BCM Blog

Happy New Year!

Clearly neither Julius Caesar nor Pope Gregory XIII ever had to start school in the fall, lest they would have opted for the calendar year to begin Sept. 1 rather than January 1.  To celebrate the new year in January always feels a little insincere as nothing is actually new.  Just a return to the same old post holiday season.

Surely I'm not the only person who feels eternally tied to the academic year.  It's hard to ignore the sense of newness that comes with the cooling fall weather.  New students, new classes, new concert series, new TV show seasons, new football season, new fall drinks at coffee shops! New goals to occupy the 10 months until the return of summer (the season that is too hot to be productive!). No more vacations- back to work, out of the hammock, nose to the grind! And of course, reflections of the last year and revisions for the next.

This last year was a flurry for me, not so much for this blog.  Leaving NYC last summer was both traumatic and relieving. Rome was... amazing. Leaving Rome was heartbreaking. Winter in DC was frustrating, but returning to NYC in the spring was, well, like coming home.  Gaining perspective is so ridiculously necessary, especially when you live in a place like NYC.

It's never been more clear to me now that NYC is where I belong. It doesn't capture my heart quite like Rome does, but it is where my heart belongs. And so I approach this new year with great enthusiasm! I'll be returning to the classroom, which is something I've been needing since my departure a few years back. (speaking of perspective- nothing like working with kids to gain that!)

I'm also very excited to be launching a new Bottomless Cup Music site! So while this entry is about beginnings, it is also a goodbye to this blog. Time for the next chapter for BCM, one that trades in my Carrie Bradshaw-like posts for resources and discussion that focus more on the readers than my inner thoughts. The site is not quite ready, but as soon as it is, this blog will see its final post announcing the new BCM!

This past year has done a number on me personally which is to say musically and therefore compositionally.  No need to dig into this now, but I see this next year dissolving or rather morphing the BCJO into something better and more refined.  I also have my sights (and sounds) focused on a secondary ensemble, but again… no spoilers!

With promises of more to come, I wish everyone out there a Happy New Year! Here's to music, coffee, family & friends, and productivity!

 

Hibernation Mode...

hibernation-robbieporter, originally uploaded by robbieporter.

The BCM Blog is currently in hibernation...

Be back soon!

Wishing You a Bottomless Cup of Holiday Cheer

Happy Holidays

&

Cheers to a warm and musical holiday season!

 

Roma... Rrroma-ma-ah

Were I to write my memoirs, one day far from now, and I just might, depending on how everything turns out, the organization of the chapters would be easy.  I would organize them by location.  That is how my memory is organized. Not by event, not by year nor age, but by location.  

Okinawa. I was born and lived in a little Okinawan village for a mere 5 weeks before my marine father was stationed back to Virginia.  Quantico.  This is the only house we lived in which I was an only child before my mother found roaches in my crib and said to hell with base housing and bought a townhouse in Woodbridge. Woodbridge.  My brother Kevin and sister Jessica joined the family, I have my first memories of pre-school and playing with these really awesome plastic dolls with clothes that popped on and off.  

You get the idea.

All in all, I've moved 12 times, not counting moves to new apts/houses within the same town and not always to a place I've never been before. I have in actuality lived in Woodbridge, VA, Fredericksburg, VA and Camp Lejeune, NC twice each, all on separate occasions.  If you add up all the years non-consecutively, I've lived in Fredericksburg the longest at 8 years, the state of Virginia 12 years followed closely by North Carolina at 10 years, with California at 3 years and Rhode Island at a meager 1 year.  This August made 6 years in New York City, narrowly beating out Greensboro, NC (5 years) for the longest I've ever lived in once place consecutively. So while leaving NYC has come somewhat naturally, it will without a doubt be the hardest place to leave.  It has, throughout these past 6 years, pushed itself into the highest ranking one person can have- the place that one calls home. 

NYC.  I remember my excitement when I moved to NYC in August of 2004, nervous to start the graduate program at the Manhattan School of Music, and overwhelmed by the seemingly dense vastness of the city.  As I got more comfortable with the more gritty parts of the city, I marveled at the fact that I could potentially go hear not one show, but a whole festival of music on any given night. And the food, oh the food!!! Indian, Korean, Thai, Pizza! I quickly learned to love the small bodegas and rejoiced when I no longer considered the subway system complex.  My out-of-town friends would ask when I was coming back to the south, yet I couldn't imagine ever living anywhere else.  But over the years, I fell into the cliche that is the jaded New Yorker.  And now, I feel suffocated, lost in the millions of dreamers sludging their way from subway line to subway line, searching for their one chance, their one big break that will make them shine just a little brighter than the masses.  What was once a fiery, passionate love affair, has dulled into humdrum and resentment. 

