Hello. This past week has been an amazing week of helping students learn new music definitions. It’s new to them at least. I love seeing the looks on their faces on Zoom when they realize how to string together pronunciations, abbreviations and definitions. It seems that they feel relieved when they know what the options are for performance. To me it feels like they are becoming aware of how to use performance directions and understand how to make the music sound even better.
Hope you all are doing well. We are nearing the end of the mask wearing mandate since the start of the pandemic here in the Greater New York City area. I’m still thinking about the music that got me through these trying times. Last week I shared my top ten list. This week I’ll share with you a short list of tunes that kept me bouncing and uplifted. Also, I would like to share that this preference for music came as a surprise to me. I thought that classical music would be my music of choice. It was a top choice, but only when it came to playing and teaching. For listening, I learned that I rely on dance tunes. So, these are three more tunes that have helped me glide through the pandemic:
- Do you Love What you Feel? – Rufus and Chaka
- The Reese Project – Direct Me (Remix)
- Stomp! – Brothers Johnson, Quincy Jones
That’s all for now. I invite you to look up these tunes and see if they have a similar effect when you hear them. I’m still trying to figure out the triggers for me. Is it the BPM, the production, the melodies, meter, etc.? The drive of the songs was a factor. I’ll figure it out. It feels like I’m becoming more aware of how the tunes are constructed. Back in the 1980’s I was more concerned with roller skating to the latest hits. And, now that I understand from my professional audio hi-tech experience how sounds are strung together I’m in love with the music even more. Understanding how to make the music sound even better is indeed a discovery.
Before I let you go, I want to help you understand a little more about climate change. The heartbreak and wonder of this topic will leave you feeling melancholy yet hopeful, just like intention of the music. I invite you to put on “Gut Feeling” to listen to as you read about the following topic: The Climate Crisis and Its Solutions. (Note: Streams are nice. However, I really want to know if you think that the heart break and wonder theme resonates with the mood of climate reality.). Thank you for listening and reading.
Have a great week. I’ll see you next week.
Peace, Love & Music Making,
-C.
CMajor's Classroom 