Muse wrote:
After not singing for many years, except in church choir and for my kids, I was asked to sing for a local function. I decided that I wanted to sing Think of Me as one of the two numbers that I was singing. The second was a classical sacred piece. I rehearsed for weeks to get back to performance levels to do the piece and still remember the shocked look on my friends faces, who had known me for 10 years. After that performance, I put away the piece and didn't sing again for years. You know, I kinda know how Gwen felt running down those steps. It let my "little girl" out of the closet for that evening and I basked in her fun and glory for that night. Then put my grown-up back on and went back to being an adult with my adult responsibilities.
Muse,
What a fascinating experience that must have been -- not only for you but for your friends. It's incredible and exciting to discover the hidden gifts in those we know, and I think we can all use a reminder sometimes not to become complacent in our relationships. To think that we know everything about someone just because we've hung out with them for a few years. I'm glad you gave your friends a peek into your musical gift and that you got to enjoy the shining beauty of that moment for yourself, too. And "Think of Me" is one seriously difficult song -- especially with all of those operatic high notes at the end! I'd love to know more about your musical background. Did you study music/musical theater as well as perform in shows or concerts? Do any of your kids have an inclination toward music, too?
A very good friend of mine is a church youth director. Her voice is absolutely gorgeous. She sang in choirs and competed well at the state level as a teen, but she put all thought of going professional aside and, instead, got her PhD in psychology. In her case, she saw what the life of a singer was like (the constant traveling, 8 musical theater performances a week, etc.) and, much as she loved the music, she didn't want the lifestyle. I could understand that. The first time I heard her sing, though, my jaw dropped! I'm so grateful that she shares her beautiful voice with those she knows and at church. It reminds me that my iPod isn't the only place where I can hear great music
.
~Marilyn
MarilynBrant wrote:Muse wrote:
After not singing for many years, except in church choir and for my kids, I was asked to sing for a local function. I decided that I wanted to sing Think of Me as one of the two numbers that I was singing. The second was a classical sacred piece. I rehearsed for weeks to get back to performance levels to do the piece and still remember the shocked look on my friends faces, who had known me for 10 years. After that performance, I put away the piece and didn't sing again for years. You know, I kinda know how Gwen felt running down those steps. It let my "little girl" out of the closet for that evening and I basked in her fun and glory for that night. Then put my grown-up back on and went back to being an adult with my adult responsibilities.
Muse,
What a fascinating experience that must have been -- not only for you but for your friends. It's incredible and exciting to discover the hidden gifts in those we know, and I think we can all use a reminder sometimes not to become complacent in our relationships. To think that we know everything about someone just because we've hung out with them for a few years. I'm glad you gave your friends a peek into your musical gift and that you got to enjoy the shining beauty of that moment for yourself, too. And "Think of Me" is one seriously difficult song -- especially with all of those operatic high notes at the end! I'd love to know more about your musical background. Did you study music/musical theater as well as perform in shows or concerts? Do any of your kids have an inclination toward music, too?
A very good friend of mine is a church youth director. Her voice is absolutely gorgeous. She sang in choirs and competed well at the state level as a teen, but she put all thought of going professional aside and, instead, got her PhD in psychology. In her case, she saw what the life of a singer was like (the constant traveling, 8 musical theater performances a week, etc.) and, much as she loved the music, she didn't want the lifestyle. I could understand that. The first time I heard her sing, though, my jaw dropped! I'm so grateful that she shares her beautiful voice with those she knows and at church. It reminds me that my iPod isn't the only place where I can hear great music
~Marilyn
Thank you, Marilyn. Well, my friends didn't let me put things totally back in the closet forever. Yes, the Weber piece was bold, especially seeing as I had not done a performance piece for years, but decided to challenge myself. The run at the end is fabulous!
