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Reassessing Musical Priorities

We've adjusted to the new member of our family quite well, I think! Mothering a newborn is infinitely easier this time around, although juggling a 2-year-old at the same time has produced its own set of challenges! Nevertheless, we have resumed our routine of running errands, visiting the library, playing at the park, and seeing friends. I have a Mother's Helper coming several mornings a week who has been so wonderful; her coming has allowed me to return to the gym, take my 2-year-old swimming, and enjoy this transitional stage. As normalcy returns to our home, I am thinking again of what I want to do with my music in the next 5-10 years. There are many opportunities within my church as well as in the rich musical community of the Seattle area, and I find myself, as usual, wanting to do a little bit of everything. It's like when I go to a restaurant and have to look at the entire menu several times before choosing what I want...and then still wanting to taste my husband's food!

My menu choices as of now...
Musical theater
Workshop presenter at church (training up other pianists)
Choir (church or community or professional)
Piano teaching
Chamber music
Recording my 2nd CD
Taking classes at the UW (vocal coaching, conducting, applied piano, chamber music)
Pursuing my Master's in Piano Performance

I have dabbled in all of the above over the years and am considering what to do next, especially as the girls will enter school in a few years and I will find myself with a little more time and a little more freedom.

Reflection: From Classical to Gospel

I trained for 15 years, formally, to become a classical pianist. Four of those years were spent preparing to enter a college program, followed by four years of intense study as a performance major: two lessons a week, with a minimum of two hours of practice a day. Along the way I accompanied choirs, musical theater productions, voice lessons, and opera rehearsals.

After I graduated, I was asked to accompany the choir at my church. No problem, I thought, until I was presented with chord charts, placed in a rhythm section, and asked to play a variety of styles from blues to gospel to the occasional reggae, calypso, r & b, and country. It has been 11 years since that first "culture shock" and although I have seen progress in my playing, I still face uncertainty and self-doubt when faced with any "groove" varying from my Western European tradition.

Feeling lost is never so evident as when I am surrounded with musicians who grew up playing with a band...in a black gospel church...reading chord charts...learning by ear...you name it! It's as if I am entering a foreign country where everyone else knows the language, and expects me to speak because I have a mouth! But what comes out only slowly resembles the native language. Thankfully, I have been privileged to work with amazing musicians who are not only professionals, but also are willing to teach and bear with my weaknesses. Here, in no particular order, are the cultural barriers, if you will, that I have faced moving from a classical background to gospel, jazz, and blues:

From:
Reading notes on a page to Playing chord charts and/or Playing by ear
Playing two hands, all parts to Don't double the bass, leave room for other musicians
Scripted music to Improvisation
Isolated practice to Group rehearsals (or just a sound check!)
Hours of practice to Limited rehearsal time
Infrequent performances to Weekly or Bimonthly performances
Emphasis on technique to Emphasis on groove and creativity
One prominent cultural style to Many various styles
Learning to specialize to Learning to diversify

Last night my husband reminded me that if the tables were reversed, perhaps the very musicians I so admire would feel the same lack of confidence and "lostness" in reading through a classical piece. Perhaps! Nevertheless, I press on, seeking to become well-rounded and versed in multiple "languages" while continuing to perfect my mother tongue!

Recent Projects

Gospelfest10 is taking place this weekend at Seattle Pacific University. I have been one of the rehearsal accompanists for the mass choir for the last couple of weeks, and this morning I had the opportunity to attend the symposium: a collection of general sessions and breakout workshops dealing with the history and development of gospel music. Among the presenters this weekend are Melinda Weekes, Phyllis Byrdwell, and Elias Bullock - all three of whom are amazing musicians, scholars, and presenters. The symposium continues throughout the rest of today and tomorrow afternoon, and then the festival culminates in a mass choir performance and celebration of the gospel music tradition this Saturday at 7 p.m. If you are interested in attending any of these events, it is not too late! For more information, call 206-281-2966 or check out the website: www.spu.edu/GospelFest10. This is my fourth Gospelfest, my second in Seattle (the others were held in Detroit), and every time I attend, I learn something new and am inspired (and humbled!) by the quality of musicianship.

I am nearing completion of our second baby's room (Another girl! In June!), so I have been busy sewing...a crib skirt, diaper caddy, changing pad cover, baby quilt. And I found these cool fabric-covered letters at Anthropologie that I managed to duplicate using some wooden letters from the craft store, fabric scraps, batting, and my hot glue gun. Hand-me-down clothes have been washed and put away, diapers and wipes have been purchased, and now we just need the baby! :) Well, I want to purchase some blackout curtains and a somewhat compact rocking chair, too, but the crafting is pretty much done!

