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

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!

Curiosity and Creativity

6/3/2024

My dad used to say, "There are as many ways to do things as there are people to do them."

"And that is as it should be," he said explaining that we each have our own God-given agency to think and make choices for ourselves. We also have minds that should be CURIOUS as to how things work and natural creativity to experiment on how to make things work better.

My dad was a scientist. He always told us kids that one of the most precious gifts we humans on earth were given is CREATIVITY. He always encouraged us to come up with our own solutions to problems. He said that as a scientist he was basically a dreamer. He would sit at his desk a lot thinking about how to solve problems. He worked for NASA during the Apollo program. His science was hypervelocity impact physics. He figured out how to test materials for the surfaces of the spacecraft and space suits that would keep the astronauts safe.

So, I drew a picture of my dad once for a Father's Day Contest advertised in the local Pasadena, Texas newspaper. Indeed I pictured him in his office with his feet up on his desk dreaming about solving Space/NASA problems. The picture was printed and written up in the paper. I even won a gift certificate for $25. (I have no idea where that went over the years...)

I was so blessed to have a dad who encouraged my curiosity and creativity. He also applauded my efforts and was always there at the momentous and even the small but formative events in my life. My Dad was the best role model, defender, and storyteller there ever could be. Besides that, you always wanted him in the audience for your show. His laughs were infectious --- he had a whole repertoire of laughs from humorous giggles, to guffaws, to full out belly laughs. He also had a whistle that could rival a fog horn for keeping ships safe at sea!

When I took my fiancee' to a family gathering to meet the extended family before the wedding, my uncles announced to the group that Betsy was marrying her father. Ellis had many similar characteristics to my father. He had the same look of an engineer/scientist. He wore glasses. He was a great storyteller. He even had a wonderful infectious laugh. Best of all Ellis appreciated my dad and sought him out for counsel and encouragement in his work, Church callings, teaching and testifying of Christ, Scouting leadership questions, and about raising a family. I couldn't have asked for a better companion.

Happy Father's Day to all of those great Dad's out there!

This song is in memory of my Dad who loved ball games----any kind of ball game! "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"

Difficulty Committing to a Project

2/9/2024

At age 91, John Williams won his 26th Grammy award. That's incredible and so inspiring. Once I heard a statistic that an orchestral conductor gets such positive aerobic exercise from leading the music that he is sure to live a long productive life. Well, that is certainly true for Maestro Williams!

Now that I am officially a senior, I have not felt much like living a long and productive life. I guess having a couple of health issues combined with the dark days of winter have set me in a depression. I just can't seem to get in the right mood to start or continue projects, particularly doing illustrations or writing music.

So, I decided to do a couple of things to help. For one, I joined a community choir. They sing such a wide range of music --- from Baroque and other early music to Classical Choral repertoire to jazz and pop chorals.

We are giving a concert for Valentine's Day featuring LOVE SONGS through the centuries and from around the world. They are even having a silent auction, and a catered meal during which a few scenes from "Romeo and Juliet" will be performed.

The music is fun, but I confess that I have had a difficult time learning it. The shingles infection in my right eye that I have been battling for the past 2 1/2 months is still causing havoc. If I could just see to read better, I might be in better shape emotionally and physically. (My eyes get so tired from drawing, or working at the computer, or straining to see the small print, that I have to work in small bits of time. Then I have to go rest.)

So, I am looking to one of my idols, John Williams, for inspiration. If he can continue into his 90s doing music, then why can't I? So, I am practicing the words by writing them out in large print so that I can see and memorize them without straining. I figure that memorizing is my best choice of attack until my eye heals.

Oh, and I have also been toying with the idea to write a new musical for my summer theater camp. Maybe that will get my creative juices flowing. By the way, I floated the idea to my 4-year-old granddaughter C.J. by telling her, "Grandma's thinking of writing a brand new Princess musical for this summer. Can you try on one of these tiara's for me?" "Oh, yes Grandma." Then she gave me a big hug and said, "You are the best Grandma I ever had!"

