus on the next few months (the final stretch!). 

This kind of work is not necessarily “fun” but it’s absolutely necessary and I have such a feeling of accomplishment when I can check these things off my list! 

This year, March is the month for taxes, grading, WCMW planning, and preparing for Easter.

Taxes

A necessary evil, I swore last year I would never do my own taxes again and, well, here I am.  After spending too many hours than I care to count this weekend crunching numbers with H&R Block At Home (and working through 3.5 federal returns – don’t ask), we are done with the Federal return.  Next weekend, we’ll tackle the state(s). 

A few tips for fellow freelancers who are brave enough to attempt this on their own:

• Keep track of your mileage (gigs, self-employment teaching, medical, professional development) and add it up in advance.

• Save receipts of things you can count off against your business (for me, that means sheet music, website costs, office supplies, and travel)

• Certain bills can be deducted if they apply to your business (i.e. percentages of phone and internet and a portion of rent/utilities for a home office)

• Keep track of equipment you purchase/use for your business (computer, phone, external hard drive, printer, etc.)

• Collect tax documents from employers, banks, investment companies, and lenders in advance (many post them online instead of mailing them log in and get the information you need before sitting down to complete your returns).

• If you make estimated tax payments throughout the year, make sure you have a list of the amounts and dates.

• Review your credit card statements in advance to be sure you didn’t miss any expenses that might be deductible.

Mid-Semester Grading

This week is Spring Break at the college.  Spring Break as a college student meant a combination of sleeping and vacationing.  Spring Break as a professor means grading 32 essays (5-pages each), 25 quizzes, 3 group projects, and 13 playing exams.  What was I thinking?!  Well, I was thinking that this would be the perfect week to lay low, dress in comfy clothes, curl up on the couch, and catch up on grading.  Hopefully, by the end of this week, I’ll have all mid-semester projects graded and ready to give back (meaning I will finally have a coffee table again!)

WCMW Planning

The Westminster Chamber Music Workshop is a series of free chamber music events in Westminster, MA.  Each event is designed to be educational and entertaining for community members of all ages! 

This year, Steve and I are planning four music events, one for every Saturday night in May.  Running a small organization of any kind is a lot of work but lucky for us, we love it! 

We have two small grants from local cultural councils to help us provide these concerts at no charge to the community and we recently announced our exciting line-up of guest artists.  March is our month to get the word out, send guest artist contracts, garner sponsorships, and begin designing our print materials.

Easter Preparation

Any church musician knows that Christmas Eve and Easter are the biggest services of the year. 

This year, Easter falls on Sunday, April 8 which means we are in full prep-mode this month!  We have special music planned for Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and two services on Easter Sunday (that’s four services in 8 days!)  Of course, we have more to practice than just introits and anthems; special services often mean special choreography and yes, we practice these things in rehearsal! :-)

Here’s to March – a month of getting organized, making decisions, and making excellent things happen!

Simplicity

"Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication." - Leonardo da Vinci In my class’ study of American Transcendentalism last week, I got to remind them of Henry Thoreau’s famous quote: “Simplify, simplify, simplify.”  You see, simplicity really is the ultimate form of sophistication, as the quote above states.  That’s why the impromptu “vacation” we took on Wednesday night, though as simple as could be, was better than ever.

“I think you need a vacation,” Steve said to me as we walked in the door.  I dropped my book bag and stack of papers to grade and kicked off my shoes.  “That sounds GREAT,” I said.  “What do you have in mind?”  A little while later, I was in my pajamas and we were sharing take-out pizza and watching a movie we picked up from the library.  It was perfect.

Sometimes, simplicity is all that you need.