In class the other day, we were talking about how our language – and more specifically our accent – can sometimes form a barrier that can prevent people from fully engaging in worship. Two of the main points was that Australian’s have an accent, we just don’t acknowledge it and as such we don’t make the appropriate adjustments to ensure that we are heard clearly; and that we often use language that people don’t understand.
Christianese is its name, and there are a variety of dialects within Christianese that can leave even a well versed Christian perplexed. How much more for someone who doesn’t even know about Jesus? Continue reading →
I am enjoying living close to work at the moment. It’s a ten minute walk to my workplace three days a week, and this week, I’ve been walking home in order to get some arranging done.
It’s something that I’ve been embracing more since I am not playing my violin as much any more, so this is something that I can use my musical skills in. I’ve arranged a couple of worship songs so far for the songsters at my church, and I’m working on another arrangement at the moment, this time of the hymn “There’s Power in the blood”.
I pulled this song out at a recent Chrysalis retreat and the guys really got into it. As the weeks went on, I couldn’t get the song out of my head, and it turned from this slightly rock, slightly rockabilly version into this kinda jazzy version that I’m now arranging. I’m working through this arrangement and hope to have it done really soon.
After that, I’m thinking I might have a go at a brass band arrangement. Got a few ideas running around, just need to see what would work well.
Great post. Mainly reblogging this so that I’ve got a memory of this so that I can convert this to a violin post soon. Stay tuned.
I promise I’ll get back into blogging soon. Really I will. When it gets less busy. Like October. Or maybe next year. Or the year after… surely there must be some free time by the end of the decade….
This is a quick checklist of things to do, buy, learn and decide before your child has their very first piano lesson. Working your way through this checklist will speed up your child’s learning curve, possibly by months (maybe more!), and once you’ve covered every item below you will be a superbly equipped parent entering into the role of nurturing the growth of a new little (or not so little) pianist. 1. Buy a piano. This may or may not seem lik … Read More
I was thinking the other day. Liesl tells me that it’s never a good idea. But I was thinking that there’s a lot of really bad music out there, and a lot of it is Christian music. Take this video for an example:
Take a real good listen to those lyrics. “He is like a Mounty, he always gets his man, and he’ll zap you anyway he can. Zap!” I’m sorry Sonseed, but you really can’t get much more cheesy than that.
See, that’s the problem with bad Christian music – they try to write a “Christian” song, and it ends up being cheesy, kitschy and just plain wrong. However, there is hope. There is a multitude of musicians out there, who are Christians, who write fantastic music that is up there with “secular” music.
Take for example this little band. They’ve got some great songs, and are really deep in faith.
U2 are fairly well-known as being a very spiritual group, with Bono having a deep Christian faith, but also an understanding that to get his message out to the world, it can’t be shoved down people’s throats, but coming through every facet of their music and lives.
Naturally 7, if you’re not aware, are a band that only use their voice. Liesl and I saw them opening for Michael Bublé, and were amazed. Their version of Can you feel it in the Air tonight is amazing.
And they write their own songs too, like Bless this House.
And remember, every sound they make is made with the human voice. And they’re Christian too – they’re headlining at Easterfest 2011, a massive Christian festival being held in Toowomba.
For something a bit heavier, why not try Underoath? This Christian metal band have played at the big heavy rock/metal festivals such as Soundwave, and are not shy in hiding their faith at those events either.
One of my favourite bands at the moment is New Empire. They’re currently touring with Good Charlotte, opening for them. It’s very much a pop-rock sound, but if you didn’t know they were Christian, it would sound very much like any other band out there.
And there’s heaps more out there too. Everything from Metal to A capella. Ska to Soulful, it’s all there, and it’s all brilliant. All you need to do is go searching for it.
It’s late, and I need to post, so this will be a short one. The band I’d love to see live would be The Beatles. Not only did they form a lot of the “rules” of rock music that bands would come to live by for years to come, but they also broke those rules and did things like write a pop song accompanied entirely by string quartet (Eleanor Rigby) or one accompanied by a Clarinet Trio (When I’m Sixty-Four), yet also did really quite rocking songs. So that’s the band that I would love to see live.
J.S. Bach - great composer or fraud? (Image via Wikipedia)
It’s been a while since I published anything from my field of study (Music Research). That’s because I’ve been researching something groundbreaking that will change our idea of music forever Continue reading →
Violin show pieces are the pieces which are at the limit of violin technique. They are difficult, flashy, and impressive. Here’s my list of the top 10 violin showpieces.
Paganini – Caprice 24
Paganini’s 24 Caprices are some of the most difficult for the violin, and being able to play any of them is a great accomplishment. However, the 24th Caprice is by far the most famous, and most difficult. Based upon a Theme and Variations model, this caprice employs many of the most difficult violin techniques in a musically solid base. This video is of Hillary Hahn performing this Caprice as an encore at the Verbier Festival. Continue reading →
I was reminded of this movie when someone quoted a line from John Lennon’s “Beautiful Boy” which is performed by Mr Holland and dedicated to his deaf son. It a touching moment in a movie full of them. When I think about it, this movie has a similar hold over me as M*A*S*H does – through the course of this movie, you get involved in Mr Holland’s life. From his first day at work, his attempts to get a football player to play drums, his temptation by a student, and finally his retirement. All through this you get to feel his emotions as he feels them. His anger, his hope, his despair. Plus, it always helps that it’s a film about music – and I love films about music.
Anyway, I’m going to leave you with a couple of clips of my favourite parts. Firstly, the performance of “Beautiful Boy” and secondly his farewell assembly, including the first performance of his symphony.
The first album I ever bought was one I remember because it is one that I regret so badly. I hear all these stories of people who bought these classic albums as their first, and they have great pleasure in remembering how it affected their lives.
My album is far more embarrassing – being Hansen’s first album. it got turned into an art project soon after.
I’m hoping that there are some readers who have similarly bad first albums. Please feel free to share on the comments.
Just a quick one as it’s late, and I need to be up early tomorrow.
My favourite class in college (well, University), would probably have been String Class. This was where we would play for the other string players at uni, and get specific feedback relating to string playing.
I remember my first performance, and I hated it. I felt like I didn’t deserve to be there. It probably didn’t help that string class was joined with the other Music Uni, because “there weren’t enough string players for their own class” (despite there being more string players than brass players, and brass players had their own seperate class). While they may not agree, we certainly felt like second class citizens, as if we were the string players who weren’t good enough to get into their school.
Anyway, eventually, WAAPA granted us our own string class. And it was awesome. It really helped bring the strings together, and start supporting each other. And while there were many things that I would say helped along the way, I would say that giving us our own string class really helped kick start the redevelopment of the strings program at WAAPA.
So that was my favourite uni class. What was yours?