Okay, now I am definitely committed to the project!

New Program Music -- Johnny in the Moon

2/1/2024

If any of you have watched Disney's "Fantasia" movies, you will understand what Program Music is. A piece like "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is an example of a piece of music that tells a story. The composer Paul Dukas likely imagined the action of the story in great detail in his own mind as he wrote the music. Fortunately for us, we have the benefit of seeing the images prepared by talented artists as we listen to the music.

Usually, however, a piece of Program Music is not performed in concert with images. The concert goers must use their own imaginations to conjure up the images to fit the music. This can be a beautiful thing --- assuming people can actually use their imaginations. (Unfortunately, we live in such a video age, the average person doesn't exercise his own imagination very often.)

Last Saturday I got to attend a concert where some brand new Program Music was having its premiere. This composition follows a story made up by my father Tom Lee. It was written by a young composer Robert Gabbitas for his mother Amy Gabbitas's woodwind quintet called the Aspen Winds.

Amy is the oldest of my dad's 30 grandchildren. When the oldest group of grandkids were young, Grandpa Tom would tell this story on their cousins campouts. He told it many times, and each time he just kept embellishing the story as long as the kids stayed awake. (I don't know if the story had an ending in those days. Dad would just stop talking when he figured they had all fallen asleep.)

After many years, we begged Dad to write "Johnny in the Moon" down for his posterity. After a lot of coaxing, he did and gave it to each of his six children's families, complete with a pretty cool ending. But by the time the grandkids started wanting their own copies, NONE of us could find ours! Finally, after a lot of searching, my older brother Bob found his.

The story is about a young boy who was born at the first research colony in the moon. Johnny was the only person who lived on the moon who had never been to earth.

My dad could tell his stories with such attention to detail, especially about space science because he was a scientist who lived it. He worked for NASA during the Apollo program. He knew the scientists and astronauts and was part of the team that put the first men on the moon. In his written story, the scientific details are spot on to the latest developments for those times --- all 18 pages worth of 12 point single spaced font. His story is a lot more involved than any Program Music piece could be expected to represent!

At the concert, the performers told just enough of the story to briefly introduce the six movements of the music. The children in the audience were invited to draw pictures to show what the music made them see and feel.

This was actually very instructive for me as I was able to get some good inspiration from them. Amy has asked me to do some illustrations to go along with future performances of "Johnny in the Moon." It's a good thing that Bob's music is so magical and fun!

Christmas Nostalgia

11/13/2023

Lights over the river of Castle ruins on the hill, in Heidelberg Germany

I confess. Sometimes I like to watch movies and TV shows just for the scenery. I get a bit nostalgic when I "re-visit" (through the movie) places I have lived or vacationed to over the years. The professional videographers do a much better job of capturing the beauty of those places than I ever could.

The colorful leaves of autumn in New England, the green "tunnels" of the trees over the back roads in Maryland and Pennsylvania, the grandeur of snow-capped mountains in Utah, the awesome scenery of the National Parks, the energy of the big cities, watching the waves at the beaches in Monterey, LA or in the Caribbean, and even capturing moments of watching the tiny lizards in the deep South....these are all beautiful places and ones that bring back vivid memories of living near or getting to visit them in my life.

Beautiful view of bridge in Heidelberg Germany

Last night, I watched a Christmas movie that was set in Heidelberg, Germany. Since I took a trip there last May, I was especially interested to see if I recognized any of the places they included in the movie. And YES! Seeing the cobblestone streets, the half-timbered buildings, the impressive cathedrals, visiting the Christmas shops, the lights along the river, the stone bridge, and especially the ruins of the castle all took me back to being there!

Another movie I watched recently was set in a mythical town in Ohio called Dickens. I can only guess that this Christmas movie was created because Charles Dickens actually visited parts of Ohio in 1842. Many quaint old inns have plaques on their walls saying "Charles Dickens slept here..." And they highly decorate their inns for every season, especially for Christmas. Some even have created "Dickens Christmas Villages" and have special events reminiscent of the Victorian Christmases described in the books and basically created by Charles Dickens.

