Valentine to my wife and daughter, who propel me forward after a step back!

I want to share a heart felt poem I wrote to my wife and daughter, June and Corrine, last Valentine's Day, 2012.  In it I truly tell what is needed by musicians, and all creative creatures, in order to step ahead after the set backs we all will suffer!

A VALENTINE FOR MY ‘2’

There’s a kind of expression you find

That exists between genuine friends;

A kind of expression and design

Between persons who’ve spent time cathecting,

Making their times shared fine;

As families, we find so much on which to wine and dine:

I feel we ‘3’ are rich in our memories,

Which contain ample amounts of all the above.

But above all is the warm love we’ve shared:

We’ve cared in the tough, great, good, and bad places of --- ‘us’—

I love you both very much!:

BE MY VALENTINES

LOVE AND RESPECT AND HIGH REGARDS,

DAD AND HUBBY,

More, more---XOXOXOXOXO

Please give me comments and feedback.

Sincerely,

Errol Weiss Schlabach

HAIKU TO HEMINGWAY’S ADAGE

"This applys to musical improvisation, writing prose, and/or living!" - Errol

Haiku to Hemingway’s Adage

Live as Earnest wrote:

Sparse moments, glis’ning a truth,

Emotion bulging!

(The same Haiku for musicians improvising!)

Play as Earnest wrote:

Sparse phrases, glis’ning a truth,

Emotion bulging!

Please enjoy and comment;

Give feedback.

Sincerely,

Errol Weiss Schlabach

Step Back to Propel Forward

Stepping Back Will Propel You Forward

I told readers/practicers to begin sessions in a certain way, by doing overtones for larynx strength and control, some slow intervals in chosen patterns, maybe trill-like movements to loosen fingers, etc.

Now comes the time when your musical thinking must begin, for the point of the practice is performing and expressing music, not merely technical brilliance.  Whatever you choose to work on after the warm up, ‘step back’ and listen to it in your imagination before actually playing it on your instrument.  In my essay ‘Hear It & You Can Play’, I elaborated on this idea, and I again tell you that unless you can hear it in your imagination, you will not play it well in your performance.  Remember how you’re able to play music at your best (from Andre Watts): “It all depends on the intensity of you concentration and the vividness of your AURAL imagination.”

Another facet of practice is this: When you make a mistake, do not immediately play it again, for you will undoubtedly make the same mistake, or do something more severe.  It’s the same as entering a key into a lock, which fails to open, whereupon you immediately insert the tin object again, and then again, etc, with still no success.  And ‘know what happens as a result: you damage, or RUIN both the key and the lock, the same as you’ll do with the central nervous system, the motor neurons and the reflexes used for this ‘molested’ passage of notes. 

So, ‘step back’ and think about what you did and imagine doing it the new corrected way.  I guarantee the passage will be greatly improved, if not beautifully performed.

On the subject of difficulties and mistakes in playing technique, I’ve found many times the fingers emphasize the wrong note or notes, or press too weakly on the fingering of the note prior to the problem area, so you are not able to ‘spring onto’ the faulty note or phrase.  Remember as in sports, you need a ‘wind up and pitch’ in your finger execution, for those 10 priceless digits are 10 little lithe athletes.  And as in all athletic movements, the fingers must have no tension, or ‘trying’ in their action and effort; their movement should be subconscious, simply following ‘the vividness of your imagination’!

I hope you find this advice helpful.

Please give me comments and feedback.

Sincerely,

Errol Weiss Schlabach

First Day of School

First Grade

New!!! - Etude #11 - Filigree For Flute

'Filigree For Flute'

by Errol Weiss Schlabach

This is an original etude of mine, using the complete 3 octaves of the flute's wonderfully wide range of sonorities.

My composition uses the upper and lower neighboring tones around notes (in the A, B, & D sections) of a D minor triad; for contrast (in the C or middle section), I use the neighboring tones around notes of a Gb triad, a B triad, & a G triad (2 measures each), and close with an A Diminished (Octotonic) scale to return to the D minor triad material (section D).

Enjoy!;---and please give me comments and feedback.

Sincerely,

Errol Weiss Schlabach

NEW!! Journey to Belize-Piano Accompaniment-Complete

Now you can perform 'Journey to Belize' in concert with the complete piano accompaniment.

Please get back to me your comments and feedback!

Sincerely,

Errol Weiss Schlabach

DEJA’ VU MOMENTS: driving us musically!

DEJA’ VU MOMENTS

C. S. Lewis writes in ‘Surprised By Joy’, of those Devine, delicious vignettes of insight in which we feel an intense, ecstatic joy, only to have them disappear before we can define or discern; yet we forever yearn to recapture, save and savor.  The peace received in those moments of elation may spark a lifetime.