As a high school student I was "discovered" by a major star (number 1 on the charts) but my parents sat on that one fast. I studied voice and piano under an operatic scholarship for a bachlors's degree, but like your friend, found I did not long for the life on stage. I do love singing with the kids and with family and for church, still. My husband is also musical and is a baritone and studied classical piano for 12 years. Together we lead the music program at our church. But I don't work at keeping the voice at that level. Just at a pleasant singing voice for church and whatever.
My daughter decided when she went to colllege to take voice lessons, because she like to sing. She has discovered after all this time that she has her mother's voice and sing with the local coralle in the LA area of California. My other two children sing in the key of "I B-flat", but one does play guitar.
Now, didn't I hear that you have a musical background yourself? What is that?
Muse
Catherine111 wrote:
You must be incredibly talented. I don't imagine "Think of Me" is an easy song to sing, and to get up in front of an audience and bare your soul that way is quite brave! I think we all can relate to Gwen in that scene in one way or another. I think we all hide a bit of ourselves from public display. It slips out every now and then and then we retreat again. I wonder if that is how an author feels every time they release their book to the world -- opening themselves to criticism by strangers.
Marilyn,
I wondered if any of your characters are like you, or do all of them have bits of you?
Catherine
Catherine,
You ask a wonderful, complicated question...
The short answer is that all of my characters have bits of me in them or are, in some way, someone I understand.
The longer answer is that, however complex and multifaceted an author can make a character, there's still no way to match the complexity of a real, live human . I'm too contradictory to be a fictional character -- and so are all of you. My story arc would be far too messy and wouldn't make sense in the way a novel's protagonist needs to be. That's where fiction and real life diverge. Unless an author is playing around with some experimental form of writing, fiction HAS to make sense. There HAS to be a point to it. It's structured to make sure that this happens. Real life? Not so much, LOL.
So, some of my characters have aspects of me in them, but that's just a starting point in creating them. In my debut novel, According to Jane, I share a number of traits with Ellie in that we were both teens in the '80s, good students and not especially great in gym class (how anyone can hit a softball is still beyond me...). BUT, there are too many differences to count. Aside from the fact that Jane Austen never gave ME dating advice (sadly!!), Ellie's relationship with her nasty older sister was a major issue for her in the story. I don't even have a sister, although I've watched with tremendous interest through the years the sibling relationships of my friends! And I also didn't have quite the number of dating trials and heartbreaks that she had...thankfully. I met my husband the day I turned 23, so I didn't date into my mid-30s like Ellie did, but I heard LOTS of stories from friends and cousins about their experiences. And there were plenty of issues that I could project onto new settings or twist in some way based on films I watched or books I read.
Creating characters, for me, involves lots of combining of qualities until I think I've written someone whom I can almost imagine meeting in life. If I know what a character like Zenia or Emerson or Aunt Bea would say in a different situation altogether -- if they walked into someone else's book or into my life in Illinois and said, "Hey, let's chat" -- then I feel they're uniquely themselves and, at that point, not much like me anymore. When that happens, I feel I've done my job as a writer.
Which, in a way, speaks to your comment about criticism and authors opening ourselves up to strangers when we release a new book. Yes, it's personal to an extent -- someone is being critical of something I've created -- wouldn't we all rather have everyone adore us, right? But whether the world loves or hates a project of mine, it's still not all of me. It's not even a fraction of me. It's one story. One vision. And so much of liking and disliking is based on the reader's perception and what the reader brings to that story or that vision, that I can't focus on that. I have to focus only on whether or not I believe I succeeded in telling the story I wanted to tell.
~Marilyn 
Mountain_Muse wrote:
Thank you, Marilyn. Well, my friends didn't let me put things totally back in the closet forever. Yes, the Weber piece was bold, especially seeing as I had not done a performance piece for years, but decided to challenge myself. The run at the end is fabulous!
As a high school student I was "discovered" by a major star (number 1 on the charts) but my parents sat on that one fast. I studied voice and piano under an operatic scholarship for a bachlors's degree, but like your friend, found I did not long for the life on stage. I do love singing with the kids and with family and for church, still. My husband is also musical and is a baritone and studied classical piano for 12 years. Together we lead the music program at our church. But I don't work at keeping the voice at that level. Just at a pleasant singing voice for church and whatever.
