The unopened letter

Well this evening I opened a letter that arrived this morning from the University of Sheffield.  Thinking it was nothing important I hadn’t been in a rush to read it sooner – I wish I had thought.  Why?  Well because I opened up that plain brown envelope to find my returned assignment inside.  It was an essay I wrote over Christmas about Rodrigo the Spanish classical composer and his famous Concerto de Aranjuez.  I was delighted to see that I’d got 70%!  Go Moonflowers, go!

I’m one happy bunny tonight & will fall asleep amidst thoughts & dreams of Spanish and one of my favourite pieces of classical music.  How cool is that?

Legacy (Year in Photos 2011)

Today’s photo of the day is a blatant plug – but if you cant blow your own trumpet …. (excuse the pun)

Here’s the latest CD from The Sheffield Citadel Band of the Salvation Army, entitled “Legacy” – a tribute to the music of the late Jim Wright.  Well worth a listen & a bargain at just 12 of your English pounds.  For more details, go to sheffieldcitadelband.wordpress.com/

Memory evoking melodies (Year in photos 2011)

I know I’ve written on previous occasions about the importance of music in the world.  For me, music is always around me & different melodies remind me of different events, places, people & times in my life.  I can listen to the same tune for weeks on end without getting fed up with it.  In fact the CD I have in my car at the moment has been there since October!  It’s just this particular music is speaking to me at the moment.  So I think that particular tunes & melodies can be associated with particular things & events etc in our lives.

Does a song on the radio ever just bring memories flooding back to you?  Well that’s what I’m talking about.  I think that’s the reason why I havent listened to some music for a couple of years or so now, because if I did, well then the images which would come to mind might be just too difficult for me to remember.  So as a means of evasion, I just havent listened to them.  Perhaps it’s easier that way?  Hmm.

Anyway, over the past few days I’ve been inspired – or perhaps that’s not the right word, maybe it should be challenged to change this.  I’ve challenged myself to start playing the piano again.  It’s been sitting in the corner of the room, almost redundant for a couple of years or so now.  I get too involved with music, it’s too powerful for me not to become involved and so my evasive mechanism kicked in so that I avoided those images by just not playing or hearing them.

Well things are changing a little now.  I’ve sat back down on that piano stool & I’ve started to play some of those memory invoking melodies again.  Time will tell whether or not I manage to override those images, perhaps I shouldnt try to forget them?  Perhaps I should just learn to live with them & accept them.  I don’t know but I’ve giving it a go at least.

Can you live without music?

Well today I’ve read yet more news about how music can positively impact on your well-being has been revealed.

I’m a strong believer in the importance of music in our lives, both spiritually & mentally.  I’ve read a number of reports in recent months which discuss the benefits music can have on our health:  helping dementia patients; giving sight back to stroke sufferers; improving the social fabric of society.

Today I read about the holistic benefits of music, how listening to some types of music can slow down your heart and lower your blood pressure .  Yet more evidence I believe that you just cant live without music.

Musical therapy

I’ve been talking for a while about how important I believe music is and about the benefits that it can bring to each of our lives. Well I didn’t need any further proof, but I’ve found it none the less! I’ve just been reading a fascinating article on the BBC website which is truly inspiring and it just simply made me say “wow!”

So what was this article that caught my attention today? Well it’s about the benefits that a specific music project has had on dementia patients. The musicians work with the patients over an 8 week period enabling them to participate in the music making and really feel a part of what’s going on. The results have been encouraging: people who previously wouldn’t talk to others are now asking them questions.

Granted, music cannot cure them of dementia, but it’s certainly having a positive influence on their well being. Music really is a universal language that can cross over all barriers.

Music each day keeps the doctor away

If you’ve read my blog for a while you’ll know that from time to time I write a post related to music.  Yes, music is one of the loves of my life & I am passionate about it & its importance in our world today.

Every so often in my daily readings I come across something which re-emphasises this fact.  News that really stresses not only the effect that music can have on your life & soul, but even on your own physical wellbeing.

Today I’ve read another of those articles.  This one tells us that music is helping stroke victims to get back their sight.  Wow!  That’s a pretty amazing thing, don’t you think?  Music, something that some people say they can “take it or leave it” can actually help people to physically see again.  Wow!

