Quote of Week: "Forget love - I'd rather..."

"Forget love - I'd rather fall in chocolate!"

~Sandra J. Dykes



Quote of Week: "Do I love you because..."

Do I love you because you're beautiful,

Or are you beautiful because I love you?

~Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Cinderella



Valentines Play List

I have been getting back into exploring new music online and have found some real gems out there.  It is so inspiring to hear such great music and that got me thinking about Valentine's Day.    Here are a few of my favorites for this special day of love.  Enjoy!

1. Butterfly covered by Sound Affaire
2. Caitlin Crosby - Still Have My Heart 
3. Lena Selyanina - Naughty Waltz
4. Allison Sattinger - Come To Me 
5. ingrid michaelson - The Way I Am  
6. AM - While My Guitar Gently Weeps
7. Ari Hest - Cranberry Lake
8. Caro Emerald - Back It Up   
9. House of Heroes - If (Acoustic Version)  
10.  Jake Coco - Loved By You 

For more songs for this special day check out Musicnotes and their "Seven Essential Love Songs Collection" as well as their "Anti-Valentine's Day Collection".

Quote of Week: "Love has no desire..."

"Love has no desire but to fulfill itself. To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving."

~Kahlil Gibran

Musical To-Do List: February 12, 2011

 So, here is an update and a few things on my list for next week. 
   

- Send out revised resume and cover letter to current job list - I am still working on this one.  It has taken me longer than I thought it would to get this accomplished.  The kids and I have come down with this amazing chest cough that has slowed us down quite a bit.  I did add a few more jobs to the list for consideration.  This is top priority this week.   
 
-Continue collecting public domain children's songs for recording consideration.  I will be putting together a list and looking for piano accompaniments as well as guitar chord arrangments

-Narrow down music records to share on blog, website etc.  (I have about 4 CD's so far that I have found) I will also be looking into making YouTube videos of these songs to share as well.

-Work on future music articles for the month of February.  I have started the outline and will be narrowing down topics.




This is part of a new series here at the Elliott Music Studio called "Musical To-Do List".  I am hoping that these posts will help me focus my actions and share with you what I am doing to achieve my goals for 2011. I need the direction, extra motivation and accountability this will provide. 

Quote of Week: "If music be..."

If music be the food of love,

Sing on till I am fill'd with joy;

For then my list'ning soul you move

To pleasures that can never cloy.

Your eyes, your mien, your tongue declare

That you are music ev'rywhere.

Pleasures invade both eye and ear,

So fierce the transports are, they wound,

And all my senses feasted are,

Tho' yet the treat is only sound,

Sure I must perish by your charms,

Unless you save me in your arms.

~ Colonel Henry Heveningham (1651-1700)

380 Posts and Counting...

The Elliott Music Studio is celebrating a blog-versary this month.  380 posts have been written since I started this Blog in February of 2008.  I can't believe it has been that long.  When I started I wasn't sure this was something that I could keep up with or even do.  I have learned quite a bit since I started and now I am loving sharing my passions with you by blogging here each week.   

Here are few of the most popular posts of the last three years:

Hope: Advent Devotional Week One

10 Piano Quotes to Celebrate National Piano Month

Video of the Week: "I am Restless" by Audrey Assad

The Simple Woman's Daybook - September 14th, 2010

I have been looking toward the future and goal setting the past couple months.  I am feeling the need to start accomplishing some of my big dreams this year and that is really exciting to me.  I can't wait to share this journey with you and write the next 380+ posts. 

Is Music Really My Passion?

I have been reading an amazingly helpful blog, Blogging with Amy, that has given me tons of insight into what it takes to make a living from blogging and how to follow your passion while doing just that.  In a recent post, Amy shared questions to get you thinking about what you are truly passionate about and how that might translate into a theme for your blog.  The answers to these questions would help to focus your writing and give your blog a specific voice.  I thought it would be fun to share some of my answers as I explore my own passions and ideas for this blog.   

• What enjoyable activity do you get so involved in that you frequently lose track of time? ~ I could sit at the piano for hours and used to regularly before my children were born.  I also enjoy searching the Internet for unique music and creative ideas.  I can spend hours online sometimes reading all the things I want to read.  My RSS Reader can get pretty full sometimes.  

   

• If you were given one week to spend any way you liked (and all your responsibilities were taken care of), what would you do? ~ I would yarn craft like crazy, listen to tons of music and do score research, learn a few new pieces on the piano and for solo singing, spend quiet time reading and reflecting, Get out and see a show or listen to some live music, finally record some of the songs I have always wanted to record but haven't had a quiet house to do it in.   

• If you were given a check for $2000 and ordered to use it on something fun for yourself, what would you spend it on?  ~ I desperately want studio time to do some professional recording so my first instinct is to say I would spend the $2000 on that.  My other thoughts would be to invest in myself and go to a music and worship conference that I have always wanted to go to and with the remainder buy a nice outfit and have a night on the town experiencing the Jazz music scene in Kansas City or the Opera.  I don't get out to live music enough.  If I could fit in some updated professional photos of myself I would, too.

 

• If you were guaranteed a handsome salary no matter what, what would be your ultimate dream job? ~ My dream job has been anything music related for as long as I could remember.  Lately my real passion has been to lead a choral group again, sacred or secular.  I just need to get back into conducting and interpreting music.  I could work for a community chorus or as a church music director.  I have also thrown around the idea of starting a professional chorus.  

• What do you do consistently in your free time simply because you enjoy it?  ~ I read a lot.  Mostly magazines because I can carve out a few minutes here and there and get an article read in that time.  I also have built my blogs in my free time.  I never thought I would be a writer but I enjoy this format and don't feel overwhelmed by the shorter stories and articles that blogs call for. 

For more questions and insights on sharing your passions check out Blogging with Amy.

Video of the Week : e e cummings "i thank You God for most this amazing"

I decided to share two videos for this week's "Video of the Week".  The first video of is e. e. cummings reading his poem, "i thank you God for most this amazing" which I first heard as a song while in high school.  The second video is the song I believe we sang back then but this time performed with orchestra.  It's quite beautiful.  Enjoy!

e.e cummings Reading "i thank you God for most this amazing"




2007 All-State Women's Choir singing I Thank You God by Gwyneth Walker, accompanied by the University of North Texas Symphony Orchestra.