My Musical Musings Blog | betsyleebaileymusic.com - The Music of Betsy Lee Bailey

New Year, New Goals

1/4/2025

New Years 2025 Goals

Almost everywhere you turn, you see posts and reminders admonishing people to set their goals for the new year. Well, I actually do have a few goals, not really goals, but more like necessities.

The music notation software I had closed up shop, so I need to find and learn a new one. That needs to happen very soon, but I am having a hard time getting up the gumption to do it!

In February, I have been asked to prepare a class for a Music Workshop. So I am in the planning stages of that. My topic is "How to Teach the Gospel Through Music in Primary." My notion is to try to do much of the class without overwhelming everyone with visual aids. (Wonder if I can...)

Cami gave me some ideas about a story to write a new Children's Theater Musical for my Summer Theater Camp 2025. Since she gave me the outline complete with character names and song titles, I am practically duty-bound to do something with it. (Don't know how I'll mount it without her, though...)

In June, I am also helping Cami and kids drive cross country to Albany, New York. Morgan, her husband, is already there working at his new job. They also should close soon on their new house. Clearly it will be a grand adventure for the Workman Family. (A little sad for Grandma, though...)

C.J, Peter, and little Margot playing with mini Jenga blocks

Our basement renovation, we hope, will get finished soon. It will be nice to have the big room in the basement for the kids' expansion-run-around area. But right now, we are all cooped up in the family room on the main floor. Winter has begun in earnest, so the kids can't go outside much anymore. I sure wish we could spread out in the basement.

I may end up going on another trip to the east coast for a summer vacation with Kathryn's Family. They are talking about taking a house for a week in Maine, then taking short day trips all over New England from there. (Hmm, that would be my third trip out that way in 2025...)

And then, I need to come up with an idea about a picture book to write for next Christmas. By rights, the book for 2025 should be about my mother. I just haven't settled on a story yet.

They say that once you commit your goals to writing, you need to follow through. Other goals will probably come up, too, but thank goodness there are 361 days left in the year to worry about all that. (Hmm... Maybe, I'll go take a nap first...)

Putting Away Christmas for Another Year

12/28/2024

Morgan with Peter and new baseball batting gloves

So we went out Christmas caroling with family and friends comfortably this year with warm weather and no wind. Cami's daughter, five-year-old Camilla Joy, was impressive as she led us in the singing. Three-year-old grandson Peter has been able to play baseball outside for most of this vacation time with his dad. Potty training has begun in earnest with 18 month old Margot. Suffice it to say, we have a very busy household right now.

The rain has washed away any bits of snow we had lingering around. We definitely didn't have a white Christmas. However, we have enjoyed ourselves being rather relaxed and playing with the boxes the toys came in. (You can tell that I live with little kids around me all the time right now.)

We asked the children when we should take down the Christmas tree and other decorations. The agreed response was to leave them up until Valentine's Day. (I really don't think they understand TIME.) As much as I love the lights, I am feeling the need to get my house back to pre-Christmas normalcy.

At the end of each year, people usually look back and take stock. Many friends sent me Christmas cards and letters giving me the highlights of their past year. I actually love reading their family highlights letters. I found myself quite disappointed when friends only sent a picture with a brief "Merry Christmas" message. And then again, I only sent out a card with a brief letter, no picture, this year.

As a composer, I try to be responsible and track how my compositions have fared over the year. There were some clear favorites at Christmas for sure, "King of Kings" and "Jingle Bells." There were also some surprises. I was especially happy to see that some of my Children's Musicals did so well in 2024. Can't help wonder what's in store for the coming year.

One hard thing that I simply have to address is to get another music writing software program. The one I had been using and was very happy with closed up shop. So those of us who used it are all left trying to fill the void. So far I have been frustrated with previewing other programs and needing to learn new protocols with different ways of working. I have not settled on a program yet.

