With the busy lives we all lead, it is easy to forget that indeed we do have the opportunity to make every day a practice day.  Some practice days might include an hour or more at your church or a concentrated block of time on your home organ, while other practice days might include ten minutes on the piano at home or a half-hour sorting through music and planning for upcoming services or concerts.

The month of February provides us with a myriad of opportunities for making those practice days productive:

Lessons – use  your practice days to discover questions on repertoire, registration, or technique so you get the most out of lessons

Valentine’s Day – use your practice days to plan a musical gift for a friend or family member.  That special someone would surely enjoy a private organ concert.

Mardi Gras or Shrove Tuesday – before you don that mask for the Mardi Gras party or whip up the pancake mix for your Shrove Tuesday gathering, use your practice day to treat yourself and have a favorite music play-a-thon just for yourself.

Ash Wednesday – use your practice days to prepare introspective music for this important day in the liturgical season that signals the beginning of Lent

The First Sunday of Lent – use your practice days to plan, prepare, and practice not only the music for the six Sundays of Lent and the many services of Holy Week, but also to learn or relearn those rather difficult Easter hymns.

We organists certainly are blessed.  In what other profession or avocation is making every day a practice day filled with such sublime, joyous, introspective, glorious, and awesome results?  MUSIC!

Dr. Jeannine Jordan, concert organist

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach

is the title of a new documentary recently presented on Into the Music, an ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Radio National program.

Written and produced by Linda Neil with guests…

Dr. Jeannine Jordan, concert organist

    creator and performer of  Bach and Sons,

an organ and media event

David Schulenberg, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach’s latest biographer

John Rodgers, composer and improviser and

Anthony Burr, musician

Renegade, rebel, drunk genius, failed son and a man born out of time—Wilhelm Friedemann Bach is an enigmatic figure in western classical music.

Writer and producer Linda Neil unravels the mystery behind some of the myths and stories about this composer and makes some surprising discoveries about aspects of music-making that have been lost in history.

What was it like being the eldest son of one of the superstars of classical music?

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach was trained by his father, Johann Sebastian, to be a working musician and composer just like him. Yet Friedemann, a brilliant improviser, struggled to make his mark and ended his days in poverty. Till now he has been a mere footnote in our music history.

But do more complex truths lie behind his story?

Click here to visit Pro-Motion Music  for a link to the broadcast and other WF Bach information

Dr. Jeannine Jordan, concert organist

Forward-thinking has been described as

• thinking progressively
• looking beyond the “now” and formulating strategies for future success
• asking “what’s next?”
• looking ahead with an eye to improvement
• relating to the future with fresh perspectives and conscious departures which acknowledge that in this never-before-in-history time anything and everything is possible
• trying to figure out the goals of tomorrow, then trying to find the methods of tomorrow to achieve them

Becoming a forward-thinking musician is a tall order for the busy and at times, overwhelmed forward-looking musician.  Is it possible to integrate the two behaviors?  Some thoughts and questions to ponder as we begin anew with fresh eyes, ears, and minds this year of 2012.

• As a church musician, am I thinking progressively?
• As a teacher, am I looking ahead with an eye to improving my teaching skills?
• As a performer am I looking beyond the strictures of my instrument, the organ, and creating ways to better share this instruments and its great repertoire with my audiences?
• As a businessperson, am I able to get out of the “this is the way I have always kept the books” to finding ways to streamline this time-consuming task.
• As a writer of newsletters and blogs, am I relating to our readers with fresh perspectives and insights?

Dr. Jeannine Jordan, concert organist

Let’s now examine one of these characteristics which involve making effective decisions.

You find the white (when others see gray). You don’t make difficult decisions alone. You receive counsel and take the long- term view.

Several years ago the church where I was teaching initiated a room use fee. This fee was going to greatly increase the expense to my organ studio. Instead of merely announcing to my students that a room rental fee would be added to the following semester’s lesson fees, I asked for counsel from my students and sought other alternatives.

We took the long-term view by carefully weighing the convenience of the present teaching space, the type of organ, and the ability to reserve the space not only for lessons but student concerts as well.

In the end, through the counsel of my students, I made the decision to remain at the same church and add a room use fee to the lesson amount. The students, because of their buy-in, understand the addition of the fee and are satisfied with the studio location. 

Musicians of integrity work together to create a better learning situation for the future.

