UPDATE: My Top Ten Songs

If you read my last post, you know that I was given a challenge of coming up with my top 10 favorite songs or recordings.  Well, after sifting through some 8000 or so songs on iTunes, I have finally picked 10 (well, 13 actually). Here they are in no particular order, and my reasons for picking them.

1. Chameleon – Maynard Ferguson – The first time I ever played a saxophone solo in public was a junior high jazz band concert in 7th grade. This was the song.

2. Hello City – Barenaked Ladies – When I first met my wife, she introduced me to the Barenaked Ladies. Every time I hear this song (or any song from the “Gordon” album) it makes me think of her and when we started dating. I like that.

3. The Rain Song – Led Zeppelin – I had to include a song from my all-time favorite band, and I just think this song really showcases how well they wrote music. I have always enjoyed music that was written with a lot of creativity.

4. Third Symphony, Mvt. 3 – Mesto (for Natalie) – James Barnes – One of the most moving pieces of music that I have ever played in an ensemble. I can remember weeping while playing this piece several times.

5. Shiny Stockings – Count Basie – This is the tune that introduced me to the Basie Band. I can remember specifically playing this song at a jazz festival in high school. It has been one of my favorite big band charts ever since.

6. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy – Cannonball Adderley – This is the song that introduced me to Cannonball. He has since become one of my top two favorites and biggest influences.

7. Irish Tune from County Derry – Percy Grainger – Hands down, my favorite wind band piece of all time. To me, this piece is the standard of beauty in the wind band literature.

8. Ornithology – Charlie Parker – This is from one of the first jazz recordings I ever owned – Charlie Parker at Storyville. I can remember just being amazed when I first heard it as a young saxophone player.

9. Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag – James Brown – I can remember hearing this recording on the local oldies station that my parents listened to. Probably my first introduction to soul/r&b music. I have always loved this tune!

10. Daphnis & Chloe – Suite No. 2 – Maurice Ravel – When I played this piece in college, it was the first time I really connected emotions to performing music. I mean deep emotion. I had always heard directors and conductors talk about playing with emotion and feeling, but it never really clicked with me until I played this piece.

11. Delta City Blues – Michael Brecker – This one is from my other biggest saxophone influence. What Michael does with overtones in this recording just blows my mind. He is one of the all-time greats. I wish I could have seen him live before he passed away.

12. Cheese Cake – Dexter Gordon – I was introduced to this recording at a jazz camp that had a huge impact on my life when I was in high school. I wish I could have picked every track from this album entitled “Go.”

13. Bu’s March – Benny Green – I always wished that I could play piano, and I love this album from Benny Green recorded live at the Village Vanguard. This recording has one of the hardest swinging shout choruses I’ve ever heard.

So there you have it. Looking back at this list, I noticed that each song has had a particular impact on my life as a teacher and musician, and I suppose subconsciously, that is why I picked them. I hope you get a chance to check out any that you are not familiar with, and I challenge you to do the same and pick your top ten. Please share the results here!

Top Ten Favorite Pieces

This idea is somewhat related to a conversation that Travis Weller started a while ago with a post entitled “My Band Room is On Fire.”

My ever-faithful assistant director Dennis Hritz, posed this question to me the other day: If a dinner was being held in your honor to document your life as a musician so far, what 10 recordings would be played at that dinner? So, my mission is to come up with 10 songs or recordings that are my favorites, regardless of genre. This is something that I’m going to have to think about! I’m not quite sure if I can narrow it down to only 10 favorite recordings, but I have starting thinking about what I might include. Some ideas I’ve had are to include things like my first jazz album that I owned or the first jazz recording I ever heard. I have to also include some of my all-time favorite players like Cannonball Adderley and Johnny Griffin. What songs have I listened to over and over again and still loved just as much as the first time that I heard them?

On a somewhat related note, if you haven’t checked out 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die, you need to do that! I have found some really great stuff there!

I would be interested to hear what is on your top ten list! I will post mine here as soon as I decide!

Keep Them Coming Back for More!