My daughter decided when she went to colllege to take voice lessons, because she like to sing. She has discovered after all this time that she has her mother's voice and sing with the local coralle in the LA area of California. My other two children sing in the key of "I B-flat", but one does play guitar.
Now, didn't I hear that you have a musical background yourself? What is that?
Muse
Muse,
How wonderful that you're able to share music together as a family! Thank you for telling me about your background, too. It must have been an amazing thing to be singled out by that major star, even if your parents didn't let you pursue it. I don't doubt they would have been worried about you, heading into the music industry at so young an age... But I'm glad you went on to continue studying music and, eventually, made the decision yourself whether to keep going with it. To me, that's the best thing -- when people know themselves and know what they really want...or don't want. There are so many elements that go into choosing a career and a life. When I was young, I really hated being told that just because I was particularly skilled in some area that I *had* to make it part of my future. Or, conversely, that if I wasn't a "natural," then I should leave it for someone who was.
My family is very, very into math and the sciences. Academically, I was quite good at these, which led to an unfortunate expectation on the part of just about every adult relative and teacher I had that I should devote my life to medicine or something. Now, I have a great respect for doctors -- and there are a couple in my family -- BUT I did not want to become one. (Reason #1 out of 345: I hate needles!)
Instead, what I *loved* were the arts -- all of them -- drawing/painting, theater, writing/poetry, dancing and especially music. My family (immediate and extended) considered the arts to be "a nice hobby" but not the kind of pursuit that leads to a real career. So, when I started begging my parents for a piano and piano lessons at age 7, they said no. Eventually when I was 9, they told me if I wanted to play an instrument I could join the school orchestra and learn viola. (A fine instrument, but I wanted to learn PIANO!) Invariably, after 2 miserable years of demonstrating how naturally UN-talented I was at the viola, they concluded that buying a piano wouldn't be worth it because I must not be musical. (Okay, in defense of my parents, they are wonderful people who simply had a very specific idea of what constituted good art -- if you were going to play an instrument, it should be classical violin or viola, not Top 40 on the piano; if you were going to write poetry, it should rhyme; if you were going to dance, it should be ballet -- only, I was actually good at tap, which didn't count, LOL).
SO, to make a long story even longer (are you sorry yet that you asked about my musical background?), I finally got an electronic piano -- a compromise after much persisting! -- when I was 14 and took lessons through high school. But I hated having lost all of those years of learning and a part of me felt that I'd started far too late to ever be really good. What's probably much more true was that I lacked the discipline of serious musician. I wanted to play pop songs by ear, which was easier for me than laboriously learning how to sight read quickly. I didn't want to waste practice time on scales when there were pieces by Elton John and Billy Joel to slur my way through. People like me are, in fact, the reason song "fake books" exist . In college I picked up guitar and a little saxophone, did a bit of musical theater and later joined a women's a cappella group, but I could hear the difference between those who were trained and those (like me) who really weren't. So, as much as I love, love, love music -- it's a personal delight, not something I'd ever really believe could be at a performance level.
Tonight, though, I played "Think of Me" on the piano...just for fun because of our discussion .
~Marilyn
Ah Muse, now I know why you chose that particular moniker here
wow, I learn more and more about you and your life and now that you're also an incredible talented woman in more ways then I first thought.
Many of you know that my daughter Erin is a classically trained opera singer, she made a cameo appearance in April with the Monet novel.
But I don't know if I ever told you about the evolution of her talent.
She never sang a note until she was a junior in high school, she already had a scholorship for Viola at a local university. She took a choir class and as they say the rest was history.
When my husband and I attended her first solo recital and the tears were running down my cheeks I turned to my husband and said, my God that noise is coming our of our daughter's mouth. I was transported by her voice and I've been in love ever since.
Well we'll be moving on in our travels and Monday starts a brand new experience, new places, new things for our Gwen.
dhaupt wrote:
Many of you know that my daughter Erin is a classically trained opera singer, she made a cameo appearance in April with the Monet novel.
