BCM Blog

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.  :)

Morning Cup: Band Class

Ahh, Saved by The Bell... a good start to any morning!  I love this clip of the band playing, though I wish I could have found the full scene where the teacher says "Today class, I have to teach TWO music classes!" Oh, Bayside High, always breaking conventional rules of teaching!

Enjoy this clip, or go watch the full episode here, where you can groove to the bad-ass dance off at the Max at the end of the episode!

Morning Cup: All the Single Ladies Pt. II

A quick followup to yesterday's MC courtesy of BCJO horn player Lis Rubard (you should check out her band The Loom- its awesome!).  This is a mash up of Duke & Beyonce that is pure awesomeness!

Enjoy!

Morning Cup: All the Single Ladies

It's been awhile since I've posted a Morning Cup video.  In fact, I think half the videos are missing from previous MCs since the TypePad migration (guess I'll add that to list of to-do's).  But I've been having a pretty crappy morning... insomnia, bounced check, last of the coffee, the usual, and then I saw this video posted by virtual friend and leader of the VA based group Ombak, Bryan Hooten, and it cheered me up immensely. Well, I smiled at least.  

Some songs are just good.  I think this is one of them.  Beyonce's original is great, but I think these guys did a great job of making it even better.  But only because it was a good song to begin with.  In fact, its been stuck in my head ever since seeing it on Glee a couple weeks ago.  Football players dancing? That's a golden formula my friend:

Hope this brightens your day as it did mine!

Morning Cup: Harry Potter & the Mysterious Ticking Noise

This video may be 2 years old, but I was just introduced to it this summer when a camper in my Theory I class brought in the audio for our listening day.  The entire class not only knew it and sang along, but one camper even asked if we could make up our own version of the song.  I jumped on the chance to take a break from harmonic and melodic scales and work on rhythms.

I started off trying to have the kids conceive rhythms that I would then write on the board and we would read.  Turns out this took all the fun out of the game so I switched tactics, went to the piano and began to plop out a simple oom pah in C major.  We then preceded to go round robin around the room having each camper layer their own rhythm using fruit names (don't ask) on top of the collective song.  This was much more fun as they could improvise freely without having to figure out exactly what they were singing.  I then had them come up with  a couple of variations on their rhythm.  I told them to listen to the piano and when the chord changed they were to change variations. 

The whole exercise worked out pretty well.  Some kids were better at  it than others when it came to making up interesting rhythms or filling in space, etc.  Others really excelled at hearing the chord change and lead the class to the new variation.  Some of the kids were a little shy and I could barely hear them but as long as they were participating, that's all I cared about (I most definitely would have been one of the quiet ones!).  In the end it proved to be a great lesson in rhythmic improvisation and ear training.  Thanks Potter Puppet Pals!

In case you were wondering...

Ouch! Sorry pan flautists!

I got this in an email awhile back via ks and thought it was pretty funny. Though really, I think it would have been funnier, and more apt speaking as a composer who is hated by many alto sax players, if the flow chart referred to alto flute instead of pan flute!

While most would be wise to follow this chart's advise, here is one person who can safely rebel:

Morning Cup: Spontaneous Train Station Dancing?

Not quite... but still pretty cool!

Apparently...

VTM, a television station in Belgium, recently used a flash mob dance stunt to announce their newest reality television program “Op zoek naar Maria”. The promotion, similar to T-Mobile’s ad set in Liverpool St Station In London, is promoting the program’s search for an an actress to play the leading role in the The Sound of Music.

On Monday morning, March 23, commuters were introduced to the recording of Julie Andrews singing the song, “Do Re Mi”, as recorded for the 1965 musical, Sound of Music. 200 dancers strategically placed in the crowd began to dance as a remix of the track came through the speakers.

Would this stunt have worked at NYC's Grand Central Station? Or would disgruntled commuters pushed their way through the cheerful dancers? Either way, if this idea gets repeated here, I hope I'm present to witness it!

Morning Cup: An Evolution of Art

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo

This is truly amazing and quite inspiring! It's a bit long (in internet time), but perfect for a morning coffee break.

via @rainnwilson via SoulPancake

SoulPancake, by the way, is a pretty interesting blog that asks explores creativity and spirituality. Read the comments to this video on SoulPancake's site (click the via link above)- many interesting interpretations of the video.

Morning Cup: Learn 5/4

Recognizing 5/4 Timing in Music -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

Over your morning cup of coffee, I invite you to learn to recognize 5/4 timing in music... or not.

Don't know if this guy is for real or not (let's hope not) but you can check out his additional learn to play jazz piano videos here including how to play the "piano part" of "experimental jazz." Actually, I'll save you the trouble of a click; McBride advises you to just play like a child would and that's experimental jazz in a nutshell. (well... maybe he's not too far from the truth after all!)

Morning Cup: Mother of all Funk Chords

Pure Awesomeness!

Courtesy of Kuitman, a super-smart dude who collected YouTube clips and sequenced them together to form not only a brand new video, but a brand new song! Genuis!