Sentimental Journey Orchestra

After hanging around as a sub for several years, I finally became the regular guitarist for the Sentimental Journey Orchestra. I had been subbing for Jerry Aull, who has played guitar and sung with the SJO for a long time. Jerry recently moved far enough away that driving to the weekly Monday rehearsal would be too much of a haul. Jerry contacted me about six months ago to let me know that he would probably be moving, and he floated the idea switching roles. I would become the SJO's regular guitarist and he would sub for me when needed. Jerry remains as the male vocalist and will rehearse with the group once a month as a singer.

My years of hanging around like a vulture, waiting for something to happen paid off. In a group like this, the joke is that you have to wait for someone to die before you can officially join the group. Fortunately, all Jerry did was move.

Last night was my first official night rehearsing with the Sentimental Journey Orchestra. I've played as a sub on countless occasions, so it didn't exactly feel fresh and new. As a matter of fact, I knew I would be asked soon, and I had been debating whether to join the group or not. A couple years ago, I would have jumped at the chance without hesitation. Lately, though, I've been busy with plenty of projects. There is my part time job at Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation, a weekly gig and rehearsal with Godfrey and Guy, and an ever increasing roster of private guitar and piano students at Tessitura. With all of that going on (plus making sure I have the time to dedicate to practicing), I wasn't sure I wanted to take on the extra weekly rehearsal.

Upon reflection, playing with the SJO was too good to pass up. The group doesn't actually gig often, so it's not like I suddenly have a bunch of shows to play. What made me say "yes" to SJO was the opportunity to grow as a musician. I play most often in small group settings, where we are playing from lead sheets or from memory, and things are looser. I am usually the leader of whatever small group I'm playing in, and I will often change things on the fly…maybe try a different introduction, repeat back to the bridge instead of the beginning, etc. Playing in a big band is a completely different experience. As a guitarist, I may play a solo once in a blue moon, but I'm usually playing a set rhythm guitar part. There's nothing better for your rhythm guitar reading than playing through a bunch of big band charts.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to play with the SJO on a weekly basis, and I'm grateful for another opportunity to grow as a musician.

Branching Out: Musikgarten Workshop

I just finished an intense, weeklong Musikgarten workshop called "Music Makers: At the Keyboard." The purpose of the workshop was to provide us an overview and hands on instruction in how to use the curriculum.

To be honest, I wasn't enthusiastic going into this because I was still worn out from the UUMN Conference in San Diego the previous week. Fortunately, this workshop was in Atlanta, so not only was I in the same time zone, but I was able to crash at a friend's house only five minutes away. (I took over her oldest son's bed and spent the week sleeping on Transformer's sheets in a bed that was just a little too short for me.)

I sure am glad I attended. The workshop was excellent! I knew it was going to be a learning experience, but I had no idea I would learn so much or be so excited about it. Our instructor, Mary Louise Wilson, was excellent – easily one of the best teachers I've ever worked with. It also helps that Mary is one of the authors of the books.

In general, the "Music Makers: At the Keyboard" curriculum is about much more than playing the piano. The main focus is on the piano, of course, but the piano is a vehicle toward musicianship and not an end in itself. Children generally start this 3-year series at age 6 or 7. By the end of the curriculum, the children are able to play the piano competently, sight-read, sight-sing (in solfege), play musically, have an understanding of basic music theory, and even take musical dictation, which is something many college music majors dread.

The classes keep the kids (and teacher!) jumping, sometimes literally. In addition to the keyboard work, there is plenty of singing, moving, and drumming away from the piano. If you had been able to watch this workshop, you would have witnessed several adults sitting on the floor in a circle (some of us were pretty creaky), singing children's songs, dancing, drumming, galloping like horses, and in general acting a little silly, but with a clear purpose.

A few months ago, I was able to witness the end result of this piano curriculum as I watched an advanced class of Lynnette Suzanne's sight-read and sight-sing music. I can think of a few people I went to undergrad with who would have had problems with their music dictation. At the workshop, I was thrilled to witness the beginning of this process. As part of our teacher training, we observed Mary work with a group of children for four days. This was a typical group of kids. There were no "ringers." I was impressed that these kids were beginning to read and understand 8th note patterns on the fourth day.

I'm so glad I attended this workshop, and that I'm excited to be teaching a piano class at Tessitura starting August 12. Not only will this give me an opportunity to branch out into the world of early piano teaching, but I can use many of the same concepts to become a better guitar teacher.

The only drawback to this week is that I have a whole new repertoire of children's songs stuck in my head. It's hard to get back to sleep when you have "See the pony galloping, galloping down the country lane" rattling around in your brain.

Meet My Little Friend

Meet my little friend.

This jazz guitarist just bought himself a ukulele! I have to admit that this is in part an investment. I've had several parents ask me if I teach ukulele. On Monday, one more parent asked about uke lessons, and that was the tipping point. The plan is to spend some time getting comfortable with it, and then offer ukulele classes to youngsters at Tessitura, where I teach guitar. It'll be nice if some of those little ones eventually become guitar students, but even if they don't, I'll be doing us all a favor by sending happy little ukulele players out into the world.

This is a fun instrument! I've already taught myself a few chords. It seems like it would be almost impossible to play a ukulele and be anything but happy. There are people who do amazing things on the ukulele, but I think I'll stick to the basics. I enjoy pushing myself as a jazz guitarist, but I also like the idea of playing an instrument simply for the sake of strumming and singing some happy little songs.

I like to record "memo songs"…just single take songs captured by my iPhone's voice recorder. Yellow Submarine seems like a perfect ukulele song. Time to get busy!

A Class of One

I've been very happy with my teaching practice lately. First of all, I'm enjoying private teaching more and more. I tried teaching privately a few years ago, but in spite of my music education degree, I just hadn't spent enough time playing guitar to speak with any kind of authority. Now that I have more playing under my belt, I can combine my playing experience with my education degree to become an effective teacher.

I recently began teaching beginning guitar classes at Tessitura – one for adults and one for youngsters. Each class is eight weeks. So far, each class has exactly one student! I'm not worried about the numbers, though. I'd rather teach a class of one than a class of none. It's a start. I only began teaching privately at Tessitura five or six months ago, and this is the first time we are offering guitar classes. I am confident that the next round of classes will be larger. Until recently, Tessitura focused exclusively on early childhood music classes and keyboard classes. Guitar is a new thing at the studio. We held a recital at Tessitura last week, and one of my beginning students performed. After the recital, one of the parents approached me about guitar lessons for him and his son. As the guitar students become more visible at Tessitura, my student roster will grow.

Lynnette, Tessitura's owner, had a great idea that we're going to pursue: family guitar lessons. Tessitura is such a family oriented studio that this makes a lot of sense. I think it would be a lot of fun to teach a family, and with parents taking part, the family would be able to help each other practice at home.

Overall, I'm super excited about my prospects as a guitar teacher in Atlanta. My goal in the next 2-3 years is to develop a thriving studio filled with excited young (and not so young) guitar students.