And by “them”, I mean my elementary students. I had a great conversation last night with my graduate saxophone teacher, Dr. James Umble. I had mentioned that I was struggling with teaching elementary band. I lamented about how the students don’t show up for their small group lessons, they don’t practice, etc. Then I mentioned a conversation I had with my assitant band director. His son plays trombone in my elementary program. He is also taking private electric bass lessons. This student practices the bass a heck of a lot more than his trombone. Why? Because playing the bass is fun for him. Playing the trombone is not. Why? Because he gets to play what he wants on the bass. He gets to play music that appeals to him.

At this point, let me just say, I am old-school. I was raised on the old Rubank method books, and that is how I tend to teach, especially at the elementary level. For someone that claims to be a techie geek, I am extremely outdated in my approach to teaching elementary band. I am so into Garage Band and SmartMusic, etc…why am I not using these in my elementary band classes?? I don’t know. I think it is because I’m somewhat afraid to go out on a limb and stray from the class method book. But, I think I have to.

This goes back to the conversation I was having with Dr. Umble. How can I still teach the important basics of playing an instrument that are included in the method book, and yet make it interesting for the students? Let’s face it…how many kids are pumped about going to band to play “Hot Cross Buns?” Not many in my school!

So here is what I think I have to do. I have to find a way to use the method book in addition to some kind of supplemental material that is going to be “cool”, “awesome”, or even “rad!” What am I going to do to make the students want to look forward to coming to band every week? What am I going to do so that students are counting down the days until the next rehearsal? It has to be interesting and egaging for them, or they will leave it behind. And, that is what is happening at my school.

Some ideas I’ve kicked around include looking at my method book and identifying the key concepts that are introduced and reinforced, and then creating my own exercises that are handouts to supplement what is in the book. These handouts would be songs or etudes that are popular songs, or other things that the students would be interested in playing. This may even motivate them to practice!

Dr. Umble even suggested that I use Garage Band to loop something for the students to play with. Why didn’t I think of this?! We could play the exercises out of the book, and I could create loops for the students to play along with! Also, why don’t we have the students create podcasts? We could have them doing improvisation with Garage Band, record it, and then post it as a podcast!

So these are the things I’m thinking about doing with my elementary program, in addition to using SmartMusic to some degree.

What do you do with your elementary programs to keep the kids coming back for more?? What motivates them to come to your rehearsals? What motivates your students to practice?

Trying Out SmartMusic

I have recently begun using SmartMusic, mainly with my elementary band students. I am LOVING it, and my students are really enjoying it as well. In fact, on the 2nd day of using it with my small sixth grade group today, when I asked who wanted to go first, all hands immediately shot up in the air. I have never seen students so excited to play in class! The more I learn about the program, the more impressed I am with it. The integrated online gradebook, called “Impact” is really amazing. When students complete assignments, they are sent directly to your gradebook, and it calculates everything for you. You can even add other assignments that are not necessarily SmartMusic assignments.

Right now, I do not have any students currently enrolled in my classes, but most students have shown interest in getting the program at home. We are currently using the program on my personal laptop. I also am using the program weekly for graded assignments with the students. However, I am not factoring in these SmartMusic grades with their report card grades until next year. I still want to find out how much the software will impact their grade before I really “make it count.”

I am already noticing the added benefits while using it in class. First, the students are really excited to work with the program, and I can see this being a good practice motivator. What is also great about the program is that it forces students to play at a steadytempo. This is something that my students struggle with regularly. If they are playing along with the software at home, it will really help their time. Our Standard of Excellence books now come with accompaniment CDs, and I have found that students that practice with those CDs have a much better sense of time than those who do not.

What I worry about with the program is that it may frustrate those students who struggle. I hope that it motivates them to practice more, but I can see it becoming a deterrent. My concern is that those who struggle will get frustrated and lose some confidence as a result of getting “bad grades” on their playing tests. But, I have also found that students who struggle can consistently see improvements in their grades after repeated playing.

I am also a little worried that students will not utilize the “loop” feature that is offered in the software. In other words, I am concerned that they will simply play exercises from beginning to end over and over without just focusing on the areas that they need to work on. I guess I should remember that this software is a practice aid, and does not simply replace the teacher. This brings me to another point. The major drawback to the software is that I don’t think it can accurately measure articulations, dymanics and/or note lengths. Mostly, the program can only recognize correct pitches and rhythms. But this is half the battle, and the teacher must be diligent in still teaching musicianship, not just “button pushing.”

