I have a book of songs which were written for the various adaptations of Jane Austen novels to screen. Namely the 1995 Pride & Prejudice with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle and Sense & Sensability with Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman(first celebrity crush right there. Just going to point that out. Because I’m proud of 8 year old me), Emma Thompson, and Hugh Grant. It also contains the music for Persuasion, a book which I have read but not seen the movie adaptation of. I was like “what the what I’m bored I’m going to sightread.” So I played the theme from Persuasion(Follow the link. Just do it. Or the next bit may not make sense.)

Now if there is anything in music that is a dividing factor for a lot of pianists, it’s simultaneous triplets and couplets. If you followed the link like I told you, that’s the times when one rhythm is slightly behind the other…. or in plainer terms, basically one hand is playing three notes in the time that the other hand is playing two. Whenever I mention that I love playing triplets on couplets or vice versa I either get a response of “Yeah I know riiiight!!!!” or “What the heck is wrong with you, you nut job.” Playing them is tricky. But it’s so beautiful!

Back to Jane Austen, I really hate the Keira Knightley version. The new version. The barely Austen version. It’s just really suck. For someone like me who practically has P&P memorized, it’s almost sacrilege to like that movie. One time I actually wanted to watch it. Joanna and I made fun of it the whole time. It was great. However, there is one and only one thing that it has going for it. The soundtrack.

Take for example Dawn.

SO MANY TRIPLETS AND COUPLETS I’M GOING TO DIE!!!!!!

That’s all I had to say. I just wanted to express my love for crazy 8th notes.

When my sister Anna was a wee lassie she learned a piano song. Her piano teacher photocopied one of her pieces and gave it to Anna as a gift. Piracy? Maybe. But probably not considering what I am about to tell you.

This piece, which I photocopied the photocopy of, is in fact Benjamin Godard’s La Lanterne Magique III (Opus 66) No. 6.- Marcel Le Huguenot.
I have searched high and low on the interwebs and I have found naught of this piece save that it exists.

Part of me is thrilled, like “I’ve played this song and only one other living individual has ever played it!” and the other part(the overwhelming part) is deeply saddened that the world at large will never experience the brilliance of this piece.

On top of this sadness is a deep desire to get my hands on all six pieces in La Lanterne Magique III… or rather the other five that I don’t possess. Although my photocopy has a lot of handwritten notes on it. I haven’t much hope. I am so sad right now.

The philosophy I’m going to talk about today is half formed in my mind and it might not get much farther than that throughout the post, but it’s Monday and I’m lazy. As a piano teacher and a musician I’ve been thinking about my philosophy in teaching a lot lately(and by a lot I mean in the shower.) It’s tricky knowing what is important to teach and what can go by the wayside. What will be carried on in their musical studies and what will eventually be worthless.

I teach from Faber and Faber’s Piano Adventures. The reasons for this are threefold.

1. I learned from them(;)) so I’m familiar with all the songs and I don’t humiliate myself too much when I play the teacher duets with the kids. haha

2. The songs are downright fun(as a result of…)

3. They emphasize the universal rules and techniques of music that aren’t tied to one specific instrument.

It’s a fact that every piano teacher has had to or will have to face: Most piano students move on to other instruments once they get older.

Ouch.

As a result I spend less time focusing on piano mechanics and technique and focus more on musical expression and law. I want my students to be able to sightread notes and dynamics and be able to apply it on the first attempt. I want my students to know the mathematics of note values, rest values, time signatures, etc.

When learning the wrist float off, the mechanical action of the wrist is not important. What is important is the feel of the song. The grace of the music affecting the motion of your body. Having a definitive way of communicating that the phrase is done. Hopefully your hand looks like a jellyfish in the process…. but really it’s just the breath between sentences.

Anyways. My end goal is that if/when my students leave my studio in pursuit of other, more illustrious instruments, they will have a base that will make the transition easy.

