A Road Trip, A Harmonica, and Cracker Barrel
By Deborah Lee | March 22, 2009
A few months ago I was in Alabama visiting my family. I was sitting in the house my family has lived in since I was 4 years old. It’s changed a lot over the years. My son, who is 4 now, sat in the same kitchen floor that I played on at his age playing his harmonica. He’s got a pretty good sound.
I bought this one at Cracker Barrel for 6 bucks. It’s a
Hohner and it’s really great quality. Great sound and it holds up well to the explorations of a young child. It’s really important to get good quality instruments for your child and for yourself.
Quality instruments don’t need to be expensive to have a good sound. The problem is that a lot of what’s marketed out there as instruments are really just noisemakers. Even a non musician can hear the difference. Try to listen and ask “Does it thud or does the sound carry through the air? Does it squeak or does it sing?”
Even if you don’t have a lot of musical experience, you can learn to listen for the difference by comparing the sounds different things make. One thing you can start with is to tap on things around the house and compare the differences and similarities. Try tapping in different places and with different items to see how the sound changes.
It doesn’t take much to start developing your ability to listen and to begin to understand music better. Having that understanding opens the door to having richer experiences with music. We’ve got plenty of noise in this culture. Wouldn’t it be great to replace some of it with music.
Deborah
Topics: Activities, Tips, kids | No Comments »
Free Music Ebook Offer
By Deborah Lee | February 13, 2009
Articles Tab is now active. Check out my first article “Learn Guitar: 6 Struggles Everyone Faces When Learning to Play Guitar” Others are in progress.
Is there anything you’d like to read more about in this blog or as an article? I’d love to hear your ideas.
During the months of February & March 2009, put comment on this post with your ideas and topic suggestions and I’ll send you my ebook 7 Keys to a More Meaningful Musical Life for FREE.
This ebook is about getting past ideas you may have that keep you from making music and provides ideas for small changes you can make to have music as part of your life whether you are a music lover or a music maker. My friends are really on me to start selling this ebook, so this may be the last time I offer it for free.
I look forward to hearing what you would like to learn about.
Deborah
Topics: Encouragement | No Comments »
Hearing is Not the Same as Listening
By Deborah Lee | February 10, 2009
In the iPod world, we are bombarded with music talking to us rather than through us. I think it only fills us half full. Music throughout history has been participatory. There is so much to experience when you are physically involved in making music.
That being said, it is also important to understand the involvement we have in listening. Listening to music is a skill that can be developed and happens in many ways.
- We can passively listen to music while we do other things
- We can listen to music expressively by focusing on how it has an effect on our moods and emotions
- We can look at it intellectually by analyzing the components of the music and its form.
Developing our listening ability gives us ways to be more connected to our music. It’s like the difference between fast food and fine dining. Good listening lets you savor the music. You can do little things everyday to develop those listening skills. It doesn’t have to be difficult.
Open your mind to what’s around you. Have your brain start to check-in when you’re listening to the radio in the car or the background music at a place of business.
As you are listening start asking yourself questions, like what style is this, what instruments are used, what is the melody line. Try to get a feel for the beat of the song and see if you can hear how the melody line moves up and down.
Little activities can do a lot for helping you see music in a different way.
Get in touch with your emotions about music. Does it calm you or cause some stress? Do you have any feelings about what the music is communicating? If it is a familiar piece of music, have you had strong emotions about it in the past? Are they different now?
You see, it doesn’t take much to start moving in a musical direction. Start with awareness.
Topics: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Want to Get Into Medical School? Major in Music!
By Deborah Lee | February 2, 2009
Right now I’m sitting in Atlanta after a business workshop. I was surprised at the number of intense conversations that came up about the value of music in every part of our lives.
One of the most fascinating discussions was with a scientist by the name of Dr. Gregory Simpson. We spent several hours discussing how both music and science apply to all of life.
He started thinking about this connection when he observed some students he was tutoring in science. He saw that the kids who had studied music were able to understand the scientific process extremely quickly.
It doesn’t surprise me. I’ve known for a long time that majoring in music is one of the best things you can do if you want to go to medical school. Actually, 66% of music majors who apply to medical school are accepted–more than any other group. The second group is biochemistry majors at 44%.
Other countries see the importance, too…
The world’s top academic countries place a high value on music education. Hungary, Netherlands and Japan stand atop worldwide science achievement and have strong commitment to music education. All three countries have required music training at the elementary and middle school levels, both instrumental and vocal, for several decades. The centrality of music education to learning in the top-ranked countries seems to contradict the United States’ focus on math, science, vocabulary, and technology. –http://www.amc-music.com/research_briefs.htm
This is one of the many reasons I know music is not just a pastime, it is an important part of being human. It is essential to who we are physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually.