The last few days we haven't seen the sun. I suppose my mood reflects that. Having the moisture is good for our desert area, but I confess I feel better seeing the sun at least a little every day. So, here is a sunshine song to chase the blues away.

Why Don't You Sing the Rest of the Song?

12/24/2024

Certain traditions are so important in families. For Christmas, singing is probably our family's most important tradition. And because in our family we have had special arrangements of Christmas songs that we have sung since birth, we tend to wonder why other people don't know those arrangements, too.

For example, Bonnie, my littlest sister really wondered why the kids at school would sing "Jingle Bells" or "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and leave out the best parts. She'd come home complaining, and we had to help her understand that they just didn't grow up singing with our mother Carolyn Lee or Aunt Janie Thompson. (She'd walk away with a grumpy look on her face.)

When my husband and children lived in Maryland for 12 years, we had the opportunity to sing on lots of shows for Christmas. A few of our musical friends and their children sometimes joined us, too. We were the Bailey, Bullock, and Perry Families and Friends. We actually did a show every Christmas for five years at the Washington D.C. Temple Festival of Lights. Together we had seventeen children and a growing number of grandchildren and friends join us, too.

We had so much fun singing together. That gave me the chance to teach my family and the others to sing some of those great arrangements Janie wrote for her BYU shows.

One of the favorites is "Jingle Bells." My kids have been singing this arrangement practically since birth, too. We always sing it when we go Christmas caroling. Some our newer family members (married in's) get a little confused when we break out singing a different ending (with choreography) to a traditional song, and we have forgotten to clue them in. Oh well, they'll get used us someday.

Enjoy our family version of "Jingle Bells."

Getting the Band Back Together

12/10/2024

My brother Bob Lee and his wife Penny celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary a couple of weeks ago. For the celebration, they decided to present a show.

Bob had been a member of the Young Ambassadors while at BYU. He even toured with them to Europe. He met some fine musicians in that group who later joined him playing in a dance band in college. Then later, while Bob was on his mission in Argentina, he organized a band that traveled and entertained throughout the mission. Penny, also a missionary, was assigned to go with them as the girl singer. Bob did the arrangements, sang, played any instruments needed, and was the master mind. Soon after returning from their missions, they got married.

One of the hopes for the anniversary celebration was to get Bob's dance band back together from college days to do a few numbers. Bob, again, was the mastermind. He did most of the arrangements, sang and played bass, flute, horns and sometimes even piano. Doug Clark was the drummer. Dave Hocking was the guitarist. And I was the token girl singer and played keyboards. Little brother Ben Lee sometimes joined us and sang and played horns. Penny sometimes came along and sang, too. We had a lot of fun as well as earning money to fund our schooling.

Cornerstone band in the 1970's, Ben, Bob, Doug, Betsy, and Dave. (I held the flute because I couldn't carry my keyboard up the mountain to take the picture. I don't actually play the flute.)

Well, not all of us could come to the 50th wedding. Dave and Ben had some health issues, so they didn't fly to Utah from either coast. But Bob, Doug, and I were there rockin' out to tunes by Chicago, James Taylor, the Carpenters and many others. My talented son Matthew played guitar, and several of Bob's kids and grandkids played horns for the big numbers. It was good to play the old songs again.

We also did a few of our Aunt Janie's songs as a big extended family group: "The United States of America," and "Families to Match the Mountains." My sisters, Barbara and Bonnie, joined me in singing Janie's arrangement of "I Want a Little Bungalow" that we had sung back in 1974 at their wedding reception (Bonnie was just 7 years old!). And then I sang a parody song Janie wrote for Bob and Penny when they got married. The words to the old Ella Fitzgerald song "Makin' Whoopie" were rewritten to tell the story of Bob and Penny's romance in "Gettin' Married."

Don't think anyone recorded our efforts at the 50th Anniversary, but just for kicks and giggles, here's a recording we did as Cornerstone in the mid 1970's to advertise our band. This is a Chicago cover "Call on Me."

