Discovering Music

From Little Acorns

February 15, 2010

T-M-E-A.  The Texas Music Teachers’ Association Annual Convention in San Antonio, Texas (home of the Alamo).  That’s where I spent four days last week, and I simply have to tell you about it. My head is still spinning.  Thousands of accomplished high-school musicians, their families, plus their band, choir, and orchestra conductors filled the huge [...]

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The Pipe Organ with Michael Conrady

December 31, 2009

You will find a new featured video on the home page: a conversation with Michael Conrady about the pipe organ. Michael is the music director at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Dallas.  You’ll also meet him in the discussion of Johann Sebastian Bach (Unit 7) in the “Discovering Music” course.   Michael may be young, [...]

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Listening for the Familiar and Unfamiliar

December 21, 2009

We live in a visual world.  We constantly analyze what we see on a sophisticated level, but most of us are not nearly as skilled in listening.  That’s why many of us prefer music in styles that are already familiar.  Opening our ears and mind up to new kinds of music seems harder. No surprise [...]

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Happy Birthday Beethoven

December 16, 2009

What is the most famous four-note melody in the world?  One where three of the four pitches repeat the same note? Now that’s a toss-up:  either the opening of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, a.k.a. “Fate Knocking at the Door” (dah-dah-dah dum) or . . . ready?. . . “Happy Birthday!” (dah-dah-de-dah). But today, December 16th, you [...]

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Comparing the Classical and Romantic

December 8, 2009

This chart is included in the workbook for Discovering Music: 300 Years of Interaction in Western Music, Arts, History, and Culture. Watch for more reference guides like this one in the near future. Eighteenth Century Enlightenment Nineteenth Century Romanticism Music is an expression of balance and reason. Music expresses the three “E’s”: emotion, enthusiasm, ecstasy. [...]

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Classical Tweets

December 2, 2009

Do you Tweet?  Recently I’ve been exploring Twitter.  And while the 140-character-limit is frustrating, and the anonymity and pace are daunting, I’m intrigued by what one can observe. What are people tweeting about Classical Music, for example.  And not just the words “classical music,” but also Klassische Musik, musica classica, musique classique, Klassieke muziek, etc.—it’s [...]

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From the Page to the Stage

November 6, 2009

Tomorrow, a work from pages of your Discovering Music course will leap onto the stage!  Puccini’s opulent final opera Turandot will be simulcast live in HD satellite transmission from The Metropolitan Opera in New York City to movie theaters across the US and the world. Where does Turandot fit in our course?  Take a look in Unit 17 and you’ll see that [...]

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Religion in Western Culture

October 30, 2009

It’s terrific to open my email and find your questions and comments about the course Discovering Music: 300 Years of Interaction in Western Music, Arts, History, and Culture. I especially welcome questions from people who are considering the course. There’s one question that comes up frequently, so I thought I might answer it here. Parents [...]

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Memories of Learning

October 15, 2009

To all parents, grandparents, and mentors helping to oversee a child’s education, you are the real heroes! Part of your job is to help your student acquire a life-long love of learning—easier said than done with some children, of course. But you may be having more success than you realize. Think back to your own [...]

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Tosca in Your Home Town

October 6, 2009

Question: What are you doing on Saturday, October 10? Come to New York “with” me, by joining in on a New Season of live HD Satellite Broadcasts from The Metropolitan Opera in New York City.  Yes, these amazing performances are streamed live, to movie theaters near you!  And the first one, on October 10, is [...]

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