Check out the article for yourself here

Spring is in the air

Yes it seems like Spring has finally sprung

The days are getting longer, the evenings are getting lighter.  The sun is shining, the breeze is blowing and the birds are singing.  And with all of that comes smiling.  Yep, everyone seems to have that spring in their step today & the world seems to be a better place.

So forget about whatever things are troubling you, dust them aside for a few moments and reflect on the beauty of the world around us and the good things in life.

Sit back & listen to Spring, from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Overture.
Enjoy.

the winner takes it all

To a friend:

I don’t wanna talk
About the things we’ve gone through
Though it’s hurting me
Now it’s history
I’ve played all my cards
And that’s what you’ve done too
Nothing more to say
No more ace to play

The winner takes it all
The loser standing small
Beside the victory
That’s her destiny

I feel like I’m the loser, so stay around & be my friend, that’s all I’m really after.
x

music CAN change the world

Wow!

I watched a programme last night (how an orchestra saved Venezuela’s children) which really affected me. It was fascinating, informative and inspirational and I really felt it. It was about “El Sistema” – a scheme, for want of a better word, which was born in Venezuela. A scheme which was the dream of one man but which has exacebated into an initiative which is changing the lives of people on a day-to-day basis and is even changing the social fabric of an entire country. Amazing!

“El sistema“ began with 11 children in a carpark and now over 11,000 youngsters are involved with it. It had a simple aim, that of teaching children music. But that simple aim has become so much more and it is helping to fight poverty by giving children something to believe in. By giving them a way into music that they wouldnt otherwise have, music by means of an orchestra, is becoming a unique instrument for socialising children. These children are finding passion and a belief in themselves that then can have dreams and they can accomplish them. This is even spilling over into other areas of their lives, helping them to do better in other things as well.

In the programme, Alan Yentob went to Venezuela and talked to people who have been influenced by this initiative. Their responses were inspiring and illustrated the profound impact that El Sistema is having on people there.

“music changed the social life of my country”

“when you have a musical instrument, you feel like you’ve got something.”

“if it wasnt for music they’d just be in the house all day”

“we dont play instruments by chance. God gives us all the opportunity to develop our gifts, it’s up to us to respond to the opportunity.”

“This is the future the world needs. 1000s of children playing music.”

The overwhelming belief was that using music in this way is preventing children from falling by the wayside & getting caught up in a life of drugs, theft, poverty and maybe even worse. It is helping them to grow into better people, giving them hope & dreams, and teaching them that hard work can overcome anything.

And the result?

Today music is fully integrated into the life of the country. El Sistema is doing astonishing things with music to change the lives of poor children. It isnt just producing musicians, it’s also training them as human beings.

Now I’m no expert, but I’d like to call myself a musician & I am fairly accomplished. Perhaps that’s why this has really touched home to me. Music really can change people’s lives for the better. This scheme is fantastic, very inspirational. It’s just mind blowing to see how something so simple, so fundamental as learning to play an instrument, something that I perhaps have always taken for granted, can have such a dramatic impact, not just on an individual but on whole communities and even an entire country.

Music can change lives. If you really set you heart on something you can do it. And what an amazing gift to give to a child – music.

Wow!

music personality

There seem to have been a lot of music related articles on the web this week, or perhaps it’s just that I notice them because I’m interested in the subject?  This latest one looks at the correlation between personality and musical tastes.  Hmm, I cant say that this is something which surprises me really.  Perhaps I’m thinking of stereotypes but in general certain types of music do appeal more to certain groups of people, dont they?  Isnt that just logic?

Anyway, back to the article: a study of 36,000 people has been carried out to determine just how closely related tastes and personality are, with some surprising results.  For instance, those who prefer classical music or heavy metal both have creative streaks but are not outgoing, and despite the stereotype of heavy metal fans it appears in reality that they are just “delicate things”.  Bless!

So what sort of music do you like?
Are you a hardworking country and western fan?  Perhaps you’re an outgoing rapper?  Or maybe you’re the creative & outgoing Bollywood devotee?

You can even be involved in the research if you’re interested and take part in the survey, so there’s still time to get your views included.