A song for the lost

   this is a song that I found recently, thanks to the PCM Youth Group, and it is truly beautifully written. I won't spoil it any more. here are the lyrics and a link to the song on youtube performed by Phil Stacey.

You who live in heaven
Hear the prayers of those of us who live on earth
Who are afraid of being left by those we love
And who get hardened by the hurt
Do you remember when You lived down here where we all scrape
To find the faith to ask for daily bread
Did You forget about us after You had flown away
Well I memorized every word You said
Still I'm so scared, I'm holding my breath
While You're up there just playing hard to get
You who live in radiance
Hear the prayers of those of us who live in skin
We have a love that's not as patient as Yours was
Still we do love now and then
Did You ever know loneliness
Did You ever know need
Do You remember just how long a night can get?
When You were barely holding on
And Your friends fall asleep
And don't see the blood that's running in Your sweat
Will those who mourn be left uncomforted
While You're up there just playing hard to get?
And I know you bore our sorrows
And I know you feel our pain
And I know it would not hurt any less
Even if it could be explained
And I know that I am only lashing out
At the One who loves me most
And after I figured this, somehow All I really need to know
Is if You who live in eternity
Hear the prayers of those of us who live in time
We can't see what's ahead
And we can not get free of what we've left behind
I'm reeling from these voices that keep screaming in my ears
All the words of shame and doubt, blame and regret I can't see how
You're leading me unless
You've led me here
Where I'm lost enough to let myself be led
And so You've been here all along I guess
It's just Your ways and You are just plain hard to get 


And in case any one was wondering why this song was not performed by Rich Mullins, the reason makes the lyrics all the more meaningful. Shortly after recording this song on a boombox with a friend, he flipped his car and was killed while on the highway. He never got to finish his cd. So after learning about the context and listening to the lyrics, think about how much time we have and aim to spend it for Gods glory. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp7BOiT0L5o

Playlist of the week

This week I guess is just the start of new blog additions. 
I came up with this idea as a way for giving people some more ideas on new bands or styles to check out
and please, feel free to leave suggestions for meeeeee. I am always looking for new music
so: 
the week of thanksgiving!:                       

Nightwish: Dark Passion's play mostly
Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms 
Chicago
Rocket Summer
Weather Report:(stay tuned for a blurb about the bassist)
Sonata Arctica: Days of Gray
Shostakovich: Symphony 8
Hank Mobley: 
Circus Maximus
Jupiter One: Sunshower
most of these you can find on youtube if you don't feel buying them right away, or at all for that matter. 
let me know what people think 

A Much Needed Blurb on RHCP!

                                                                nuf said

Wrapping up on Stravinsky

Well, I thought about finding some lame quotation about how music is wonderful and then end this little series, but then I came across this...

"I . . . stared at the phone. It was hard for me to believe that Igor Stravinsky had a telephone number, just like the rest of us. God didn't have a phone number. Why should Stravinsky? Nevertheless, my trembling hand reached out and dialed his number, which, I noted with astonishment, had the same number of digits as those of ordinary mortals." -Arnold Steinhardt, Indivisible by Four


Stravinsky indeed arguably had the greatest impact on Western Music than any other composer of the 20th century. His advancements in rhythmic and orchestral textures, as well as harmonic color were vital to developing the music we have today. However, we cannot forget that he was after all still just a man. He was given a great gift by God, and yes Stravinsky was a Christian, thus I speak for myself when I say we must be careful that our view of our favorite artists does not make them idols. So often the pop culture industry uses music as a tool for artists to get famous. What is the point of fame anyway? Everyone is famous, fame just means "you are able to go into a diner, have people recognize you but you don't recognize them." Alaa el-Aswan famous Egyptian novelist.
In closing I would encourage all of you musicians, and listeners of music to evaluate your favorite artists: to what degree do you like them, why do you like them. Carefully read and listen to the lyrics or even find out more about them as people and not just see them as superior beings.

Weekly Lyric World View

I decided to start this up as a way to compare the world views of secular music with that of what is taught in the bible. Music is one of the most compelling and moving mediums of art known to man. Because it has such profound effects on human thought, it makes sense that it can also be the source of corruption. I think it is important that listeners understand and carefully evaluate their musical input, how often do we do a double take when we actually find out what the lyrics are for a song we like. Therefore, as much as I need this as anyone else, I will be begin by looking at a song by one of my favorite artists. RHCP. Yes they are amazing, but they are by no means "christian". This particular piece, "Heaven" is by the lead guitarist John Frusciante off his solo album Empyrean.