But I don't know if I ever told you about the evolution of her talent.
She never sang a note until she was a junior in high school, she already had a scholorship for Viola at a local university. She took a choir class and as they say the rest was history.
When my husband and I attended her first solo recital and the tears were running down my cheeks I turned to my husband and said, my God that noise is coming our of our daughter's mouth. I was transported by her voice and I've been in love ever since.
Deb,
I didn't know your daughter had a musical talent like that -- how amazing it must be to hear her sing. And, wow, the fact that she was a H.S. junior before she began is even more remarkable. I know there must have been many years of hard work that followed, but ohhhh to begin with such a natural gift!
Wishing you all a great weekend and, for all of the moms out there, a very Happy Mother's Day, too!! Already looking forward to next week's discussion...
~Marilyn
MarilynBrant wrote:
dhaupt wrote:
Many of you know that my daughter Erin is a classically trained opera singer, she made a cameo appearance in April with the Monet novel.
But I don't know if I ever told you about the evolution of her talent.
She never sang a note until she was a junior in high school, she already had a scholorship for Viola at a local university. She took a choir class and as they say the rest was history.
When my husband and I attended her first solo recital and the tears were running down my cheeks I turned to my husband and said, my God that noise is coming our of our daughter's mouth. I was transported by her voice and I've been in love ever since.
Deb,
I didn't know your daughter had a musical talent like that -- how amazing it must be to hear her sing. And, wow, the fact that she was a H.S. junior before she began is even more remarkable. I know there must have been many years of hard work that followed, but ohhhh to begin with such a natural gift!
Wishing you all a great weekend and, for all of the moms out there, a very Happy Mother's Day, too!! Already looking forward to next week's discussion...
~Marilyn
Thanks Marilyn, she is living her dream it's just a shame she can't thrive on it
but you really do have to sacrifice for your art in the US, not like Europe where they treat fine art like the treasure it is.
I'll be checking in during the weekend if any of you can post for the rest see you Monday.
Hi everyone,
I'm enjoying the pasta dinner at Marilyn's trattoria and listening to everyone's musical stories. Muse, I love "Think of You". Sadly, I also sing in I B Flat (love the term!) and really admire those who have musical and vocal talent. Marilyn, I think it's great that you play the piano for fun. My musical background is the opposite of yours-I took piano for years (all throughout elementary and high school) before being able to quit. I didn't really enjoy playing and practicing and would have quit at the start of high school, but agreed to stick with it. Maybe if I had been allowed to quit and go back to it later, I'd get more enjoyment from it. Debbie, how cool for your family to have a classically trained opera singer in the family When I got married, my maid of honor sang, "O Mio Babino Caro" and "Flower Maidens' Song aka British Airways" and it was an electrifying moment. I know that "O Mio" isn't the most obvious choice-it's about a woman who's threatening to drown herself in the Arno if she can't be with her lover, but I just love that song.
Hope everyone has a great weekend. The sun has finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest.
Sorry that this post is a bit long winded, I didn't notice the quote button until now. I'll try to use it next time.
Oops, I almost forgot my question. For those of you with musical talent, do you find that you also have an affinity for math? I'm horrible in math and have read that there is a connection between math and music.
-Seattle
seattle07 wrote:
Hi everyone,
I'm enjoying the pasta dinner at Marilyn's trattoria and listening to everyone's musical stories. Muse, I love "Think of You". Sadly, I also sing in I B Flat (love the term!) and really admire those who have musical and vocal talent. Marilyn, I think it's great that you play the piano for fun. My musical background is the opposite of yours-I took piano for years (all throughout elementary and high school) before being able to quit. I didn't really enjoy playing and practicing and would have quit at the start of high school, but agreed to stick with it. Maybe if I had been allowed to quit and go back to it later, I'd get more enjoyment from it. Debbie, how cool for your family to have a classically trained opera singer in the family
Hope everyone has a great weekend. The sun has finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest.
