Category: Music stories
-
Away in a Manger is a beloved Christmas song, but no one knows for certain who wrote it. John T. MacFarland is attributed for the 3rd verse…..but it shows up published before the claim of his writing. And who is Carl Mueller who is credited with the tune “Mueller” that is so beloved in the…
-
For the next couple of Mondays, I’m going to dive into some of the…..strange lyrics and stories of Christmas carols. Today, I’m looking at the song, “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen”. I have to start with the comma in the title. This has always intrigued me. The way it is written is God Rest…
-
Happy Cinco de Mayo! May the 5th is the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla, where the Mexican army defeated the French in 1862. It is probably celebrated more here in the United States than in Mexico, but it got me thinking about the question I posed in the title of this post. What is…
-
I love Star Wars! Considering that the first movie came out 4 and a half months before I was born, the story has been a part of my life for its entirety! And so today is affectionately called “May the 4th be with you”, a twist on “May the force be with you”, so today,…
-
Today is International Dance Day! While I personally am unable to dance on my feet, my fingers definitely dance! Don’t believe my lack of dancing ability? The first time I danced with my wife before we were married, I tried to dip her. I dropped her! She still married me and laughs at my lack…
-
Did you know that today is national take our daughters and sons to work day today? I didn’t, until I found it on a calendar for today. This is fun for me because in teaching from my home studio, my daughters get to see and hear what I do regularly. Being a musician, my…
-
April is stress awareness month. We are all under some sort of stress. Maybe we’re students and we’re trying to learn new concepts, make good grades, play sports, make friends and things like that. Maybe we’re adults and have stress at work, stress with relationships, financial stress and more. How do we deal with the…
-
One of the biggest joys I get out of teaching is never knowing what students will say at their lessons. In introducing the concept of a dotted quarter note to eighth note rhythm, I explain to this wonderful student that when we get to eighth notes, we cut them in half. And so the conversation…
-
After being a child and taking piano lessons, learning how to practice, and then becoming a music educator, as well as a parent myself, I can clearly and firmly say that parents make all the difference in students’ learning. That doesn’t mean that parents have to be amazing and well trained musicians, but the encouragement…
-
Before I really focused in on organ playing, I was typically busy on Easter Sunday with singing and playing trumpet. And that’s where I want to focus on today. But before we get to Easter, we have to go back to that fateful moment back when I was in 5th grade and could choose an…