Playing By Ear on the Spot

9/18/2024

In the last few days, I have had the opportunity to sit at the piano and accompany two different groups singing with no music. Once was at a wedding reception and the other was at a Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Camp meeting.

At the reception, I had brought my keyboard to play for my granddaughters to sing a funny song for their brother's wedding. This event was at a beautiful backyard of an upscale home in Salt Lake City. The girls pulled off a polished performance of "I Want a Little Bungalow," memorized, with three-part harmony and choreography. They were so cute! That is a song handed down for generations in our family, and we like to sing it for all of our family weddings -- always tailoring the words to fit the bride and groom. Only this time it was sung by a new generation of trio singers.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of them performing, but in this pic of my sister with many of my grandchildren at the wedding, the three girls circled are the ones who sang.

After the girls finished, the bride's cousins came up to sing another funny song all about her, completely unrehearsed. They asked me for a starting pitch. I had no idea what note to give them until someone said, "Oh it's just 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.'" They had rewritten the words to fit the life story of the bride. That helped me find a key for them and a starting pitch. And since I was right there, I just continued to "oom-pah" my way through their eight verses. That song wasn't very complicated, so it worked out.

Then at the DUP meeting, I had already taken a look at the key their song was printed in. It was in such a high key, only a very high tenor would have been comfortable singing it. So, knowing that these older ladies only felt comfortable singing in an alto range, I volunteered to play it in a lower key. Once again, it wasn't a very complicated song. "School Days" is a popular song from the early 1900s, and I knew it, so I could do it. The lady who led the singing was VERY grateful to sing it in a lower key. She was so afraid of those high Fs and E flats from the sheet music.

I was happy to be there and able to accompany them, but I have two comments about the situations.

The first is that I actually prefer rehearsed performances. I think that if a song is to be sung for a special occasion, it deserves to be PREPARED. The rewritten words to the cousin's song about the bride were clever and witty. But the audience would have enjoyed the song more had they been able to hear it more clearly to be able to understand the words better.

The other gripe is that whoever chose the music for the DUP Lesson this month could have transposed the music into a singable key for the DUP ladies throughout the world. That song is old enough to be in the Public Domain so no one would have complained if they had just adjusted it so that a pianist in each group could play it in a singable key for older ladies. What a shame and missed opportunity!

The Promise of a Child

8/20/2024

Through the summer, my daughter's family has been able to come regularly to Sunday dinners. It has been a real treat to see their little family of my currently youngest grandchildren. I have enjoyed watching the changes in them from week to week.

Not only are they growing bigger noticeably week to week, but their abilities are also growing week to week. Over the summer the baby has learned to walk, she babbles intelligibly, and her hair is growing in more and more. Three-year-old brother has developed some real ball skills that nearly match his love for all ball sports. And big 4-yr-old sister has really been developing her singing abilities. Each week she has shown her developing talents by singing Primary songs to me. (It helps that her mother sings with her every day.)

The Ellis and Betsy Bailey Family Christmas 1989

Watching those grandchildren gets me thinking about raising my own children. We sang together often. My older children learned to sing parts from the time they were very young. I wrote many arrangements to take advantage of the developing ranges of those older five kids. Kathryn, Carolyn and Katelyn could sing any of the treble parts and I'd write special parts for the boys, Michael and Matthew, depending on where their voices lay that day,

At first, we just sang 2-part songs with both parts in similar ranges. But, of course, I would give them each little solos, too. Then it became obvious that my second daughter had an unusually low range, deeper than my oldest son for a time. That gave us the option to branch out into 3-part treble songs. Then came that glorious day when Michael's voice dropped. We could do full out SATB+ arrangements. Dad even joined us when he and Michael could support each other singing the bass part together.

