Tag: Apostolic music

Phrasing

Maybe he meant, Young man you don’t understand how good you really got it.

Do you remember when you were in high school and the whole English class had to take turns reading Shakespeare’s Macbeth out loud? Our teacher assigned a different cast for each scene so we could all get a chance to experience public speaking anxiety. You never knew when it was your turn; you just waited in agony; your only consolation was how bad your classmates were doing. Everyone was saying the right words, but hardly anyone was really confident in their understanding of the text, despite any confidence they pretended to have in pronunciation. They were simply words without meaning: noise. It would’ve been painful to endure if we weren’t so clueless. I have a feeling that some of us thought we were doing a good job, but I don’t think anyone in my class went on to pursue an acting career. As bad as it was, I still enjoy hearing people read out loud.

I can hear us now just droning on…

Macbeth: If we should fail?

Lady Macbeth: -We fail?

But screw your courage to the sticking place

And we’ll not fail.

Now think for a minute of the old man you used to see at the grocery store—it helps if you had a job at a little grocery store while you were in high school—who had worked as a mechanic for 50 years and had to drop out of middle school to help out on the farm. He couldn’t pass an English class if his life depended on it, but it didn’t really matter; even with atrocious grammar and a vocabulary half consisting of words that could not be found in the dictionary, he could still create a sentence that would stay with you for 20 years because he knew exactly what he was talking about.

“How you doing today Mr. Wallace?”

“I’m doing fine, and you?”

“Pretty good.”

“Pretty good hard to beat.”

Pretty good hard to beat has been incorporated into my language. It may seem just like words on paper-or a screen-but it was the way he said it that let you know there was a lot more meaning that went into that sentence. Maybe he meant, Young man you don’t understand how good you really got it. I think about that old man whenever I chance to use this phrase. Whatever he may have intended, it certainly resonated with me.

That is what we call in music phrasing. Phrasing is how a musician puts a sequence of notes together into a musical thought, and how they interpret written music. It is the reason that Blues musicians could limit their musical vocabulary to the 5 note pentatonic scale and make people cry. It is why folk music can be so simple in its form, but still able to make us recall memories of places we’ve never been and times in which we never lived. And the same reason that beginner musicians sound like beginner musicians: their phrasing is off somehow. They may be playing the right notes-even reading the right notes from a master composer-but still unable to convey the real meaning of what the composer was trying to say.

The blues is feeling good about feeling bad.

Phrasing is more than having a nice voice, or tone. But I imagine that won’t hurt, but I’m not convinced it helps all the time either. It doesn’t matter how nice your voice is if you don’t have anything to say. Or if you are only going to regurgitate words that came from someone else’s heart.

It took me a while to really appreciate Shakespeare, and the closest I have come to understanding it was to see a play performed by actors who understood it at least better than me. I took Sarah to Blackfriars Theatre in Staunton, VA to see a All’s Well That Ends Well and Two Gentlemen of Verona. It was a far cry from bending over the text book following along as your buddy in class-who had never read a book for pleasure in his life and barely had a grasp on 21st century American English-stumble through his assigned lines without the faintest idea of the plot. Those Blackfriars performances have stuck with me and I would like to go back again some day.

Phrasing isn’t any one thing, but a host of subtle things like tone, dynamics, timing, space, and feel. These are all musical terms that could each have their own textbook and university course. So whether speaking or playing and instrument, how do you learn to phrase well? For a start, I think it is important to know what you want to say. For a musician, the most important part of phrasing is to get emotionally involved with the music. I think the best way to do that is to pay attention to the lyrics. And that means you need to understand the lyrics. People can tell when you don’t know what you are talking about. You don’t have to master the language of music-or the English language for that matter- to say something that will connect with a listener, but you do need to master your vocabulary, no matter its size. You don’t want to sound like someone who picked a random $40 word out of a dictionary and tried to force it into a $15 vocabulary. It will stick out like a Ferrari in a trailer park. If you want to build your vocabulary you need to read good stories-and listen to good music. A well written novel has the power to increase your emotional intelligence. Good readers understand empathy.

Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding. Proverbs 17:28

If you want your words to carry weight, don’t waste them.

Available Music

“Give me a guitar lesson Dad.” Hollynn demanded earlier this week. So I sat her on my lap and showed her the difference between a downstroke and an upstroke. We then had to back up and learn how to hold the pick. I’m not sure if there is a right way or a wrong way to hold a pick. Maybe there is just a faster or slower way. Or a more accurate way.

I didn’t get into all of that, I just showed her how to hold the pick to make the strokes easier for her. I didn’t show her how to make guitar face though. That comes natural with concentration.

I had a student calling the pick a “chip” the other day. That was a first for me.

It was a nice to see her show interest in the guitar, although she does tell me this quite often, “Let’s look at guitars on your phone Dad.” Maybe she’ll end up playing, it is hard to know. I certainly won’t discourage it.

How do you know if your child is going to stick with an instrument? This is the kind of question that parents are really asking when they ask for guitar recommendations. It is an economic question, will I get a return on my investment, or will this be money blown? Do parents ask those questions when they are shopping for video game consoles?

Yo Yo Ma, one of the most recognizable classical musicians in the world and possibly the only cellist that many can even name, didn’t arrive at the cello until he sampled the violin and the piano. I have also witnessed parents force an instrument on a child and the child never fully embrace it.

Whether or not she will play guitar or not doesn’t really matter, but the important thing right now is she has access to the guitar. I think it is good to make a lot of things available to children: books, art supplies, and musical instruments.

