cooltunes

For some years now, I mist up whenever I hear the national anthem. The furious blinking, the lump in the throat - public or private, I’m sniffing away. Around lunchtime today, I found this, and now that I’m sufficiently recovered, I can share, unless you knew of this months ago.

For more days than I want to consider, music has been coming from the direction of the junior high. Most of it is hip hop-related, and seems to occur during lunchtime and recess. We neighbors don’t understand.

Today, I’m happy to say that the music of choice is by the Chipmunks, as in Alvin. To hear this blasted over powerful speakers is soul-destroying.

A friend has undergone a traumatic rift in her family, and is shakily getting to her feet again. In her company from time to time is someone just learning how to walk, having recently celebrated her first birthday. As one is tentatively finding her balance again, and the other is determinedly upright, wanting to move fast, I’m giving them some music to dance to when the time comes to throw caution to the winds.

And the Kylie Minogue has that ‘. . . la la la la la la la la’ refrain, perfect for someone anxious to talk and sing, but not quite able to grasp the finer points of human speech just yet.

I Just Want to Dance With You - George Strait
Fly Like a Bird - Boz Scaggs
Feeling Good - Michael Buble
I Wanna Dance With Somebody - Whitney Houston
Graceland - Paul Simon
What’s New Pussycat - Tom Jones
Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
Calling Elvis - Dire Straits
Can’t Get You Out of My Head - Kylie Minogue
Red Staggerwing - Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris
Venus - Frankie Avalon

Over at the nearby jr. high, the sound system is impressive. The national anthem will apparently be sung by a student with admirable chops, and the resounding cheers and applause at the end will no doubt be tripled when parents show up later. Not sure if it will be tonight. I think the practicing of speeches has begun.

The band, however, needs more practice.

When one of the kids took up clarinet more than 10 years ago, I taped classical pieces from the radio for him. I dug out one of these, Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581, and am listening to it now. He’s currently in Seattle, where he promises to help make this site into something much more than it is now. That is, when he and the other kid and I can find the time.

For the kid that studied saxophone, I did the same, and will probably go through the cassettes I recorded for him too.

So what happens years later, after I spent all that time driving them to and from lessons, and sat through countless concerts?

Well, for one thing, the sax guy cheerfully cleaned up the mess I made spilling balsamic vinegar in the junky end of the utensil drawer. He actually dumped all the miscellaneous spreaders, beaters, mismatched spoons, plastic stuff, chopsticks, etc. in the sink and washed it all.

But they’ll never be able to make up for my having to sit through all the beginning violin recitals that always preceded their piano performances.

From a list by Geoffrey Norris, the Daily Telegraph’s music critic.

The enchanting song I wrote about a few days ago had its origins on a Cornwall Beach, where Blake had gone to purge himself of personal demons. He discusses how the first six notes of the song popped into his head, and the home those notes found when he met “The Snowman”.

An early present! I’ve wanted this soundtrack for a long time, but don’t think of it till the holidays. The story is included with the CD, and is as magical as when I first read it to my kids all those years ago.

The song, “Walking on the Air”, sung by Peter Auty, a choirboy from St. Paul’s Cathedral, is the kind that stops you in your tracks if you’ve not heard it before. And if you have, its purity will touch your heart.

Yesterday in the Safeway cereal aisle, a woman was busy looking at the products while her two kids, a boy and a girl, were singing the song. They were about 4 and 5 maybe. Not loud, completely unaware that anyone else was paying attention. Obviously they didn’t know all the lyrics, and their voices were wavering, but even after they went over to the next aisle, I could still hear them.

According to a new study out of Canada, kids who take music lessons do better on memory tests than their nonmusical peers. The research was performed on children ages four to six, duration of the lessons was one year.

Faced with a multitude of choices, a NYT writer searches for the right instrument for her child, who wishes to study the flute. Should she rent or buy? New or used? How different are the brands? Music store or online shopping? Nickel-plated or silver-plated?

At the International Community School in Oakland, third-graders, 80% of whom are Latino, sing enthusiastically in Mandarin and play the erhu, the yue quin, and the dizi. Parents are happy as well.