Rome. The next chapter.  Europe. A continent hardly known to this military brat full of new cultures, languages, foods, music and experiences to be had.  A city rich in history, food, and of course, vino! And even better, a city that is only a short cheap flight away from other history steeped cities.  If music is my biggest passion, travel is a close second.  I dream of figuring out a way to be a musical journalist- traveling to places and writing music to reflect my experiences.  It is in my soul to explore new places and learn everything possible about them. Living in NYC, you get glimpses at other cultures- a good Indian restaurant can seemingly transport you to southern India, or walk through Chinatown and you can almost imagine what Hong Kong might be like. But the experiences are brief as you jump on the 1 train home and are quickly reminded that you can be no other place but NYC.  But to live there, speak the language, eat the local fruits & veggies, relish in the history, hear the music... that is an experience that can not be replicated with a trip to Little Italy. Many would argue the same about living in NYC, and I would agree with them.  But after six years, and as I pass my 32nd birthday and realize how much younger I'm not getting, I feel the need to move on, if only temporarily. 

It's not you, it's me.  Since my excited Facebook announcement a few weeks ago that I was moving to Rome, many, an alarming many, have asked if it was because I was finally fed up with NYC. Wow, how we love to hate on NYC! But I would be lying if I said it had nothing to do with frustrations with the Big Apple.  Frustrations with the Education Department, the cost of living, lack of opportunity and certain aspects of the music scene have definitely been the cause of more than a few gray hairs over the past few years.  But, to blame it all on the city would be irresponsible.  NYC is tough, but doesn't pretend to be otherwise.  For as many walls I seem to repeatedly hit, I see others climb right over.  I have often compared NYC to a simple cup of coffee- it's addictive with the capability of being refined, invigorating, and inspiring, or contrarily bitter, weak, and downright depressing.  It's up to you how you wish to brew your cup, and only the clever and creative can overcome excuses such lack of resources or high overhead.  For six years I've been refining the fine art of NYC coffee, I think it's time for me to end this bad romance in return for a bottomless cup of Italian espresso! 

Cheesy coffee analogies and Lady Gaga references aside, I will say that I am making this move for a myriad of reasons, many quite personal that I don't care to delve into just yet.  I wish I could report that I had been given this great opportunity to work there and that was the reason for relocating.  But it's more like I'm taking advantage of a lack of opportunity here.  I have allowed New York to become stagnant.  I can not face another year of teaching private lessons to the spoiled suburban youth of Westchester, trying to decide between paying rent or having the band play another gig, all the while suffering a stress induced writer's block. I need to be shaken up, re-inspired,  breath new air, hear new things, taste new tastes.  I need to see new places, learn new things and meet new people.  I need to do what I've been doing my whole life, I need to move forward, I need to move!

The truth is, at its core, my life will be about the same.  I will still be writing, teaching, copying, and scraping together enough euros for rent.  Joseph, my boyfriend who is embarking on this adventure with me, and I will still probably continue our "loveshare" method of eating ("loveshare" being a term a lady at a nearby table at Chipotle dubbed when she saw us splitting a burrito, chips, and drink).  But it will be new and fresh, and hopefully that will be enough to jump start my passions that have been dulled by the daily grind of NYC.

It's a bit ironic, but upon my departure from NYC, I now consider myself a New Yorker.  I will from now on call NYC my home and plan to return to it as often as economically possible.  My sabbatical to Rome and possibly other European cities will not be forever- I don't want them to be.  I fully plan to return to NYC after this European tryst runs its course.  New York, like any good romance, will always be in my heart, the place I return to, the place I love and hate.  Rome will be my new residence, but New York will remain my home.

"Much needed for a Monday morning" ... or Tuesday, or any morning

bottomless cup of coffee, originally uploaded by Orbiting Sol.

Yes... I think this pic just about sums it all up!

When The Saints Go Marching

photo by JoeTaravella.