When I was her age, the guitar was not available to me. I was allowed the occasional glimpse at my Dan Dan’s old guitar. It was like visiting a museum: look, but don’t touch. It was purchased for him very dearly by my Gram back in the 70s, and he babied it until he died. After that, the guitar transitioned from a musical instrument into an heirloom.

I understand that feeling of wanting to take care of an instrument, especially if it cost a lot of money. I once picked up my unlatched guitar case after youth service, and my Martin fell out onto the floor with a kerang and a sickening crack. I quickly surveyed the damage: a severe case of case bite—where the guitar finish is marred by the metal latches that protrude along the edge of the case. I was sick to my stomach for weeks every time I looked at the case that I was too afraid to open.

I don’t let the kids wail on a few of my more valuable guitars without supervision from me, but I do let them play on them. There are other guitars just laying around the house that anyone is free to pick up and plink around on. We keep an eye out for any used musical instruments at thrift stores and yard sales for this purpose and view it as an investment in our children’s music education. I believe that Hollynn’s request for a guitar lesson is a direct result of familiarity with the instrument. For her whole life guitars have been a part of the furniture in our home.

She just had another lesson. It only lasted about three minutes, but she did show some improvement in her fine motor skills. If that is the most she gets out of guitar lessons then I think buying that old guitar at the thrift store for $7 was money well spent.

I have a drum student who doesn’t even own a set of drums. Fortunately, he lives very close to the church, where drums are available. I think he’ll end up owning a set pretty soon at the rate that he is catching on. I am sure that his parents fully understand the risk of buying an expensive set of drums on the chance that he will learn, especially if neither one of them knows how to teach him. And that brings us back to the question, How do I know if my child is going to stick with an instrument? The answer is, you don’t. But they will have a much slimmer chance if you don’t make instruments available.

It is our goal to create an atmosphere of learning at home. Creative play and curiosity are some of the most natural ways to learn. So buy that old thrift store keyboard and don’t treat it too precious when the child explores on it.

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 KJV

Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God’s wisdom and will for his abilities and talents], Even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 AMP

If you have a child showing interest in music lessons and are unsure where to start, contact me at zanewells@yahoo.com for a free consultation.

Left Behind: Musician Thoughts

What a person prefers about music depends largely on the memories associated with that music, and how broad their musical tastes were while this theoretical window was open.

I was listening to a song this morning on the way in to work. It was Christian Pop and I liked it. It wasn’t the sort of song that I would think to play at church, but it was uplifting nonetheless. Quite often Christian popular music takes its cues from secular pop. The phenomenon of secular-or profane-musical influence on church music has been going on for at least a thousand years. I noticed that the influences on the song I heard this morning sounded a little dated. I checked the release date on the song, and low and behold the song was twenty years old. Two decades. No wonder the influences sounded dated.

There is a theory that each generation thinks that their music was the best. I believe that each person has a window in which their musical tastes are established. What a person prefers about music depends largely on the memories associated with that music, and how broad their musical tastes were while this theoretical window was open. It takes effort to broaden that window and learn to appreciate music that doesn’t fit an individual’s concept of what sounds good. Especially as we get older.

I have seen this theory proved in the two decades that I have been fortunate to play music at church. I have met musicians willing to quit church before they were willing to learn a new type of music. Do you recall about twenty years ago when churches were splitting over traditional versus contemporary music? If you are yet a teenager and cannot recall, I am here to tell you that the Christian pop music that sounds so dated now was powerful enough to split churches.

When you are young it is easy to point your finger at an older generation for not being willing to learn anything new-including music. I have watched older musicians who struggled to keep up with new trends in church music (electric guitars, drums, click tracks, drum loops, synths, etc.): some overcame, some did not. I have also witnessed those who downright refused to learn anything new. It made me realize that staying relevant-this word has been blunted by Christendom- as a seasoned musician will take more than a moderate amount of effort.

On the other hand, seasoned musicians do have the advantage of being able to recognize the influences on modern music. And not all influences are good. Seasoned musicians also have developed a voice on their instrument that usually only comes with years of hard work. Also a seasoned musician’s repertoire is one of their most valuable assets. Having a large catalog of songs goes a long way in picking the right song for the moment. For all that, there is a fear of being left behind as a musician. So what does a musician need to do in order to not be left behind?

I would say the principle thing is to stay in love with music. I have many friends that no longer play an instrument. They will tell you a lot of reasons why they stopped playing, but the underlying cause is that they do not love it anymore. It is hard to play with musicians whose heart is not involved. 

I Chronicles 25:6 All these were under the hands of their father for song in the house of the Lord, with cymbals, psalteries, and harps, for the service of the house of God, according to the king's order to Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman.

7 So the number of them, with their brethren that were instructed in the songs of the Lord, even all that were cunning, was two hundred fourscore and eight.

8 And they cast lots, ward against ward, as well the small as the great, the teacher as the scholar.

I think the pinnacle for a musician is to be chosen for the service in the House of God. In David’s Tabernacle musicians were chosen by lot. Chronicles categorizes them as small or great (young and old), and teachers or scholars (students). I believe that this is still the model for God’s ideal music team. Young and old, teacher and students.

In order for a church’s music team to be healthy there must be a relationship between teachers and students. A teacher must have a commitment to teach and the student must have a commitment to learn. Musicians must never stop learning. When you get to the point where you do not think you need to learn anything new then you will not learn anything new. Conversely, there comes a time when musicians truly become masters of their craft and it is their responsibility to teach the students. When this relationship breaks down then the team becomes dysfunctional. Lazy students will not grow and this holds back the progress of the whole team. Disengaged teachers will cause eager students to seek out other teachers, whether good or bad influences. And what they learn will have a profound effect on the entire congregation. Just ask anyone that remembers all the church splits at the turn of the century.