In time of grieving

'Listening to Sara Groves on Grooveshark.com  ... a little boy from our local community died this past weekend.  I don't know the family well, but I know many people who know them.  Some of my piano students are best friends with James and his siblings.  The whole community is grieving.  I'm listening to Sara Groves because I find her authentic expressions of faith (and questioning) very consoling in times of suffering.  Lord, please hold and console James' family and friends while they grieve.  May they eventually feel the peace and joy of knowing James' Joy in You, and meanwhile, may they feel the life-sustaining support of their friends.  Bless them, Lord.  Bless the whole community with Your Gracious Spirit.

Blogalogue For Musicians

Listening to music is like re-energizing my battery!  I'm listening to music (recorded or live) nearly all the time!  At the moment I'm listening to Dean Martin's CD Amore.  I usually put on a CD in the morning that suits my husband's "mood" request!  Today he asked for "something upbeat!"  Later in the day I tend to put on whatever helps me think!  Other times I will seek out multiple renditions of a particular piece of piano repertoire  I've assigned a student, hoping to find examples I can share w/ them as good examples to emulate.  I almost never offer a student just one example:  I want them to be able to compare and contrast options, so that even if they are inordinately influenced by one in particular, they will have made some sort of choice, even if only that of preference.

When I was in college, my piano professor had all of his students keep a listening journal.  He actually read these journals and commented on them from time to time.  I've been encouraging a few of my students to do the same.  This blog is an experiment to see if I can foster more interest in writing about music if I invite my students to join me in a blogalogue (blog-dialogue)! :)