Deborah
P.S. Gregory and I are joining together to write more about the science and music connection–so stay tuned.
Topics: Music, education | 4 Comments »
A Few Money Saving Christmas Tips and a Contest
By Deborah Lee | December 8, 2008
Listed below are some tips on ways to save money at Christmas. It’s a little off topic, but I thought it might be helpful. I wrote them for a contest I just found out about on the blog www.tothinkistocreate.com. It’s a few things I’ve done and a lot of things that are on my ever growing idea list. I hope you find something helpful.
SERVICES: This year I am altering my brother-in-law’s pants and helping my sister get set up to sell stuff on eBay.
REPURPOSING: I do this two ways. I give quality gifts from things I already own and I take things I own and remake them into something unique.
This year I took half-zip pullovers my son has outgrown and made backpacks for the kids.
I also add decorative elements to items to personalize them and make them more interesting. Last year I used pieces of roof flashing to create a unique decorative front on a simple blank journal.
MEMORIES: I have my grandmother’s old everyday dishes and want to decoupage her picture and other collage items on it and give it as way to remember her.
I also want to create a scrapbook with the recipes my grandmother cooked most often.
Another idea on my list is to use decorative family tree charts I purchased on Ebay and fill them in with all of the names we’ve found so far from our genealogy research.
GROW IT: We have a small city garden and I enjoy canning. I like to think of things to make that would make good gifts like salsa or jelly. I have also done this by buying produce at the farmer’s market when it’s in season and cheap and canning that into something good.
Fresh herbs are easy and cheap to grow, but expensive to purchase. Put together a small herb garden in a planter and give away the whole thing. You can also grow them yourself in larger quantities and make a small swag or wreath of different herbs to make a nice fresh gift and can be hung in the kitchen and used for cooking even as the herbs dry.
It’s best to buy the seeds and planters during gardening season for the best availability and price.
DOWNLOADS: If a someone has an interest in a particular subject, you can download free articles, ebooks, podcasts, videos, etc. on that subject and give them as a gift in print or CD/DVD format.
The printed items could be bound in an inexpensive binder or report cover or a coil binding from an office supply store. My library lets me copy 200 pages a month for free and I hear a lot of libraries have a similar service.
I am doing this for someone who is interested in starting a business as a life coach.
Have a Merry Christmas,
Deborah
Deborah
PS: You can still receive “Getting Personal with Your Christmas Music” for free. It’s my chapter from the ebook Saving Christmas. Go to www.ourmusicalhome.com/savingchristmas.
Topics: Family, Mini-Course, Tips, kids | No Comments »
Noisemakers vs. Instruments
By Deborah Lee | December 6, 2008
A few years ago, my sister got my son what seemed like a cool Christmas present. It was a drum full of various rhythm instruments in cool colors and shapes. There was one major problem. They really weren’t instruments, they were noisemakers.
What’s the difference?
Well, noisemakers make noise. They thud and clink, but the sound doesn’t really go anywhere. Musical instruments, on the other hand, produce a sound that resonates. That means the vibrations move and carry through the air. They don’t just stop like the clinking of a rusty pipe laying on the ground.
The sound is also heard upwards through something called harmonics or overtones. I’ll try not to get too technical about it, but basically a good musical note will activate other notes in its harmonic/overtone pattern and create a tower of sound. It’s usually only heard by those with a trained ear, and only then if the person is listening for it.
Just because you can’t consciously hear it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter. It matter’s greatly. It separates a poor quality sound from a high quality sound. A high quality instrument will be crafted in such a way that the sound will be at it’s best through the harmonic/overtone series and lots of others factors which boil down to rules of physics and acoustics.
Please don’t get sucked into some non-musical marketing scheme that tries to sell you a pile of noisemakers being passed off as instruments. The best way to know is to listen to them. If the monster of modern day packaging is preventing that, make sure you get a referral or be sure to buy from a trusted name like Remo for drums or Hohner for harmonicas.
When looking at reviews on Amazon and other places, don’t assume that 4 or 5 stars is necessarily good. A lot of people don’t know the difference. Read the reviews from people who say they are musicians. Also, look for descriptions of their sound quality.
The instrument set I told you about before actually has 4 stars on Amazon, but if you read the reviews carefully, those that praised the set never mentioned the sound quality and it was apparent that their kids were using it as a noisemaker. I’d like to encourage you to strive for higher goals in your instrument selection.
