Synn's Musical Notes

aardahl lutefisk

synnagain — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 03:11:16 +0000

Barn Party

synnagain — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:43:51 +0000

Albert System

synnagain — Thu, 26 May 2011 19:49:29 +0000

My mother learned to play on an Albert system clarinet. She said that the Boehm system, to which she switched at a young age, was easier for rapid playing. I know one elderly gentleman who learned on the Albert system. College clarinet majors sometimes have heard of Albert systm clarinets but usually have never seen one. I happen to own one. I didn’t know until I googled them that they are easier when it comes to the glissando technique (due to the open holes), and were the instrment of choice or default for many early jazz musicians. They are also used for Turkish and Greek music, and klezmer. And there are a few diehards who continue to play them. Thr is also an Oehler system, which most German and Austrians clarinetists use, which I had not heard of. But now there is Google……

Irish Songs and Other Thoughts

synnagain — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 19:51:24 +0000

Here are the lyrics to a song I remember from my childhood…and an old 78 rpm record.
A Capital Ship
(Charles Edward Carryl)

A capital ship for an ocean trip
Was the “Walloping Window Blind”
No wind that blew dismayed her crew
Or troubled the captain’s mind
The man at the wheel was made to feel
Contempt for the wildest blow-ow-ow
Tho’ it oft appeared when the gale had cleared
That he’d been in his bunk below

So, blow ye winds, heigh-ho
A-roving I will go
I’ll stay no more on England’s shore
So let the music play-ay-ay
I’m off for the morning train
To cross the raging main
I’m off to my love with a boxing glove
10,000 miles away

My mom liked to remind me when I played this song that my dad had been a sailor. I didn’t understand the words. Now, with Google and instant communications I’ve learned these nonsense words were written by an American poet/stockbroker. But the song appears in lists of tunes associated with Irish culture and it does have a very “Irish” sound to it. I’ve been practicing Molly Malone on my accordion and I very much would like to add A Capital Ship to my repertoire.

loss AND memories

synnagain — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 02:37:48 +0000

I just lost another uncle. A musical uncle. He was also an artist. And a teacher. If my brother and I have any gifts to share with the church, I can honestly say we got some of them from him. We had a memorial service. I spent a lot of time documenting his life, with photos and memorabilia and eulogies. The day of the service arrived. A few family friends came, along with the lunch ladies from church, and our small family. This was in stark contrast to another recent funeral to which the entire congregation turned out. It’s not too late. I still have the memorabilia. If the same folks who stayed away would come to my house, I would serve coffee and tell my uncle’s story. The day after the service I sat in the front pew staring at the funeral flowers and I couldn’t help it. Tears flowed.

My Uncle

synnagain — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 23:57:36 +0000

My uncle died in Chula Vista two weeks ago. Soon all his worldly goods, in three or four boxes, will arrive in the mail. Rather sad. He was an artist. He made jewelry and played baritone, French horn, and piano. His profession was teaching industrial arts. He had stubborn ideas about music and only liked jazz, and composers such as Shearing and Oscar Peterson. He didn’t like ordinary, predictable chords, which he called “churchy”. Once he took a correspondence course from some midwest Scandinavian college in theory or arranging or some such subject. He proceeded to make the chords interesting and received back his paper, from an instructor named Olafson, all marked up in red and the words NO! NO! NO! scrawled across the page.

libretto

synnagain — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 02:21:13 +0000

I met an old friend who I remembered as a composer. He is still composing. He said my brother has a lot of music in him, and he asked “What is your forte?” I said I was a writer and he asked, immediately, “Would you consider writing a libretto?” I said yes, but I’m going to have to research this to see what I am up against. The subject he has been studying is about the Biblical King David. I thought to myself, what do I have in common with David? What can I grab onto that will keep my energy and interest level up? Not slaying a giant. Maybe the fact he was a shepherd? The way he put a soldier in the front lines so he could steal the man’s wife? Then….it occurred to me that David was a poet……

Åland Music

synnagain — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 04:31:27 +0000

Åland is an autonomous region of Finland, Swedish speaking and with its own flag. It is an archipelago consisting of numerous islands. I looked up Åland music and found a calendar of events that includes no less than fourteen music festivals. Styles range from organ music, country, jazz, chamber, medieval, rock, pop, punk, alternative, big band, and Christmas music. They also have their own folk music.

Icelandic Folk Instruments

synnagain — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 02:04:31 +0000

My brother gives a presentation with a colleague at an elder hostel and elsewhere on the subject of Scandinavian music. He admits it is rather lame, and I have tried to help him research and put in order some of his information. So far he has not used anything I’ve discovered but he promises that will change in the future.

As a result I have learned quite a lot about Scandinavian music. We are of Norwegian and Swedish descent and do not come by the music of the other Nordic or Northern European music through our heritage. Maybe a little Finnish because we live in close proximity to the Minnesota Iron Range region. But there are other cultures in the pantheon including Danish, Icelandic, Faroese, Sami, Greenlandic, Ålandic….It’s quite an adventure.

The two Icelandic folk instruments I have encountered through research are the langspil, similar to the Norwegian langeleik which is related to the dulcimer, and the fidla, a bowed instrument. It is my understanding that both of these were resurrected from the Viking era by means of reconstruction of museum pieces, but are now used widely in contemporary Icelandic music.

Don’t Look At Your Hands…

synnagain — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 03:22:38 +0000

Every erstwhile piano student, even those of us who quit, remember that the ideal in piano playing was that you really shouldn’t continually be looking at your hands. But it’s hard not to peek. This because even more of a problem when one reaches bifocal age. You now can’t surreptitiously glance at your hands; you have to move your head in an obvious manner, which looks ridiculous. I just found this really helpful article on the subject.http://www.helpandinformation.com/articles/10-tips-to-reading-music-for-the-piano-faster.html