Ruminatin'

Howdy Y'all!
I'm sitting here "ruminating" over things I learned in my classes today. In Promo class, we started learning about how to put together a memorable and entertaining live performance. Which song to play when, what to say and not say, etc...Did you know that the goal of performance is not to show how great a musician you are, but to create 'musical moments'? I didn't really know that as a coherent thought, but really, think back to any concert or festival or some such that you've ever been to. If you enjoyed the performance, what was it about the performance that was memorable to you? Chances are, you can't even name the songs that were played, but what you remember is how the band or performer interacted with the audience, and how they made you feel.

For instance, you all know that I've been to lots of bluegrass festivals, great and small. My absolute favorite performance of all time was at the Windgap festival in the Poconos about 2 years ago given by an obscure band called Kickin' Grass. They were young, about mid-20's and they were fairly skillfull. They had excellent original songs, but on a scale of 1 to 10 I would rate their musicical skill at 7. What made them unforgettable was the way they totally sucked the audience in to their performance. Every couple of songs, they would ask a wacky trivia question, and they would throw a t-shirt out to whoever answered correctly. They had several songs where they divided the audience up and had them sing along with goofy songs. The audience LOVED it! And the front man had the funniest, most appropriate and well-timed one-liners. They were so funny and so interesting that their songs totally grabbed our attention and resulted in a huge line at their merchandise table after the show. FYI, one of their songs has kind of become my theme song for this phase of my life: If I Was A Sparrow.

So anyhow, being a memorable performer is more than just being good on your instrument or a good singer. It's also your attitude and how you make the audience feel.

And guess what! In my video production class today, we started learning about the role of a director in a movie or a live production. And I think I would like to be a director because I am bossy and I have strong opinions (as most of you well know). Actually, I'm not bossy, I just know exactly what everyone should be doing:-) And my attitude on opinions: when I want yours, I'll give it to you. Not really, but haha.

In my music fundamentals class, we are learning about triads and roots and first inversions and second inversions. I am actually being forced to learn stuff now that my Beloved has been wanting me to learn for years. And it's not boring! My teacher, Mrs. R, makes it so easy to understand and is just about the most patient woman I have ever come across.

So all these things are going through my mind right now. I love school.

Till Next Time, The Sparrow