So these are my observations so far in about 3 weeks of using the program. I have also used it a little with my middle and senior high students with concert and jazz band music. I plan on rolling out the program fully in the fall for next year.

What are your experiences with the program? Have you used it? Are you currently using it? I look forward to your feedback.

Adjudication Experience – Great!!

This afternoon, my senior high concert band attended our first ever PMEA adjudication festival. I have wanted to do one for a few years, but have always been apprehensive about doing it. After some great encouragement by my colleagues, I finally decided to send my group this year. I must admit that I was nervous at the beginning of the semester, because I wasn’t quite sure if we’d be able to pull it off. But, as I commented earlier, preparing for this adjudication has really helped me to be a better teacher. We finally started to sight-read on a regular basis, and I was much more focused in my rehearsal time.

The students played great today, and I am so proud of them. They achieved an “Excellent” rating, which is the 2nd highest they could have acheived.  We performed Erickson’s “Air for Band” and Grundman’s “Kentucky 1800.” Anyway, after a wonderful experience here are my observations:

1. First and foremost, I will definitely do this again. I may even go so far as to say that we’ll do it every year. My students got so much out of the experience, and I’m sure that this will prove true when we begin to listen to the judges’ tapes as well.

2. I am impressed with how calm my students appeared to be throughout their performance. Either they felt very confident and were very well prepared and not nervous, or they did a very good job of hiding it. This is very good, because I always feel like we don’t always play as well as we could because of our nerves.

3. That leads me to #3…I don’t think my students could have possibly played better than they did today. I feel that their performance was a very accurate representation today of their true ability. I told the students before they played today to remember that no matter what happened today, that is was only a snapshot of how they played on this particular day. I’m just glad that they performed up to their potential.

4. The event was VERY well run by Gary Taylor from Wilminton HS. Everything ran smoothly, and the atmosphere at the venue was relaxed, yet formal, and very good for the students. Maybe this is why they were so calm during their performance.

5. My students did a great job on the sight-reading component! They really surprised me, because I thought that is where we would struggle the most. But, we actually read the piece from beginning to end without stopping once, and no train wrecks!

6. If you have not taken your groups to an adjudication experience, you must do it! It was a wonderful experience, and I know my students got A LOT out of it! Don’t keep putting it off like I did! Just go do it!

Still Here

So when I realized that my last post was OVER a month ago, I decided I had better write something. To tell the truth, a lot has been going on, I just haven’t had the time/motivation to write about it. So, I’ll see if I can go over what’s new:

1. Taking masters level lessons with my undergrad saxophone instuctor. I have been slowly working on getting my Master’s in Music Ed., but after taking a number of classes, I have been extremely unmotivated to even finish it. I think this is due mainly to the fact that I am doing my Masters at the same school I did my Undergrad at – Therefore, I feel like the classes that I’m taking are exactly the same stuff I did in Undergrad, just with more reading and writing of papers, which I can’t stand! So when I found out that I could take a lesson as an elective and it would still count towards the MusEd Masters, I decided to go for it. My teacher is Jim Umble, easily one of the 10 best in the world. Anyway, I have been loving studying with him again, and now am even considering changing my Masters to a Performance degree. Stay tuned for an update on that! I had been longing to really study music “seriously” again. What I mean is that I have longed to work on the saxophone again at a level that really challenged me. I have been playing consistently even since I finished my undergrad 7 years ago, but have not really “practiced” much since then. It has been great to get “back on the horse.”

2. Renewed energy for teaching in my current position. I’ll be the first to admit that I have been less than enthusiastic about my job, or at least where I am, for most of this school year. However, after a few happenings lately, I have been more energetic and encouraged. I have had the opportunity to work with some of the other teachers in the building who are really dedicated and who a really great teachers, and they have really invigorated me! I have also found that since beginning the work on my instrument again, my mindset about teaching has changed slightly for the better. I don’t know if I can put my finger on it, but I feel like I am expecting more from my students, and I am getting better results.

3. Considering major changes to our music programs’ curriculum and scheduling. I am hoping to drop our 4th grade band program in an effort to give more time and attention to the 5th & 6th grade students. I feel this will lead to greater interest and better retention in the program. I teach in three elementary buildings in addition to the middle-high school, and right now, I only see the elementary students once a week for 30 minutes. It is just not enough time to have a solid program…it has not worked in the 5 years I have been here. I also hope to get my senior high concert band scheduled at a different time than our choir, so that I can have the whole band in one period and 5 days a week. (I don’t have either right now. – This makes it difficult to work on more advanced concepts like blend and balance.)