Cami as an Autumn dancer in "A Successor to the Throne"

My youngest two children were like our second family. The older kids had left the nest before Cami and Mitchell were old enough to hold their own in part-singing. So, those two, of necessity, developed their own solo singing careers. We did a lot of Children's Theater shows during their youth where Cami and Mitchell did many featured roles. Cami mainly did parts where she could also dance. Mitchell, by virtue of the fact that it was rare to have enough talented singer boys sign up for the show, got many lead roles. (He much preferred the unnamed Guard #6 parts)

All of this reminiscing makes me think of one of the songs in "A Successor to the Throne." At the climax of the show came the song, "Worthy to Admire."

One of the lines compares the promise of a seed to the promise of a child.
Both miracles are worthy to admire.

Mitchell as the heir-apparent in "A Successor to the Throne"

Music Keeps Life Exciting

8/17/2024

Inviting Music Room door decor

Fall is in the air...

Well, the cooler weather isn't actually here yet, nor are the changing colorful leaves, but school has started up again in many areas, including mine.

One of my friends has been teasing her Facebook followers by advertising little bits of her fall semester choral classroom decor. Now that it has been revealed, it is impressive. Those students will be singing in Camelot every day. So cool! I envy those students who get to be involved in the music, the activities, and the classroom environment that is awaiting them this semester.

Yes, I was that type of student who loved to ride the waves of excitement provided by a few of my wonderful teachers. And yes, you guessed it, they were mostly my Music teachers. I loved singing, playing, and listening to music of all kinds. Preparing for concerts was the kind of excitement that kept my spirits up. I could stand the dreariness of listening to lectures on subjects I wasn't interested in or doing endless math problems when I knew that I would be going to music class later in the day.

In fact, I directly credit being involved in music classes with making good grades through Elementary school (and beyond). If I finished my work early and correctly, I got rewards like getting to spend extra time helping down in the Music Room. By Fifth Grade, my friend Judy and I were basically Mrs. Richardson's aides in her Music classroom. We built her bulletin boards, helped the younger classes do their assignments including demonstrating the harmony parts, and even assisted with folk dancing on Fridays. I loved getting hands-on experience teaching music from that very young age.

Janie and Carolyn practicing with BYU students on tour bus circa 1960

But my aunt and my mother were the real experts at keeping life exciting through musical activities. My aunt Janie was always doing shows. She worked for Brigham Young University (BYU) and was always being asked to provide entertainment. When the college students couldn't get away from their studies to go do a show, Janie would fill in with her family. I was even on a lot of shows when I was a child. ( I fancied myself a little Shirley Temple.)

When I was 8, our family moved to Texas. My mother kept up our family tradition of providing entertainment for almost any type of event around our area. She was the professional singer who could also accompany herself while she sang at the piano. Once my music teachers at school learned about my mother's abilities, she became a fixture at the schools, too. A woman of her talents was a valuable commodity anywhere we lived. And that was a lot of places --- 36 moves over 50+ years.

Bailey children singing for Christmas 1991

Here's a song Janie taught us to sing when my siblings Bobby, Betsy, Benny, Barby, Billy and Bonnie were little. I also taught it to my my family as well as many an elementary school chorus over the years.

"Don't Wait 'til the Night Before Christmas to Be Good"

For years I thought that my aunt Janie wrote this song. Turns out that she only borrowed it and put her own stamp on it. I finally wrote out her version so that we other mere mortals could enjoy performing it, too.

A Musicians' First Language

8/9/2024

A friend and I were talking on our way to a performance the other day. We really didn't know each other that well. So we started telling each other about our lives. And, as had happened so many other times, something came up that I've heard over and over again as I've talked to musician friends. That is that music seems to be their first language.

This friend was saying that she was in Church one day when she was very young following along in the hymnal. She noticed how the little dots moved up and down when the people sang up and down. It dawned on her that she could do that with her voice, too. She did not know how to read yet, but she figured out that following the music notes just made sense.

