Songbird Piano Lessons

 As we wrap up Composer Month, I'll admit, I learned some interesting things that I didn't know before.     Today's not a recap on anything. Winners will be announced next week. And I'm not giving you any particularly deep thoughts. But there was one moment, one heart-touching moment, in the month that I'd like to share with you -- and I might give you some other random thoughts, too.    A student who struggles with stage fright was assigned to the Tchaikovsky team. One week, her facts included the following two: Tchaikovsky struggled with stage fright, and Tchaikovsky conducted one of his own pieces on the opening night of -- get this -- Carnegie Hall.    We then went on to talk about the upcoming Christmas recital, a conversation that brought a frown to her face. I saw a teaching opportunity here, and I reminded her of her own facts she'd brought in: that Tchaikovsky was also afraid. But he didn't let that stop him. He still conducted at this bi...

 Hope you enjoy this video! It's one I greatly appreciate for both the message and the quality. 

  The Middle Ages produced some hauntingly beautiful music. Because most of the literacy and education was under the umbrella of the Roman Catholic church, some of the most beautiful musical works of that time were sacred pieces.     There was just a slight problem with their music.    Towards the end of the Middle Ages, in their motets, multiple song lyrics were overlapped and sung simultaneously. On top of that, the lyrics that were genuinely sacred were written in Latin, a language that few read or understood. And sometimes, sacred and secular were combined -- the sacred in Latin, the secular in the vernacular. As you can imagine, this made it nearly impossible to decipher what was being sung. You couldn't understand it. And you certainly couldn't sing along -- congregational singing wasn't even a thing back then!    Scripturally, the Bible has a lot to say about singing. My favourite is a verse in Colossians 3:16:    " Let the word o...

 Today's post won't be long.     But recently I was watching  a video by Brylan Riggs . If you're a  Christian , and you're serious about pleasing the Lord, I really encourage you to check out Brylan's videos. I'll admit, this is the only one I've actually sat down and watched start to finish, but it was good, and from the looks of other video titles by him and what I've heard from others, I think he has some really good things to say about discernment in music, the "Christian" music industry and its pitfalls, and other cultural questions.     Musical discernment aside -- which, as you probably know, I think is very important in more ways than one -- his video made me think... about myself.    Am I truly making music to God's glory?    Or am I looking for the spotlight for myself?    I hope the answer is #1.     But conceit is a sneaky monster, and I like to be applauded. I feel great when someone ...

 Many of the historically great composers, especially in the Baroque and Classical periods, professed faith in God. Even into the Romantic era, composers continued to at least acknowledge the God of the Bible. But few of the composers lived a life that was consistent with their lip service. They may have claimed to be Christians, thought they were Christians, but they certainly didn't act like Christians.     Oliver Messiaen was one of the few exceptions. Humble about himself as a person, yet bold in his faith as a believer. Peaceful and loving towards those around him. Historically, Messiaen was a 20th century composer, living in an era where Western culture was visibly moving away from its Judeo-Christian roots. The French-born composer enlisted during WWII, and was captured as a prisoner of war by the Germans in 1940. He survived the prison camp, composing one of his best-known works, Quartet for the End of time , while imprisoned. Naturally, this work draws its s...

 First things first:    I hope you have a blessed Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday!    This song was one I learned years ago. I was at a week-long youth retreat, in which part of the required activities was participation in choir singing in the evening. It was my one chance to sing in a choir, and I enjoyed it! This song especially stood out to me, although many of my less-musical peers failed to appreciate the haunting beauty of medieval melody.     Now for the less-important things: what we've been up to in the studio. ;)    I'll admit, most of my focus was on Parkland Music Festival. I tried to keep  February's unfinished compositions going, but there's only so much you can do in half an hour, some students were falling behind in their theory lessons, and of course, there were still games to be played. (Games are very important. Just ask the students. 😁) Short story: the compositions are still unfinished. Hopefully that will...