The true beauty of learning an instrument is the discipline you learn. You practice every day. You work a piece up for the scrutiny of all when you have recitals. You get in the habit of processing a lot of information in the space of a second. You learn to take criticism and pick yourself up and make yourself better because of it(Something you don’t learn in a large classroom.) Not to mention hand-eye coordination. These skills aren’t specific to music. You can take these skills into your life and apply them in every kind of situation. Send your kids to learn an instrument! (Start rant)And if the teacher you pick doesn’t spend any time on theory, you’re wasting your time and money!(End rant)

I shall end my post with some Jane Austen.

So! I shall end an old maid and teach your ten children to play their instruments and embroider cushions very ill!(Rebekah)

Well the other day I sat down and sightread some stuff and I’ve rekindled my love of piano..

Well yesterday I cut my fingernails too short and now the tips of my fingers hurt really bad.

Busting my butt over this chord.

I’m clearly insane.

I haven’t made any secret of the fact that I hate that song. In fact, I point it out at every opportunity possible. But I feel like I spew hatred and I don’t give any reason behind it besides name calling, and that is wrong. So here are my reasons why I hate that song. After I am through with those reasons I will tell you why I hate all their other songs. Then I will tell you the few songs that I can stand…

REASONS WHY I HATE “IF WE ARE THE BODY” BY CASTING CROWNS

1. What Audacity to think that God’s hands don’t/can’t move when the “church” is idle. God, in all his power and might, the author and perfecter, the sovereign King, can’t move unless his people move. Since God is somehow tied to those who speak his name. SPEAK, not necessarily follow for who even is the church?

Which leads to

2. What blindness to call the people who aren’t moving God’s body! The message of the song is “Hey, Christian! get off your lazy bumsicle and further the kingdom of God!” but what it really should be is “Hey severed hand, reconnect to the head!”

Here’s how the body works. You have your brain, which is inside your head, and the brain controls the entire rest of the body, voluntary and involuntary movement. If there’s something wrong with the head, then the body can’t move, and if the thing that is meant to move is cut off from the head it can’t move.

So here we have two reasons here why the body isn’t moving

a. There’s something wrong with the head(The audacity! God is perfect. This can’t be the reason!)

b. The body has been cut off from the head.(Now there’s an idea. Maybe the church isn’t really the church. Maybe it’s just a rotting body part lying abandoned on the side of the road, hmmm?)

In conclusion: If we are the body then we are moving. If we are not part of the body then we cannot move. Therefore if you are not moving it’s either because the head does not wish you to move or you aren’t actually a part of the body. Who am I to know God’s plan, so I’m not going to tell you you’re operating outside of God’s plan by not moving because I don’t know. But when it says in the bible “As you are going, make disciples of the world” well…. you can read that how you will. But the point I’m trying to make is that those who belong to God cannot help but be used by Him.

REASONS WHY I DON’T LIKE CASTING CROWNS

1. From a purely musical standpoint, the lead singer’s voice is annoying and the harmonies are predictable. on top of that, the lyrics are bland and overused(seriously, how many times do you have to say “Gives herself/yourself away” in an album?)

2. All of their popular, original songs are deprecating to the church and display a gross mischaracterization of the God of the Bible. Not only in the song I mentioned above, but also in other songs. I feel they want to convey a sense of urgency when it comes to loving the lost, but they completely fail at conveying urgency and instead alienate Christians and treat God with a flippancy that is disgusting.

Now I understand that only a few of their songs have these issues, but you have to understand where I’m coming from here. I am a borderline Calvinist in that I believe that God’s will will be done no matter what we can do. Who are we to thwart God’s plan? To quote Mordecai “If you refuse salvation for the Jews will come from somewhere else, but as for you and your family…” So I pretty much disagree with the whole premise of the recent missions movement in music. I don’t share the gospel because it’s my duty, I share the gospel because I can’t not. Listening to some lukewarm song about telling the world about Jesus isn’t going to get me fired up. Some song guilt tripping me into a misguided conversation isn’t going to help God’s cause. What does help is people who are so on fire about the character of God that they can’t help but preach. Cut the crap and praise God, folks.