The anecdote, “The Gifted Musician” from Hidalgo’s writing, encourages us to consistently and predictably practice not only our instrument but also integrity in our musical life:

“Most people only enjoy listening to music, but some people also enjoy creating music. Some musicians are good, some are better and then there are those who are exceptionally good—considered to have the “gift” of music. But even they have to practice.

I attended a concert recently where a fan of the featured musician walked up to his favorite performer and said: “You’re an outstanding musician!” The artist replied saying: “Thank you, I appreciate you saying so. I practice everyday.”

Just as we as musicians must practice every day to maintain a high level of artistic talent, so too must we practice implementing integrity every day in our musical lives. 

We must keep on keeping on with what we know has integrity as performing, teaching, and church organists.

Organists are truly amazing creatures in that we can make sense of all those lines, dots, squiggles, and words and actually create ordered sound from them.  However,  to create music from that ordered sound we must go well beyond the dots, lines, squiggles and words.  We must look at other clues to help us complete the puzzle—to unleash your creativity—and to make music.  So what are those clues?

• Is you piece based on a hymn?  If so, what is the text of the hymn?  Read the text carefully—yes, every verse.  How can the text “inform” your performance of the dots? 
• What is the historical context of your piece?  How can this information  “inform” your performance of the dots?
• Is your piece a transcription?  If so, what was the original instrumentation?  Should this information “inform” your performance of the dots?
• What was the organ the composer might have played?  Should this information “inform” your 21st-century performance of the dots?
• What is the form of the piece?  Theme and variation, through composed, fugue?  How does the from dictate how you play the dots?
• What is your “picture” of the piece?  What do you hope your listeners will hear?

Make sure you always share more than the spots with your listeners.

Dr. Jeannine Jordan, organ instructor and concert organist

Easier said than done, right?

8. Keep it slim!

LOL.  Remember, Chocolate Season starts at Halloween and ends at Easter

9. Keep moving!

Keep moving and December Church Musician is redundant

10. Give yourself a boost

That sounds a lot like Caffeine to me. Specifically, Peppermint Mocha

11. Sleep soundly

Worried about what Santa will bring this year? Hmm, next year try being nicer

12. Avoid festive injuries

Don’t experiment with extravagant desserts that include fireworks

And, avoid texting while conducting

Other than that

Merry Christmas and a

Happy New Year

from David and Jeannine Jordan of Pro-Motion Music LLC

1. Create a Christmas-free zone

A place to breathe, to relax, contemplate, chill, you know, like…

2. Learn to delegate

Not the music, the food and beverage 

3. Lighten up!  Be flexible

Improvisation is good BUT, remember what PDQ Bach said:

“Fast is good,

Loud is better,

Fast and Loud is Best”

4.Fight colds

Avoid the mistletoe

5. Avoid awkward situations

Avoid the mistletoe

6. Cut the caffeine

Wait! Add that to your next New Years resolutions.  All you need for Christmas Season is Caffeine withdrawal. no no no

Merry Christmas!

Jeannine Jordan, Church Musician and Concert Organist

 Ideas from Retail:  Finally, don’t forget that Christmas is completely awesome and that at the end of the day you can enjoy it however you like. Don’t let your work follow you home and have a great festive period.

Musicians:  Finally, don’t forget that Christmas is completely awesome and that at the end of the day for a musician it is all about

   Presentation

The joy of presenting beautifully planned and prepared music for a concert or worship is incomparable and understood

only by those of us who are privileged to call ourselves

DECEMBER MUSICIANS.

Merry Christmas!

With joy,  Jeannine

Ideas from Retail:  When it all gets too much and you find yourself wishing Santa would get stuck in a chimney and never come out, you need somewhere you can go where there is no glitter, no mechanical reindeer and no customers complaining that they’ve left their Christmas shopping too late and it’s somehow your fault.

Musicians:  When it all gets too much and you find yourself wondering who came up with the idea of family groups lighting Advent wreaths or bell choirs playing in malls or singing Christmas trees, or sing your own Messiahs, you need somewhere you can go where there are no bulletins to be proofed, or last minute soloists to accompany, or choir members telling you they have another conflict and will miss rehearsal and somehow it is your fault.

 Ideas from Retail:  Make sure there’s a quiet corner of the staff room which remains decoration-free where you can sit, have a nice hot drink and imagine it’s a slow day in February.

Musicians:  Make sure you take a moment in a quiet church and let the beauty of the sacred space surround and hold you and give you peace to share the music you so love with the world.

Most importantly, remember to enjoy the holiday.

Dr. Jeannine Jordan, concert organist