I've been reading a TON lately, random selections of fiction and non-. Some of the books I have loved recently: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (forgot the author's name - sorry!), March by Geraldine Brooks (likewise, Year of Wonders and People of the Book by Brooks), The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, An American Childhood by Northwest author Annie Dillard (one of my favorites of all time), James Dobson's new book Bringing Up Girls, Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood by Jim Fay and Charles Fay, and Stay Home, Stay Happy by former Real-world "actor" (not that I've ever watched the show...well, maybe a few times!) Rachel Campos-Duffy.

And...drum roll please...I've managed to carve out some actual practice time lately, since my daughter recently turned two and has developed the ability to...(shockers!)...play independently for as long as 15 minutes at a time!!! What a blessing this has been lately. I am enjoying reading through some new-to-me classical music and am putting together a potential playlist for my next CD project. Woohoo!

Altogether an enjoyable and productive time (shall we call it "nesting"?) before baby number two shows up to upset the routine a bit! But oh, how we are looking forward to meeting the next member of the family!

Until next time...

Finding Time to Read Again!

My daughter is now 18 months old and busier than ever. Fortunately, she is learning to play a teensy bit more independently, which is allowing me to steal a few moments away to read!

I've discovered a wonderful new-to-me author who writes gorgeous pieces of juvenille fiction: Kate DiCamillo. Wow. Her writing is so rich, and her storytelling so engaging, that I've been devouring her books. The ones I've read recently are:

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline - his illustrations are amazing!
The Tale of Despereaux - I haven't seen the movie, but the images conjured up by Kate's writing are enough for me! (And I love how she frequently addresses the "Reader" during teachable moments - but not in a condescending way)
Because of Winn-Dixie - such a feel-good story about a girl and her dog

I've also discovered Molly Wizenberg's A Homemade Life, which I've decided I need to buy for someone's Christmas present. It's her memoir, but more than that, her life "through" food, so it is interspersed with recipes. A memoir and cookbook...the best combination in my mind! Yummy and inspiring!

And for my daughter, we have been laughing our way through Sandra Boynton's picture books. They are perfect for her, perhaps a little over her head at times, but she laughs when I laugh, so it's great fun! Tonight we read Blue Hat, Green Hat. Other favorites of ours are The Belly Button Book and Pajama Time! And the best part...they're board books, so she can "read" them on her own without ripping the pages!

I've also returned to the piano to "read" Chopin's Sonata in B minor. I had forgotten that I studied this sonata in college, but as I've been working on it lately it's starting to come back to me. I figured out that if I put my little girl in her highchair during snack time, I can get a good 15 minutes of practice in! Stealing a few moments here and there...I'm starting to see some progress!

Happy days. Love reading.

Only a Season

Trying to remember that this is only a season...

My daughter can now climb up onto the piano bench on her own, which means I am *never* alone. She loves to play "with" me, and I've done a little sightreading with her by my side, but there is no chance for focused practice.

And when she's napping (more and more seldom, sigh!) or in bed for the night, I grab those precious minutes to do my Bible Study, clean my house, or catch up on "quiet" projects.

I fear losing my skills and never being able to recapture that focused energy I once poured into practicing.

But I know my daughter craves my attention and loves this "mommy and me" music time.

Sigh.

Blooming

I've been watching little yellow blossoms appear on my tomato plant for a couple of weeks now, and today I counted 23 that have turned into little green tomatoes! I am sure they will all ripen at the same time and I will be up to my ears in tomatoes...I'm planning now to make lots of marinara sauce with olive oil, fresh basil, and garlic, and freeze it for the winter. Yummy!

Also "blooming" is my daughter's speech! At 16 months old, she "talks" non-stop. Mostly jabbering, but I know she's trying to communicate. I need to record some of this sweet speech!

My ironing board "grew" a new cover last week. I found an online tutorial that showed how to take the existing cord and casing and use it with new fabric to create a new cover. The fabric I chose is a robin's egg blue with bold red geometric shapes. Love it!

Lastly, creativity is in full bloom as I've been preparing to teach a keyboard workshop this weekend at my church. The title is "Chord Charts Without Tears" and it's a 50-minute session on how I approach learning new chord charts (worship tunes). Since I am a strong sight-reader with a classical background, I probably approach reading chord charts and playing in a band slightly differently from your average musician. Hopefully something I share will inspire others to try some new things!

Happy, productive days!