In honor of yesterday's New Orleans's Saints Superbowl win... and because next week is winter break here in NYC and I never assign homework over breaks... and because last weekend finished up recitals and I like to have easy lessons following recitals... but mostly because my most favorite beginner clarinet student asked me to bring in "something fun" for us to play in our next lesson and for her to practice over the break, I offer the newest BCM Beginner Solo/Duet/Trio: the classic "When The Saints Go Marching In."

Now, most people are familiar with the history of this tune:  An old slave spiritual used in New Orleans at first as a funeral dirge and later made popular by Louis Armstrong in the 1930's.  I like it because it is recognizable to most beginner students and with its melodic range of only a 5th, it is easily, albeit squarely, played by beginners.  However, there are those who regard this tune with some disdain.  Wikipedia, share your vast knowledge:

It is nicknamed "The Monster" by some jazz musicians, as it seems to be the only tune some people know to request when seeing a Dixieland band, and some musicians dread being asked to play it several times a night. The musicians at Preservation Hall in New Orleans got so tired of playing it that the sign announcing the fee schedule ran $1 for standard requests, $2 for unusual requests, and $5 for "The Saints". (This was in early 1960s dollars. By 2004 the price had gone up to $10.)

$10 to hear "When The Saints?!" I give it to you for free! It may not be the hippest version, but this solo/duet/trio should be easily played by your 1st-3rd year students:

PDFs & bundles are below the fold. (Note: All concert band instruments are in the concert key of Eb, the strings are in the key of A, and the recorder is in the key of G.) For a reminder on how this solo/duets/trios work, click here.  Enjoy!

The Creative Genius

Creativity frustrates me.  It is a fickle friend prone to mood changes like no woman I know (including myself!). Attempts to summon and control it are futile and it has an odd sense of humor as to when it chooses to show up (yes, I was extremely creative when it came to making and decorating cookies this past Christmas, but why is my writing this week so boring?).

Perhaps creativity is like a muscle that has to be flexed and used often in order to be most efficient. Its true, my writing is a bit of a roller coaster with ups of mad 10+ hour writing sessions and downs of nothing at all for weeks.  For years now I have been trying to achieve a balance in my composition practice.  Write everyday, just like practicing, is what the greats supposedly say. Stephen King reportedly writes 10 pages a day, even on holidays and birthdays.  Hemingway is famous for his 500 words a day.  I don't know any stats for composers, but I like the idea of writing everyday, no matter what.  And it would make sense that like say running every day, your creative muscles may be sore and achy at first, but would then adapt and flourish.  

I, like so many, am vulnerable to the seduction of New Year's Resolutions.  So this week (yes, one week late to the new year) I arose early every morning and after an hour or so of coffee and piano, dug into a new piece.  Somewhat atypical to my usual writing habits, the first few days were great and I got a good minute, minute and a half into the piece, but now, as the composition needs to expand and expound, I find myself lacking in a major way the creativity to do so.   This makes sense; I'm only a few days back into it, I shouldn't expect grand ideas to be pouring out of my pores- I would never run a sprint workout my first week back.  But oh how little my patience is! And instead of pushing through it, I find myself pondering creativity and the creative process. 

And I have two immediate thoughts. 

The first is a flashback of an interview with the Indigo Girls in the amusing crossword documentary Wordplay.  Amy Ray says that solving a crossword gives you “a sense of faith that writer’s block is not really real.” As in if you spend enough time working out clues, you can solve the crossword; same thing with music.  With enough time the melody, harmony, form, are all solvable. That has always stuck with me. 

The second thought is of a video I saw on a Virgin America flight (of all places) last spring.  It was a talk by author Elizabeth Gilbert on this very subject of creativity.  For those who are unfamiliar, Elizabeth Gilbert rose to fame a few years ago after releasing the memoir Eat, Pray, Love.  While I loved the concept of the book, I did not consider it a great read.  An interesting side note, Ms. Gilbert was also the inspiration of the movie Coyote Ugly.  Her article for GQ magazine, "The Muse of the Coyote Ugly Saloon," reflections of her time as a bartender at the Coyote Ugly Saloon was the premise (loosely) for the movie, and was actually a quite enjoyable read, but I digress. 