So, that is the quick update…I hope to be more productive on the blog in the near future. In the meantime, you can always follow me on Twitter.  That is where I have been doing the majority of my “blogging” lately.

Adjudication – How it has helped me to be a better teacher.

This year, I finally decided to have my senior high concert band attend it’s first adjudication. Here in PA, this is simply a process where the group performs 2 prepared pieces and some sight-reading. The ensemble is evaluated by a small group of judges, and the band is then given a rating. I like this system, because it does not necessarily compare the group to any of the others that are performing. This process also gives the group some positive feedback for improvement and also I think lends some validity to what we do as music teachers.  This is kind of like our “standarized test” for band.

Anyway, we have just begun our preparations for the adjudication in March. I have noticed that preparing for this event has already made me a better teacher. Let me explain why. First of all, this has forced me to be much for focused and goal-oriented in our rehearsals. I know that we will have to sight-read, so we are working on that every day during our warm-ups. After listening to our winter concert, I knew that we had to work more on intonation, so this is something that we are also addressing on a daily basis. Focusing on these two prepared pieces has also helped me to be better in my rehearsal planning process.  What I have found myself doing is just selecting certain concepts that I want to work on that day, or selecting a small section of the music to perfect. In just two weeks, I have found the group’s progress to be very exciting, and I think we are now getting more done in a shorter period of time.  I should also mention that I am careful to make sure that the adjudication is not all-encompassing. I think that this may be part of the reason that I shied away from doing it initially. I worried that I would focus too much on the adjudication, and not about teaching music.  But, I have been pleasantly surprised to find out that with the right mindset, this is actually helping me to be a better, more prepared, more focused teacher! Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to prepare!

Newly Added to My Music Library – American Visions by Travis J. Weller

I was happy to discover that this piece arrived at school today, upon my return to school! You may or may not have heard of the composer, but I am proud to say that I was one of his first students back in 1995. Travis J. Weller’s composition American Visions is available from The FJH Music Company, and I encourage you to check it out…it is a wonderful piece! Travis is a great teacher, mentor, colleague and friend, and I would like to publicly offer him my congratulations on this publication. I look forward to many more! Congratulations, Travis! I have tremendous respect for anyone that can compose music, and to have it published is a fantastic accomplishment.

The 365 Days of Photos Challenge

Okay, this isn’t music related, but I have decided to take up the 365 Days of Photos Challenge. If you’re interested, you can follow my progress via flickr.  I enjoy photography, so it should be fun! I hope you enoy it as well. I don’t know that I’ll upload every day, but I’m going to at least make an effort to take a photo every day this year! Wish me luck!

The Official 100 Music Education Bloggers!

Dr. Joe Pisano over at MusTech.net has officially posted the 100 ME Blogger list.  I have reprinted it below, but be sure to visit MusTech.net for further explanation and info. Congratulations to all of the bloggers on the list! Check them out today!

THE OFFICIAL LIST OF THE 100 MUSIC EDUCATION BLOGGER CAMPAIGN 2008-2009:

