The Magic of Rhythm Instruments

Many teachers struggle with trying to raise Pre-school and Kindergarten age children's musical awareness and expressiveness. This article examines the use of rhythm instruments, such as rhythm sticks, shakers sand blocks, and bells, to do this, instead of singing. While the process of singing is very complex for young children in that they must remember the words and the notes, using rhythm instruments can be made fun and simple by using a variety of techniques. Some of these techniques are explained, such as playing along with familiar tunes with different lyrics ("This is the Way We Play Our Sticks" to the tune of "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush"), playing games where the children repeat the teacher, telling animal stories where different instruments symbolize different animals (sand blocks hit on the floor become dinosaur footsteps), and pretending the instruments are everyday items (the tambourine becomes a steering wheel). All of these processes are exciting for the children, while at the same time they will increase the children's awareness and expressiveness of music.

This article is from the October 2006 edition of Teaching Music

The Lady with The Hammer

Unusually simple piano scores scatter the studio floor of a reclusive composer in St. Petersburg. Galina Ustwolskaja does not travel and will not take interviews. Dubbed “The Lady with the Hammer” by music critics, blocks of polyphonic sound leap off the pages of her music. Bleak melodies are interrupted by a machine burst in the upper register, embellishing the typical socialist canvas of Soviet composition.
Ustwolskaja’s determination to create music uninfluenced by any other composer or genre made her unsuited to a career in the Soviet music business during the Stalinist era. Regardless, Ustwolskaja had to earn a living and came to an agreement with the state. This meant pumping out charming pieces in the Socialist Realist tradition to please the Soviet State. Her typical music, characterized by driving polyphony, severe dynamics (ffffff and ppppp), the absence of bar lines, and unusual instrumentation (Her Composition No. 1. was written for Piano, Piccolo, and Bass Tuba), was a luxury she mostly kept to herself for personal composition.
Born June 17, 1919, in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg), Uswolskaja began compositional studies at Leningrad Conservatory with Dmitri Shostakovich in 1937 and continued to study with him for ten years. Uswolskaja can be considered the only one of Shostakovich’s students who was able to escape the gravitational pull of his composing planet and create her own compositional style with, according to Uswolskaja, absolutely no influence taken from other composers: “there is no link whatsoever between my music and that of any other composer,”

Even Shostakovich felt he failed to influence her; rather, he felt influenced by Galina. A man unlikely to compliment his students, Shostakovich supported her against the opposition of his colleagues in the Union of Soviet Composers and said of her, ‘I am convinced that the music of G. I. Uswolskaja will achieve worldwide renown, to be valued by all who perceive truth in music to be of paramount importance.” In fact, Shostakovich presented his scores to Ustvolskaya for her approval and attached great value to her comments.
. The scores of Shostakovich’s music for the film Hamlet were similar to Ustwolskaja’s music in mood and method. Use of large percussion blows and whip crack chords with militant simplicity, “almost puritanical in its distrust of anything colorful or soft-edged” The New Shostakovich (1990), expressed a similar experience of oppression under Communism. Otherwise, little connection has been found between Ustwolskaja and Shostakovich’s music.
A personal connection between the two, however, is evident. Rostropovich, a fellow composer who was friends with both of them, declared Uswolskaja and Shostakovich’s relationship as “tender.” In Shostakovich: A Life Remembered, Elizabeth Wilson revealed their union as an “open secret.” Accounts of their relationship are in definite existent, but details are uncertain. The exact how and when of their relationship is unknown. Nevertheless, calling Uswolskaja his "musical conscience” Shostakovich was obviously struck by the young woman. It seems the relationship between the two was short and intense, since Shostakovich married another student soon after accounts of his affair with Uswolskaja were taken. It is known she broke up with the fellow composer in 1956, when she was 37 years old and the only contribution of the affair given by Uswolskaja herself is bitter and abrupt: “One thing remains as clear as day: a seemingly eminent figure such as Shostakovich, to me, is not eminent at all, on the contrary he burdened my life and killed my best feelings."

