Learning a new tune in a flash
My dulcimer student Angie came for her weekly lesson a couple nights ago. Because her day job required her to work over the previous weekend, plus the weekdays on either side…
At church on Good Friday 2015
On Good Friday morning, I’d re-thought how to play a few measures in “Were You There?” (Where was that idea three weeks ago when I could have burned it into my brain more…
Bach practice, etc.
With Good Friday on the horizon, my practice sessions have necessarily turned to preparing “Were You There?” on the ultratonic autoharp for the church service this Friday afternoon. Memorizing the chords in…
Music for Holy Week
Today it happened, at church. One of the youth played a Bach prelude on guitar (from BWV699) at the onset of communion, and when she finished, people applauded. During communion?!…
Just Get Used to It
My roommate from Westminster Choir College took up playing the hammered dulcimer in 2011! Amelia (not her real name) immediately enrolled in once-a-month lessons given by her local dulcimer club. Mysteriously, the more she…
Team Chording: A Phoenix Autoharp Adventure
My second-ever time teaching Team Chording to budding autoharpists took place in Phoenix, Arizona on Friday, February 27, 2015. Every now and then we autoharpists need to stop playing and think about the music…
Bending the Knee to Bach
Yes, I’m a few days late talking about Johann Sebastian Bach, whose 330th birthday was March 21, 2015. My pianist friend Cheryl Saborsky invited me to go with her to…
Entering the world of The Blog
Well, here I am after sweating and waiting for this web site to (mostly) finish (you know how that goes; there will always be little edits here and there, and…