Benny, Betsy, Bobby, Barby, and new baby Billy 1963

I told her that I had had the same experience. My older brother "taught" me about reading the music in the hymn book when I was very young, too. Following those little black dots had meaning to me long before I actually learned to read words.

Every Sunday, Bob and I would sit together during Church practicing reading the hymn music. After a while, Bob told me that the other notes were other parts and we could practice singing those parts, too. Which we did. It got to be a sport. On each verse we sang a different voice part. Over the years, we got pretty good at singing all of the voice parts and holding our own parts against each other, too.

Our mother had us part-singing from the time we were very young. She said it was a sign of intelligence if you could hold your own part. In fact, there were times when we would get into heated arguments over who had to sing the melody. None of us wanted the stigma that we couldn't hold our own on a harmony part

Oh, the joys of being raised in a musical family...

Remembering a Milestone

7/24/2024

While sorting through tubs of old papers and photos yesterday, I found something that I thought was lost forever. A United States Savings Bond that I won in a drawing contest when I was 12. Who knew that the pack rat that I am would have saved that all these years. It needed to be held for a certain number of years in order to mature, anyway. (Do you think I've waited long enough for it to mature? Is it even still redeemable?)

Years ago, we put it away in an envelope along with the original drawing, the picture with the reporter awarding it to me, and the newspaper clipping from 1968.

The photo, drawing, and newspaper section have yellowed with age. In fact, they are so delicate they are falling apart. So I digitized them and now have them saved on the computer.

July 20th, 1969 was a special day for America, and our family, too! That was when the first men landed on the moon. My dad was a NASA scientist who tested the materials that coated the spaceships and lunar landing module as well as the spacesuits. His hypervelocity impact physics research and development helped keep the astronauts safe on their Apollo missions.

Dad always told us that what he really did at work was think and dream. That's why 12-year-old me imagined him at his desk this way.

Here in July, it's nice to remember and celebrate the anniversary of that wonderful milestone in our history.

At a Crossroads

7/23/2024

My daughter was telling me about a little survey she took of family members some years ago. She asked the question: "What is the main thing you have learned from your spouse?" Then she told me that she had already known what I learned from their Dad --- ORGANIZATION. Well, I'm not sure I actually learned to put in use the great organizational skills I observed that he had, but it is fair to say that I learned that I needed to.

Now that Ellis has been gone for five years, I'm afraid that the non-organization of stuff around our house has gotten to a crisis level. When we bought our house 15 years ago, I expected to be able to use the art studio the previous owner had built in her basement as my Music Studio. Over the years, that room has been anything but that. It has mostly been our Room of Requirement: a bedroom, storage room, work-out room, junk room, bunk room, etc.

But I still need a Music Studio -- a place to set up my computer, printer, keyboards, book shelves, and filing cabinets, plus a place to store PA system stuff and odd instruments, as well as music teaching materials and visual aids. Besides that, I need a rehearsal space. Right now I have music stuff strewn all over the house. And even though my husband had built a nice big shed in the back yard to house all of my sets, costumes, props, et al, from doing my shows, it is now filled to capacity and overflowing.

So, I am at a crossroads. My husband always had plans to renovate the basement to give me the space I really needed for my music stuff, but he passed before that could happen. My family now is pushing me to go ahead, draw out plans, hire a contractor, and get it done. But, do I do what I always wanted or turn that studio area into an independent apartment unit? (Apparently, the apartment is the wiser idea for possible future needs in my old age and/or for resale value. But what about now?)

I guess it will really depend on where the bids come in at financially to decide whether I can afford which or any of the upgrades we have on the list. The trouble is the DOMINO EFFECT. If we tear up one area, it affects something else, and that affects something else, and so on.

So, whether I am ready or not, the wheels are in motion. I meet to get bids from three contractors today. Then I have to make a decision. Then I have to ORGANIZE and EDIT years and years of stuff to get it out of the way so renovations can begin.

The road to ORGANIZATION is SCARY!

The Music of Betsy Lee Bailey copyright 2020