While I wasn't crazy about her book, I was bored on my flight and am always interested in other creative types' thoughts on these things so I ordered another drink and settled into my semi-comfy seat to listen to Ms. Gilbert muse on the creative genius.  By the end of the 20 minutes I found myself curious, inspired and relieved.

While Ms. Gilbert touches on the madness of artists, the pressures, and the expectations, what I found most interesting was the ancient concept of an external genius.  From the transcript:

And that search has led me to ancient Greece and ancient Rome. So stay with me, because it does circle around and back. But, ancient Greece and ancient Rome -- people did not happen to believe that creativity came from human beings back then, OK?People believed that creativity was this divine attendant spirit that came to human beings from some distant and unknowable source, for distant and unknowable reasons. The Greeks famously called these divine attendant spirits of creativity "daemons." Socrates, famously, believed that he had a daemon who spoke wisdom to him from afar. The Romans had the same idea, but they called that sort of disembodied creative spirit a genius. Which is great, because the Romans did not actually think that a genius was a particularly clever individual. They believed that a genius was this, sort of magical divine entity, who was believed to literally live in the walls of an artist's studio, kind of like Dobby the house elf, and who would come out and sort of invisibly assist the artist with their work and would shape the outcome of that work.

So brilliant -- there it is, right there that distance that I'm talking about -- that psychological construct to protect you from the results of your work. And everyone knew that this is how it functioned, right? So the ancient artist was protected from certain things, like, for example, too much narcissism, right? If your work was brilliant you couldn't take all the credit for it, everybody knew that you had this disembodied genius who had helped you. If your work bombed, not entirely your fault, you know?Everyone knew your genius was kind of lame. And this is how people thought about creativity in the West for a really long time.

I'm not responsible? It was my muse?!? I love that idea! Then again... perhaps I am just looking for excuses.  Ms. Gilbert then touches on controlling the creativity and relates this story:

And for me, the best contemporary example that I have of how to do that is the musician Tom Waits, who I got to interview several years ago on a magazine assignment. And we were talking about this, and you know, Tom, for most of his life he was pretty much the embodiment of the tormented contemporary modern artist, trying to control and manage and dominate these sort of uncontrollable creative impulses that were totally internalized.

But then he got older, he got calmer, and one day he was driving down the freeway in Los Angeles he told me, and this is when it all changed for him. And he's speeding along, and all of a sudden he hears this little fragment of melody, that comes into his head as inspiration often comes, elusive and tantalizing, and he wants it, you know, it's gorgeous, and he longs for it, but he has no way to get it. He doesn't have a piece of paper, he doesn't have a pencil, he doesn't have a tape recorder.

So he starts to feel all of that old anxiety start to rise in him like, "I'm going to lose this thing, and then I'm going to be haunted by this song forever. I'm not good enough, and I can't do it." And instead of panicking, he just stopped. He just stopped that whole mental process and he did something completely novel. He just looked up at the sky, and he said, "Excuse me, can you not see that I'm driving?" (Laughter) "Do I look like I can write down a song right now? If you really want to exist, come back at a more opportune moment when I can take care of you. Otherwise, go bother somebody else today. Go bother Leonard Cohen."

And his whole work process changed after that. Not the work, the work was still oftentimes as dark as ever. But the process, and the heavy anxiety around it was released when he took the genie, the genius out of him where it was causing nothing but trouble, and released it kind of back where it came from, and realized that this didn't have to be this internalized, tormented thing. It could be this peculiar, wondrous, bizarre collaboration kind of conversation between Tom and the strange, external thing that was not quite Tom.

Interesting... In fact the whole thing is rather interesting and I highly encourage you to pause for 20 minutes and consider her ideas (which in themselves are not new or innovative, just explained in a very accessible way). I'm very curious to hear what others think of this concept of the creative genius and the idea of "muling" through 10 pages, 500 words, or 32 bars a day in order to allow it to speak.  

For more on Ms. Gilbert's talk, the TED talk series, or if you'd prefer to simply read the transcript, click here. 

BCM's Beginner's Book of Easy Solo/Duet/Trio Music: "Jingle Bells"

BCM's Beginner Solo/Duet/Trio series is back for the holidays!

For a reminder of how these work, click here, otherwise head below the fold for links to PDFs for the following instruments: flute, oboe, clarinet, alto sax, tenor sax, bari sax, trumpet, french horn, low brass, violin, and recorder. 