Sorry that this post is a bit long winded, I didn't notice the quote button until now. I'll try to use it next time.
Oops, I almost forgot my question. For those of you with musical talent, do you find that you also have an affinity for math? I'm horrible in math and have read that there is a connection between math and music.
-Seattle
Seattle, you be as long winded as you like, I think you'll find most of us don't know when to "shut up" and that's a good thing as we all love to learn tid bits about our friends here on the board.
I am like you in the music talent dept. I played the clarinet all through middle and high school and couldn't wait to put it out of sight when I finished. Acting though that was my passion in high school as I performed in all the school plays, now I just act at home when my husband asks me a question that I think is the dumbest thing I ever heard and say, "why yes dear".
I am also terrible at basic math, but I was a banker for years and really enjoyed that.
dhaupt wrote:Thanks Marilyn, she is living her dream it's just a shame she can't thrive on it
but you really do have to sacrifice for your art in the US, not like Europe where they treat fine art like the treasure it is.
I'll be checking in during the weekend if any of you can post for the rest see you Monday.
Sigh.
That's so true, Deb.
I love the reverence given to artists and musicians in Europe, too.
Trying to make a living in the arts is definitely hard in the States...
~M.
seattle07 wrote:
Hi everyone,
I'm enjoying the pasta dinner at Marilyn's trattoria and listening to everyone's musical stories. Muse, I love "Think of You". Sadly, I also sing in I B Flat (love the term!) and really admire those who have musical and vocal talent. Marilyn, I think it's great that you play the piano for fun. My musical background is the opposite of yours-I took piano for years (all throughout elementary and high school) before being able to quit. I didn't really enjoy playing and practicing and would have quit at the start of high school, but agreed to stick with it. Maybe if I had been allowed to quit and go back to it later, I'd get more enjoyment from it. Debbie, how cool for your family to have a classically trained opera singer in the family
Hope everyone has a great weekend. The sun has finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest.
Sorry that this post is a bit long winded, I didn't notice the quote button until now. I'll try to use it next time.
Oops, I almost forgot my question. For those of you with musical talent, do you find that you also have an affinity for math? I'm horrible in math and have read that there is a connection between math and music.
-Seattle
Seattle,
First of all, your post was NOT longwinded! Let me introduce myself again: Hi, my name is Marilyn. I like to write stories that go on for 400 pages, can you tell?!
Thanks for sharing your musical experiences, too. I've always wondered if my interest in piano would have dwindled early if I'd had lessons when I was really young or if they'd been presented to me before I started begging for them. Many of my friends were told they had to take lessons as kids and I don't think any of them play now. A few others were able to quit early and have admitted they wished they would have stuck with it a little longer. I do wish I would have practiced even longer and harder on piano when I was a teen. But viola? I was right to leave that poor thing alone after 2 years. I could almost hear the instrument sobbing in relief when I quit...
Regarding your question about the connection between math and music, I've read research, too, that suggests there is, particularly when it comes to understanding intervals between notes, counting out the beats in a measure, reading time signatures and things like that. There was also that "Mozart Effect" study where babies who listened to classical music were supposedly able to do better at abstract-thinking tasks later.
There may well be something to it, but I'm not sure to what extent we can rely on that connection to seriously predict how well we'll do in either subject. Personally, I know some fabulous singers who really aren't all that good in math. And I can tell you, I have some mathematically inclined family members who are not remotely musical -- vocally or instrumentally . So, perhaps, beyond just that baseline natural talent and the edge it may give someone initially, a lot of our ability to do well in any subject probably just comes from personal passion and the willingness to work hard at it. (i.e., My brother and I both inherited some athletic genes -- he uses his all the time and I rarely do, which is why he can run a marathon in under 3 hours and I can only run to the mailbox and back...and only when it's raining, LOL.)
