Gregorian Chant

http://prezi.com/hsytqcgdrqw1/gregorian-chant/?kw=view-hsytqcgdrqw1&rc=ref-26654849

My presentation for fourth and fifth grade on Gregorian Chant!

Student and Teacher

I’ve been a student for the past… seventeen years. Wow. And I’ll be a student for two more as I work towards my masters degree. I’ve always felt like teaching would be a way to stay in school, and I suppose it is, but being a student feels much more comfortable than being a teacher. (That could have something to do with being a student for seventeen years and only having been a teacher for three weeks.)

Being a first-year music teacher is frightening, and demanding, and exciting, but one thing that does not surprise me is that it makes me into even more of a student. Not only am I learning about the craft of teaching, but I’m learning more about music. If you want to become master of something, try teaching it. There’s nothing for learning like teaching. For instance, I am much more familiar with Haydn’s Surprise Symphony than before. If you’d like a surprise, just listen. Haydn was tired of people falling asleep during his concerts…

The Lovely Teaching Monster

Today is my first day of elementary school, and I am a nervous child. I can still remember waiting for the school bus on my first day of Kindergarten. I don’t remember the nervousness, I only remember the excitement. I wonder if I was more nervous then or now; which is more frightening, being a student when you’re five or being a teacher when you’re twenty-two?

If anyone has been wondering where I’ve been for the past couple of weeks, the teaching monster swallowed me whole. It’s a cuddly and ferocious monster. It reminds me of the film Where the Wild Things Are, when Jack crawls into the Wild Thing’s mouth; my choice. And I have been exhausted all week, but thank Jesus, there has been music. Julia and I have been singing our children’s songs as we prepare our lessons. There may be many more children’s choirs and folk song arrangements on this blog in the future, but stick with me.

Jesus adored children, and now His children are in my care. It seems silly to be worried about what second grade children think of you, but I hope they like me. I hope they think I’m pretty and that I’m nice and much more, I hope they think music is fun, and beautiful, and special. 

Here we go.

The Piano as a Possibility

Austin and I went to see The Amazing Spiderman last night. I loved it! There’s a really intense scene where Gwen Stacey is hiding from the Lizard, who is prowling around menacingly. His menace is underscored not by screechy violins, but by the eerie sound of piano strings being strummed.

It’s fascinating what one can do with a piano. It’s not only a set of keys; it’s a big wooden box filled with tightly strung metal strings. Oh, the possibilities! One of the first composers to make use of the piano strings as a separate instrument was Henry Cowell. I love that guy. The Banshee is one of his creepier string-piano pieces, based on Irish Myth.

But there are many other things you can do with the piano! For instance, you may have been tempted to smash several keys at once just to hear what it sounds like. Henry Cowell did this on purpose and called it ‘art.’ This piece is inspired by Cowell’s impression of Times Square, New York. She starts using her fists to  about halfway through, just keep watching.

If you think this stuff is weird and irrelevant, just listen to this song by Switchfoot. There’s some piano pounding going on at the fifty-six second mark:

Moving Day!

Yesterday I moved into a real apartment for the first time, with my friends Sicily and Laura Kate! Well, I’m not really moved yet. I have to live on campus for another two weeks until my Residential Life job is over. But Sicily and Laura moved in, and I moved a couple things! Yeah, like… almost eight things!

We rounded off yesterday with a delicious party at Drew’s house, complete with pizza. We had a miniature poetry slam in honor of our friend Rebekah, who is going to Missouri for a month, and we watched The Rocketeer. 

And today, I’m going back to the new apartment to move more stuff around. I think I’ll take my stereo so we have music to work to; perhaps some Switchfoot, or Needtobreathe. Austin got me into the Christian music scene– I hadn’t had any idea there were so many good Christian bands– and now I can’t get enough. Really original, artful, powerful music that also reflects the deepest feelings of my heart? Yes please.

I’ll leave you with this song by Needtobreathe. I love the bluegrass sound of this band.

 

The Crowder Requiem Review: Coda

Yesterday we heard someone walking up a path at the end of “Oh My God, I’m Coming Home”. At the beginning of the next track, “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms/’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus,” they walk through the door; they have arrived home. This brings the album full circle from the footsteps of the very first track. As they open the door, a wash of sound envelops them. A band is singing a hymn in harmony to the accompaniment of banjo, fiddle, and some simple percussion. The two hymns David Crowder*Band has blended both express the joy and comfort of trusting in Jesus and relying on His guidance.

The sound of applause guides us to the next track, “Jesus, Lead Me to Your Healing Waters,” which has a similar texture and folky sound to “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.” This original song sounds like a gospel-style hymn, with solo voice on the verses and a chorus of people singing the refrain. The theme is the healing and freedom of living in Jesus Christ.

More applause guides us to the final track of the album, “Because He Lives,” a setting of another hymn. David Crowder’s singing is soulful and expressive; rhythm guitar provides percussion and banjo brings color to the song. The other band members join in harmony on the refrain. In this hymn, we celebrate the wonder of salvation, Christ’s death on the cross, and most of all, His life, which brings us life. This Requiem is not for the dead; it is for the living, and we live now and after we die because He lives.

David Crowder*Band’s masterpiece is full of meaning, expressing Biblical truths using the framework of tradition, using a variety of well-crafted musical styles to bring fullness to that framework. To God be the glory. I hope this album gives you rest.

The Crowder Requiem Review: In Paradisum

The David Crowder*Band introduces a new twist to the Requiem Mass text about arriving in paradise. Christians think of heaven as home, our eternal home with God. Since the David Crowder*Band Requiem is meant for the living rather than the dead, the two songs coinciding with In Paradisum are about returning to God while we still live in our mortal bodies. Instead of entrance into heaven, these songs explore the emotions of our souls returning to God’s presence, even here on Earth.

“A Return” starts with simple finger-picked guitar, energized with the introduction of drums. The text is about our hearts wandering from God, as the prodigal son wandered from his father. The entrance of the electric guitar changes the attitude of the whole song, from a song of wandering to a song of return and rejoicing. When we return to God, nothing else matters; He welcomes us with open arms and everything becomes new.

“Oh My God, I’m Coming Home” is straightforward, voice and acoustic guitar, with very few lyrics:

Oh my God, I’m coming home.
Dance all day and sing along.
To the glory, hallelujah,
Oh my God, I’m coming home.

The song also takes us on a journey using sound effects. We hear someone get into a car and start driving, the white noise of the road beneath the wheels, and the song fades into the background as though it’s playing on the car stereo. The door opens, the keys jangle, and the driver walks up a path covered in dry leaves. He is going home.

There are still three songs left on the album, even though the Requiem mass is over. This coda is a sort of continuation of In Paradisum, the songs we sing in God’s presence for the sake of His glory. Come back tomorrow for some notes on these hymns.