My Song Journal

TAA DAAAA! Yes, here it is in all of its online glory. I just wanted to make a few notes that might explain some of my choices here.

First, I had a seperate spiral-ring notebook for my class notes that I suppose I could have turned in as my song journal instead...but I liked the idea of being able to pick out the songs and the ideas that most intrigued me and putting them into a format where I could have my reflections, the lyrics, and the actual melody all together. Hence, on the blog you won't see reference to every single song we covered in class even though I recorded most of them on my digital recorder. I downloaded them all onto my laptop, but only chose to make select ones into movie files that were compatible with the blog format (why you can't just post audio clips I'll never know. Maybe you can...I just couldn't figure it out.)

Second, I also have songs and thoughts included herein that may not connect directly with the class. I think that this was part of the song journal idea though, so I feel good about that.

Third, since this is a public blog, I have had people comment on some of my entries (especially down at the beginning of the blog). Some have included lyrics and thoughts on folk songs of their own. I found them interesting and I think it's a nice addition to the concept of a song journal. I feel as if I am sharing the music that I've selected rather than just keeping it to myself. In turn, others have shared their music with me. It's been a great experience.

Well, I think that's all I had to say about it. If I think of something else to add before Tuesday I'll post it up real quick--perhaps my reactions to the other groups presentations.

OH, which reminds me, I almost forgot to write this (pretend it's a seperate post): Just some reactions to the other groups that presented with us on Tuesday.

I loooooooved Carly's presentation. I felt like I learned so much more about the Shakers than I ever did, especially through her songs like "Mother" and "Shake, Shake." In addition, I loved seeing how the Shakers used music notation, surrounding the tones with diagrams of the dances. It really made music take on yet another dimension: the tune, the words, and the movement, all on one page. Amazing.

And, of course, who couldn't love the 1st Annual Christmas Carolers Convention. Particularly enjoyed learngin about the differences between songs and carols. Their section on the Commodification/Commercialization of Christmas was a necessary and well presented section as well with Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer to represent. It reminded me of a marvelous cultural history of the commercialization of holidays I read last year called "Consumer Rites." Check it out, at least the Christmas chapter. It was very informative and interesting.