I did find these articles online that talk about the math/music connection, though, and thought you all might find them interesting:
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1869
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/x-equals-why/2008
http://www.jhu.edu/jhumag/0298web/math.html
~Marilyn
ReadingPatti wrote:
A Summer in Europe
Week OneI hope you’ve been enjoying the sites of Italy we’ve covered multiple cities and historic sites, works of art and structures.
1. First thoughts- I thought that this book was going to be interesting and it was.
2. Tell us what you think of the S&M club and it’s members- I love them. They were group of older people who love life and do all they can whille they can.
3. First impression of Aunt Bea-Adventurous and gives Gwen a trip of a life time.
4. Knowing the age of the S&M club and Aunt Bea are you surprised by the suggestions of a “summer fling” to Gwen-Yes, but I think that she knew that this was what Gwen needed at the time in her life.
5. Let’s talk about Gwen’s phobia with multiples of ten when referring to age
does it match her uber-controlled lifestyle- I think we all do that. When we reach those milestones it can get give us fits. I know as I will be turning 60 in Dec., but I don't let a number rule my life. I am what I am. I just try to live my life as best I can at whatever my age is. A number should not rule our lives. Just do the best you at at whatever age you are and the Lord will help you along the way.
6. Gwen first starts to enjoy her trip with her flight down the steps in the Isle of Capri
and until she’s observed by her group she seems to have taken a more carefree outlook
why is this where her interest starts and why does her being noticed negatively affect her actions-I think this is where she is really seeing the beauty of where she is and she is not used to noticed. She is not sure what to do.
7. We meet the Edward’s brothers, what are your thoughts on them and how Gwen feels they “awakened” Europe for her-They are silly and very different. It is nice that Gwen has some near her age to relate to and they give her their impressions of Europe and she begans to see how wonderful it really is.
8. We finish the first part with a rather shocking statement made by Emerson not necessarily the “shagging” part but the part where he doesn’t believe in “the one”.
From the limited knowledge we have of him, does this outlook fit-Yes, I don't think he ever meet a woman that he thought there could be a special woman for him.
Patti,
I'm thrilled you're finding the book interesting so far -- thank you! Glad you're joining us!!
I really agree with what you said for question #4 about Aunt Bea knowing that Gwen needed to have an experience like the trip at this point in her life. She really did, didn't she? Sometimes it takes having someone much wiser and more experienced than us step in and give us not what we think we want, but what we truly need.
As for Emerson (question #8), without giving too much away, I'd also agree that he was definitely skeptical about ever meeting that one special woman for him...
Looking forward to seeing what you all think of the next few chapters~
Marilyn
dhaupt wrote:Ah Muse, now I know why you chose that particular moniker here
wow, I learn more and more about you and your life and now that you're also an incredible talented woman in more ways then I first thought.
Many of you know that my daughter Erin is a classically trained opera singer, she made a cameo appearance in April with the Monet novel.
But I don't know if I ever told you about the evolution of her talent.
She never sang a note until she was a junior in high school, she already had a scholorship for Viola at a local university. She took a choir class and as they say the rest was history.
When my husband and I attended her first solo recital and the tears were running down my cheeks I turned to my husband and said, my God that noise is coming our of our daughter's mouth. I was transported by her voice and I've been in love ever since.
Well we'll be moving on in our travels and Monday starts a brand new experience, new places, new things for our Gwen.
To Deb, Marilyn, Seattle, and the rest of our troupe,
What a wonderful journey have we already had this first week. Much like our literary companions, we have learned so many new things about each other, even those of us who have "known" each other for a good time. Lol. Little surprises in life about friends, always keep things fresh.
I am so excited about where things are headed for next week. This week has been a triple tour for me, as a whole week with my daughter has been a joyous time of sharing, exploring, and just discovering new sites, foods, and long conversations on all kinds of topics long into the night. I'm exhausted!!! Lol.
But don't let yourself think I didn't peek in on my NOok and laugh at the scandolous things you had to say about our wonderful travel companions in Italy.
Now....what do you think Gwen said to Emerson's "bomb" at the end of the page? EEEeeeeee Hoooooe. Me think NOT!
Muse
