Songbird Piano Lessons

 And by now everyone who's not one of my student's parents or one of my friends is going, "You were doing Composer Month?! You never told us!"    Yes, we just finished Composer Month this week! For those of you who might not be familiar, students compete to bring in the most facts about a specific composer. This year we focused on three Romantic era composers -- Schubert (who, to be accurate, can be considered either a Classical or a Romantic), Mendelssohn, and Liszt. (Why those three? I randomly picked the ones I thought might be the least weird and the most child-friendly. You could debate Liszt's lifestyle in the child-friendly department. But no one brought facts about his exploits, so we're good.) Students are awarded one point for each fact they bring in.     And, to announce the winner... *drumroll*    ...the Liszt team! Congratulations!    The Liszt team won at 34 points. Mendelssohn came in next at 30 points. The Schubert team may have finished last,

 Forte Loud & strong

 I could have jumped up and down with excitement.    But doing that in front of people outside my family seemed a little undignified!     What was I so excited over? Let me start from the beginning.     A few years ago, I was into a little bit of beta reading and copy editing. It's a neat little exchange -- you get a free sneak peak at someone else's book or magazine (free is great, right?!), and the authour/editor gets your feedback. This was when a lady from church approached me and asked if I would give her some feedback on her book. The book was about music -- Christian music, my favourite topic :) -- and I wasn't working on anyone else's projects, so I said yes.     Not far into the book, I was absorbed. I'd grown up in a home where we didn't really "do" Christian rock, and the use of contemporary music had gradually diminished. But this book gave arguments -- solid arguments -- that cemented my convictions and honed my understanding and discernme

 Istesso The same as before.

 Langsam Slowly