"Christmas is forever, not for just one day,
for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away
like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.
The good you do for others is good you do yourself..."
~Norman Wesley Brooks,
"Let Every Day Be Christmas," 1976
May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace,
The gladness of Christmas give you hope,
The warmth of Christmas grant you love.
~Author Unknown
"May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through!"~Author Unknown
"He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree."
~Roy L. Smith
"Christmas, children, is not a date.
It is a state of mind."~Mary Ellen Chase
"Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds."~Theodore Roosevelt
For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
Songs of the Christmas Season
For scheduling or booking information for the Transfiguration Vocal Ensemble please email us at vocal@imagodeiarts.org.
I Am
I am a musician and teacher
I wonder about being truly secure
I hear God's small voice keeping me focused on my purpose
I see out from behind my director's stand
I want so many things
I am a musician and teacher
I pretend to be calm and pulled together when I am stressed and tired
I feel my life growing and changing
I touch simplicity
I worry about my family
I cry about loss
I am a musician and teacher
I understand that I can be the grandest version of the greatest vision I have ever had of myself
I say I am grateful
I dream about not worrying about money
I try to better myself every day
I hope for recognition and true success
I am a musician and teacher
"A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues."~Cicero
"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was,
"thank you," that would suffice."
~Meister Eckhart
"Opera is where a guy gets stabbed in the back, and instead of dying, he sings."~Robert Benchley
"I worry that the person who thought up Muzak may be thinking up something else."~Lily Tomlin
The wedding season is in full swing and I have had quite a few inquiries with questions relating to music for weddings in the past few months. The music choices people make can say so much about a couple. Your personal taste should be considered as well as the appropriateness of your selection for your ceremony or reception."The singer has everything within him. The notes come out from his very life. They are not materials gathered from outside."~Rabindranath Tagore
"A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others."~Author Unknown
"The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called "truth." "~Dan Rather
"Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother."~Kahlil Gibran
"Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons. You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body."~Oliver Wendell Holmes
Ear training has come up in several of my lessons in that last couple weeks. Sharpening our ears to better hear intervals, chords and scales is so important. When learning new music it helps sight-reading go so much easier and shows strong musicianship. So, how do we sharpen are ears for listening? We must become familiar with each of the intervals and how they sound harmonically and melodically. Learning how each of the different kinds of scales sound is also essential for strong listening skills and music making whether singing or playing an instrument. Repetition is the key to building and keeping those skills fresh.| Songs for Teaching Intervals |
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| Interval | Ascending | Descending |
| minor 2nd | “Stormy Weather” (Arlen) | “Button Up Your Overcoat” from Follow Through (Deslya, Brown, Henderson) |
| Major 2nd | "Do-Re-Mi" | "Mary Had a Little Lamb" (Traditional) |
| Minor 3rd | "So Long, Farewell” | "The Star Spangled Banner" (Key) |
| Perfect 4th | "Bridal Chorus" from Lohengrin | "Clementine" (Folk Song) |
| Augmented 4th/ Diminished 5th | "Maria" (Bernstein) | 4th Theme from The Incredible Flutist (Piston) |
| Perfect 5th | "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" | "Feelings" (Albert) |
| minor 6th | "Go Down, Moses" (Spiritual) | Theme from Love Story |
| Major 6th | "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" | "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" |
| minor 7th | "Somewhere" from West Side Story | "How Am I to Know?" (King) |
| Major 7th/ Diminished Octave | “I Love You" (Porter) | "Back in Your Own Backyard" |
| Octave | “Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz (Arlen) | “It's D'Lovely” from Red Hot and Blue (Porter) |
"...Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."-Marianne Williamson
Taking care of one's voice is essential for any singer. Your voice is your instrument and you only get one, so treat it well. Here are a few tips for keeping good vocal health.Water, Water, Water - Make sure you keep yourself hydrated. Water works to lubricate your vocal cords and protect them from harm. Dryness effects the mucous membranes that cover your cords, causing redness and swelling. Dry air can also dry out your vocal cords. So, if just drinking more water is not helping, try using a vaporizer during the day and even at night.
Reduce Vocal Stress and Misuse - Look at places in your life where you might be overworking your voice. Speaking for long periods of time on the phone in the office with no relief or excessive yelling with friends at your favorite late night hot spot can ware on your vocal cords over time. Throat clearing and coughing also effect the voice negatively when it becomes a habit. Be mindful of how loudly you are speaking and try to keep yourself on the lower end of your volume. If you are vocally taxed, make sure you talk in a low voice but not in a whisper. Whispering doesn't help the voice and can make it worse.
"Every time you don't follow your inner guidance, you feel a loss of energy, loss of power, a sense of spiritual deadness."
~Shakti Gawain
"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are."
~e.e. cummings
"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."
~Scott Adams
"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else."~Judy Garland
We currently have 8 enrolled and attending weekly lessons. My voice students are working on music literacy & sight-reading skills, preparing for musical auditions for this falls' high school musicals and preparing for American Idol auditions this August. I am working with several awesome young people on beginning piano skills and we are having a blast. I am excited about all the new and innovative ways I have learned to help get the word out to our community about the awesome things we are doing at the Elliott Music Studio. I am certain that we will double our enrollment this fall. Our first studio recital is also in the works for this fall. Look for more information about that soon.
room Music for Little Mozarts is a fun curriculum designed for 4, 5 & 6 year olds that are interested in learning piano but aren't sure if they are ready. This class requires no pianos or books to buy. Over the course of the 10-week session a story unfolds with Beethoven Bear and Mozart Mouse as we share music together. When I first heard of this idea I was thrilled. I have missed sharing music with parents and their children in a classroom setting and see this program as a way to do just that. I have spent the last week putting together a proposal for space rental at a local church. I plan to start offering these classes for families this October.
