Music

Here's the place to talk about my favorite subject… Music!! What instruments do you play? What kind of music do you like to play/listen to? Do you play/have you played in any bands, orchestras, or things like that? Have you ever composed music?

Discuss!

I play the piano and I LOVE it! Sooo thankful to God for the gift of music! I play lots of classical and some sacred. I've never been in a band or orchestra but I have accompanied choirs and individuals. I've also written a couple pieces of my own but I don't like doing that as much. I'm a better sight reader than composer. I like to have the notes already written out for me. :) I've also arranged hymns. (well….one :)

I play piano a lot, and I want to learn violin soon. I like to play some classical music and other sheet music my teacher lets me borrow, but I mostly like to play hymns and contemporary Christian music.

I've only composed one song, and that was pretty simple, but my brother is constantly composing. He doesn't write them down much, but I wrote one down for him and he entered it in a composition contest - elementary age division. He got honorable mention out of about 20 - 30 students!!

I like listening to a wide variety of music, either Christian or instramental. I like some bluegrass, hymns, some Contemporary, and some "modernized" hymns. Steve Camp, a reformed Baptist musician, took the hymn "My Sins, My Sins, My Saviour" and added a couple verses and changed the tune. But it still sounds like a hymn.

Because the lady who used to play piano for our church just left, I'll be playing full time - both prelude to the service and all the hymns. I really enjoy being able to do that. :)

PS. @Matthew, I was just about to make a topic about music! :)

I play piano, and can strum some chords on the guitar too. But piano is my specialty. I like to play classical pieces, hymns and praise & worship songs. I was privileged to play a special at the Regional ATI Conference in April.
I have composed a variety of things. My favorite things to compose are praise & worship songs and thematic pieces. I have composed two thematic pieces so far, and I have a couple more themes that I have been playing with, trying to find something I like. My pieces are somewhat long - the longest one was 14 minutes!

@Bethany - I play at our church, too! That's cool you get to play full time. I play most of the time, but I try to let the others have a chance as well. My sister is getting up to the point where she can play hymns, so she has played for congregational singing at church a few times.

What is/was your latest classical song?

I just finished "The Cat and the Mouse" by Aaron Copland

and just started "In der Nacht" (in the night) by Schumann

I am working on a couple sonatas by Mozart - K. 545 & 331 (Sonatas in C Major and A Major).

Ahh…I really enjoy music as well; whether it's listening, singing or playing :) Piano is my favorite, and then flute. I've played piano for about 11 years, but it was only the past 3 that I have really enjoyed it and started playing a lot more on my own. I've only ever had "real" lessons for 1 summer, and besides that, my mom has taught me and I've worked on my own….thus the reason that I've gotten the wierdest fingering ever :) But, at least I can play!

I really like like classical and hymns (those which have been made a lot harder and prettier :P). I don't have much time to play these days, but I think it would be neat to play some Chopin pieces!

How long have you played, Matthew?

@Bethany P: (I have to call you Bethany P because there's another Bethany on this topic) I don't remember exactly when I started, but I believe I have been playing for about 9-10 years. I enjoy singing as well. I was a tenor in the Bible Bee Choir last year.

I play piano…I LOVE it! I've been play since I was about 6… so about 9 years! :)

Awesome! Mozart is my favorite composer! :)

Singing… I like that a lot!
[btw, was the BB choir spontaneous or did you have to prepare to be a part of it? Just wondering, cause I would love that! That is of course if I make it to nationals, which is probably not going to happen :-( ]
P.S. I'm bass.

That's neat that you were in the BB choir with some of your sisters :)

What's interesting (and probably odd, too), is that I could sing tenor too! Whenever I sing harmony with my family, I'm always assigned the lowest part :) And, I can transpose the music down on our piano (it's an electric…) and can sing low as well. Normally, I prefer singig way lower, than higher or normal….

But, I don't think I can do bass :)

I am working on a couple sonatas by Mozart - K. 545 & 331 (Sonatas in C Major and A Major).

I learnt the first movement of K331 earlier this year! (having done Rondo Alla Turka years and years ago). I really enjoyed it:-) I like having theme and variations for a change. Which variation do you like best? I think my fav was the crossed hands one or maybe the adagio.

I also play piano at church, but on a rota so not full time. I teach piano too. I'm having to take a break from playing for a little while due to a hand injury (which working on memorising a Rachmaninoff prelude probably didn't help!). I haven't practised properly for nearly 3 weeks. Arghhh! Time to go to the doctors I think. But I've managed to play for church for the last two weeks - relying on God's strength a bit more than usual!:-)

My favorite hymn is "And Can It Be" by Charles Wesley. It's the best hymn in existence.

I've played cello for…how many years now? Not too many…4 at most. I enjoy it, though it is quite challenging! I think it's a good way to glorify God. I'm basically just going through the Suzuki books, but I would LOVE to learn some hymns!

I am working on a couple sonatas by Mozart - K. 545 & 331 (Sonatas in C Major and A Major).