This relates to musical performances and improvisational moments,

for contained in one of those deja’ vu moments might be a virus that drives the force of our musical quest.  We remember the elation after a certain solo, --our sound on a day when we had the ‘perfect reed’, --the reaction to a concert we’d performed.  We want to recapture the ecstasy of those vignettes!

‘listening to John Coltrane on ‘Love Supreme’, what other grail could it be than such an illusive moment?  And speaking of the ‘Love Supreme’ recording, I believe it captures the perfect example of improvisation that is fleeting but perpetual, finding the ‘high priest’ making the pilgrimage to hajj, questing his closest moment with God.

I must relate now my own déjà vu moment, which may have driven me all through my life.

I started a band in 7^th grade

(circa 1955), of a very hip instrumentation: accordion, piano, drums, and myself, playing alto sax and clarinet.  Our first performances were as entertainments for Moose lodges, American Legions, Junior High proms, etc., before moving on to TV talent shows.  I did the arrangements (by simply transposing the sheet music to the instruments needed), and my ear was always listening to what I wrote.

In the Fall of 1955, a time right before ‘Rock Around The Clock’ and after ‘Shake, Rattle, and Roll’, a big hit for Boyd Bennett leaped onto the charts: ‘Seventeen’!  As I remember it now, the changes were traditional: First bar A6, the second D7 (the C Natural there contained).

My little band was scheduled to play on a local talent TV show, Rising Stars, on a Thursday in November, and I wanted to present the ‘leading edge’ of material:

SEVENTEEN!!! 

We practiced in the afternoon before going to the studio (the Belle Stone grade school had excused my group, of David Mariol, Chad Davis, Jim Huff and myself on those televised days, for if we did well, it was great publicity for the school).

As we practiced ‘Seventeen’ (my key being A major), at the beginning of the 2^nd measure, where the written was:  AAA-AAA-(for 2 bars), I suddenly heard: AAA-‘_­C’AA!  This C natural into an A major piece was my first adventure into improvisation, a ‘Blues’ note: To this day I remember the exhilaration at finding that fine, clear, unique note in that spot, a space that was now my own personal promulgation, done right there by me on the spot---invented! 

Well, cloud 9 was my liar all the way to the studio and the Rising Stars Show.

I anticipated playing that glorious C natural in that unexpected spot.  And, by God, one hour or so later, on TV, I actually DID IT!!!

That joy and excitement still remain with me.

Of course there were many other motivating times in my life.  However, this is the first I recall, which propelled me to my lifelong musical quest.

Oh yes!!!: In these moments, God clearly reveals His calm elation toward our humble efforts, and bestows His soothing, caressing help and care, which is our underlying reason for the pilgrimage.

Thank you for your reading and your interest.

Keep open to those déjà vu moments!

Sincerely, and God Bless,

Errol Weiss Schlabach

Please give me feedback and comments.

Savor Ben Stein's message and disclose your hidden emotions with me.

It's a hard truth but nonetheless true.

Please read this essay by Ben Stein; I believe this is a very important, candid declaration.

"In God we trust"

-----

The  following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS  Sunday  Morning  Commentary.

My confession:

I don't like getting pushed around for being a  Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for  being Christians.  I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period.  I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country.  I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat...

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we  should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God  as we understand Him?  I guess that's a sign that I'm  getting old, too.  But there are a lot of us who are  wondering where these celebrities came from and where the   America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we  send to one another for a laugh, this is a little  different:  This is not intended to be a joke; it's not  funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

In  light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings,  etc..  I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she  was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she  didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.  Then  someone said you better not read the Bible in school...   The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and  love your neighbor as yourself.  And we said  OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our  children when they misbehave, because their little personalities  would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr.  Spock's son committed suicide).  We said an expert should  know what he's talking about..  And we said  okay..

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have  no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it  doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and  themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard  enough, we can figure it out.  I think it has a great deal  to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is  for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to  hell.  Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but  question what the Bible says.  Funny how you can send  'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when  you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think  twice about sharing.  Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and  obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public  discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward  this message, you will not send it to many on your address list  because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will  think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more  worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks  of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.

If not, then just discard it... no one will know you  did.  But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit  back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards,  Honestly and  respectfully,

Ben  Stein

I’m Errol Weiss Schlabach

And I believe and endorse this message.

God Bless.

New: Etude #10: Alto Sax solo, "Journey to Belize'

This is an alto sax solo I composed some years ago for a student and has had quite successful performances.  The piano accompaniment is available and I will respond to your comments of request.  You may also peruse and just use as an unusual etude.
Enjoy.
Please give feedback and comments.
Sincerely,
Errol Weiss Schlabach