Music Therapy

A friend posted this article on facebook and I thought I would share. It just goes to show how important music is and how it can help others!

You can read the article here.

Why music makes us cry...

This morning I was looking at my dictionary app on my iphone. Every now and then, I like to read the word of the day and learn something new about how words were formed in our language and so on...

Anyway, on today's "hott word" i found this little blurb...



Click here to read "There's a word for why Adele's music makes us cry."

Music Matters!

Love this video!

Masterclasses online!

I was reading a bunch of blogs this morning and found a GEM on http://www.musicmattersblog.com

Master classes online! Masterclass was one of my favorite things about college. Singing in a Masterclass was a love/hate relationship. I hated being put on the spot and being interuppted, but I loved learning how to perfect the music I was performing and the comments from other peers as well.

Watching other perform for Masterclass was even better! I learned so much from watching other students perform and perfect their music. And it was great feeling like I was being entertained, and taught at the same time! It was the best part of my week! I always went home feeling rejuvenated and giddy afterwards!

Now, I can have that feeling all over again without having to go back to school!

You can check it out for yourself here.

Music Appreciation Group (MAG)

A couple of weeks ago, I started a Music Appreciation Group (MAG) with a bunch of friends from my church.

Once a month, we will get together and perform for each other. Kind of like a Masterclass, but no criticism! So far, this has really helped motivate me to practice singing more. I finally have a reason to practice, knowing that other people are going to be watching me perform again.I've practiced, nearly every day for the past week! And I can't WAIT to be able to listen to others share their talents too!

We have a cellist, 3 pianists, and 3 singers that joined the group! If this group goes well, we plan on doing a recital at a nursing home sometime.

This month we are all focusing on pieces that we have studied, or performed before so that we can remember some of the old techniques through muscle memory and notes written in our music.

It has been so nice to have a reason to sing again. I tried practicing so many times before, but for some reason it just wasn't the same. I guess I enjoy sharing my talents more than just hogging it for myself. It's more exciting when you are practicing about how you are going to make this enjoyable for other people than just for yourself.

Anyway...I better get back to practicing! I'm SO excited!

Guardian's of Virtue

I am the YW President in my Ward here in Philadelphia. It's a really hard ward to serve in...probably the hardest ward I have ever been in. Our ward is in the inner city of Philadelphia, and we have a LOT of converts and a LOT of members. About a fourth of the ward are grad students, and the rest of the ward are local, converts to the church. Unfortunatly, a lot of our members struggle with church attendance. Only about 150 members our of 800 attend church frequently. So, as you can imagine...we have a lot of challenges with getting our youth to go to church and activities.

Last week, I got to go to the YW general broadcast with a bunch of our Young Women. A lot of the girls are BRAND new to the church and so this was really exciting for them. They all had their sheets of paper and pens ready to take notes! It was so nice to see them get dressed up and get excited to hear the speakers. The speakers were great too! One of my favorite parts of the broadcast was a song the YW sang, "Guardians of Virtue". I thought they did a great job, and I loved how quiet the chapel was when they sang and the tone they set for the meeting.

I plan on teaching this song to my young women for a musical number in church, and for Night of Excellence!

Singing makes me happy!

My Opera Star costume for Halloween when I was 5!

Some day's, I miss masterclass. I miss hearing other people sing and perform on a weekly basis. It was always the high-light of my Thursday's. I would always feel so motivated and refreshed after masterclass, kind of like after a good, uplifting, Sunday.

The other day, I was singing to myself and I decided that I was going to start giving myself voice lessons weekly again. I can't afford them now because my husband is in grad-school and we are trying to extend our family...but I miss having something to look forward to weekly. Sometimes, I wish I could get a group together in our ward (church) and do a masterclass type of thing, but I don't want people to think I am conceited and just want to perform and show off. I just like listening to music, but being able to perform would also motivate me a little more to practice more. I also thought about joining a community choir at one point with a friend, but it would be hard for me to get to practice every week because we only have one car, and Kevin (my husband) uses it a lot for clinic and school. So, I think for now...until I find someone that really shares some interest in doing a group type thing, I will just do my own voice lessons once week for myself. I am going to pick a musical theater song that I have never done before, an art song, a hymn, and a simple aria. Then I will have songs to sing in the shower again!

Anyway...enough of my rantings. I need to do some laundry and get ready for a YW broadcast!