Category: Jamie’s Blog

Students who take private lessons with me are gearing up for a big spring recital. This time is a bit different, as we have a THEME!! This changes everything!

The theme is “Fairytales and Musicals”. Everyone will be wearing a costume to match the song they are performing.

There will be lots of atmosphere with fog, magical color changing gazing balls, castles in the air, wine barrels all around. . . . . .
Here’s a picture of some helpers working on the lighting and projection screen. This is sure to be a magical event!

Hard to believe it is 2015. Even harder to believe that it has been 2 years (!) since I last wrote on my blog!!

I guess I could say that I have been extremely busy.

That is mostly true.

I have been doing a lot of international traveling. I have been acquiring lots of new students. I started a teaching job at a new, very cool school. I ventured out of my comfort level a bit and added performing in a huge dance/theatre/musical production (rather than in a band), in addition to being the music coach for it. Glad I did it. Don’t think I need to do that again 🙂

There have been recitals (for my students). There have been school performances galore.

The past two years I have been trying lots of different things. Trying to find what my next step or direction might be.

All of the traveling I did helped me come to the conclusion that I really want to get back to my Classical roots and composition. Almost feel like I should go back to school and get my Masters Degree. . .Almost.

But that would simply sidetrack me from jumping in and start composing orchestral music again. So, I’m nixing the ‘back to school’ idea and jumping in.

Hold on! It’s going to be an exciting ride!!

Several of my students competed last week in a huge talent show. It was the annual MidState Fair Talent Show in Paso Robles, CA. This was probably the 6th or 7th year that I had students competing.
This was also the longest and biggest show ever. It was over 3 hours long!

But it was all worth it. We all got to see lots of great acts, the weather was cooperative, and the end results were very favorable for us!
Two of my students took home trophies. One was for First Place in singing, ages 7 – 9. Her name is Ella Gomez and she sang Rhianna’s song “Diamond”.
The crowd was so impressed with her mature style. So was I. But most importantly, she had a great time!

The other student who won took home Grand Champion for the whole show!! She is only 8 years old. Her name is Katie Rowan and she sang a song that was written for Jackie Evancho by Jackie’s uncle. If you are familiar with America’s Got Talent, you will probably know who Jackie is. She won several years ago.

Katie sang “To Believe” and brought the house down. Jaws were dropping as she hit her high notes with grace and ease. Here is a Youtube video of her performance:

Keep your eyes open for both of these girls, for you are bound to hear a lot more from them in the future!

I am so proud of all of my students who competed. They all did a fabulous job and I’m sure gained much confidence and expertise from their performances.

It isn’t about the winning though. The hours of preparation, the joy and excitement in getting ready for the show. . . .these are just a few of the things that make it all worthwhile and make me love what I do!

I found this wonderful article about the great benefits that are obtained from starting music lessons at an early age. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

The new year is now in full swing. I didn’t make any specific resolutions this year. I wanted to leave my options open!!
So far, this year has brought lots of new things into my life. Some expected and planned for. Some surprises. But all good. You won’t hear me complaining!

I redesigned my businesss cards. I wanted them to be more current and reflect all of the services I have to offer. Now I just have to remember to hand them out 🙂
I have a couple of new students starting lessons and some current students adding on to what they already are learning. Exciting for everyone. Fortunately I am still
teaching at both schools, where enrollment is steady and increasing.

It has been a while since I’ve played out live. I’m getting the bug to go back out. The singer from my previous band and I are putting together a trio/quartet to play at the local wineries. It’s a really fun process, choosing all of the songs and just how we want to sound in general. In this lineup I will be singing a lot more lead, plus playing guitar as well as piano.

I’ve also been composing some new material and plan on having an EP length CD completed by the end of Spring. Stay posted for further updates!

Frequently my students will say a sweet “thank you” after a lesson. That puts a big smile on my face. It is actually me who should be saying the ‘thank you’!!  Sometimes a student’s parent will remind their child to say ‘thank you’ as I am leaving and I find that very sweet as well. I think that’s a great reminder for them to be grateful for what their parents are paying for and for what I am teaching them.

When I have an adult student say ‘thank you’ I am equally touched. Once again, I feel that is me who should be doing the thanking! There is no way I can express my gratitude to them for allowing me to teach them and share my love of music with them.

Last week one of my adult students said something that just made me so happy. It had nothing to do with me or my teaching. It had everything to do with what her desires and intentions were.