Plaque on wall in Golden Lamb Inn in Lebanon, Ohio

My family lived in Ohio during the 1970s. We loved living in our forest of sugar maples and being able to go sight-seeing to so many historic places. My mother used to pick me up from school sometimes and say, "Where should we go today?" One place we loved to visit was The Golden Lamb Inn and restaurant in Lebanon, Ohio. It has a wall of plaques listing the famous people who visited there like Mark Twain, many U.S Presidents, and of course, Charles Dickens.

During our time living in Ohio, the movie Scrooge was released. This movie, particularly the music of Leslie Bricusse and arranged by Ian Fraser, was a huge musical influence on me. We have to watch that movie at least once every Christmas. When I started learning about arranging in my music classes in college, I wrote an a cappella version of "A Christmas Carol." Too bad I never had the foresight to get a video of any of the groups that performed this. Oh well...I did get this recording!

Fun Images from Germany Trip

5/30/2023

There were definitely many beautiful sights to see in Germany!

Heidelberg Castle ruins at night

Famous Christmas shop in Heidelberg

Graceful swan swimming on calm river

Restaurant where they used antlers in all of their decorating!

View from our hotel window over the Rhine to hilltop fortress in Koblenz

They probably didn't have many building codes in the 16th century. They mostly just used the timbers in whatever shape they were as trees.

Frankfurt was leveled by bombing in WWII. It was rebuilt as a modern city with so many skyscrapers. But it looks like they only did a partial build on this one.

So enjoyed hearing the street musicians. It made visiting the towns so fun!

Song of Ultimate Longing

11/1/2022

While listening to a podcast a few weeks back, I heard a statistic that was new to me, but not altogether surprising. The hosts were talking about the greatest song of the 20th Century. The teaser was that this song was voted the most influential song on many lists by people of all walks of life and across a broad swath of the population. They went on talking but did not reveal the song until they had given a lot of backstory.

That definitely got me thinking. From the clues, I guessed that the song must have been used in a movie. It must have been a ballad. It must have been appealing on many levels, but not a love song. Hmm...

From more of the backstory details I learned that it was written just prior to WWII and the songwriters were influenced by the terrible happenings to the Jews in Europe. That little tidbit was all I needed. I guessed that the song was "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg.

I actually learned this song not from watching the movie "The Wizard of Oz" or hearing Judy Garland's performance. I learned it by hearing my mother sing it. Carolyn Thompson Lee had a clear, lyrical high soprano voice. When she sang the octave jump in the modulation, she sang way above the staff to a high B flat. Since then, I counted that song as my mother's legacy and I wanted more than ever to be able to sing it the way she did!

The arrangement my mother sang was created for her by famed composer Crawford Gates. I doubt if he ever wrote it down. He just played it on the piano with the many flourishes that an accomplished pianist can do. When my mother was in college, she and a baritone often went on little tours singing Professor Gates' songs to help advertise his new musical "Promised Valley." At the end of the shows as a bonus he had her sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Her rendition always brought thunderous applause.

When I was a little girl I heard my mother singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" while accompanying herself or by having her sister play it for her. I never, ever saw them use actual sheet music either. Years later, my aunt Janie Thompson made a piano recording of the accompaniment for me to use whenever I got a chance to sing it. This was the perfect choice to sing on almost any program because people are always longing for a better world or better situation.

But when once I had the opportunity to sing it, but I couldn't use the recording but I did have an accompanist, I decided to write the music down for her to play (without the fancy flourishes). Yeah, I had to commit the arrangement to manuscript or it could be lost forever.

“It might not seem obvious that a song performed by a young girl at the beginning of a fantasy movie would take on a life of its own,” said Walter Frisch, a professor of music whose new book, Arlen and Harburg’s Over the Rainbow, traces the work’s history. One factor of the song’s appeal that Frisch cites is the universality of a childhood desire to get away or escape. “The song’s mix of hope and anxiety has allowed people to read into it their own concerns,” he said, noting that the lyrics are general enough that one would not know the singer was standing in a farmyard with her dog.