SONGS BY CASTING CROWNS I LOVE

1. Who am I(This song portrays reverence for God. Which I appreciate.)

2. Praise You in this Storm(again. Reverence)

3. The Voice of Truth(The focus is on God during this song. yes, it has elements of self gratulation, but the focus is that God gives us strength.)

4. Any song they covered. So anything not actually written by them.

It doesn’t matter how I felt
I don’t care how I’ve been
I’m happy now and it feels good
la la la la la la laaaaaa

And this is why I don’t write lyrics.

RANT OF THE DAY!

Have you ever noticed that christian music is NEVER catchy? You know it’s all good for worshipping and all and I love worship music…. but…. sometimes I just wanna dance. Ya know? You can’t dance to christian music. You need a nasty beat for dancing and christians don’t believe in drums.

Basically I love me some secular music. There is no christian counterpart to Michael Buble or T-Pain…. NONE.

Also. Why can’t more male singers be like Michael Buble? Seriously. He’s Frank Sinatra reincarnated. How sexy is that? And I’m pretty sure he’s 100% heterosexual. Win! What happened to good old fashioned love songs? I like how Michael Buble has upbeat songs that aren’t merely about getting it on like Donkey Kong. If you know what I mean ;o

I’m pretty sure when Jason Mraz came out with “I’m yours” It completely changed what I like in music AND the amazing thing is that I found a christian song that is similar in sound and completely doctrinally true in lyrics. LOOOVEE

I’m Yours
Yours to Take

Yep…. Love. ALSO Good christian band that doesn’t get any credit at all from the lame sauce christian media.(Those media people just can’t get it right ever)

Remember this song? LOve love love love love.

And then there are all those “Pseudo-christian” bands that all purists hate that are really good and get their doctrine right more then the supposedly good bands(cough casting crowns cough)(RAGE RAGE RAGE RAGE HATE CASTING CROWNS!!!!!!!!) i.e. Switchfoot, Thousand Foot Krutch, Kutless…. I love these bands…. such good lyrics…. and people rage about how they don’t ever actually say the name of Jesus…. Hogwash in my opinion. Jesus is written all over their songs. You just have to know his names.

Just an update on my life. Please don’t pin me for whining, I am just relating what’s going on. Five weeks ago yesterday(September 26th) I was told that I have tendonitis in both wrists. Four weeks ago yesterday(Sunday, October 3rd) I fell down the stairs and presumably broke my toe. Three weeks ago today(Monday, October 11th) my brother John left for Marine boot camp. In the near future my sister Rebekah will be moving up to Colombus, Nebraska. Since these things happened I have been having a hard time coping. It seemed to me that everything in my life was collapsing in on me.

The tendonitis has wiped out all piano. No playing for Sunday morning worship, No playing for Youth worship, No personal practice, No Winter recital, No taking notes in class, No writing stories. I initially thought it would only take a few weeks to heal. It’s been 4 weeks since I cut a large portion of these things out of my life, and still the tendons give me pain and wear out easily. At this point I’m having a crisis. I don’t know if my wrists will ever heal to the point where I can pursue a degree in piano. The 2 hour daily practicing requirement might be a hindrance in getting into and staying in UNL’s music program. Praise God I can sing, and I’m planning on a music theory major, not a music performance major.