1. http://www.mustech.net
   Dr. Joseph M. Pisano- MusTech.net
2. http://digitalmusiceducator.wordpress.com
   Owen Bradley -The Digital Music Educator
3. http://etobiasblog.musiced.net
   Evan Tobias- Catalysts & Connections
4. http://musiced.about.com/
   Espie Estrella -About Music Education
5. http://jamesfrankel.musiced.net/
   Dr. James Frankel-  Music Technology in Education
6. http://weblog.siba.fi/msalavuo
   Dr. Miikka Salavuo-  Music Education, Technology & Social Media
7. http://pwhitfield.edublogs.org
   Pete Whitfield-  e-Learning for Music
8. http://www.musicedmagic.com
   Chad Criswell- Music Ed. Magic
9. http://jsavage.org.uk/
   Dr. Jonathan Savage- Jonathan Savage
10. http://musictechforme.com/
    V. Keith Mason- Music Tech. for Me.
11. http://tjweller.wordpress.com
    Travis J. Weller- Composing Like Mad
12. http://mystro2b.edublogs.org/
    Ken Pendergrass- Music is Not for Insects
13. http://www.soyouwanttoteach.com/
    Joel- So You Want to Teach
14. http://stengel99.wordpress.com/
    Steve Engel- Music Ed. Lounge
15. http://fsharpbflat.wordpress.com/
    Linda Granite- Bb, F#
16. http://doublebassblog.org
    Jason Heath- Double Bass Blog
17. http://musicisfree.ning.com/
    Robert Brannan- The Music is Free
18. http://dvzmix.wordpress.com/
    Deborah Valdivia-Zwolinski- DVZ’s Mix
19. http://choirteachers.blogspot.com/
    Kyle Gardner- Choir Teachers
20. http://www.pauldraper.org
    Paul Draper- Draper’s Blogspot
21. http://johnwilborn.wordpress.com
    John Wilborn- John Wilborn’s Weblog
22. http://iknowithink.blogspot.com
    Leo Park- I Know…I Think
23. http://gluedtothestring.blogspot.com
    Stan Haskins- Glued to the String
24. http://musicedtech.wordpress.com
    Barbara Freedman- Music Ed. Tech.
25. http://tomrudolph.berkleemusicblogs.com
    Dr. Tom Rudolph-  Make the Most of Notation Software
26. http://teachingthewirechoir.com/
    Dale Lewis- Teaching the “Wire Choir”
27. http://docandry.edublogs.org
    Dr. Kevin Andry-Dr. Andry’s Band Blog
28. http://sperham.wordpress.com
    Steffany Perham- Perham’s Prattlings
29. http://alexruthmann.com
    Alex Ruthmann- Alex Ruthmann’s Blog
30. http://www.beatechie.com/
    Carol Broos- Be A Techie:)
31. http://musicanthology.org
    Geejay Arrioloa and Jeffrey Langlois -Music Anthology
32. http://southiowamusiced.blogspot.com/
    Michael Compton -Southern Iowa Music Education Network
33. http://qachsband.edublogs.org/
    Eric Wright- QACHS’s Band Blog
34. http://alleyjazz13.wordpress.com/
    Alison Hulihan- Marching Music
35. http://rogerwhaley.blogspot.com
    Roger Whaley -The BandEd ToolShed
36. http://mgrondin.edublogs.org
    Martha Grondin-Artful, Tuneful, Beatful
37. http://percussioneducationonline.com
    Kevin Tuck -Percussion Education Online
38. http://www.musicteachersblog.com
    Janice Tuck -The Music Teacher’s Blog
39. http://bnceducation.blogspot.com
    Steve Raybould, Kriston Feldpausch -Band and Chorus PMS/PJHS
40. http://musicedshare.wordpress.com
    Kyle Krstolic -Music Education Share
41. http://musicedforall.blogspot.com
    Dan Leeman -Music Education for All
42. http://amymburns.musiced.net
    Amy Burns -Elementary Music/Music Technology
43. http://www.music.erinnwrobel.com
    Erinn Wrobel – Notes From The Mitten
44. http://dougbutchy.wordpress.com
    Doug Butchy – Confessions of a Band Director
45. http://studiobeemusic.com/mutech
    Rich Blenkinsopp – Studiobee Music
46. http://musicmiddleschoolandweb20.blogspot.com/
    Susan Hurst – Music, Middle School and Web 2.0
47. http://www.kirki.co.uk
    Dr. Phil Kirkman -Music Education and Technology Blog
48. http://tufsdblogs.org/winze
    Ann Winze- WI Orchestra
49. http://thirddivision.org
    David DeVoto – Third Division
50. http://collaborativepiano.blogspot.com
    Dr. Chris Foley – The Collaborative Piano Blog
51. http://bandguys.wordpress.com
    Matthew Pelandina and Mike Lewis – The BandGuys’ blog
52. http://tanbur.wordpress.com
