Jeanie

Louis Armstrong - Mack the Knife

Prince - I Would Die 4U

Close To The Edge - Yes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBmUX74aME0 Honest to God I don't know what I'm doing wrong that my youtube links never show up ;-/

Oops, I think I deleted my reply! Anyway, I do remember this song, Tom!! Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iir_xAbt-ak

I Wanna Go To The Sun - Peter Frampton Ok guys, I've been away. How the heck do I get the youtube video to show up in the post? jf

Thank you kindly, Hobosage

FM - Steely Dan Sorry I can't do youtube from work guys Oops! Too slow! In that case... I Got a Line On You - Spirit

Video Killed the Radio Star - The Buggles

Kel, Yes I have heard that song many times!! I knew there was another song with Po-lice in it, haha! And I love that song!! jeanie

It's an interesting premise that I'm not so sure I buy into completely. I am one of those self-taught musicians who felt the need to formalize my training, so I went to college, got two degrees in music, and still don't feel like I know any more than I did before I started! That didn't make me give up music though. Also, there are teaching methods such as the Suzuki Method that rely on the ear rather than written music in teaching children to play an instrument. There definitely are two different mind-sets though when it comes to music - the self-taught and the Suzuki approach (music as sound) and the academic approach (music as notes on paper). It's a largely cultural thing too. As a graduate student I studied ethnomusicology, and those of us in that program were in almost constant conflict with the theorists, historians, and composers who insisted that somehow "their" music was on a higher plane than equally evolved music systems (such as Indian classical) that rely on improvisation rather than the written note. There is an elitism in the classical music realm - I encountered it when my daughter was taking classical flute lessons. We were blessed that my daughter always received scholarships that paid for her lessons, but for your average kid the costs can really add up - lessons, a quality instrument, entry fees for competitions (sometimes called "festivals"), often recitals have fees as well... and if you even win one of these contests, most often the monetary prizes go to the teacher, not the student. My daughter was chosen to perform with the local Philharmonic Orchestra through their concerto competition. There was a fee to enter the competition, runners-up such as my daughter who were invited to perform in the concert had to pay a substantial fee ($400 in our case), and then parents were expected to buy tickets to see their own children perform. Imagine having a couple of kids wanting to learn violin, piano, flute... oh, and travel expenses (we had to fly more than once for my daughter to compete in these festivals) and concert clothing... There were many times when I consciously thought, this is the rich people's way of keeping classical music to themselves. No wonder kids drop out of music lessons - their parents can't afford it!

Don't see myself getting to Australia any time soon, so please have a White Russian on my behalf jeanie

Hi Kel, Must be the rebel in me, but as I was reading your blog I found myself looking for the exceptions - like Elton John singing gar - age (which is probably just a British thing anyway) in Levon, or there is a line in Stevie Wonder's Sir Duke that always jars me - Music knows it is and always will be one of those things that life just won't quit... listen to it. Of course Sir Reginald and Stevie you can get away things us ordinary schmoes can't. I remember a song my ex-husband wrote years back that he wanted me to sing in the band, and there was a line about the Po-lice... I couldn't bring myself to do it, and eventually I talked him into singing it himself - haha! Interesting blog! Thanks for sharing your thoughts! jeanie

Hello Cheryl, Yes, it is a great feeling. Congrats to you too! Time to take our lives back! jeanie

Hey, thank you, all of you! Yeah, David. When the ideas for this song were coming together, remembering that time in my life, the best way I could conjure up to encapsulate that experience was through Janis Ian's iconic song - who could possibly say it any better than she did? I don't know if I'll get popped by the copyright Nazis or not, but I'll leave those lines as is until I'm told/ordered/requested/commanded to do otherwise, and then I'll figure out a way to change it just enough so that people still get it but Ms Ian's rights aren't trod upon. It's good to be back! Unless inspiration smacks me upside the head again first, my next big project is to write some lyrics for some of my extremely talented daughter's pieces - what you hear on the B3 in this song is only the barest tip of the proverbial iceberg. I may be popping into the lyrics forums for help on those from time to time As I posted on my facebook timeline, I feel like I've finally gotten my life back, and it's an amazing feeling! jeanie

Hey there folks! I've been a member here for a long time but haven't been around for a while. Had a significant dry period and hadn't written a note in years - I blame my children But now the kids are older and they allow me a moment to myself from time to time, and I managed to squeeze in enough moments to actually write a new song - just finished it last night and did a rough recording. If you would care to give it a listen, you can check it out on my soundcloud http://snd.sc/177Mqk8 or play the attached file. That's my daughter on the Hammond B3, by the way Happy to meet you all and get reacquainted! jeanie Finally.mp3.mp3