Take advantage of free musical performances in the summer!

I've been enjoying a number of free (or almost free) concerts this summer. Our town, Newmarket, Ontario, and the neighbouring towns all have musical evenings in parks, and Jazz Festivals, and even musical entertainment at weekly farmers markets.

I'm recommending to musicians and to music-lovers to take advantage of these concerts. Musicians will get fans this way. I've bought a CD, and "friended" and "liked" and "retweeted" about a number of the acts that I enjoyed. Listeners will expand their musical taste to include genres they might not have considered.

These performances have given me and my children excellent experiences of seeing and hearing all kinds of live music with very little effort and no stress- short travel time, no dress-up time, no worries about being late or whether we can sit still or hold in our coughs or comments...

We've got lawn chairs and blankets ready to go in the family minivan at all times, just like the summers of soccer when my girls were little.

We love music and listen to the radio and our playlists on iTunes, watch YouTube videos and posts on other social networking sites, and we make music at home on our keyboard, guitar, ukulele and recorders. We sing and dance at home and when shopping. Music is a big part of our lives, and watching other musicians perform is special. The live experience leaves a greater impression than just hearing a song on the radio.

Live music, not a recording of a live concert, is special. When you're singing along, clapping and waving your hands, and applauding for a particularly good guitar solo, you make real lasting connections to the music and the artists. Often, the artists stick around to shake hands and share hugs with fans. And, they sell CD's and merchandise to provide physical souvenirs of these wonderful experiences.

I've said it before about classical music, in this post, that performers need to go out into the public, in flash mobs or free concerts, so that people can be introduced in a very positive way to music that they feel cautious about, or have preconceived negative feelings about. And, I'd like to extend that to jazz, funk, metal, any kind of music. Every kind of music takes some getting used to. Musicians have to be willing to go out there to summer music festivals and farmers markets to get their sound out there into the public ear.

In this article by Graeme McMillan on the Time website, See, Hear: Rediscovering the Pleasures of Live Music, the author argues that the communal experience of live music might be the best way to experience music. He says:

I feel like I’ve slowly come to understand how important the live music experience can be to bring us out of ourselves in terms of taste and expectation, and introduce us to something new, wrapped up in the more familiar guise of just going to a show. 

Passionate Performers: Mumford and Sons

If you haven't seen these guys perform, do it now! They're awesome! 

Here's a link to one of their YouTube videos, Little Lion Man . (Excuse the 4-letter word. I'm no fan of expletives but, you'll see.) Here's another with no colourful language, I Will Wait, live with the massive audience appreciating their efforts.

We have both of their albums in our house, on our electronic devices and on several playlists. The CD's sit ready to play in the kitchen where morning wake-up music is often Mumford and Sons. 

Wake up. Wiggle, dance, and play air banjo! Stomp your feet, sing along and feel uplifted. 

Once you've seen a video, you can always imagine them playing for you and you'll feel even better.

For a hot day: Jazz it up!

Jazz is cool.

When it's steamy outside, turn up the ceiling fans and play some Etta James or Ella Fitzgerald.

Here's a link to Ella singing Too Darn Hot.

Here's a link to Etta singing Take Me to the River

Play some air guitar and slide trombone. Groove a bit. You're going to feel cool.

Reading list: Music and the intersection of the brain and the soul

Oh wow! I just found a perfect reading list for myself! (Just in time for summer reading, yay!)

A Facebook post directed me to a Brain Pickings post called,
"7 Essential Books on Music, Emotion, and the Brain" by Maria Popova.

Isn't that just perfect!

Here's what the author says:

But perhaps even more fascinating than the subject of how music works is the question of why it makes us feel the way it does. Today, we try to answer it with seven essential books that bridge music, emotion and cognition, peeling away at that tender intersection of where your brain ends and your soul begins.


Here's the list:

1. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, Revised and Expanded Edition by Oliver Sacks
2. This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin
3. Music, Language, and the Brain by Aniruddh D. Patel 
4. The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century by Alex Ross
5. Music, The Brain, And Ecstasy: How Music Captures Our Imagination by Robert Jourdain
6. The Tao of Music: Sound Psychology - Using Music to Change Your Life by John M. Ortiz
7. Music and the Mind by Anthony Storr

I love that: "that tender intersection of where your brain ends and your soul begins." That's where music works its magic. 

Silly Fun: Veggie Tales' Rock Monster

The original song, Rock Lobster, by the B52's was fun and silly enough, but it gets even sillier when it's the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything performing their version of it.
In case you've never heard of Veggie Tales and the PWDDA, look them up. They're awesome. Really. The vegetables who are pirates are adorable.
Groove with Rock Monster. Dance with the monster! You'll feel great. Really!

Music Makes You Smarter: Graphic from OnlineCollege.org

Leap off the Music Springboard: Yesterday Once More

Music itself triggers emotional responses, but there's much more involved.

Sometimes its seems that everyone has the same emotional response to a piece of music, but then sometimes it's just you. Why? Because, you can't help but connect that melody to a memory.