Projects

I am never bored. Tired? Yes. Uninspired? Sometimes. Having a tendency to procrastinate? Ohhhh, yes! (In fact, there is a stack of ironing waiting for me downstairs as I type...) But I am never bored! I just finished my denim/scrap quilt and am quite proud of it. We will be using it for picnics this summer!

It's not perfect - I'm an amateur seamstress at best! And I'm not proud of the puckering, but on the whole I like the color scheme and the weight of it. It will be fun to take on picnics!

Also on the docket:
*Organizing our business files (ugh!)
*Creating a Montessori activity notebook for my toddler (in process!)
*Sewing felt beanbags for my daughter (need to buy the beans...)
*More filing - personal bills (sigh)
*Planning for a birthday dinner and baby shower next week
*Preparing to teach a workshop on Sightreading Basics for Church Musicians - This is the one I am most interested in working on at the moment. There is a need in our choir and among praise team members at my church for some sightreading training. I am currently writing a curriculum for a 6-8 week workshop that incorporates excerpts from hymns, worship songs, classical oratorios, and ballads (Since gospel music is mostly taught and learned by ear, it is not included here). Since we sing such a variety of music, I believe we need to be purposeful in training up our singers to more adequately prepare for leading worship.

And to add another level of challenge, the above things need to be accomplished during my daughter's two naptimes (quickly fading to one!) and after her bedtime - when I am not doing household tasks and spending time with my husband! It is a juggling act, but I enjoy having such a full life! :)

And, since my daughter has inherited some of my busy genes, we keep busy during her awake times opening and closing doors, drawers, and cabinets. She helps load the laundry into the washer and dryer, "cleans" my windows with baby wipes, and eats the crumbs off our floors (what a little helper!). We are also spending most sunny days at the park swinging, people watching, playing in the sandbox, and feeding the ducks. I think if we lived at the park, she would be most happy! We also try to get to the library once a week to play in the children's area and check out new books. And we've had lots of family time with Daddy lately - going to the Children's Museum, playing on the waterfront, and of course, visiting the park. What fun!

Christmas CD is Online!

I'm so excited! My Christmas CD, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" is now available for preview and purchase on CDBaby.com. If you already own the CD, please tell others what you think by posting a brief review on their site! If you don't yet own it but like the music playing in the background, go to CDBaby.com to hear more selections! Merry Christmas, my friends!

Christmas CDs are Coming!

I have just ordered another 150 CDs to be made! The Christmas piano CD that I recorded a couple of years ago (O Come, O Come Emmanuel) will be ready to purchase as soon as I get the CDs back in my hot little hands! :) I am hoping to sell them on CDBaby this year as well as ITunes. This should all happen in the next couple of weeks, so I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, you can download a few of the songs for free and if you like, you can purchase additional downloads right from my site! Just click here!

Death of a Dream

We talked about experiencing the "death of a dream" in my discipleship group last week. One gal related it to taking her house off the market after anticipating its sale and a move to a new home. Another talked about her husband having ministry opportunities that almost-but-not-quite panned out. I nodded and sympathized with them, not dreaming that I would experience it myself this week.

I have been going full-force with this worship CD project since mid-summer. Everything seemed to be lining up to have it ready for duplication in November...until yesterday, when I listened to what we recorded last week. I'm pleased with my playing and with my music selection, but the piano quality is just not up to par. Even with the warmth of the incredible microphones we borrowed, the sound is tinny and harsh; not what I'm going for.

So, back to the drawing board. I am disappointed that it won't be ready for Christmas, but I really want to turn out a quality product. Right now it looks like I will table the project until January, when the busyness of the holidays is over and I have more time to seek out a good recording studio and quality instrument.

It was suggested last week that God allows us to experience the "death of a dream" on purpose. That He gets us to the place where we are completely reliant on Him, ready to act in His perfect timing. It's like He's saying, "Hurry up and wait!" He gives us the vision, and then after we've planned, worked, and gotten everything together, He tells us to STOP. Wait. Instead of going forward in our own strength, wait. Wait until the timing is right and we are fully dependent on the Lord.

Disappointing? Yes. Hard? Yes. But He is more interested in building our character than in completing our projects! And isn't that worth more than gold?

Recording in Progress

It's official! We recorded tracks for my upcoming worship CD this week. A friend of a friend lent us some amazing microphones that did incredible things to warm up the sound of the Yamaha. I'm aiming to have everything ready to go so that we can send the master off to be duplicated Nov. 1...so then I can have it back to give (and sell) as Christmas gifts! Woohoo!

More to come...

