Sounds of Sunday

Today has been a beautiful day, marked with uncharacteristically favorable weather and quite full of auditory goodness.

How so, you ask? Ooh, thanks for inquiring. I'll tell you. :)

In this morning's worship service, we sang such classic hymns as "When the Roll is Called Up Yonder" and "Because He Lives", along with a personal favorite of mine by the name of "And Can it Be". This last is a meaningful and doctrinally sound song describing one's first coming to know Christ as Lord and Savior and then rejoicing in His merciful forgiveness. "Amazing love! how can it be, that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?!"

While singing these familiar songs of the faith, on this morning I made a few attempts at some form of harmony. Our hymnal has four-voice parts printed neatly for the benefit of those who can sight read - however, as I am not as of yet among that skilled class, my harmonic contribution remains inconsistent in frequency and imperfect in accuracy. Further practice will doubtless improve both.

Later on, in the afternoon, I sat comfortably situated in the cushioned alcove of my bedroom, looking out through the open window upon the skies of blue and clouds of white, fully enjoying the bright sunny day while using the computer. Loreena McKennit's musical performance of The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes played as I typed a few comments in response to Nathanael's.

I then turned to reading about and watching performances on the sitar, the instrument Nathanael called to my attention two days ago and which I have since quite fallen in love with. :) Though some music played on the sitar still seems as mere buzzing noise to my Western ear, I've rapidly grown to love this instrument in its gentler moods.

This is a recording well worth watching. Admittedly, it takes a bit of time to warm up to the unfamiliar tone of the instrument, and the unusual arrangement of the pitches can be a trifle jarring at times. For the most part, though, I'm completely drawn into the intriguing exotic sound of this instrument and its accompaniment.

(For some reason the second video won't embed properly at present. Click here to view it on YouTube.)
This presentation seems one of sober joyousness. Sporadic yet measured, calm while invigorating, mesmerizing warmth mingled with tingling twang. I love it. :]

Having spent enough time on the computer, I moved downstairs to the music room, where I was speedily presented with a difficult decision. "I have both a banjo and a guitar. Which instrument should I pick up first?" :) In this instance the guitar came first. Conner and I spent approximately a quarter of an hour in experimenting with strumming techniques and trying out various effects on the strings. It was fun.

Next, I brought my banjo out to the bench beneath one of our trees and played a multitude of melodies from memory while enjoying the lovely environment on this beautiful day. Spring-like weather + plectrum perfection = happy Zopers. :)

Much of my evening was spent in a delightful conversation with the cousins, in which we discussed a host of subjects ranging from sitars to mandolins to potential guest posts to pop music in the most animated cousinly fashion. It was grand. :)

At some point in the evening I remembered that three pages of homework had been assigned to me on Friday, had been entirely neglected since, and would be called for tomorrow morning. Three quarters of an hour were duly spent in noting dots upon partially filled out staves, adding inner voices to four-part arrangements for chord progressions in root position and first inversion.

Thus endeth the day!

Musical Tidbits 2.0

Hello there, everybody!

In his most recent post, Nathanael has presented some fun topics for conversational comments. Since my comments are usually fairly lengthy, I decided to turn them into a post at the outset.

(You know, Thanael, I'm going to stop typing as though for a crowd and address this message directly to you.) :]

Ah - I love the sound of different instruments combined! Choosing a single favorite grouping is difficult indeed!

For a three-player setup, I'd go with violin, piano, and flute. Add another bowed instrument (either a cello or another violin) and this becomes the arrangement used in one of my favorite sets of recordings, the English Country Dance CDs by the band Bare Necessities. Even leaving out for a moment the stellar musicianship of each of the players and their evident joy in working together, from a solely instrumental point of view, the texture of each instrument is distinct from the others, yet they blend together and interact with each other beautifully.

For a two instrument grouping, I'm partial to violin and guitar, though preferably two of the former with one of the latter. Stringdancer is the example that comes most readily to mind here. :]

Regarding the sitar situation - on behalf of the public, I accept your apology. ;]

You're entirely right in saying there is value in expanding one's musical interests!

My comfort zone in music... well, that depends on whether it's music I'm playing or that I'm listening to. :)

When playing chords on the plectrum banjo, I prefer the major keys of C, D, F, G, and Bb and their relative minors. Melodies are a bit easier for me to do in other keys; I'm fairly comfortable in A major, but I don't do well with keys at or above four sharps or flats.

When listening to music - in all honesty, I can't tell and thus don't care. The only distinction I can consistently make between keys merely by listening is identifying whether the mode is major or minor. I tend to hear the intervals between tones as opposed to the pitch classes of the tones themselves.

With regards to meter, both in playing and listening, I am fully with you in preference for waltz time. This is still more true if dancing is an option. :]

Ah, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald! The bros and I were just talking about/watching a video in parody of/listening to that song a few days ago! Nathanael, you may not know that you were indirectly responsible for me having first heard it! It was your family that introduced ours to Tim Hawkins' comedy, and thus it came about that we came upon this video:

This clip is how the bros and I first heard of the song you've brought up. :)

As Tim Hawkins noted, the song is long. (He did well summarizing the fourteen stanzas in one verse, don't you think?)

In fact, the song is so long that the bros and I only just today listened to it in its entirety. :/
One slight drawback to the song is that the melody, while a pleasing one, is incredibly repetitive.
Minor melodies have long been established as favorites of mine, and I'm quite fond of the "side-to-side short sway" feel of the 6/8 timing.
So, the short answer there is - yes, I've heard it, and liked it very much!