She said proudly “There is nothing that will ever make me stop singing!”.  She said this just after she had sung a song that offered some particular challenges for her.  It was so heartening to hear her have such a positive attitude, no matter how hard she was struggling.

This is such an excellent reminder for us all.  No matter how hard something is, or how hard we have to struggle to achieve it, if we want it badly enough then we can only expect success as long as we don’t give up!!

 

 

Choir was just getting underway with the upper graders when  a student from another class came to the door. Her class would be having choir later in the morning.  The classroom teacher naturally thought that the student was there to see her, not me.  So did I.

 

The student was hesitant to enter the room for fear of disrupting the class but it was obvious that she had something very important to take care of. The classroom teacher asked her if she could help her.  I stopped and waited to start my class so that the teacher could take care of the matter.

 

It turns out that the student had run all the way, in the season’s first rain no less, from her classroom in another building just to see me!  She wanted to ask me if I had gotten the music for the song she had talked to me about last week.  She wanted to see if we could sing it in class choir today.  I told her that I was sorry that I hadn’t gotten it yet and she promptly handed me a sheet with the lyrics nicely printed on it.  I had not asked her to do that.  She just did it on her own.

 

This was a first for me!  There have been many times I requested that if a student has a song that he/she wants to sing, that if they will bring me the lyrics I will be sure to check out the song and consider it for choir.  No one ever follows through.  Until now.

 

Thank you Kyra!!  You made my week!!

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As the new school year gets into full swing, I have been thinking a lot about the number of different students whom I teach. They are different in so many ways. And yet, they all have the one thing in common that brought them to me; they want to play and experience music.

The youngest student I have is a sweet little 5 year old girl. She is learning how to read notes and play the piano. Recently her mom even surprised me by sending a short video of her practicing her song for the week! She was happily playing and singing along as she played. It was heart touching and made my entire day!

On the other end of the spectrum is the retired teacher and mom who is keeping a promise to herself and is learning how to play the guitar and piano. She is a complete inspiration and I learn so much from her each time we have our lesson! She is still a teacher whether she is retired or not!

In the middle of it all, there are the students who range in age from 8 – 40. They are all learning to play the piano or guitar or how to sing properly for as many different reasons as they are different individuals. I enjoy each and every one of them for who they are and how they approach music. Each one teaches me something new everytime I see them.

As long as I can bring some joy and harmony into their lives through the gift of music I will feel like I am making a difference and I will be happy!

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It was pretty hot today.

But that didn’t bother the kids who had their plays to put on and their songs to sing! As showtime got closer, the sun began to go down behind the trees, offering shade for the performers and the lucky part of the audience who was sitting in the front rows.

A slight breeze picked up to make things even more comfortable. The sound of the leaves rustling in the large oak tress behind the stage sometimes drowned out the children’s tiny voices. But the acting continued and the laughter and applause was louder than those leaves.

As each group took the stage for their ensemble songs, the excitement was barely contained in their wiggly bodies and smiling faces. The music began and everyone immediately focused their attention on me. Here we go! The moment we have been preparing for! Mouths opened and out came the sweet sound of voices that were pure joy and innocence.

Nothing in the world could drown out that perfection of children’s voices in unison singing their hearts out! The sound of youth, joy and happiness. How lucky are we!?

Thank you children of Santa Lucia School!!

You rock my world!!

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After many months of indecisiveness I finally made up my mind. I bought a new guitar.
Not just any guitar. A steel string acoustic/electric.
I said I’d never play another steel string guitar because the strings kill my fingers. I learned how to play on a steel string but I never really liked it.
So I bought a nylon string guitar.
Not an expensive one.
Just one I could work with and use for teaching. One that wouldn’t make my fingers feel like they were on fire. It sounded pretty nice, but it didn’t record well in the studio.
Maybe I needed to step it up a bit, I kept thinking. My plan was to get an Ibanez nylon string acoustic/electric. I had played a few of them and really liked them.
When I finally decided to go back to the music store and try out some new guitars, there were no nylon string guitars there.
Was this a sign?
Whatever it was, I dove right in and started checking out the steel strings that looked pretty. Turns out pretty doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to sound good.
I got lucky.
The one I liked with the dolphins laser etched around the sound hole sounded as pretty as it looked. And it felt good. My fingers didn’t hurt. So I bought it.
And I’ve been happily strumming and picking every day since I brought it home. When spring break is over I’ll get to show it off to my students. Maybe it will serve as inspiration….I know it has for me!