 (Note for those who may not know: The word "Amen" comes from an ancient word -- whether Greek, Hebrew, or some other language, I do not remember -- that expressed agreement with truth. It is a transliterated word; that is, it's very similar to the original word in the original language. One person claimed it was one of two words that has been transliterated rather than translated across all languages, the other word being Hallelujah. Fun fact for the day. 😀)    Again, I had writer's block and didn't know what to write about. All I could think about was how it's February, it's a theme month, and I haven't finished planning the theme, even though the month has already started. So, once more, I turned to Pinterest . (If that link doesn't work, let me know, because I'm not sure it will actually take you to my Pinterest profile.)    This time, instead of music humour, I found this beautiful musician's prayer. And I went, "Yes! That is exa...

 I hope you all have a blessed Christmas! May Jesus' light fill you with peace and hope.     (Much more important than piano lessons:  Please click this link . The content on the page that links to is way more important than any gift under the tree, because it's all about God's gift -- the entire reason for Christmas and celebrating -- to you.)    Enjoy this music video!

 Hi, everyone,    One more student to go till Christmas break!!!    Yes, I love teaching. Yes, I also love my breaks. I come out of them with renewed enthusiasm for what I do, so these breaks are a win-win.     Anyways. I didn't know what to blog about. So I'm going to share with you some of my favourite Christmas song videos on YouTube. Enjoy! Joy to the World, Fountainview Academy Mary, Did you Know? Fountainview Academy How Should a King Come? (This was the song my brother played on his guitar at our joint recital!) Angels From the Realms of Glory -- I'm not sure who organized this, but you'll see several distinguished musicians in here, including The Piano Guys Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Christmas Canon. I normally don't care for Pachelbel's Canon, because it's way too overplayed. (Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus," however, I can't get enough of.) But these guys did a good job with their version. 

Obviously, I teach piano. What you may not know about me is that I also write songs. It's fun, and a great way to express my faith . The challenging part, though, is what to do with the song after I've written it. A lot of my songs have only been heard by a select few (those select few having an odd resemblance to my parents and siblings in most cases).     See, I don't really sing. Oh, I'll sing while teaching, particularly if it's a solfege lesson. That's different. And I'll sing at home, in the garden, the shower, the car... anywhere where there's not an audience. And at church, because everyone else is too busy singing as well to notice my voice. I'll put it to you this way: My voice is an untrained voice.     That's when it's great to have a friend who sings. Like  Bethany Fehr . Besides being an amazing friend and a thorough editor, she also has a lovely voice. Last year she willingly worked with me to make a video of my song,  No Fear....

 This isn't an easy post to write, but I've always believed that honesty is the best policy. Some of my students have been asking me if we're going to learn any Halloween music. I feel that there's a need to address the topic here.    The answer is no.    That might seem shocking, but let me explain why (and please be gracious as I try to be clear without being offensive). I don't celebrate Halloween. You will never see Halloween decorations in the studio or hear about Halloween games being played during October. But before you shrug your shoulders and mutter, "religious radical"... well, maybe I am being radical, but I'd like to explain why that "radical-ness" is consistent with  my Christian faith.  I'm not going to bash anyone here. I don't judge anyone who does celebrate Halloween. I just feel very strongly that for me to do so would be inconsistent with what I believe. Here's why: Halloween celebrates fear. You don't have...

 I was going to write a longer post yesterday... and then I got busy and forgot. Nonetheless, may your song today be a song of thankfulness to the One Who made us, saved us , and gave us the gift of music to praise Him with!

 So, today, you have another 'flashback link' from me. This was one of my earliest posts on this blog. In it I take a look at a Christian songwriter every Christian musician should know something about: Isaac Watts. If you are familiar with any hymns at all, you've probably heard at least one of his hymns. But how much do you really know about the man? Click here to learn a bit about this prolific hymn writer.