"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" is No. 1 on my list of all-time greatest songs of the 20th Century, too.

PS I just located this amazing clip of my mother singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." In about 1970, our family did a big show celebrating my Thompson Grandparents' 50th Golden Wedding Anniversary. My Aunt Janie gave the introduction and also accompanied my mother singing. This is such a treasure!

Teaching to the “Why”

5/23/2022

When we understand the “why” we are doing something it helps us understand the “how” to go about doing it.

In Primary Singing Time, the Song Leaders are given the charge to teach the Gospel through music, more especially through singing songs specifically written for children.

Teaching the Gospel through Music is the “why,” but how does that translate into the “how” of doing?

Because any learning happens due to a lot of REPETITION, teaching methods become ways to keep things interesting while doing a lot of reviews. Therefore, teaching songs may be accomplished in many ways and combinations of these ways.

1. Probably the most common method I have observed is displaying the WORDS on a poster or flip chart. Where displaying words are great for older children and adults, they are practically worthless for 5-7 year olds.

2. The next most common device for teaching songs is displaying PICTURES to represent the meaning of the lyrics.

But because Sacred Art pictures can rarely denote specific words (with the exception of a person’s name such as Jesus, Moses, Adam, Eve, etc.), some picture clues have been reduced to ICONS.

The trouble with using ICONS on posters to represent words (such as the numeral 2 in place of the word “to” or a picture of a bumblebee for the word “be”) can be very confusing for young children. The actual word meaning can be missed because of the distraction of visual clues that mean something very different than what they sound like. Often young children are very LITERAL. They may receive unintentional but very muddled messages.

3. Combinations of AURAL and VISUAL teaching methods may include:
“ROTE” - the teacher demonstrates singing a line or verse of the song and expects the students to sing it back just from LISTENING. The teacher may also demonstrate MELODIC INTERVALS by moving her hand up and down an invisible “ladder.”
”Lead / Echo” - similar to ROTE TEACHING, but deliberately uses only short phrases.

”MELODY MAPS” - the teacher writes a representation of the notes of the melody onto the chalkboard or poster. She then sings the melodic line with words and points to the notes as she goes along. She may ask the children to listen for certain KEYWORDS such as which word was on the highest note or which word was held out the longest or which words climbed up the melodic shape.

These are just a few of hundreds of teaching methods. Others include relating lyrics to scriptural stories, using object lessons, using attention grabbers, building puzzles, clapping or marching rhythm patterns, finding rhyme patterns, incorporating musical dynamics, singing exercises, playing games, and so forth.

But how do you match the TEACHING METHOD to the song you need to teach?

PRAY FOR INSPIRATION for which method would best suit the MESSAGE of the song (Gospel doctrine, stories of Jesus, stories of friends or family, seasons, missionary, wiggle song, etc.), fit the STYLE of the Music (contemplative, robust, lyrical, whimsical, etc.), or supports the LEARNING STYLES of the students (visual/spatial, aural/musical, physical/kinesthetic, solitary/intrapersonal, verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical, and social/interpersonal).

For best results, these three areas need to match! It can be done!

Climb Every Mountain

2/17/2022

At the end of each concert on tour (at least the ones I was part of), the Tabernacle Choir's audiences were given a choice of encore numbers. They were asked to vote by text. Almost uniformly, "Climb Every Mountain" was chosen for the encore number. I could only guess that our audiences loved the universal message of that song. We would all go out of the performance filled with HOPE.

In the early 1960's, I remember seeing a short movie about the Von Trapp Family Singers. It was more like a Newsreel production shown before the main movie in the theater, and yet, even as a child, I felt quite a connection to their story. They were a singing family, and so was mine. My mother had us singing all over the place, any time.

