You'll be inspired by this passionate and humorous presentation. Benjamin Zander believes that classical music is for everybody, that everybody has a fantastic ear, and that musicality comes when one stops thinking about every single note and starts thinking about the entire line along the way. You'll get a kick out of his name for that!
Check This Out ... Thanks to our friend, Allen, who shared this TED Talks link: Benjamin Zander on The Transformative Power of Classical Music.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
I had fun at Chatham J.A.M. Camp!
Kudos to Tim Tron and all the other fine folks who have worked to put together this year's Chatham County JAM Camp! What an experience ... great kids, playing music, singing, dancing, trying new things, and having a blast doing it!
For those who don't know, JAM stands for "Junior Appalachian Musicians." Chatham County JAM is an ongoing music program for kids, grades 3 - 8, affiliated with Regional JAM. Their mission is to "provide music education in basic old time string and bluegrass instruments accessible to children regardless of eligibility to pay or own their own instruments."
The hammered dulcimer is not one of the traditional instruments, but I was invited (for the second year) to lead afternoon "enrichment" classes one day during the week of summer camp. Today was the day! We had a fabulous afternoon ... four classes, a total of ~ 50 kids.
We gathered on an outdoor stage with four hammered dulcimers:
We had plenty of hammers to choose from:
And all kinds of rhythm instruments:
The kids were focused! The youngest ones were hammering out various rhythms on the dulcimer - including the rhythm of their own full names - while being accompanied by their friends on rhythm instruments. The older kids were taking turns playing melody lines and backup on the dulcimer, or rhythm on the shakers and other percussion instruments. By the end of each session we were jammin'! Wouldn't you love to play music with this crowd?
For those who don't know, JAM stands for "Junior Appalachian Musicians." Chatham County JAM is an ongoing music program for kids, grades 3 - 8, affiliated with Regional JAM. Their mission is to "provide music education in basic old time string and bluegrass instruments accessible to children regardless of eligibility to pay or own their own instruments."
The hammered dulcimer is not one of the traditional instruments, but I was invited (for the second year) to lead afternoon "enrichment" classes one day during the week of summer camp. Today was the day! We had a fabulous afternoon ... four classes, a total of ~ 50 kids.
We gathered on an outdoor stage with four hammered dulcimers:
And all kinds of rhythm instruments:
The kids were focused! The youngest ones were hammering out various rhythms on the dulcimer - including the rhythm of their own full names - while being accompanied by their friends on rhythm instruments. The older kids were taking turns playing melody lines and backup on the dulcimer, or rhythm on the shakers and other percussion instruments. By the end of each session we were jammin'! Wouldn't you love to play music with this crowd?
Monday, June 24, 2013
Monday's Muse
"Keep what is worth keeping and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away."
~ Dinah M. Craik
~ Dinah M. Craik
Friday, June 21, 2013
CTO ... Landfill Harmonic
Music, making a difference, the indomitable human spirit, inspired creativity ... It's amazing what people can do!
Check This Out ... Setting out to teach music to the poorest children in Paraquay - certainly a noble project. But look what happened when the demand for instruments outgrew the supply. Recycled orchestra! Necessity IS the mother of invention. Anybody for creating a hammered dulcimer out of trash?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJxxdQox7n0
Check This Out ... Setting out to teach music to the poorest children in Paraquay - certainly a noble project. But look what happened when the demand for instruments outgrew the supply. Recycled orchestra! Necessity IS the mother of invention. Anybody for creating a hammered dulcimer out of trash?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJxxdQox7n0
Oh, the Irony!
I direct you back to this week's Monday's Muse ...
I procrastinated long enough to miss the self-imposed deadline on my mid-week blog post. Now it's Friday, and time moves on! Check back next week. I intend to be back to my regular and dependable self.
In the meantime, happy first day of summer! The google doodle is pretty cute today.
I procrastinated long enough to miss the self-imposed deadline on my mid-week blog post. Now it's Friday, and time moves on! Check back next week. I intend to be back to my regular and dependable self.
In the meantime, happy first day of summer! The google doodle is pretty cute today.
Monday, June 17, 2013
Monday's Muse
“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.” -Pablo Picasso
Friday, June 14, 2013
CTO ... I Caught a Black Snake Today!
Ha! Ha! It has absolutely nothing to do with playing the hammered dulcimer, but ...
Check This Out! I used my handy-dandy snake grabber to put the squeeze on this guy after I came across him in my laundry room. (I have no idea how he got in there.) Of course I had to show-off to my hubby, who snapped this photo. Then we stuffed the snake into a brown paper grocery bag and I relocated him to the far side of the nearby four-lane highway. He won't be terrorizing our local bird population any longer, nor will he be eating any more of my chicken eggs!
Check This Out! I used my handy-dandy snake grabber to put the squeeze on this guy after I came across him in my laundry room. (I have no idea how he got in there.) Of course I had to show-off to my hubby, who snapped this photo. Then we stuffed the snake into a brown paper grocery bag and I relocated him to the far side of the nearby four-lane highway. He won't be terrorizing our local bird population any longer, nor will he be eating any more of my chicken eggs!
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