There are good choices even in student quality and other less expensive instruments. I’ve found some noisemakers at music stores and some good sounding instruments at Wal-Mart, Cracker Barrel, and Hobby Lobby. Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed. Take it slow. Consider it an exercise in learning how to hear music.
Topics: Family, Music, Tips | No Comments »
Christmas Already?
By Deborah Lee | November 15, 2008
It seems like just yesterday that I was battling 90 degree heat. Now I’m chilly in my 1924 Arts & Crafts bungalow. I like it though, because it feels like my favorite holidays – Thanksgiving and Christmas. I’m hoping to win my 4-year-old over from his favorite of Halloween this year with lots of crafts, decorations, activities, and tradition building. Of course, teaching him new Christmas music is a big part of that.
Christmas music is very important to me and it was the inspiration for the chapter I recently wrote for a book called Saving Christmas. The chapter title is “Getting Personal With Your Christmas Music” and focuses on ways to have richer experiences with your music by getting to know it better. The book is available now and I am offering the chapter for free for those who sign-up for my newsletter. Go to http://savingchristmas.ourmusicalhome.com to learn more about it.
I hope that your preparations for the holidays and the holidays themselves are a joyous time for you and your family. I’d like to encourage you to take the time to really listen to what you are singing this year. You might find something you are missing.
Deborah
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Ed Mascari: Conversations at the Piano
By Deborah Lee | October 17, 2008
My husband turned me onto a blog by composer and piano instructor Ed Mascari. I was reading through it today and thought about posting some of his info, but it was so good I thought I would just tell you about his whole blog.
He’s got some great insights and advice on learning music and developing your musicianship. A lot of what he talks about crosses over to other areas of life such as goal setting, finding and keeping focus and following through.
I also like how he often lays the information out in bulleted form and ends posts with specific action steps. It’s very practical and accessible information for any level of musician.
Since Ed teaches in Massachusetts, most of us don’t have access to him for lessons. However, we can all learn quite a bit from his 30 years of teaching through this very helpful blog he has developed.
To check it out go to http://edmascari.com/emblog/. His main site is http://edmascari.com
Musically,
Deborah
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Ponderings on Music as Story
By Deborah Lee | October 9, 2008
I’m enjoying the small bit of fall weather here in St. Louis. It’s a nice time of year for me because I have so many memories, particularly of marching band. The feel of the air always reminds me of playing at pep rallies and then getting on the band bus to head for the game.
I didn’t pay much attention to the game, but I sure loved playing to get the fans going and doing the half time show.
Even today when I hear “My Girl” I always think about the “Rude Tubas” at Delta State doing their own arrangement during the football games. Hearing about homecoming reminds me of standing on the field at Marengo Academy playing the theme from Ice Castles while the homecoming court passed between us. We did that song every year.
On a different level, the sound of Gustav Holst’s “Jupiter” from The Planets always catches my ear because a hymn based on that tune was sung as I walked down the aisle to marry my wonderful husband. Even as I write this, the music is filling my mind and bringing me back–not just to my wedding, but my whole marriage.
I wrote an article for a Christmas themed ebook that is coming out soon. It is titled “Getting Personal with Your Christmas Music”. In the article I wrote “We all know that music can tell a story, but music also has a story.”
At the time I was thinking about what went behind the creation of the music– particularly Christmas music–that is so special to us. I thought about songs I knew and the history of the composer or writer, the circumstances that inspired them to write and the ways music has affected culture .
As I’ve pondered it for a while I’m reminded that the story in music is living. It’s not just the creator’s story or a tale of history. Its story is being rewritten by the listener and added to their own story. Their stories go one inspire the stories of others.
Music from every part of our lives act as markers to bring us back to a something that is beyond the intellectual self. It goes to the root of our soul. I think that’s why there are so many controversies around music. It is amazing the life that music has on every level of who we are–mind, body, and soul. It’s amazing how much we miss of that reality everyday.
Deborah
Topics: Encouragement, Music | No Comments »
Mini-Course Now Available
By Deborah Lee | October 4, 2008
I’ve just added a minicourse to this site discussing how music can be used to make your day to day life better. It deals with ways music can help with things many of us struggle with such as sleep problems, stress, and pain. There’s also an article by a music therapist on using music to memorize things.
Look in the upper right hand corner to enroll.
Thanks,
Deborah
P.S.I’d also like to invite you to add your thoughts and questions in the comment portion of this blog post.
Topics: Mini-Course | 2 Comments »
« Previous Entries Next Entries »