Making A Name

Stephen Sondheim was born on March 22, 1930 in New York City. He was a very talented child who skipped kindergarten and was reading the New York Times by first grade. In 1936 he received his first piano lesson, however, this was not the beginning of his true training as a musician. There were many factors that lead to the instruction of the young Sondheim; the largest factor was his parents. His father, Herbert and mother, Janet were divorced in 1940. At first glance this may look as if it was a horrible emotional wrenching experience, as many divorces can turn in to, but in essence it was the beginning of Sondheim’s career. His mother uprooted him from New York City and sent him to military school. Unlike most children this was a very good experience for Sondheim because there was a wonderful organ there that he was allowed to play. The real achievement came after military school when Sondheim and his mother moved to Doylestown, Pennsylvania. It was here that Sondheim attended George School. George School was where Sondheim met and quickly befriended Jimmy Hammerstein. This friendship would prove to be one of the best things to happen to young Sondheim.
Jimmy’s father Oscar Hammerstein II soon learned of Stephen’s passion for music and became Stephen’s first mentor. He began teaching him about musical theatre and how to write musical theatre. Hammerstein developed a type of course outline for Sondheim to follow. This outline consisted of four assignments. The first was to turn a play he enjoyed into a musical, the second to turn a play he disliked into a musical, the third to use a non-dramatic piece and convert it into a musical and the final assignment was to create something original. This course took around six years and was finally concluded when Sondheim finished college.
Sondheim attended Williams College and was a music major under the influence of his first music professor Robert Barrow. After graduation he began private studies with Milton Babbitt in New York. They studied counterpoint and did a lot of music analyzation. Sondheim was a slow, hard working student. This hard work paid off in the long run.
Stephen Sondheim’s first major work was not that of composition, it was that of a lyricist. If there is one thing about show business that Sondheim learned and forever remembered it was that you take every opportunity you are handed. His first success “West Side Story” was premiered on September 16, 1957.
Sondheim continued to learn from his elders. He did not allow the fame of his first success to cloud his judgment, but continued to work diligently. He was given many other opportunities that would lead his way to his own full score and lyrics. He was taught his final lesson by Hammerstein when he was asked to write the lyrics for “Gypsy”. This lesson was how to write for a star. Stephen Sondheim achieved what every musician and artist hopes for, great success. He used the resources and opportunities he was given to make a name for himself in the musical theatre world, a name that will not easily be forgotten.

Zadan, Craig. Sondheim & Co. 2nd ed. New York, New York: Harper & Row,, Inc., 1989.

The Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration. Washington D.C.: The Kennedy Center Education Department, 2002.

All Shine On...

Killed on his way back home from a recording session in December, John Lennon lived a truly legendary life. A member of the world-famous Beatles, and later doing solo work, Lennon made a huge impact on the planet and in the world of music.

John Lennon was born in Liverpool, during a German air raid. Both of his parents had musical backgrounds and experience, though neither pursued music seriously. Lennon lived with his parents until his father Alfred, a merchant seaman, walked out on the family when John was five years. His mother Julia (due to a current relationship and lack of home space) handed over care of young Lennon to her sister, Mimi Smith, after receiving a considerable amount of pressure from both Mary and child services to do so. Throughout the rest of his childhood and adolescence, Lennon lived with his aunt. Like much of the population of Liverpool, Lennon had some Irish heritage. While Lennon had little exposure to his Irish heritage growing up, he came to identify with it later in life. He lived in a fairly middle class section of Liverpool.

Mimi and George, who had no children of their own, became strong parental figures to Lennon. Mimi was loving but stern, and kept John in line. George was softer than his wife and would indulge him, teaching him to paint, draw and buying him his first mouth organ. In Alfred's absence, George became a father figure and his death in 1955 was to have a profound influence on Lennon, especially in light of events that were to follow. On July 15, 1958, when Lennon was 17, his mother was killed returning from Mimi's house after being struck by a car driven by a drunk off-duty police officer. Julia Lennon's death was one of the factors that cemented his friendship with McCartney, who had lost his own mother to breast cancer in 1956, when he was 14. Years later, Lennon wrote the songs "Julia", "Mother" and "My Mummy's Dead" regarding his mother, as well as naming his firstborn son, Julian, after her.

Though failing at his exams by one grade at grammar school, Lennon was accepted into the Liverpool College of Art with help from his school's headmaster and his Aunt Mimi, who was insistent that John would have some sort of qualification. It was there that he met his future wife, Cynthia Powell. Lennon would steadily grow to hate the conformity of art school, and he ultimately dropped out.

He then devoted himself to music, and was inspired by American rock 'n' roll with singers/musicians like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Little Richard. Mimi told Lennon frequently "The guitar's all very well, John, but you'll never make a living out of it." (Years later, when The Beatles were the top act in show business, he presented her with a silver platter, engraved with the same words.)

He started a little band in his Grammar School that was called The Quarry Men. With the addition of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, the band changed to playing rock 'n' roll, taking the name "Johnny and The Moondogs", followed by "The Silver Beetles" , which was later shortened to The Beatles.