 I know. This is a music blog. I should be sharing a music video of 'O Canada.'    This is going to come across as odd to those who know me, and especially to those who have been at our house on Canada Day where I insisted that we absolutely had to go and sing our national anthem, but I've never once bothered looking up a video of 'O Canada.' And I keep thinking I should make one... but I never remember until it's June 29th and too late to slap something respectable together.     So, instead, enjoy reading the full four verses below. I love the last verse especially. (Copied from  Beyond the Rhetoric. ) O Canada! Our home and native land! True patriot love in all thy sons command. With glowing hearts we see thee rise, The True North strong and free! From far and wide, O Canada, We stand on guard for thee. God keep our land glorious and free! O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. O Canada! Where pines and maples gro...

 Good Friday, the day we commemorate history's darkest day, is good...  … because it is through the cross that we know just how much God loves us.     Enjoy the following music video, and God bless as you celebrate Christ's sacrifice and triumph!

 (The following is a piece of creative writing and should not be used as a reference for historical studies on the 12-tone system.)    There had been a time, a long time ago, when the tones knew they were not equal, and they were all right with that. In different contexts, they took on different roles. For example, C may take on the role of Do in C minor, grounding the piece, taking the lead role, being the one to set the tone and the one to close the piece. Or it may take the role of Ti in D flat major, made to showcase the D flat, creating that pull, that desire for home, occasionally adding just enough dissonance to highlight the consonance. Or it might function as Sol in F major, providing crucial support and strength to F so F could do what she needed to do without being crushed. The tones, as said, were perfectly fine with this arrangement. They understood that every role was equally important, even if not all roles were equal in what they did. Each embraced its uni...

 I'll be honest: I have a fascination with Disney music.    And, as a piano teacher to mostly small children, that can be a good thing. Especially for someone like me, who honestly has no idea what's hot in the music world at any given time. Classical is foreign to small ears -- and mostly out of their playing ability anyways. Disney songs provide a bridge between their world and mine.     So, what's so bad about that?     Every song, every piece of music, conveys a message, regardless of whether it has words or not. Where there are words, the message becomes crystal clear. If the message aligns with God's truth, great.     But when it doesn't... do we even notice? Photo by Mohammad Metri on Unsplash    I'm afraid that even the Christian subculture is guilty of not using enough discernment in this area.     Worse yet, I know that I have been guilty.     I took some of my favourite Disney...

At first, I struggled mentally to find a topic to post about. It would have been easy not to write at all, but it is Friday and New Year's Eve, and I felt that I probably should. But, as it stands, the inner ideals of the artist and the harsh realities of life stand in sharp conflict with each other. As such, I found it difficult to find something positive and encouraging to write about.     Then I remembered a conversation I had earlier this year, with one of my dad's friends from church, a man who has become sort of an "honorary uncle" to us young folks. It went something like this:    I mentioned that I had been very blessed -- my former teacher is one of the best-known figures in the Greater Edmonton music community. I think my words were, "Nearly everyone in the music community in our Edmonton knows the name of [my former teacher]."     "Oh," he replied, "just like someday the name Sarah Wiens will be known?"    I laughed and said, ...

    "O come let us adore Him,     Christ, the Lord!"   --  "O Come, All Ye Faithful," Attr. John F. Wade My good friend, Bethany Fehr, did this arrangement of "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus," and features as the lead singer and whistle-player here. In case you missed it, Bethany helped me  put one of the songs I'd written on YouTube  this last summer.  Merry Christmas! 

 Classical music lovers fall into two camps when it comes to Wagner: either they think he's awesome, or they think he's awful. Christians who are into classical music tend to completely shun him without completely knowing why. So then the question becomes, is this a fair case?     Growing up, my mom had a pretty good selection of classical music, but Wagner did not make her hit list. I hear rumours about this notorious composer, but then I hit Music History 3 and found that I was expected to actually study him. Of course, by the time one hits their ARCT in music theory, one has also amassed a collection of books that are not textbooks. Let me share with you what I learned about Wagner, and then we'll return to the question: Should Christians (or anyone else for that matter) listen to Wagner's music?    In order to answer that question, you have to know where you're going to draw the line as far as what music you will and won't listen to -- and why.  Mu...