Married to "The Sound of Music"

"Jazz music is America's past and its potential, summed up and sanctified and accessible to anybody who learns to listen to, feel, and understand it. The music can connect us to our earlier selves and to our better selves-to-come. It can remind us of where we fit on the time line of human achievement, an ultimate value of art.” – Wynton Marsalis

Something New

There is no truer statement than this. As a music lover, sometimes you connect to songs and genres of music without even realizing it until you find out where the song comes from.

I have been in the process of trying to gain more strength in my piano playing, referencing books of sheet music and trying to play while reading, which is not easy.

I have come to a point where I have begun doing research on music, trying to find out more about jazz and within the process, I got a sheet music book of Ragtime songs. The book consists of over 20 tunes that were popular during that era by some of the most famous ragtime musicians of that day and time.



Something Borrowed

I am not sure if this applies to all young people, but I know that when I was a little girl, the sound of the ice cream truck during the summertime would draw my attention and caused me to be uneasy because I wanted some of the tasty treats offered. Even if I did not run to the truck, the music was sonorous and delightful. Until today, I remember it and have tried to repeat the phrases of the nameless song that used to call attention to children, on my keyboard, still not knowing much about the song except for what it sounded like. And then, I opened up the Ragtime piano charts book, started with the first page and when I began to play the song, to my surprise there it was.

The title of the song is “The Entertainer” which was written by the King of Ragtime also known as Scott Joplin in 1902. How interesting to find that after decades of first hearing a song and loving it without even knowing anything about the content of its music, that  I'd come to realize I enjoyed Ragtime music all my life. This could possibly be why when “Ragtime” was in the theatres in NYC, I had been with desire to see it. Though I never have, I am grateful to have a book featuring songs of this type that I can use in my own unique way.

Check out more about "the Entertainer" here:

Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Entertainer_(rag)

The Best of Scott Joplin on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFeF_yFtssk

Something Blue


By unique I mean, I have kid sized hands that I have to stretch more than most people to play with both hands. My left hand has been underutilized and it feels like lifting weights trying to get it into piano playing mode.

Yet, I practice until my left hand is sore and my fingers are blue and numb. Hopefully I will get better at it, but for now, coming to more of an understanding of music is wonderful and helps me to value the art more than I ever considered.

Strange to be married to a simple sound of music without even knowing how much it has affected you as a person. And that's when you realize how influential music really is.  

The idea of being a musician and lover of what I do, makes my heart leap!