I'm working on K. 545 too. But right now, I'm mostly just trying to perfect the songs for our Bible Bee. The lady who did the music last time isn't coming this year, so I'm going to do it. Which will be kinda interesting…mostly, I've only played piano solo. :)

I mostly like Classical and Hymns.

I play piano and violin. My violin teacher has a "string group" which I am part of. We have first violin, second violin, viola, cello, and on one song, one girl is playing piano. I play second violin and have a lot of fun! Our next recital is the 15th!!!

I don't do composition. I just have fun trying to add stuff to songs. :) (and really, I have NO idea what I'm doing =D)

Oh, and I'm soprano.

@ Talia, Cool! I love cello. Trying to talk my mom into picking it up, I think she will!!!

Our recital is the 18th! I'm playing 'rejoice the LORD is King'

I just finished piano lessons :) our teacher came to our house today ( something very unusual )

Talia - my 9 year old brother is taking cello/with Suzuki method too.

I have 2 brothers playing violin as well.

While we're talking about this… Our teacher is moving…please pray that we'll find another teacher. Thanks all

I'm an alto… :)

Cool! My best friend is an alto. I could never go that low. :) Although, I have to go into falsetto to reach some of the higher soprano notes…

I'm a soprano too!!
I play the piano and flute. =)
-R

I can sing soprano, alto, and high tenor/tenor (sometimes) but usually sing Soprano, because its easier for me ;) I've tried bass but just can't go that low :D

Emily H … What is falsetto?

Believe it or not, I certainly have a deep enough voice to do bass, but I just follow the melody with a deep voice. I don't want to go through the trouble of learning how to read bass notes when I don't have to. :D

@Rachel - Falsetto is much easier to understand when guys do it. If you have a brother whose voice has changed…just ask him to sing a c above middle c. Unless he has an amazingly high voice…that's falsetto. :P

@SavedByGrace - It's really not that hard to learn to read notes if you can sing next to someone who knows how. You begin to hear how the different intervals sound (helps if you have lots of ear and musical training :) and then you can eventually do it on your own. Singing harmony is one of my favorite things to do!

I can sing soprano and alto, but I have more of a soprano voice when I sing. I have never tried to sing tenor before and I don't really plan to either.

I play the piano, and once I finish piano lessons, I hope to learn to play the harp.

I took Harp for a year….but we were renting the Harp and it was getting pretty pricey…I'd love to continue! :)

I play piano, some guitar, alto sax and recorder, and I've played a dulcimer once (I'd say it's the simplest instrument in the world). I'm a bass. I like hymns; that's basically my hobby. You can see some that I wrote on www.memverse.com/forums/forums/7/topics/66. I like jazz and country, as long as there are no words. I usually don't like ruckus and roll – or, I mean rock and roll.

Well, I can sing alto and soprano as well….I just prefer singing lower than higher :)

I am a baritone.

I play piano, violin, and accordion! :)

accordion? Awesome!!!! My grandma used to play….do you think that if you have a lot of piano experience it would make the accordion easier to play?

I play violin and piano. I also love singing.

~Matthew Minica~ Like my brother OCTSRIS, I LOVE MUSIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I play piano, and I can play Amazing Grace and Mary Had a Little Lamb on my recorder. But I can't figure out which I like best – music or reading.

~Rosie~ One time I tried singing soprano with The Sands of Time Are Sinking. It worked really well. Then I tried singing alto with it. It worked really well. Then I tried singing tenor with it. It worked really well. Then I tried singing bass with it. I couldn't hit the first note. :( Well, I guess it's okay, 'cause I think low voices are kinda ugly. :) But I wish I had a voice like my cousin Jeff. He can sing the lowest note on our electric keyboard, which is almost a full piano. He can also sing a little higher than soprano. I told Nathan, "Jeff can sing an octave lower than bass and an octave higher than soprano." It wasn't quite true, but almost. I wish I had such a big singing range. :( But when he talks normal, his voice is low, and as I already said, I think low voices are kinda ugly. :)

~Christ-is-Lord~ I love singing too!

~Little Miss Sunshine~ If you have more practice with piano it probably makes it easier to play accordion. But, I'm not at all experienced with an accordion. I've never even seen one in real life!

~Jesus-Paid-It-All~ I love the sound of the harp! My first two choices for learning how to play instruments would definitely be flute and harp.

~Bethany Pentimone~ You like singing lower than higher? Really? It hurts my throat to sing low.

@Mommy's Helper - Yup, I do enjoy seeing lower than higher :) My mom says that I talk a little lower than my sisters, and I can sing way lower than my sisters and such…and I can't sing that high, so I just prefer singing low =D

Hannah- I might be able to sing tenor, but I don't think I'll be trying to any time soon.
I love the sound of a harp too! My first two choices have always been piano and harp.

@ Bethany Pentimone: Oh. I guess since have a high vioce, I can't understand people with low voices.

@ GMOV: That's fine. You don't have to try to sing tenor.

I play and teach both piano and lever harp. I had the privilege to play in the BB orchestra and arrange the harp part for the orchestra! I play piano at church some Sundays and Wednesdays.

