There is a longing in me, deep down, to write. I want to share ideas, encourage, inspire, console, comfort, love...through my words. I aim to do this with my piano playing, too, and I think that at times the music is far more effective than any word I might speak with my mouth.
I want to do better at both this year - playing and speaking my words. So once again, after a long respite, I return to this blog, hoping something I write might "speak" to you.
Since it is a New Year, full of promise and possibility, I have been dreaming again. My main goal this year (besides living well my roles of wife and mother and Christ-follower), is to record a CD! It has been a long time coming, but I am determined to make it happen THIS year. Mainly because of a birthday milestone of mine (ahem), but also because every Christmas I receive a few notes saying how much my friends enjoy listening to my Christmas music. Somehow it speaks to them...and I want to continue speaking in this way as long as I am able to play.
So...the program is set and I am back again at the piano, striving to spend a little time each day doing something towards my goal. That means I am sometimes at the keyboard, working out fingerings, bringing music up to speed, memorizing...sometimes at the computer with my score listening to others' performances, making notes, analyzing chord structures and form...sometimes listening completely outside of my program to find inspiration (Currently I'm listening through a list of pieces showcased on this season's UW President's Piano Series)...and sometimes looking up recording how-tos on YouTube, playing with my Zoom recorder, and researching the best way to produce, package, and market the new CD.
I've decided all of this "counts." It's easy for me to feel like I haven't accomplished anything if I haven't been at the piano on a given day. But in reality, there are a lot of pieces that make up me as a whole musician, and so for this year, I've decided any bit of music "work" that I do in terms of moving ahead with this CD and in furthering my "wholeness" as a musician will count.
(And that includes writing this blog...so I can check that "accomplished" box today!)
In reality, of course, I need to be at the keys, head down, in the music much of the time. But in giving thought to the whole creative process, there are a lot of "writer's block" moments that I have simply because I waste time and energy on things like procrastination and lamenting "not having practiced today." I want to keep the creative momentum/drive/inspiration/muse going so that it fuels this project and my playing, in a positive way.
And so, onward! There is much to be done!
I want to do better at both this year - playing and speaking my words. So once again, after a long respite, I return to this blog, hoping something I write might "speak" to you.
Since it is a New Year, full of promise and possibility, I have been dreaming again. My main goal this year (besides living well my roles of wife and mother and Christ-follower), is to record a CD! It has been a long time coming, but I am determined to make it happen THIS year. Mainly because of a birthday milestone of mine (ahem), but also because every Christmas I receive a few notes saying how much my friends enjoy listening to my Christmas music. Somehow it speaks to them...and I want to continue speaking in this way as long as I am able to play.
So...the program is set and I am back again at the piano, striving to spend a little time each day doing something towards my goal. That means I am sometimes at the keyboard, working out fingerings, bringing music up to speed, memorizing...sometimes at the computer with my score listening to others' performances, making notes, analyzing chord structures and form...sometimes listening completely outside of my program to find inspiration (Currently I'm listening through a list of pieces showcased on this season's UW President's Piano Series)...and sometimes looking up recording how-tos on YouTube, playing with my Zoom recorder, and researching the best way to produce, package, and market the new CD.
I've decided all of this "counts." It's easy for me to feel like I haven't accomplished anything if I haven't been at the piano on a given day. But in reality, there are a lot of pieces that make up me as a whole musician, and so for this year, I've decided any bit of music "work" that I do in terms of moving ahead with this CD and in furthering my "wholeness" as a musician will count.
(And that includes writing this blog...so I can check that "accomplished" box today!)
In reality, of course, I need to be at the keys, head down, in the music much of the time. But in giving thought to the whole creative process, there are a lot of "writer's block" moments that I have simply because I waste time and energy on things like procrastination and lamenting "not having practiced today." I want to keep the creative momentum/drive/inspiration/muse going so that it fuels this project and my playing, in a positive way.
And so, onward! There is much to be done!