Musica!!!!

Maybe I should actually write something about music!!!! Let’s see… at the moment, I’m playing a Courante by Bach, a Sonata by Haydn, a Nocturne by Chopin, a Prelude by Rachmanninoff, and a Jazz piece by Minsky.

My Courante is part of Bach’s French Suites. A Courante is the second in a series of dances meant to be performed in a row. It is very cute with counter melodies, and polyphonic voicing. A bit of a booger when it comes to fingering all of the runs…but very cute!

Haydn. What can you say about Haydn? He seems to have been a great guy! This Sonata in G Major I have is soooooo happy. It is really fun to play. To figure out where the stress of the phrase needs to be, where the releases are. It reminds me of a bunch of children playing and laughing.

Nocturne in C sharp Minor by Chopin is a song you might recognize from the movie ‘The Pianist’. Then again, you might not! It is absolutely gorgeous!! The melody is a little melancholy, but the song resolves at the end into a major chord. Very Cool!!!!! The two against three rhythms are a little difficult until you get the hang of them, and the two and three octave runs are beautiful when you can fit them into 2 beats. Still working on those parts….

Prelude in C sharp Minor by Rachmanninoff is a well known piece. I didn’t know the name of it, but I recognized it as soon as my teacher played part of it. It was a piece Rachmanninoff was requested to play at every one of his concerts. It starts out super loud (fortissimo) in the first two measures, and then moves to super quiet (pianissimo) on the rest of the page through all of the huge over lapping minor chords. On page 2 and 3 it glides into this beautiful melody layered with 3 voices underneath it. On pages 4 and 5 it moves back to the huge chords at a Fortissississimo (ffff) and then finishes at Pianissississimo (pppp) on the C sharp minor chord.

The Jazz piece is called A Park Scene. It is a nice light piece with a few grace notes to accent the great melody. It is the last one for me to learn in this book. I have really enjoyed playing everything in it!!!! I hadn’t played much jazz, but it can be so relaxing just gliding over the keys.

*Rhythms is one of the 2 longest words you can spell in the English language without any of the regular vowels.*

To Hug, or Not To Hug?

I’m addressing the subject of hugging, as is obvious by my title. Some of you may have noticed that I am somewhat uncomfortable when it comes to hugging. Sure, I’ll do it if someone else initiates it, but usually, I like the smile and wave approach. I’m not saying that hugging is bad at all. I just want to know when and which version applies to each situation.

Now, in my estimation, there are many types of hugs. There is the Mom’s Hug ‘You’re never leaving!’ full on, hard squeeze. Very similar is the Grandma Hug ‘Thanks for visiting’ which includes a big wet kiss to your eye. We have the ‘My hands are full, so I’ll just squeeze your shoulders and bump your hip.’ hug. The Bear Hug, both arms around the other person’s arms in a choking death grip. The One Arm Over, One Arm Limp hug. The Side Squeeze, slightly less awkward than the ‘my hands are full’. The Head Squeeze usually done by someone taller than you, and it feels like your eyes are going to pop out of your head!!!!! And my favorite is the classic Guy Hug, shake hands and chest bump with 3 taps to the back to signify ‘I’m not gay.’ I’m sure there are many varieties which I am forgetting at the moment, and I’m sure you’ll bring them to my memory.

Now, I’m always confused which hug to do in which situation. One of my cousins actually tried to shake my hand instead of a hug, so we ended up doing a weird version of the ‘Guy Hug’. On one side of my family everyone hugs, the other side all of the women hug, and the guys just shake hands. The women always do the slightly less emotional version of the Mom Hug. The men tend to do the Head Squeeze, to me at least. Oh, and if the hugger’s hands are empty but the huggee’s hands are full, do you do the Side Squeeze, the Bear Hug, or the My Hands Are Full????

Then you also encounter the awkward left or right situation. This can be incredibly embarrassing if you get stuck in the silly dance of left – right, until you end up bumping foreheads!!! Not that it’s ever happened to me! *coughs and clears throat*

I don’t think I really solved anything, in this commentary. But, it probably got you thinking about hugging. Kind of odd, I know. Now, To Hug or Not To Hug? It’s up to you!

As Promised!!!

Overview Of Contents:
Josh Groban’s Awake
Il Divo’s Siempre
José Cura
The Saint by Ted Dekker
Latin Quips At Your Finger Tips
Practically Useless Information – Weddings

First, I’ll start out with the music that I got first! Josh Groban’s cd Awake was released back in November. The cd is AWESOME! I got the special edition with 15 tracks. He’s got about 9 songs in English this time. With multiple songs using falsetto jumps. He uses a much bigger range, and variety of tones that I haven’t heard in his previous cds. *****

Il Divo’s Siempre was also released in November. This 11 track cd has 1 songs in English, the rest in Italian and Spanish. They cover the classics, Nights In White Satin, Without You, Music, and Somewhere, as well of many I hadn’t heard of before. They have a couple of really fun up-beat songs on this album, with a more Latin feel to them. They, of course, blend beautifully, and have incredible solos as well. *****

Third cd I got for Christmas was José Cura Artist Portrait. José Cura is an Argentinean born Tenor. Classically trained, he has a beautiful big voice. This cd is full of Tenor Arias and well known tenor highlights from well known operas. His Nessun Dorma is gorgeous, and his voice really reminds me of Luciano Pavorotti. *****

Books I’ve read!

The Saint by Ted Dekker is an exciting thriller with lots of twists! You never really know what’s going to happen next, or what’s real. The main character is a specially trained sniper, at least he thinks so. He has some memory loss, or holes. I can’t really tell you more or I’d ruin the book!

Latin Quips At Your Finger Tips is a fun book full of phrases in Latin. The quotes are each attributed to famous Romans. ‘Bibamus Moriendum Est’ ‘Death is inevitable, let’s have a drink!’ and ‘Fortis fortuna adiuvat’ ‘Fortune favors the brave’ are only a few of the priceless gems.

I’m a sucker for Useless Information books! This one is all about weddings. It has suggestions for weddings, traditions, meanings behind colors, flowers, stones, and oh soooo much more! A few silly actual laws to whet your appetite – It is illegal in Hartford, Connecticut for a man to kiss his wife on Sunday. If you introduce someone as your spouse in Texas 3 times, you are legally married. If you sign a hotel register in North Carolina as husband and wife, you are legally married. It is against the law to get married on an ice skating rink in Portland, Oregon.

I AM STILL ALIVE!

Hey! I am still alive here! I think I went brain-dead over the Holidays, and am just now recovering. I should have a real post in a few days. I have some new music to review (if you like opera, and I do!) And some new cds coming in the next few days! A few fun new books too!!