100 Rounds Around the Farm

My daughter used to hate riding in the car. I cringed to think of how many errands needed to be done with her wailing in protest from the backseat, and found myself trying to consolidate them into a single trip. Fred Meyer became my favorite store. Who knew you could not only buy groceries there, but also find birthday presents, buy helium-filled balloons, purchase a new outfit, run copies, and use the bathroom/change the baby? Not only that, but the one near us has a Goodwill truck in the parking lot. Score!

But unfortunately, the drycleaning still needed to be done, checks had to be deposited, and various other trips needed to be made, baby in tow. So I started singing.

It's amazing how many childhood songs come back to you when you have a baby. We've sung I'm a Little Teapot, The People on the Bus, and a whole host of Bible songs: Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children, the B-I-B-L-E, Zaccheus Was a Wee Little Man...and more. But the one that resonates most with my daughter, for some reason, is Old MacDonald.

I'm not sure if it's because of the repetition or the fact that she can manipulate her Baby Einstein sit and spin toy to play the song by hitting the duck 4 times, but she calms right down when I start to sing that song. We've been around the farm with cats, dogs, horses, goats, bees (they say "bzz"), frogs (ribbit), babies (waah - she doesn't get the humor), and mice (ee). Oh yes, our farm not only has pigs and cows, but also rabbits (hop - she doesn't know that's not a "sound"!), birds (cheep), and roosters (try saying "cock-a-doodle-doo" three times fast!). Fortunately, there is never anyone in the car when I'm searching for new animals.

Now that she's growing up, we don't visit the farm as much as we used to. But that's okay. It's much more fun to hear her sweet emerging voice. ...The babies in the car go da-da-da...

This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as an entry for a contest sponsored by Bush’s Beans.

30-60-90

My husband's favorite phrase: Have you done a 30-60-90? He is a very focused, disciplined, ambitious man, and accomplishes whatever he sets out to accomplish. I, on the other hand, am focused, disciplined, ambitious, and prone to procrastination! So today I worked on writing out some goals. Not 30-60-90 day goals, but what I'd like to accomplish over the next 10 years. This is what I came up with:

I want to play for a professional choir in the Seattle area. I love choirs, always have, and am a gifted accompanist (not to toot my own horn, but I'm trying to align my goals to my strengths!).

I want to run an orderly home and create family traditions. The first part I feel I sort of have down, even with a newborn. As to the second, we've already begun some of our traditions: going to Opening Day at Husky Stadium, camping at Birch Bay with other families, attending our church's Harvest Festival, holding an annual Christmas party, and creating a family scrapbook (via Shutterfly) for each year.

I want to be involved in my children's schooling (volunteering in the classroom, not homeschooling) and encourage them to develop their gifts. Yes, I will be on the PTA board someday!

I want to begin "salons" in my home. No, not the barber shop kind. The Mozart kind. In Mozart's day it was common to have people into your home to play music together as entertainment. I've been hosting these with some string players for the last year or so, but would like to have them more frequently and with a more diverse group of people. Any takers? These aren't performances; rather, a chance to get together and sightread chamber music together. Spouses are welcome, and we always share a meal afterward!

Also on the list is more travel, growing our own fruits and vegetables, and releasing a classical CD.

What fun to dream and to plan. So what are your 30-60-90? Or...where do you see yourself in 10 years?

And the Recording Begins!

We're starting to record this week! I am so excited! The same friends that produced my last CD will be working on this new project of mine. We've found a great piano at a local church and will be trying different mic configurations this week to see what sound we like best.

From here, it's just a hop, skip, and a jump to the actual Recording Day(s)! I'll keep you posted...

Wedding Music Ideas

A friend of mine just told me about the Vitamin String Quartet. They play string arrangements of songs by Coldplay, Peter Gabriel, U2, and a ton of other artists. Really cool! I'm going to suggest this to new wedding clients as a fun addition to their wedding.

Oh, and for those not getting married anytime soon, they also do tributes to Pearl Jam, Pink Floyd, Guitar Hero, Billy Joel, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Jimi Hendrix, Kelly Clarkson, Kirk Franklin, the list goes on and on! I'm off to check out their tributes to Norah Jones and Michael Buble...

Rest: Meditations at the Piano

I'm thinking there's no better way to say it: Rest. It's got to be the title of my new CD. "Meditations at the Piano" sounds borderline new age-y to me, but I may keep it like that. I would like to appeal to a wide audience, not just the Christian bookstore crowd.

I actually got to sit down for an uninterrupted half hour of practice time tonight after putting my daughter to bed! I should have played longer, but my attention span seems to have shortened. Aargh. I really want to record this album live, and that means putting in longer, more focused practice sessions.

I was asking a mom-friend today about how she works at home with her one-year-old toddling around. And her answer was to guiltily point to the TV.