I saw you at the Bible Bee with your harp! :) I kept wondering how on earth you were able to bring it with you though. :D

Matthew~ Hey, I found that hymn you told me about, "Christ Returneth". Every stanza sends chills all thru my limbs! I liked it so much I wrote two new stanzas (meant to be used as stanzas 3 and 4):

1. That great Day of Judgement will shall follow great trials,
   As Satan shall tempt and deceive and beguile.
   Many will curse God, but His chosen shall never
   Taste hell, for they are His own.
2. No man knoweth when will_ come that day holy,
   Nor angels nor Christ, but the Father knows only.
   Thus let us prepare to lay eyes on His glory,
   That He may then call us His own.
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   Here's the link to a program I think you would enjoy (actually, it's a link to the website, but you can download the program from it): www.musescore.com

@OCTSRIS - I got your music yesterday from the Alexanders - thanks! I was wondering though, which lines and such did you write? All the words are great!

How long have you been playing piano and how long have you been writing music for?

Any other favorites you have, in the hymnal?

I know you weren't talking to me, but I've been playing piano for about 3 years, and I love it!

I like And Can It Be. It's probably my favorite hymn and I think his too. Have you heard of it? Do you play piano?

The Alexanders actually got to see you face to face? How did that happen? Do you live in Ohio?

Bethany lives in Kansas. Christian, Nicolas and Dad are in Kansas (they have been there since Monday and are coming home tonight!). And they got to eat dinner with the Pentimones last night.

@Mommy's Helper - Thanks for leaving me a comment: it was fun reading! "And Can It Be" is a great song - I really like it as well! Yes, I do play piano. I started when I was about 5, but have only enjoyed it the past 4-6 years (though I haven't played consistently all that time).

Yup, some of the Alexanders were in the Kansas City, and we had them over :) Hopefully, we'll be able to meet some of you all as well! That would be totally fun :)

BTW, do you take piano lessons? I don't, which is probably why you all are so much farther along in piano than I am….

Those stanzas are nice! Very appropriate. :)
Some more of my favorite hymns are "In the Garden", "Jesus Is All the World to Me" and "Great Is Thy Faithfulness". Actually, all of those songs (and "Christ Returneth" as well) will be on my CD of instrumental hymns, whenever I get it out.
I want to try out that program that you've been telling me about. My schedule is really packed right now, but I will take a look whenever I have time. Is the program free?

Just to clarify, GMOV, we were not in Kansas, nor do the Pentimones live in Kansas–we were in Kansas CITY when we saw them, which is in Missouri. It can be quite confusing. :)

@Matthew - Neat! You're making a CD, you'll have to let me know when it's out :)

@Matthew and OCTSRIS - We have these really nice Scripture songs, which, I'm convinced, you'd both really like SO much….personally, I like them more than hymns (yes, I did just say that – and I like hymns A LOT). I wish there was some way that I could let you hear them! Maybe one day if you ever come over to our house =) They are harder than hymns, and super nice….

@Nicolas - And, you didn't have dinner with us either…you had ice cream! Well, I had a banana, but that's beside the point :)

@Matthew~ You have permission to use those stanzas in your CD. No royalties. Would you mind mentioning that they are written by Nathan A. Wright? I'm not being prideful, but I plan on publishing my own music someday, so it may help me. Thanks!
Yes, MuseScore is totally free. If you want to have fancy, orchestrated arrangements for your CDs, then it will be perfect! That's what I plan on doing.

@Bethany~ I've been playing for about five or so years, maybe more. I started writing about one year ago. In the Trinity Hymnal Baptist Edition, some more of my favorites are "Great God, how Infinite Thou Art" (22), "Jesus, Priceless Treasure" (550), "Ah, Holy Jesus" (179), "Take Me, O My Father" (410), "I've Found a Friend" (433), "Wonderful Grace of Jesus" (702), and my absolute favorite is "And Can It Be" (731). So did you make up these Scripture Sons, or is it from someone else.

@EVERYONE WHO LOVES MUSIC, ATTENTION: This website has just about all the hymns you need: http://www.hymnary.org

@OCTSRIS - Do you take lessons? I don't - probably the reason I'm not the best at piano…but I still really enjoy it! I started when I was 5, but have only enjoyed it the past 5 or so years…all years before, I didn't make much progress.

Thanks for sharing what hymns you like the most, I'll have to look those up. I haven't heard any of them, except for "And Can it Be". Have you heard the new tune to that song? We use the new tune in our Church, but I prefer the older one better :)

No, I didn't right the Scripture Songs, someone we used to go to Church with, did. I'm sure you all would like them SO much. Well, if you all ever come down to MO, I'll play some for you. The music is beautiful, and the words are great because they are from the Bible! They sell one of their CD's that she made of the music, but it doesn't have words with it.

Thanks for the link!

Bethany - how far are you from St. Joseph and Bolivar MO? just wondering, and you don't have to say if you don't want to :)

@Rachel - Sure. We're about 50 minutes away from St. Joseph, and about 2.5 hours away from Bolivar, MO. May I ask why? =)