    David French -The Music Education Blogspot
53. http://musicteachers911.blogspot.com
    Larry Marra -Music Teachers 911
54. http://www.pianoteacherblog.com
    Rebecca Brown -Piano Teacher’s Retreat
55. http://wordtogo.wordpress.com
    Steve Mugglin -Creativity and Songwriting in Music Education
56. http://totalmusiceducation.blogspot.com
    Greg Albing -Total Music Education
57. http://teachingmusicbs.com
    Ben Baker -Teaching Music
58. http://susanadavis.blogspot.com/
    Susan Davis -Music Technology Musings
59. http://www.howtopractise.com (yes it’s a “s”, it’s an English spelling)
    Mike Saville – How To Practise
60. http://www.free2create.com/blog
    Valerie Kampmeier – Free 2 Create
61. http://musicmattersblog.com
    Natalie Wickham – Music Matters Blog
62. http://theresawhite.edublogs.org
    Theresa White – Education In Music
63. http://africlassical.blogspot.com
    William Zick – Africlassical
64. http://discoverlearnplay.blogspot.com
    Eugene Cantera – Discover, Learn, Play (MusickED.com’s Blog)
65. http://mstrismusic.com
    Ms. Tris – MsTrisMusic.com
66. http://www.learn-theory-music.com/learn-theory-music-blog.html
    Julian Partridge – Learn Theory Music Blog
67. http://www.guitarticles.net
    Tennyson Williams – Guitar Articles.Net
68. http://creativekidmusic.wordpress.com
    Dan Thompson -Creative Kid Music
69. http://educacionmusical.blogspot.com
    Oscar – Educacion Musical – Music Education (Our first, in Spanish, ME Blog!)
70. http://rizzrazz.vox.com/
    Dr. Eric Rasmussen  – Rizz’s Blog
71. http://reband.wordpress.com
    Mr. ReBand
72. http://www.techtempo.com
    Brenda Muench – Tech. Tempo
73. http://www.thomasjwestmusic.com/blog.htm
    Thomas J. West
74. http://musictech4ed.edublogs.org
    Andrew Spang  -MusicTech4Ed
75. Click this link. (A very log blog URL…)
    Jon Ensminger -Pedaplus
76. http://techtoysandtunes.blogspot.com
    Richard McCready – Tech Toys and Tunes
77. http://downpressup.wordpress.com
    Derek  -Downpressup
78. http://listenlearnmusic.com
    Rachel Rambach – Listen and Learn
79. http://jazzworks.wordpress.com
    Allan Perkins – Jazz Works
80. http://msgallant.edublogs.org
    Alexandra Gallant – The Misadventures of a First Year Music Teacher
81. http://www.acousticpath.com/blog
    Cameron Grant – Acoustic Path
82. http://musicteachercafe.viviti.com/
    Scott Ashby – Music Teacher’s Cafe
83. http://www.frogstoryrecords.com/player_journal.html
    Stever Carter – Frog Story Records/Player’s Journal
84. http://thirdstream.musiced.net
    Cary Stewart – Third-Stream Music Education
85. http://michiganstatepianopedagogy.blogspot.com
    Derek Polischuk – Michigan State Piano Pedagogy
86. http://fromthevoiceof.blogspot.com
    Elizabeth McDonald -From the Voice of…
87. http://urbanmusiceducation.org
    Sarah Johnston -Urban Music Education
88. http://musiced.jasoncrews.net/
    Jason Crews – Music Education Resource Blog
89. http://www.classicalguitarblog.net
    Christopher – Classical Guitar Blog
90. http://willie42.globalteacher.org.au/
    Andrew- Split Three Ways
91. http://mjsheetmusictips.blogspot.com/
    Marilyn Johnson – MJ’s Music Teaching Tips
92. http://www.musicteachershelper.com/blog/
    Brandon Pearce – Music Teacher’s Helper Blog
93. http://jeane-metroyo.blogspot.com
    Jeane Goforth – Scrollworks and Metropolitian Youth Orchestras
94. http://www.oparp.blogspot.com
    Dr. Robert Phillips – The Opinionated Arpgeggist
95. http://www.wikyblog.com/CynthiaWunsch
    Cynthia Wunsch  – The Unlikely Entrepreneur (Click the Blog Tab)
96. http://mineoladrama.blogspot.com
    Joe Owens – MHS Theater
97. http://andyzweibel.com
    Andy Zweibel – Music Musings and Other Randoms…
98. http://musicschoolsbc.blogspot.com/
    Stephen Robb – Music Schools BC
99. http://paulbailey.us
    Paul Bailey – Paul Bailey’s Blog
100. http://edubuzz.org/blogs/alancoady/
     Alan Coady – Alan Coady’s Musical Blog