With the toe, I can honestly say this is one of the only things in these past weeks that has gone well for me. Sunday night I tripped on the stairs while wearing fuzzy socks and landed with my entire body weight on my bent backwards big toe. Excruciating pain, extensive swelling, awful bruising. I talked to my sister the next morning and I was 99.7% sure I had broken my toe. I talked to my mom, she set up a doctors apointment and X-ray. As the day went on I had difficulty walking around school. Any pressure on the toe made it hurt like none other. It got to lunch and I was about to cry, if my toe was broken that meant I couldn’t rehearse with show choir. I texted my friend during lunch and asked him to pray for my toe. I ate my lunch and didn’t really think about it until I got to my 6th period class and realized that I hadn’t been limping. I texted my mom(yeah, I know. No texting during school). My mom cancelled the appointment with the doctor. I went home, and the swelling was down and the toe didn’t hurt all that much except for pressure on the bruised areas(duh!). To this day there are still bruises on the toe, and occasionally they pain me, but other then that, my life is uneffected by the incident…. except for the amazing testimony. Praise God!

The Thursday before John was supposed to leave for boot camp he came to my school. He had bought 25 Taco Inn burritoes. Together we explored the cafeteria at school handing out burritoes to random people I knew. Then we sat outside where I usually sit and ate our own burritoes. It wasn’t spectacular or anything, there was sufficient awkward silence, but my brother was there making sure I got to be with him before he left. Now three weeks later I wish I had made more of that day then I had. Making it through these three weeks has been difficult. I’ve had to watch war movies in class, I’ve had to listen to the news, I’ve had to go about daily life knowing that he’s not around to beat up the boys and make me feel special. He’s not around to be my big brother. Knowing that I’m three weeks in and I still have ten weeks just makes me dread the weeks to come. In class it’s been hard to concentrate just with wondering what he’s doing and how he’s coping. It’s hard to watch other people have their family and friends around them being happy when I have someone missing from my life. It’s hard seeing the “Bring our Troops Home” signs and the “Nebraskans for Peace” bumper stickers and the “God Hates Fags” protests knowing that these people are somehow offended by what my brother has decided to give his life for. Wondering if someday a shipping, a homecoming, a funeral I go to will be protested at by radical extremists. It’s hard knowing that everyone I know can’t understand what I’m feeling, and that everyone I know is just going to ignore it and pretend it’s not there, even though it’s eating me up from the inside.

On top of these things, my sister has been gone a lot lately, and will soon be living in a different town. This means that one of the few people I can really relax around will soon be out of immediate reach. And never forget the usual teenaged insecurities. I am far from perfect. To say the least, I’ve been having a difficult time of the past few weeks. To make matters worst, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve picked up my bible. When life is spinning out of control and I refuse to turn to my refuge it’s no surprise I ran into today.

After a fit of rage over the most insignificant thing ever, I angrily got on facebook and started randomly looking at anything to get my mind off of my anger and started chatting with some friends. One thing my friend Ben said made me double think. I had asked him what I should binge on, meaning food. his response was “Jesus and something else, What do you have?”. This got me to thinking. On facebook I had seen several of my friends post a link to Owl City singing a cover of “In Christ Alone” I listened to the song and started to cry. I did some google searching and was lead to the Owl City blog where it had the analysis of why he made a cover of this song. He had written out the lyrics and I listened to the song while reading the lyrics and realizing that I fail at life. Where I was trying to cope with all this stuff going on in my life, trying to sweep stuff under the rug and pretend like I am okay, trying to make it through advanced classes with a lot on my mind, trying to plan my future around an unforseen complication, all the while trying to drive from the back seat. Cuz I’ve given God the driver’s seat, remember? But perhaps I’ve tried to take it back. saying “I’ve got this curve, Jesus.” “You’ve saved me, now I can take it from here.”. But somewhere along the way I’ve lost track of truth: My hope is found in Christ alone; He is my strength; He is my solid ground; He is firm through the fiercest drought and storm; He stills fears and stops striving; His love is where I stand; Jesus rose again; He stands in victory; sin’s curse no longer rules me; Christ bought me; Jesus commands my destiny; Nothing can seperate me from Him; Til He returns, or calls me home, here in the power of christ I’ll stand.