She and I are both go-getters, so it makes sense that our babies do not like to stay in one place for very long. But it makes it difficult to get much done around the house.

Funny, that I should be working on a project entitled "Rest."

New CD Idea

With the birth of my daughter, I have been thinking about doing a lullaby CD sometime. All instrumental, of course - no one would pay to hear me sing. :)

But lately, I've been practicing for my worship CD, with her looking on from her "Baby Einstein" sit-and-spin toy. After about 10 minutes, she gets a little ancy and wants to get out, but I have found that singing along with the music helps her to calm down.

We sing (well I sing, and she kind of "bAAAH"s along!) in the car too, to get her mind off the fact that she is all by herself in the backseat. Poor thing, she needs some siblings to keep her company!

And we sing before bedtime to lull her to sleep. (Doesn't that sound nice and romantic?) The lulling doesn't quite happen, but I'm hoping the routine of it signals to her that it's time for bed every night!

Anyway, each time I sing to her, I recall children's songs from my childhood...Jesus Loves Me, The Wise/Foolish Man, Zaccheus...and I find myself speaking theology into her little life as I sing. What great words are in these "simple" songs!

So I'm thinking of compiling a list of my favorite "Bible songs" from childhood and arranging them for piano solo in such a way that they are pleasing to listen to by adults and children alike, and also sing-able so that parents and children can sing them together - in the car, at bedtime, or in a Sunday School class.

One thing at a time, though. I'm still working on my 5-, sometimes 10-minutes a day of practice on my worship CD. All the while, with ideas bubbling in my brain!

Looking for Rest

I'm searching for an appropriate title for my new album. It will be mostly worship songs, with a few "selah" moments of classical music. I want to convey the idea of entering Jesus' rest both spiritually (finding peace by walking with Him) and "physically" (as in, when believers physically die, we enter His presence, and thus, His rest, for eternity).

One of the selections is "My Faith Has Found a Resting Place," but that in itself is too long to take the position of a title.

The title "Rest" is already being used by another group of artists. And writing it in Greek or Hebrew wouldn't easily convey the multiple meanings of the word.

I've been doing a word study on "Rest" for my personal Bible study recently, hoping for a little inspiration. I haven't come very far in finding a title, but I have learned a lot about obedience and its ties to finding rest.

It seems, especially in the Old Testament, that rest followed the hard work of obeying God. Noah's ark found rest on top of the mountain after he decided to obey God in the face of taunting neighbors (Gen. 8:4); the Israelites found rest from their enemies when they obeyed God in the desert (Jos. 22:4); the feet of the priests rested in the waters of the Jordan after they took a step of faith (literally!), and the people crossed over (Jos. 3:13).

Contrast that with the unrest that followed disobedience. Locusts rested on all of Egypt when Pharoh refused to let Moses and his people go (Ex. 10:14); the tribes of Gad and Reuben were reprimanded for not helping their brothers conquer the land...and achieve rest (Num. 32:15).

My hope is that those who listen to my new CD will find the music restful and soothing. But beyond that, I hope that Christians will be reminded of the words that accompany the hymns and choruses and renew their commitment to obedience. For those who don't know the Lord, I pray that they would be drawn to the One who, in salvation, gives us all rest.

Art Begets Art

Recently I was reading about Jamie Lee Curtis and her venture into writing children's books. She was asked if she thought her celebrity helped "sell" her books. Her comment was along the lines of, it is natural for an artist of one medium to find success in other mediums; it's all art!

I find that fascinating, because though I love making music, I have always been interested in writing, graphic design, home decorating, and other creative arts. Though I don't "write" music, I can easily create in other mediums. For example, in the last month I have created a photo book for my grandfather (turning his journal entries about his childhood and raising a family into an illustrated memoir); begun work on a First Year photo book for my daughter, and created a butterfly moblile to hang above her crib. Likewise, I found teaching first grade very fulfilling, and would like to publish a writing curriculum at some point.

Have you found this to be true for you? Do you find yourself being creative in outlets outside of your particular "gifting"?

Five Minutes a Day

A friend of mine once said that you must find five minutes a day to "work on your chops." Five minutes to play your instrument, even if you don't have the time to actually sit down and have a good practice session.

It seems like five minutes a day is all I've got lately, with a teething five-month-old in the house. I love my daughter to death, but she does not like to sit still (funny, because she hasn't yet learned to crawl, scoot, walk, or otherwise move from one place to another). Which means that we both are constantly on the move.

I've tried sitting her on my lap at the piano, and playing "around" her. Don't think that lasted even five minutes! But somewhere I must find the time...