Lyrics to Heaven :
Well I spent the night in heaven
I wanted to figure it out for myself
I spin around the fortress
You never know the currency that we all run on
We run on
We run on
You once told me
You keep a billion frequencies on your person
End the night with channel four
You don't see me looking you up when I'm here
We live fast cuz time won't last
See me freezing like the bum I am
From where you start there's endless information drilled into your eyes
Well, I don't need protection
One life begins, another dies
Bad timing
I won't last
Man, that's the facts
It is a feeling that will never pass
And you know you could be taking us far
When I speak to you again through the stages of pleasure
Well, I don't have my own fave
So c'mon and be replaced
There's a future that's calling
But I don't see it coming
No, I don't have my own face
So c'mon and be replaced
There's a future that's calling
But I don't see it coming
No, I don't see it coming
No, I don't see it coming

This piece starts off with a relaxed folk-rock groove. The chords are pretty typical in progression if you are familiar with RHCP sound. Anyhow, The mood is set up as deep and contemplative, with a more energized bridge section. THe second verse adds a drum set, as well as an organ, (possibly referring to southern christian worship music) The piece grows out of the bridge section adding a string quartet and keyboard effects. The piece builds and builds but suddenly evaporates at the end of the out-tro.

Lyrics: As one can deduce, John does not believe in God, but more of a "higher power" that is not active in our lives, more of a being that is random and can not possibly care about humans.
"Well I spent the night in heaven
I wanted to figure it out for myself
I spin around the fortress
You never know the currency that we all run on"
Shows perfectly that John is struggling to understand his current situation in life, and the urge to be the master of his own life.
"You once told me
You keep a billion frequencies on your person
End the night with channel four
You don't see me looking you up when I'm here
We live fast cuz time won't last"
this particular section is interesting. It appears that john is either conversing with God. Billion frequencies could refer to people's souls. Channel four could either be the news and all that has happened through out the day relayed on t.v. or a specific person. In the second half of the verse, John says "you don't see me looking you up when I'm here". I may be wrong but to me it seems that while in heaven, john doesn't feel the need to look for God, because he feels God didn't do anything for him. He goes on to the next stanza, which perfectly describes the mind set of our modern society. We are so busy with our lives that we just load up every minuet leaving ourselves no time to breath. This is juxtaposed with the next stanza where john calls himself a bum living on the street, inferring that he has more time than anyone else, and is in a more lamentable state than anyone else.

"From where you start there's endless information drilled into your eyes
Well, I don't need protection
One life begins, another dies
Bad timing
I won't last
Man, that's the facts
It is a feeling that will never pass"
This verse further describes the state of human society, living in the information age, As it says in the bible, Daniel I think, In the last times there will be an increase of knowledge. This stanza is particularly dark, stating a almost nihilistic view of life, and the hopeless feeling that goes with believing that there is nothing after death.

"And you know you could be taking us far
When I speak to you again through the stages of pleasure
Well, I don't have my own fave
So c'mon and be replaced
There's a future that's calling
But I don't see it coming
No, I don't have my own face "

John is back talking to his "god" figure, showing that he only views God as someone who is supposed to give you success, more of a good luck charm. The song ends on a low, depressing really, reflecting John's struggle to get over his drug addictions. The feeling that once he dies someone else will just take his place in the statics of world population. He says that there is a future calling, but he can't see it. There is hope somewhere, but he just like everyone else is blind to it.
In conclusion, this is a prime example where the music can catch you off guard. It sounds groovy and for me most of all, he is with RHCP. It has to bee good right? Well after looking at the lyrics my opinion has changed. The Lyrics are quite dark, I can't imagine what John must have gone through in order for him to write something like this. But It is not bad, music like this is critical for christians, it challenges and in a way enriches us. There are thousands of people out there who share similar beliefs to those of john's, it is wrong for us as believers to keep our hope to ourselves and let people just wonder around lost. I would encourage all of you to go out of your way to make connections and be good friends to those that you know who feel alone like John. And above all else pray.
the end

Practice Rituals?

