When I was growing up, our family took a lot of road trips. We even had a few major moves to different towns in different states. Our dad would take the family out in each new area to "get lost." Then he would hand one of us a paper map and say, "It's your turn to get us back home." We learned a lot of things using maps. The most important was to have confidence in the integrity of our maps and also our own map reading skills.
My husband and I tried to help our children learn those skills as well. We took a lot of trips cross country back to Utah to visit the grandparents and cousins. So we had a lot of opportunities to practice those map-reading skills. Nowadays, we hardly think about consulting a physical paper map (they don't even sell them anymore!) because we all have smart phones and GPS.
My husband and I tried to help our children learn those skills as well. We took a lot of trips cross country back to Utah to visit the grandparents and cousins. So we had a lot of opportunities to practice those map-reading skills. Nowadays, we hardly think about consulting a physical paper map (they don't even sell them anymore!) because we all have smart phones and GPS.
Yesterday my daughter told me of her experience getting lost in Connecticut at night after their phones ran out of battery. They tried to buy a charger for their phones, but it was quite inferior. Besides, where they were in Connecticut, road signs were basically non-existent. They ended up getting some directions from people in an Emergency Room at a Hospital. What my daughter said helped her the most though was recognizing how to follow the mile markers on the sides of the roads. She had a way to judge where they were even without road signs. She called to thank me for teaching our family how to read maps and follow road signs and markers.
Reading MUSIC NOTATION is a lot like reading a road map. The markings and notes on the staff are ways to remember how the music should be played. Even though ways of notating music have changed a lot over the years, if you can read the "map" you can still play or sing the music. The more you PRACTICE the better your skills. After some time, you can even notate music with just a few abbreviations. Such as a chord chart for the well-known Christmas song:
Jingle Bells chords in the key of G
Chorus:
(G)Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the (G7)way,
(C)Oh what fun it (G)is to ride in a (A7)one-horse open (D7)sleigh, hey,
(G)Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the (G7)way,
(C)Oh what fun it (G)is to ride in a (D7)one-horse open (G)sleigh
I have been going through vast quantities of music in my files trying to get rid of stuff I don't use. I came across whole programs I directed or accompanied that used many abbreviations. That means I knew the songs well enough that I really only needed the words, chord symbols, and the "road map" of when to start the intro during the narration, how many verses or choruses, interludes, tag ending, and so forth. (Unfortunately, now I don't remember all those songs or what exactly I played for all of those abbreviations, so now those charts are in the trash.)
I am thankful for good maps for roads and music that give us more reliable information to get us where we need to go. Hurray for people who make this possible for us as we travel the roads through life.
Happy Thanksgiving! (By the way, did you know that "Jingle Bells is really a Thanksgiving song?) Enjoy Jingle Bells 2-Part Children and "Jingle Bells" SATB with piano
Jingle Bells chords in the key of G
Chorus:
(G)Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the (G7)way,
(C)Oh what fun it (G)is to ride in a (A7)one-horse open (D7)sleigh, hey,
(G)Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the (G7)way,
(C)Oh what fun it (G)is to ride in a (D7)one-horse open (G)sleigh
I have been going through vast quantities of music in my files trying to get rid of stuff I don't use. I came across whole programs I directed or accompanied that used many abbreviations. That means I knew the songs well enough that I really only needed the words, chord symbols, and the "road map" of when to start the intro during the narration, how many verses or choruses, interludes, tag ending, and so forth. (Unfortunately, now I don't remember all those songs or what exactly I played for all of those abbreviations, so now those charts are in the trash.)
I am thankful for good maps for roads and music that give us more reliable information to get us where we need to go. Hurray for people who make this possible for us as we travel the roads through life.
Happy Thanksgiving! (By the way, did you know that "Jingle Bells is really a Thanksgiving song?) Enjoy Jingle Bells 2-Part Children and "Jingle Bells" SATB with piano
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