Fogerty Facts

In 1968, rock and roll was brought sharply back to its roots due to one album, Creedence Clearwater Revival. Led by the band’s lead singer, John Fogerty, CCR’s style reminisced back to the says of country, blues, and swamp-rock. The vision behind CCR is attributed to much John Fogerty's singing, songwriting, leadership, and guitar skills. Fogerty's compositions managed to evoke images of the utopian America as well as the inherent social issues of the time.
John, and his brother Tom, formed the band Tom and the Blue Velvets in the late 1950’s while staying in El Cerrito, California. They changed the band’s name in the mid sixties to The Golliwogs, but their popularity did not rise. It was not until John Fogerty took over the reigns of lead singer and front man, of the newly proclaimed Creedence Clearwater Revival, did the band become successful.
They released their debut album in 1968, and soon they had ten hit singles.
Some of these singles were “Proud Mary,” “Down on the Corner,” “Susie Q,” and “Who’ll Stop Rain.”

Unfortunately, Fogerty’s dominance of the group sowed seeds of disunity and mistrust. Tom Fogerty left the band in 1971 after expressing dislike at his brother’s upper hand in any decisions. This left CCR as a trio, and John agreed to allow drummer, Doug Clifford, and bassist, Stu Cook, equal shares of vocal time and songwriting on their next album, Mardi Gras, in 1972. The other band members protested, and said that it wouldn’t be a true Creedence album. They believed the fans would not understand. John replied, "My voice is a unique instrument and I will not lend it to your songs." He threatened to quit the band immediately if they did not agree to this. Mardi Gras turned out to be their last album, and Fogerty bought himself out of his contract and officially left the band.
Fogerty began his solo career under the name “Blue Ride Rangers.” For his 1973 debut, he played all of the instruments used and compiled an album of instrumental covers. He released John Fogerty in 1975, but sales were slim. Also, at this time, legal problems ensued. Creedence Clearwater Revival's former music publisher, affiliated with Fantasy Records, sued Fogerty because his new compositions sounded too much like his former work as songwriter for CCR. Later, in 1985, when Fogerty’s solo career finally hit its peak, he released the album, Centerfield. It went to the top of the charts and included the Top Ten hit, "The Old Man Down The Road" and the title track is frequently played on classic rock radio and at baseball games to this day. However, Fogerty ran into more legal problems with this album. It was believed that two songs on the album, "Zanz Kant Danz" and "Mr. Greed", were attacks on CCR’s former employer at Fantasy Records, Saul Zaentz. "Zanz Kant Dance" was about a pig that can't dance but would "steal your money". Zaentz responded with a lawsuit, and Fogerty issued a revised version of "Zanz Kant Danz,” and changed the main characters name to Vance. Another accusation was that "The Old Man Down The Road" shared the same chorus as "Run Through The Jungle,” one of Fogerty’s hits while with Creedence. Fogerty won the case by proving the two songs were wholly separate and distinct compositions. He brought his guitar to the witness stand and played excerpts from both songs, demonstrating that many songwriters (himself included) have distinctive styles that can make completely different compositions sound similar to the ear.
Later, John Fogerty sued Zaentz for the cost of defending himself against the copyright infringement case. Fogerty v. Zaentz became precedent when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned lower court rulings in 1993 and awarded attorneys' fees to Fogerty, without Fogerty having to show that Zaentz's original suit was frivolous.
Fogerty followed up his success in 1985 with another album in 1986 entitled Eye of the Zombie. It was not merely as successful as it’s predecessor. Because of his albums failed success, Fogerty disappeared from the limelight until 1993 when Creedence Clearwater Revival was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. However, Fogerty refused to perform with his former band mates in retaliation with their siding with Fantasy Records during the copyright trials.

2004, marked a turning point in the life of Fogerty. He released another album, Déjà vu (All Over Again). Also, Fantasy Records was sold to Concord Records, which quickly ended to thirty-year fight between Fogerty and his former label. The new owners took steps to restore the royalty rights Fogerty gave up in order to be released from his contract with Fantasy in the mid 1970s. Finally, on June 9, 2005 Fogerty was inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, and in September he returned to Fantasy Records to release another recording.
John Fogerty has had a long and strenuous career. He was a musician who wanted to express his back to roots rock, and write music that made a statement during a turbulent time. However, due to the complications of his record company and former band mates, his career was spent defending his creativity. His genius inspired waves of musicians later in rock history, and will forever.

