Patrick Henry Hughes - Transforming "Disabilty" into Endless Possibilities

Thanks to my hair stylist for this inspiring clip about Patrick Henry Hughes. This phenomenal young man is blind and has some condition that severely limits his movement. He travels in a wheel chair and is unable to stretch out his arms.He plays a wonderful version of Debussy's Clair de Lune and plays trumpet in a university marching band. Yes - a marching band!

Here's the clip:

As the newscaster says, "Patrick Hughes plays so that we might hear the music of opportunity and the sound of potential."

What an inspiration to us all.

(c) 2010 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

More Exercises for Music through the Ages Exploration

This is becoming more and more enjoyable as the days go by. I stumbled upon a new approach towards the end of the week for the Music through the Ages Exploration: comparing and contrasting the evolution of a genre through the decades.

Angie, a high school student, decided to explore pop at her lesson. She picked Kalafina, a Japanese band formed in 2007. She contrasted and compared that to ABBA, the 70s pop/disco group from Sweden. Finally, we came back to North America with Celine Dion, the pop sensation from the 80s - today. We had a great discussion about music texture, timbre and compared and contrasted pop not just from the 70s to today, but from one continent to the next.

Today, some of my students explored Bee Gees, ABBA, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Elise Estrada, UVERWorld, The Eagles, Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley Cyrus and Merle Haggard. Regardless whether it was young Mia or elementary student Emma, we were able to have intelligent conversations on:

• instrumentation/timbre: My students dutifully reported that country music still uses primarily voice, guitar and percussion and that there are more crossover artists these days. Those crossover artists have more electronic music sounds and "sugar pop" drum grooves. They added that pop/rock has gone more electronic.

• the development of the music videos: They express a great appreciation for Michael Jackson's and Madonna's pioneering contributions.

• the evolution of dance in live performances: "They just stood there and sang in the 70s. There's more dancing and acting now."

• the deterioration of melodic shape, dynamic contrast and rhythmic variance: Some were quick to notice that the melodies are getting flatter and that the rhythms are getting more basic. Ostinato seems to be the modus operandi. As for dynamics, "everything's louder", "it's just one level" and "they yell more" were popular comments.

As for me, I'm happy to report that I sill know the lyrics to Billie Jean, Material Girl, Dancing Queen and most of Desperado.

[October 29, 2009 update] My singing teacher recently said that today's country is yesterday's rock.

Bird Who Loves Ray Charles

Here is something to lighten one's spirits. It's a bird who likes jiving to Ray Charles. Thanks to my student Molly for sharing this:

Enjoy! (c) 2009 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

Music - medicine for the heart, mind and soul

Thank you to my friend and colleague Sharon Omura for sharing this with me. This is the Welcome Address that Karl Paulnack, Director of Music Division at the Boston Conservatory delivered to students and their parents in 2004.It's a moving speech on why art matters and more specifically, why music matters. There are many quotes I like in his speech. This is just one of them:

"If we were a medical school, and you were here as a med student practicing appendectomies, you'd take your work very seriously because you would imagine that some night at two AM someone is going to waltz into your emergency room and you're going to have to save their life. Well, my friends, someday at 8 PM someone is going to walk into your concert hall and bring you a mind that is confused, a heart that is overwhelmed, a soul that is weary. Whether they go out whole again will depend partly on how well you do your craft. "

He shared a touching story about the most important concert of his life, which took place in a nursing home in a small Midwestern town a few years ago. A war veteran came to him after hearing Aaron Copland's Sonata and said, "How does the music do that? How did it find those feelings and those memories in me?" The piece brought back one particular memory regarding a fellow pilot. Only afterwards did the war vet learn that the piece was dedicated to a fallen pilot who fought in WWII.

Click here to go to Karl Paulnak's speech.

Here's the videos of the piece that moved the war veteran:

The second movement especially makes the heart weep.

If you'd like to add Copland's Sonata for Violin and Piano to your music collection, click on the image below:

Now if you'd like to learn this piece, check it out here:

look inside

The Copland Violin Collection 13 Pieces for Violin and Piano. Composed by Aaron Copland (1900-1990). Boosey & Hawkes Chamber Music. Classical. Softcover. 126 pages. Boosey & Hawkes #M051105786. Published by Boosey & Hawkes (HL.48019947).

Piano Fight

Although not quite as violent as the Violin Death Fight posted on The Collaborative Piano Blog, this is still pretty funny.

(c) 2009 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.