Musical Tidbits

First up, what do you think is the best sounding trio, or pair for an instrument? I have been told that the best trio is the banjo, guitar, and mandolin played together. Which, I have never heard all three play at the same time, but am sure that the sound produced when combined is spectacular. (NOTE: you can enter your answer on the comments)

Second, A public apology for writing a message on the sitar, and saying the sitar originated in Africa, the instrument actually comes from India. But the "moral" of the post: expand your musical interests, it is not flawed because of a mix-up of countries.

Third, what is your favorite chord? (Yes, I am assuming you will be responding to this) Or, should I say minor chord to be specific, or favorite key to play in... basically, what is you comfort zone in music? I like a good waltz (3/4th time) in the key of F. A good example would be "My Favorite Things" from the movie The Sound of Music. (And if you have not watched the movie, I would highly advise doing so.)

Lastly, have you ever heard the song The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot? It is an epic 7-minute masterpiece about the wreck of an oil tanker that sunk in 1973, killing I think it was 29 people, the song was named after the ship, and the ship sunk in one of the great lakes of Michigan. It is telling a story, is such good poetic prose, and educated style of writing, with a sad ongoing minor beat.

- Nathanael

Tribal Vibals

Accolades to my cousin Nathanael for the first MET post of the year! :)

Think of the guitar, six strings, really popular, sounds great, and is used in practically every style of music. Now, think of the sitar, another stringed instrument that is relatively unknown compared to its counterpart. The origin of this instrument is of African descent, there are nearly too many strings to count (much less play!!) and the body is made out of a dry gourd. Finally, the neck of the Sitar is about three and a half feet long. The music-making squash-bellied African-originated device is as much African as the desert is. The purpose of this message is not to talk about another continent, it is to remind everyone to expand their interests, there are great pleasant sounding (what is another word for instrument?!?) instruments out in the world, what is the fun of just playing one?

Okay, so maybe I am going to talk about the African culture a bit... in the Sahara desert, and really all over that huge land mass, there are people groups, and when there are people groups, you better bet some harmony and singing is going to be produced. So, they use dried and hollowed gourds (it does not take much for something to be dry out there) and some local wood, to craft a really beautiful piece of art. Along with the sitar, tribes of this zebra-abounding place use animal skins for drums, teeth for maracas, bones for flutes, and their own hands for the beat.

(End of the message at hand) So, when you pick up your guitar/banjo/mandolin, or a horn or brass device, think about how lucky you are to have any instrument at your avail.

- Nathanael

Joy for Christmas Music

Guess what?! My cousin Nathanael is going to take over my promised series of Christmas music posts! He's going to type out a list of all my favorites, then tell what I like about them, and... oh, wait... these are his favorites. Well never mind then... ;)

It is that time of year again, where any radio station you go on is playing the happy tunes from the season! There are really too many different songs to count that have been written for the holiday. There is a song for everyone's taste, some are happy, some are melancholy, while others are just calm and peaceful. The number really grows when someone would include advent hymns. I am going to conjure up a list of the top fifteen Christmas songs (in my opinion) for you, and you go on the comment page and post your top fifteen! (NOTE: I am not just talking about hymns, "Jingle bells" or "Santa's coming to town" definitely count)

 1. Deck the Halls (celebrating the festivities of the season)

 2. O Christmas Tree (Celebrating a sentimental possession)

 3. What Child is This? (A song pondering Baby Jesus)

 4. Joy to the World (Even though this is technically not a Christmas song)

5. Hark! the Herald Angels Sing (A true classic)

6. Mary Did You Know? (My cousin John plays this song really well on the piano)

7. Angels we have heard on high (Only people with more than two lungs can sing this chorus)

8. Good Christian Men Rejoice (...With heart and soul and voice!)

9. Silent Night (Another Classic)

10. Grandma got run over by a reindeer (They made a movie out of this song)

11. Away in a Manger (Easy tune, good choice of words, great song)

12. Let it Snow (A song NOT sung by Elsa)

13. Jingle Bells (One of the most simplest Christmas melodies)

14. Santa Clause is Coming to Town (You better not cry...)

15. Frosty the Snowman (What an original name...)

Instrument Jokes

A piano... the key to success

An expensive harp... a big lyre

Violin... the instrument to fiddle around on

Drum... you cannot beat them!

Cello... the universal musical greeting (Cello! how are you doing?)

The bass... a really high-stringed instrument

I will not tell any marching-band jokes, they are too plain and horny.

All different kinds of banjos... pic(k) your choice

The kazoo... Bless you!

- Nathanael

The Last Goodbye ~ Part 2

Guess what? There's a music video of this song already on YouTube!

Apparently it's been there since the twenty-first of November. I had no idea!

I saw the light fade from the sky

On the wind I heard the sigh

As the snowflakes cover my fallen brothers

I will say this last goodbye

Night is now falling, so ends this day

The road is now calling and I must away

Over hill and under tree

Through lands where never light has shone

By silver streams that run down to the sea

Under cloud beneath the stars

Over snow and winter’s morn

I turn at last to paths that lead home

And though where the road then takes me

I cannot tell

We came all this way, but now comes the day

To bid you farewell

Many places I have been

Many sorrows I have seen

But I don’t regret, nor will I forget

All who took that road with me

Night is now falling, so ends this day

The road is now calling and I must away

Over hill and under tree

Through lands where never light has shone

By silver streams that run down to the sea

To these memories I will hold

With your blessing I will go

To turn at last to paths that lead home

And though where the road then takes me

I cannot tell

We came all this way, but now comes the day

To bid you farewell

I bid you all

a very fond

farewell