You think a song is romantic because you danced a memorable slow dance to it in High School.
You think organ music is oppressive because you hated church when you were young.
You love that advertising jingle because your daughter danced to it when she could barely walk.
That heavy metal song makes you wistful, because it makes your moody teenage son dance.

The Carpenters song, Yesterday Once More was about listening to old songs and remembering the past.

When you're taking a walk down memory lane, it helps to have a soundtrack. Playing old songs will spark old memories. When you feel like you need a memory boost, make a playlist of old songs and leap off the music springboard into the past. Beware: those memories will come with all the emotions surrounding them too.

Every sha-la-la-la
Every wo-o-wo-o
Still shines
Every shing-a-ling-a-ling
That they're startin' to sing's
So fine.

All my best memories
Come back clearly to me
Some can even make me cry.

Just like before
It's yesterday once more.

Young, Cool and Worldly in Toronto

A song can make you feel a certain way, or it can trigger a memory that can make you feel certain feelings.
This song makes me feel happy and cool, and I remember shopping at a cool shop selling exotic stuff of some kind upstairs in the Eaton Centre in Toronto, hearing this song and staying to listen to several songs from the album, and then asking the salesperson for the name of the artist so I could buy the album. It was Ottmar Liebert and Luna Negra. I think I went directly to the record store and bought the cassette. (My daughters will laugh here, because I still call the place where you can buy music " the record store" and they think it's hilarious. They'll probably think it's equally ridiculous that I bought a tape at the record store.)
For some reason, that made me feel grown up and cool and worldly. This music was a flamenco-type fusion-ish new thing, and this Ottmar guy was so wonderfully exotic: American, he was born in Germany to a German-Chinese father and Hungarian mother, and into Spanish guitar. The music is relaxing and pleasant to listen to, great for dinner accompaniment, and also makes me want to dance. I bought the second album too, on tape.

Raffi: Cool It! Happy Earth Day!

Raffi is best known for giving the world Bananaphone and other cute and gentle children's songs, but he's also a really good guy who's using his talent and fame to promote individual and community action on a number of global themes. His website is called : Centre for Child Honouring! I love that.

In honour of Earth Day, I'm posting Raffi's cool new song, Cool It!

Cool It: The Global Cooling Song is a positive and fun song with a catchy chorus that you'll want to sing along with. And, hopefully you'll also be inspired to respond to his plea:


do it for the children, do it for yourself
everybody’s needed, everyone can help

we can do it, turn this world around, cool it cool it down
cool it, cool it, cool this planet down, cool it cool it down

Powerful emotional moment singing in NZ Parliament for equal marriage

This is awesome! Such a powerful, moving moment in history! The power was there, a great thing had been done, but the song brought out the full meaning and emotional power of it and underscored it like only music can. The spontaneous singing was stunning!

On April 17, 2013 New Zealand's Parliament voted in favour of equal marriage. After the vote was announced, people on the floor congratulated themselves and each other with applause and hugs and kisses and flowers. That alone was endearing. Parliament. Then, the people in the public gallery above broke out in song!!! The began to sing a Maori love song, such a beautiful thing to do, and such a haunting song that it made me cry. There will never be a more beautiful version of that song, Pokarekare Ana.

Perfect Kids' Song: Bananaphone

You've got to love Raffi. He's got great songs and he's a good guy. And, this is a perfect super-duper kids' song that you want to sing along with, and it makes you feel silly and goofy, just like a kids' song should.
Boop-a doop-a-doop! Ring-ring, ring-ring, ring-ring-ring, Bananaphone!

It's a-peeling!

He's committed to honouring children, and Raffi's music certainly speaks to the child in me.

Freaky Sunday School Video: Fun song, but do kids like it?

I'm not sure what to think about this Hillsong Kids song and video. I laughed. It was funny. And, I guess I understand what they're trying to say with Jesus being a bigger superhero than all the popular kids' heroes. But, I'm not really sure how I feel about it and how it makes me feel.

Boost your weight loss, immunity and happiness with music! 

By Natasha Turner, ND | Chatelaine

Here's another article about the benefits of music, this one from Chatelaine written by naturopathic doctor Natasha Turner. She talks about how music eases anxiety, decreases blood pressure, heart rate and breathing rate, reduces cortisol and increases endorphins. Music helps to keep you motivated in an exercise program and helps you to lose weight. It's good that she mentions that choice of music is important, not only tempo but your perception of how joyful or stressful it is. She offers some tips which I like:

1. Listen to music during your workouts. Pick up beat tempos to help you work harder and maximize your fitness results.

2. Play soothing music in your car to reduce tension, anxiety or pain. Combine chilled-out music with 15 minutes of down time at the end of your day. You will be amazed at how well this reduces cortisol levels - even in the midst of traffic.

3. Listen to music for an added mood and pain reducing boost when you go out in the morning for your daily dose of sunshine.

Vivaldi's Spring from the 4 Seasons: Glory, Glorious

Vivaldi's Spring

Happy Easter!
Wishing you new beginnings whenever you need them.

Another sobbing-in-public song for Good Friday

This sobbing-in-public story happened at church. It was a Confirmation Sunday, when young people become adult members of the church.