Jingle those secular bells!

Despite my intense love for Holiday music, one of the most frustrating times of the year for a music teacher is December.  Trying to coordinate so many different holidays into one concert or music lesson can be extremely frustrating.  Christmas! Hanukkah! Kwanzaa! Eid!  Festivus for the rest of us! How many of us have been told by administrators that in order to perform a song from one holiday we have to do songs from all holidays?

This is why so many music teachers have moved their mid-year concerts to January!  Either that or focus on the increasingly popular "winter" songs which have been popping up on recent pop-star holiday CDs.  Older favorites such as "Sleigh Ride," "Winter Wonderland," or "Frosty the Snowman" are safe bets as they focus on the winter season rather than the winter holidays (sorry to all those folk in the southern hemisphere!).

Unbeknown to most people, the uber-popular song "Jingle Bells" also falls into this category.  Originally titled "One Horse Open Sleigh," this tune is usually associated with Christmas, however it was composed by James Lord Pierpont  (uncle to the famed financier and banker John Pierpont Morgan) for Pierpont's brother's Sunday School class for Thanksgiving!  The song was so popular that it was sung again at Christmas, the holiday which it remains forever associated with despite the fact that the lyrics have absolutely nothing to do with candy canes, Santa Claus, or the baby Jesus! The song instead narrates an evening of fun in a sleigh, falling down, and giving love advice!

The all knowing Wikipedia explains these secular lyrics:

When James Lord Pierpont's song was originally published in 1857,^[1] it had a different chorus melody, which was more classical, even Mozart-like.^{[citation needed]} The 1857 lyrics differed slightly from those we know today. (The original words are given below in square brackets.) It is unknown who replaced the chorus melody and the words with those of the modern version. The song was reprinted in 1859 with the revised title of "Jingle Bells, or the One Horse Open Sleigh."^[2]

The first verse and chorus are the most often sung (and remembered) section of "Jingle Bells":

Dashing through the snow

In a one-horse open sleigh

O'er the fields we go

Laughing all the way

Bells on bobtail^a[›] ring (Or Hear our voices ring)

Making spirits bright

What fun it is to laugh and sing (Or What fun it is to ride and sing / Oh, what fun it is to sing)

A sleighing song tonight

(chorus)

|: Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way;

Oh! what fun [joy] it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh.

Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way;

Oh! what fun [joy] it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh.:|

Music historian James Fuld notes that the "the word jingle in the title and opening phrase is apparently an imperative verb."^[3] However, it is commonly taken to mean a certain kind of bell.

Although less well known than the opening, the remaining verses depict high-speed youthful fun. In the second verse the narrator takes a ride with a girl and loses control of the sleigh:

A day or two ago

I thought I'd take a ride

And soon, Miss Fanny Bright

Was seated by my side,

The horse was lean and lank

Misfortune seemed his lot

He got into a drifted bank

And then we [And we—we] got upsot^b[›].

|: chorus :|

In the next verse (which is often skipped), he falls out of the sleigh and a rival laughs at him: Note the incorrect form of the verb "lie." The event is being told using the past tense and should be "lay." List of commonly misused English words

A day or two ago,

The story I must tell

I went out on the snow,

And on my back I fell;

A gent was riding by

In a one-horse open sleigh,

He laughed as there I sprawling lie,

But quickly drove away.

|: chorus :|

In the last verse, after relating his experience, he gives equestrian advice to a friend, who then picks up some girls, finds a faster horse, and takes off at full speed:

Now the ground is white

Go it while you're young,

Take the girls tonight

and sing this sleighing song;

Just get a bobtailed bay

Two forty^c[›] as [for] his speed

[and] Hitch him to an open sleigh

And crack! you'll take the lead.

|: chorus :|

So there you go! Jingle Bells is officially safe for everyone, despite religious differences.  Even better is the fact that Jingle Bells has a 5 note melody and is easily played by most beginner students!

For more info on the Jingle Bells story visit the American Music Preservation website or of course, the all knowing Wikipedia entry.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Morning Cup: Old Pappy Jazz Band

Saw this video last night on Twitter courtesy of @reneeyoxon and something about it just made me smile.  I hadn't done a Morning Cup video in while and haven't had much time to actually blog anything recently so I thought I'd share this. 

Hope it brings a smile to your face, too.  :)