Dispatch from the Little Red House

Lessons in the Little Red House have been moving along steadily.  The doors are now almost always open to the fresh spring air.  The cushions are out on the swing.  Sometimes we pause in our lessons to watch a bunny hop by or a family of deer get shepherded along by Stella.  There are robins poking in the garden for worms and wood peckers pecking in the trees for bugs.   This past Winter wasn’t too harsh but the longer, warmer days are still a welcomed old friend.  Stella has been especially happy to have the doors to the studio open.  This means she can come and go as she pleases.  Sometimes she is sunning herself in the warm grass and then later she is catching some shade inside the studio at the foot of a student.  She loves all the kids and always makes a point to at least say hello.  Other times she sits next to them as they sing or play notes on the guitar or ukulele.  We can even get Stella to sing with us if we give a good howl.  She has spent her whole 10 years of life listening to music.  She loves it.  One student chose to sit on the floor with Stella while singing.  She wanted to be close.  I noticed a couple of wags from Stella in applause.  

The Spring recital is only a couple of months away now.  It is such a pleasure to watch all the students become more focused.  They have now all picked a song for individual performances.  These choices can always change but it is a really wonderful practice to take one song and get really good at it.  Many of the piano students love to show me how they still remember their Winter Recital song.  The pride they have in these songs is powerful.  I have been thinking about song choice and what makes us love a song?  What makes a song reach out and grab hold of our attention and our admiration.  For a recital this song often has to be in the sweet spot between a song the student likes and is able to play.  I am trying to take a lesson from my students and pick a new song to learn that is a challenge for me and to perfect it.  This month I am learning the guitar solo from Landslide.  It is a challenge to play it while continuing on with the travis finger picking pattern.  

Lately, my son Samuel has been listening to a lot of Nina Simone.  She has been one of my musical heroes since I was in high school.  I first heard a song from her in a movie, it might have been Point of No Return.   Since then I have been hooked on Nina Simone.  It is a real treat to hear my son learn I Loves You Porgy on the piano.  Some songs stay with us for a lifetime.  They remind us of happy or sad times.  They hold us close as we revisit old emotions but every now and then new life is breathed into them.  I am grateful for this new life my Nina Simone songs are experiencing.  

What songs are close to your heart?  Do your kids know them?  How wonderful if these songs can jump from parent to child and back again!  Please share your favorite songs with this community!