Music majors are strange people, in fact the major itself is odd. I mean, basically we lock ourselves in small stuffy rooms and clock in hours after hour of scales and etudes and the like. Inevitably this routine will become stale, and unenjoyable. The classic example is the frequency of zone out time that is lost in practicing. Meaning: the ratio of actual practicing to just fiddling around. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing bad about fiddling around, one can explore the limits of their instrument via making strange scratching noises with their bow. But in a college setting, we have limits on the time available each day for practicing. Now, theoretically one could practice late at night, but after a whole day of rehearsals and classes, brains tend to zone out more often. So here are some tips that I have compiled from my own observations and from other teachers. And above all, these are not for just "music majors", these are for anyone who plays music.
1. Have an idea before even starting of what you want to do with your time. depending on the time you have, your plans will have to be modified. so if you have only an hour, you might not want to try to rush through a list of 10 items. its better to focus and isolate problems. rushing will only create more
2. Try and being each session with some sort of warm up that focuses on a problem you are having. for example, If you have a piece that has a lot of stuff going on in a certain range or position on your instrument. find or make an exercise that isolates that problem. etudes are great at this. Most important thing is to practice them SLOW,
3. As for pieces, I find it is a good idea to run through each one, as if you were performing it, before working on stuff. Once you run through it once, you will become aware of the problems you need to address.
4. When working on pieces brake them up into small chunks, and work on them very very slowly. to the point where you say. "goooood gracious this is soooo slow and obnoxious"
5. As far as mental focus, if you feel you are losing concentration TAKE A BREAK! its better to step a way from your instrument and regain focus, than trying to continue and get frustrated(as I did that one time, then my metronome broke. point in case)
6. Its also a good idea to perform your pieces for your friends, it helps ease the nerves for when you actually perform infront of lots a lots.
In general: practice with a metronome when you can, especially when you have one with a drone.
try recording your practice sessions, one of the most humbling things a musician can do is listen to themselves. Doing this will allow you to hear what needs improvement, but also what you did well. never forget that practice is about getting better, not an hour of beating yourself up. Above all make sure you have your priorities in line. Ask yourself why you are doing what you are doing. IF you have set goals and methods you will be astounded with what you can accomplish in one hour.

THE RITE OF SPRING

AT long last the post you have all been waiting for. *CHUM CHUM CHUM CHUM CHUMCHUMCHUM * No. its not a fierce dinosaur or rocks shooting out of the ground.

Actually This piece is about Pagan Russia. Thats right. A girl is chosen out of an ancient community of pagan nomads as a sacrifice to nature. But they don't just kill her, that would be far too easy and just frankly not cool enough for the russians. She has to dance to death. Naturally, Rite of Spring is a ballet. UNlike anyother you have ever seen or heard. Composed in 1913 by Stravinsky, this piece actually caused riots in the theater house when performed live. In any case, I can say that I am more obsessed with this piece than any rhcp song I have heard.(and for those of you who know me. that statement is a big deal) I will come back to more specifics of this piece, but first you need to go out an listen to it because, well what I am going to say will mean nothing. Music is the reason for this blog, so go LISTEN!

A Work in Progress.

This here is a poem written by my dear sister that I think you all should read. I am currently putting it to music. I have all the chords but I still need to rehearse it with the band. So any music people out there who like chords give this progression a try.

Now I think I do believe
in a star will cure
our age old disease
gather round and sing with me a song,
a song about the sea,
where all the stars fell
a soft night in decemember

clouds were weeping
to feel the breaking in their sheets
as the fed the oceans
bright salinity

Oh, like a city with a white stream
a veil or a curtain
God I pray you'll make me see
make me certain of this ever flowing dream
full of brightness not of me, oh
brightness not of me.

I'll surely drink up,
as You'll surely fill my cup
bottom dollar's no lie and so I'll repeat the bet,
"I'll never be thirsty again."
Everlasting, satisfying, oh might
my soul help amend
all sorrow, all strife
all the innocents
whose lives I'd take in a moment just to feel
strangely justified?


Oh, like a city with a white stream
a veil or a curtain
I saw my body come to me
it was more than ephemeral brightness
oh to be tangible, oh to feel
but it was a dream not of me.

Sing not I, not I,
my master's in the sky
left a lantern burning
heart was of the lost and found now
it's in my hand, now it's in my hand
show me how to fly again even though i'm blind
I smell the mud on your hands.

Oh, like a city with a white stream
a torn veil or a curtain
God I pray you'll make me see
make me certain of this ever flowing dream,
full of brightness not of me, oh make me bright
as when i first saw thee.



(intro)Dbpedal in left hand I think this is in 3. (slow three)
the rhythm for the left hand, eventually the bass is:
1-2-3(triplets) eight rest. eighth-two sixteenths)
the notes would be Db-Db-Db- rest - Bb Bb-Db

the chords in the right hand move after the completion of this measure.
DbM7-Ab-Abdim/Bb x2
verse:
FM7-CM7-FM7-CM7-Eb-Fm-cm-Ab x2 second time Bb instead of Ab

bridge: pedal Bb--random things happen

chorus:
DbM7-Ab-Abdim/Bb fm-fm-Eb-Bbm

so, try it out and see if you like it or not. its a good time

Musings about the metronome.(Stravinsky interlude)