A young woman sang this song and I cried, and gasped and sobbed. It was so beautiful, that even thinking about it makes my eyes fill with tears.

Mary Did You Know is often sung at Christmas time, but I think Easter is more appropriate. And, it was very appropriate at that ceremony that celebrates the beginning of adulthood, the end of childhood.

On that Sunday, I knew all of the Confirmands. I had taught them Sunday School. I cried because they looked so grown-up in their special clothes and in their special roles on their celebration day. Who knows what they will be, what wonderful things they will do?

Of course, I cried for my babies. When I kissed their baby faces, I was kissing the face of God. When I see their beautiful almost-grown-up faces, I still see God. Who knows what they will be, what wonderful things they will do?

Benefits of Tequila: Removes shyness, enhances voice!

Yup! Listen to Tequila.

They always say alcohol is bad for singers, but there are some benefits.
It's certainly not a good idea to get drunk and then try to perform. We've seen a few rock stars try that and it's not pretty. But, one regular drink can be just the thing to reduce your inhibitions, and help you to sing out with feeling.
I used to tell my adult ESL students that a shot of something strong before class would probably help them to  loosen up and speak English better. When I was studying Linguistics at York University, I read about a study that measured the relationship between alcohol consumption and learning a language. They gave people different amounts of alcohol and then measured their performance in a second language, and the optimal amount was 1 1/2 ounces, an average shot.

Here's a link to an article about drinking and learning a new language.
I bet that would work for singing.

15 Studied Effects of Classical Music: It's really good for you!

This illustration is from the article 15 Studied Effects of Classical Music on Your Brain | Online PhD Programs which you can read by clicking on that link. (update: that link died and I can't find that article again! Sorry. And, now I don't have a way to acknowledge the creator of that image.) It's a great visual representation of what goes on when you listen or perform classical music, or any music, really. The article goes on to show how classical music is beneficial to our health and well-being in many ways, and gives scientific support. I wish that there were more studies done with different kinds of music. People don't all respond to music the same way, and different music can have similar benefits.

Happy St. Patrick's Day- Happy Irish Music in a bar

Now, this is music. Love the bar, the band, the dancing, clapping, hooting, everything. It's fun and happy and you just want to join in!

Gregorian Chant: Tranquility

According to Wikipedia, if you want to calm down, "conventional wisdom" prescribes Gregorian Chants:

In 2008, the Cistercian Monks of Austrian Heiligenkreuz Abbey released the CD Chant – Music for Paradise, which became the best-selling album of the Austrian pop charts and peaked #7 of the UK charts. In the US, the album was released under the title Chant – Music for the Soul and peaked at #1 on the Billboard classical charts.

It became conventional wisdom that listening to Gregorian chant increased the production of alpha waves in the brain, reinforcing the popular reputation of Gregorian chant as tranquilizing music.

When you follow the link to Alpha Waves, Wikipedia says this: 

Zen-trained meditation masters produce noticeably more alpha waves during meditation. This fact has led to a popular trend of biofeedback training programs for everyday stress relief.

So, when we listen to Gregorian Chants, we get more alpha waves and when we have more alpha waves we can be as calm as a Zen master meditating.  

Here is a link to a  video of a chant from the Cistercian Abbey Stift Heiligenkreuz in the Vienna Woods and there's a link to the Abby's website if you're interested in learning more.

The Gregorian Chants are not the only chants that are reputed to help us relax. If you search on YouTube, you can find all kinds of other chanting and they're all supposed to help us meditate, relax and become peaceful. 

Here is a video of Tibetan chanting:

Chanting is really just singing together. When people chant at a protest or at a soccer match or hockey game, they're definitely not trying to calm everyone down. Singing together is powerful for the singers and for those listening. I know that from singing in a choir and at church and at sports events.

The Gregorian chants and the Tibetan chants that people listen to when they want to relax are spiritual and have their own special power. 

Word Power: Imagine the power of music

This picture-quote that I saw posted on Facebook expresses the power of words, and advises us to choose our words carefully. 

It makes me think of all the people who are out there texting and posting every word that comes to mind, without thinking of the power of their words. It's cool that we are reading and writing more and more to express ourselves to communicate electronically, but the result is that a lot of stuff that would have gone unrecorded, lost to the wind as soon as it's out of the mouth, now has the potential to be kept and shared forever. The four-letter word that slipped out, the hateful words, angry words, unformed thoughts, careless things are out there reflecting on you and affecting others. That's the messy side of this power of words thing.

The awesome side of this is how it relates to music. Music has special powers. It can create smiles or frowns and generate laughs and tears. A melody can do that. So can the the lyrics. Add them together and include a powerful performance by a bunch of musicians, and the power increases exponentially!

When you are making music, be aware of the power you are wielding.

Think of the power of music when you choose what to listen to. I think it should be like choosing what you eat. Choose the things that will make you healthier most of the time and have some fun or scary or simply awful stuff too in moderation. If you're a parent, consider what you're feeding your children, what they're being exposed to, and how it will affect their health. 

Choose your music carefully.