Works Cited

Bordowitz, Hank. Bad Moon Rising: The Unofficial History of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Schirmer Trade Books.1998.
Creedence Clearwater Revival Biography
Creedence Clearwater Revival Free Music Downloads

Fogerty vs. Fantasy Inc.

NPR: John Fogerty travels ‘The Long Road Home’

Music for a Darkened Blog

I had just written a really extensive blog about Conor Oberst and that which is Saddle Creek with multi-media links and what not, but for some ******* reason, the internet quit and the blog was un-saved. And since I now know like everything about Conor Oberst, I do not want to have to write about him again, plus I want to learn about someone else. I picked someone who's music i also admired, but didn't know much about:

What do Homer Simpson, Spiderman, Pee-Wee Herman, Jack the Pumpkin King, Dick Tracy, and Eva Longoria have in common? Danny Elfman has composed music for all of these characters/actors. WHAAAA!??? indeed.

Danny Elfman was born on May 23, 1953, in Los Agngeles, California. He grew up in a racially mixed are and was known to his friends as "the whitest kid in town." As a child Elfman naturally spent his free time in the movie theaters, listening to the great film scorers of the time. Elfman dropped out of high school, and went with his brother to France. There, he played violin on the street, and performed in "Le Grand Magic Circus," an avant-garde musical theatrical group. After a while, he moved o Africa, where he voyaged through Ghana and Mali.

Around 1972, Elfman returned back to the states, where he joined his brother Rick to start a group called "The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo." The group became a cult classic, and later shortened their name to "Oingo Boingo" in 1978, and began touring the U.S. The band is known for their new wave influence and contributions to wierd 80's movie soundtracks. The band called it quits in 1995.


Oingo Boingo, circa 1980. Elfman is the crazy guy with the guns. Elfman is portraying Satan for the movie "Forbidden Zone."

While Boingo was enjoying comporable success, Danny met Director Tim Burton in 1985. They instantly clicked, and Burton asked Elfman to score the music for his first main film (and one of my favorite movies) Pee-wee's Big Adventure. Elfman had no formal trainng, but Burton was convinced Elfman could make a fantastic, if not odd score. Since then, Elfman has scored all of Burton's films, except for one. Some of these movies include "Beetlejuice," "Batman," "Edward Scissorhands," and the latest being "Corpse Bride."


Elfman and Burton

Elfman has also written music for tv shows including "The Simpsons," and "Desperate Housewives," the former got him nominated for an Emmy, and the latter won him an Emmy.

Elfman is is one of the great modern film scorers of our time, and is sure to influence musicians and writers for years to come. He currently lives in L.A. with his wife Bridget Fonda, and son Oliver.

-DF

Resources Used:
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Elfman
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oingo_Boingo
-http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000384/

Ray Brown

“The Jazz giants-those that have lasted a long time-are a breed apart. They are not heroes free from the flaws of ordinary mortals. On the contrary, they seem to be more essentially human than most of us. Perhaps it’s because it takes extraordinary qualities to reach the top of a demanding profession and stay there. Whatever the reason, Ray Brown is one of those giants who through the eyes of the beholder has viewed him with awe as well as affection.” - Beatrice Richardson

Raymond Matthews Brown was born October 13, 1926, in Pittsburgh, PA. Ray started off with piano lessons at an early age, and when he saw how many kids at his school played piano, he decided he wanted to play trombone. He couldn’t afford one so he had to play whatever the school had extra of – the bass.

All throughout high school Ray listened and studied Duke Ellingtons tunes played on a jukebox, and studied Jimmy Blanton’s bass lines.

After high school Ray traveled with a few big band, but eventually decided to get a one-way ticket to New York. On his first night there, he ran into some luck and a friend who introduced him to Dizzy Gillespie, who was looking for a bass player and hired Ray on the spot.

This was the beginning of and long and successful career. Ray went on to play with jazz greats such as Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson and singers such as Frank Sinatra, Billy Eckstine, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughn and Nancy Wilson. He is considered one of the best jazz bassists to have ever lived.

Before Duke Ellington died, Brown got the great opportunity of recording an album with him called, “This one’s for Blanton” – referring to Dukes old bassist and Browns inspiration.

One afternoon in 2002 after Ray had gotten back from a round off golf, he died in his sleep while taking a snooze before a gig in Indianapolis.

http://www.jazzreview.com/articledetails.cfm?ID=864

http://www.npr.org/programs/jazzprofiles/archive/brown_ray.html

http://www.iaje.org/bio.asp?ArtistID=19

http://www.hopper-management.com/rb_bio_e.htm