About two weeks ago I was practicing some orchestra music, and one passage was proving to be rather difficult. Not so much in terms of pitches but, rather the rhythm. So i pulled out my handy dandy "solo metronome". A lovely shade of blue and about the size of your hand. Most importantly it was 15 bucks. It was one of those days. You know, the ones where nothing was going right. I woke up later than usual. I had two tests, rehearsals, and feeling a bit overwhelmed. You can see where this is going. My state of mind was not one in which I should have been practicing. It was almost likened to Edgar A. Poe's tell tale heart, I could not get the darn rhythm and the metronome was mocking me with its perfect subdivisions of time. So I put it out of its misery. or myself out of my misery. CRASH!!! Now it won't turn on. So I've been faced with practicing with no metronome or the one on my computer which is very inconvenient. But in away, it has been a blessing. It has made me think of what people did before the metronome. I mean, it wasn't like the metronome was invented then suddenly musicians were created. Naturally they used musical intuition . It seems to me, that modern musicians, more likely the college age, have grown too dependent on the metronome. Don't get me wrong metronomes are great, but one can't perform a Bach cello suite with a metronome tempo. Its a great practice tool. yes it was stupid of me to knock it into submission, but musicians need to take a more musical approach to practice.

Thoughts on Stravinsky Part I

So, in Music History we are wrapping up a section on post-romantic composers. Though I previously had known of Stravinsky's works(does the word Dinosaur ring a bell?), I did not fully grasp the magnitude of his music. Stravinsky became a world famous composer through joining and composing music for a dance theater called Ballet Russes.(emily you should enjoy this) This Ballet company focused on being contemporary and new age, Diaghilev, the Russian cofounder(How russian of an name can you get?) worked with Stravinsky for his first two ballets, Firebird Suite, and Petruska. I won't go in to detail about them other than the fact that both were based upon Folk tales. However, I have performed in both in the Uconn Symphony Orchestra, an experience that I will never forget. Of the two ballets, petruska is my favorite, mostly for Stravinsky's increasingly iconic use of dissonant harmonies for the sake of color. The best example of this is the "Petruska chord" or basically using two chords from two different keys at the same time.(bitonality) This concept of two different keys culminates in my ULTIMATE FAVORITE WORK-RITE OF SPRING!!!!! more about that later. but here are some links, one of them is the youtube video of the uconn orch.

European Rock...

so recently I've been listening to a lot of European Rock, something that is not as outlandish as one might think. The particulars of my listening splurge would be under the category of symphonic rock, the fusion of a symphony orchestra and a rock group. The idea is absurd, in fact many see the two as opposite sides of the musical spectrum. I have found however that the music contains many similar elements of opera, particularly that of Richard Wagner. The lyrics are more often than not based off of folk tales, as is the case with opera of the Romantic period. In terms of orchestration, Nightwish employs a full symphony orchestra, along with a core band of 4 or 5 members. The orchestra supports harmonically, texturally, and dramatically to the "lead players". What I enjoy most about Nightwish, and symphonic rock in general, is their use of dissonance for the sake of adding color, rather than purely function. This is a topic I will probably get into at a later time.
In closing, I would encourage people to listen to symphonic rock. You don't have to be afraid of turning into a hair thrashing, head banging fan. Just give some of it a try because there is something that can be learned and enjoyed about the style.
Bands: Nightwish, Epica, Symphony x(not a purely symphonic rock, but they have elements)

"Purpose Mr. Anderson, it is Purpose..."

Why Blog? Honestly, there is no exceedingly convincing argument either way. It seems that I have survived thus far in my life without a page displaying my selected inner thoughts, but...

It happened rather spontaneously. Black tea is really great, no cream no sugar. Just hot water, some Hank Mobley, and a book on 20th Century Music. For some reason, this combination of enjoyment, work, and calm at the same time made me think of the why. Why? To some extent, we make decisions and act upon them without careful consideration. How do we know so much about the founding fathers, how do we know so much about composers from over 500 years ago? They wrote. Ink, parchment, the old fashioned way. Inner thoughts, struggles, inspirations, success, failure. But Why? I do not think that these men and women of the past thought that they would share with their contemporaries such private writings. Rather, indirectly or decisively, each one had a hope that what they did on this earth would not be forgotten. That they mattered.

Its something about black tea that jives with me. Upset stomach: Black tea. Stressed out: black tea...etc... and so on. Everyone has a purpose. But that purpose is hidden in Christ. It is something that should want us to seek him out all the more. It is interesting to just think about all the different things you have read, heard, experienced. Then realize that each one was specifically picked out for you to know. I have to admit, my anti-blogging rants were just my way of compensating for my lack of skill in manipulating the English Language, or just thinking that no one would care anyhow. But thats not the point. The real problem was that I was putting God in a box and saying, "I'm too messed up for him to use me." Thats just the beauty of it. It may turn out that I won't ever know how he uses me till I'm gone. Thus commences the Blogs on the topic of Music.