I knew about the Broadway Musical "The Sound of Music" popular from 1960. My mother made sure we sang some of the songs. But then in 1965, a friend of my Aunt Dot's was directing a stage production of "The Sound of Music" while we were visiting Provo for the summer. My mother marched me over to audition. I got the part of Marta, the 7 year old. I was actually 9 that summer, but that didn't seem to matter. My mother and my aunt were cast as nuns.

Also that summer, the movie "The Sound of Music" opened in theaters all across the country. We went to see the movie during the time were were in rehearsals. What a difference that made to our show. We only wished we could do the scene with the puppets! We also wished we could sing "Do Re Mi" with the background of places in Salzburg, Austria. What a thrill it was to sing all of that glorious music and have a great experience. I still remember the final scene where we climbed up the fake mountain singing "Climb Every Mountain." That song always gave me the feeling of HOPE.

In 2019, my sisters took me on a European trip. We visited Salzburg and took the "Sound of Music" tour. We sang all the way. Such fun! Oh how everyone needs HOPE in this world. I am glad for my religious convictions, but also grateful for inspiring stories and songs that help us face each day with courage and HOPE. May we have courage to face life's challenges and climb every mountain until we find our dream.

Writing Prompts for Songwriting

1/6/2022

Sometimes songwriters get writer's block like any other writer. All the songwriter thinks he needs is a little INSPIRATION. Or maybe a SONG TITLE? Or a little help with a MELODY? Maybe some WRITING PROMPTS could help get him started.

I actually googled the idea of writing prompts for songwriters and got some funny ideas. They may be helpful to that solo singer/songwriter who expects to perform his own songs, but not very useful to me. One of the ideas was to write about a bad break-up. A sad love song always seems to sell well. (A lot of people can relate.) Or write about a relationship you look forward to. (A lot of people can relate to that, too.) Or take any noun and try to write a song about it. (Really?) Or do a Public Service Announcement about some important subject and write a song about that. (Interesting) Of the 100+ ideas, I really did not find any that were prompting me to write a song.

Then there is the melodic side of songwriting. What can you do to get a melodic prompt? Which comes first anyway --- the words or the tune? For some songs, the beat, groove, or rhythm obviously needs to come first.

I sometimes like to play the "scribble game" with my granddaughters. We draw a silly scribble onto a blank piece of paper and challenge the other person to draw something incorporating that scribble. I sometimes wish melodic nuggets would just be given to me as prompts to write songs --- just like the scribble game.

Then I remember, that inspiration can come in so many different ways, providing you are open to them.

Knowing the type of song you want to write helps.

Beethoven taking a walk

If you wish to write a SACRED SONG, studying the scriptures or talks on gospel topics is definitely the place to start. I find "borrowing" snippets of melodic ideas from great composers is another good starting point. And taking walks while thinking of just a tiny starting idea helps me isolate and develop that idea and prompts more ideas. Sometimes the basics of the song are filled out by the time I get home.

If you are writing for CHILDREN, definitely don't succumb to waxing eloquent. Remember that simple is best for kids. Think about a child's singing range and the intervals such as a descending minor third that little children sing naturally early on. They like songs that explore the things they encounter in their world. Definitely NO romantic LOVE songs.

When writing for Children's Theater, the story comes first. It also helps to follow other tried and true conventions such as writing an Opening Production Number, or writing a Message Song that also becomes the Finale, a few Solo Songs for the lead characters enlightening the audience about their motivations, a couple of Small Ensemble Songs that move the plot along, and the occasional Comic or Dance Songs just for fun. I find that researching historic musical styles is very insightful. Obviously, finding or developing a great subject is key when writing Children's theater or any theatrical piece for that matter.

Though writing prompts can be useful, they might not be what is really lacking. Desire. Drive. Determination. Those are the real tools you need. You definitely need to have a DESIRE to get started, then you must summon the DRIVE to keep going and the DETERMINATION to finish.

Challenge issued.

The Music of Betsy Lee Bailey copyright 2020