Search engines have become the default way to find the information we need online. If you don’t have a blog or website of your own, you may not realize what those of us that do can find out about you and others that are visiting our sites. Besides the plain numbers of how many people view my posts, I really enjoy reading what terms people search for in order to end up at my site. During this twelfth and final month of the year, I’d like to share twelve of the few more “interesting” terms that people have entered into Google, Bing, Yahoo, or the like along with my own helpful and informative responses for these poor lost digital researchers. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Tongue-in-cheek’ Category
You may think I’ve been living like this guy for a few weeks, but I promise that I haven’t forgotten about the blog. I have been busy with a new day job, and there has been a calm before the Christmas storm at church recently, so no recordings to post right now. More will come soon enough. In the near-term, I’ll start blogging about our upcoming Christmas concert. I am very excited about it, and can’t wait to share with everyone what we’re doing at ORBC. Mean time, go out and feed some bread to some ducks, m’kay?
The proper response to mistakes
Posted: August 13, 2011 in Tongue-in-cheekTags: old folks, performance, piano, practice
I played an offertory in church a few weeks ago and butchered it, as far as I’m concerned. I did what I call “cramming” for preparation. It’s the same cramming that we all used to do for test prep: practicing really hard all at once just before the performance. I was having a hard time deciding what song to play, so I wasn’t able to really prepare until the Saturday before.
After I crashed my way through it, I felt a bit sheepish heading back to my seat in the auditorium. Fortunately, I always sit on the second row, so the walk of shame isn’t too long. This got me thinking about how to react when you’ve had a train wreck performance. Herein, for your reading pleasure, lie several methods that you may consider the next time you botch up a song. (more…)
A rebuttal to the analogy that ritard=peanut butter
Posted: May 29, 2011 in Tongue-in-cheekTags: choral, jello, music, peanut butter, theory
No comparison
This afternoon during choir practice, our director made an analogy comparing a grand ritard (drastic slow down) to running along and suddenly stepping into peanut butter. Not only is this idea utterly absurd, but I think the premise it is based upon is completely inaccurate and thus demands a thorough and swift debunking. I therefore submit to my audience that a molto ritardando is not like stepping into peanut butter. Unless a molto ritardando is something akin to slipping and landing on your duff, then I believe a more accurate comparison is necessary. Hence my thesis is that the ritard in a musical piece is much more like stepping into a wall of jello. (more…)
Quality practice sessions for the church musician…HA, YEAH RIGHT!
Posted: February 24, 2011 in Tongue-in-cheekTags: music, piano, practice
After reading a post on Greg Howlett’s blog, I decided to test his theory. You can read his original article here. The general idea in his first few paragraphs is that church members should reserve judgement on church musicians for mistakes since they are almost always volunteer. This coupled with the fact that they may be sight-reading, unpracticed, and/or novices make a perfect recipe for error-filled music during a typical worship service. (more…)
