Happy Songs for Winter Blues

Hello everyone! We're all in the midst of the coldest time of year and spring is a long way off  still. Today I thought of something you might try to pick up your spirits.

Think back to your earliest happiest musical memories. Make a list of songs you associate with a happy time in your life.   Once you have your list, download the songs onto a CD or mp3 file and listen. You'll be surprised how all that happiness comes right back to you!

Here are some of the songs on my list:

"Daydream Believer" by The Monkees. As a child, my sister and I watched their TV show all the time and we had all of their albums. Listening to them brings back such fond memories of my childhood in Chicago.

"I Think We're Alone Now" - Tommy James and The Shondells. I love so many of their songs, like, "Crimson and Cover" but this one stands out because it's one I remember hearing when I was learning to roller skate at The Hub in Chicago. Do you remember some old roller skating songs?

"Alley Cat," - it's an old piano rag that I did a tap dance routine to as a young girl. I didn't stay in dance classes long but I remember having fun with this dance.

"Classical Gas," Mason Williams. This was a big hit in 1968 and it's still a top standard guitar song. I love the dramatic orchestral accompaniment and it's still being played by many of the top guitarists.

"For Once in My Life, " - Stevie Wonder. Just about any song by Stevie Wonder I love but this one was maybe the first I heard and it's got such a happy feeling about it, you can't possibly stay down and listen to this song!

"Love Child" by the Supremes - again, anything by the Supreme's I love but this song is a great one to dance to.

"I Want You Back," Jackson 5 - Same goes with Jackson 5 - love them all but this is another great one you cannot sit still and listen to.

How about you? What songs do you remember from your childhood?

Farewell to 2018

2018 was a year of experimentation and growth and it brought me many new opportunities.

Some of the things I did were a lot of fun and new and interesting.  In the spring, I enjoyed presenting songs on nature and environmental themes to children at Wildrock in Crozet, Virginia.

Over the summer, I rented a saxophone and tried my hand at playing a new instrument.  My ultimate goal was to learn an instrument to play in a band. I learned that there was a beginning band (wind and percussion ensemble) at the local senior center. I went one day in July to watch their rehearsal. I found out I knew one of the percussion players and she invited me to join their team. It turns out, I used to play percussion in high school band, so it would be a good fit for me. I came home knowing that would be a better choice for me since my saxophone studies were going so slowly, it would take months to be good enough to play in a band. I joined the band's percussion team in September and I played my first concert with them in December (see previous post about this).

In August, I was selected to be a panelist at the Music & Cochlear Implants Symposium in Montreal.   As one of the panelists, I met with some of the leading researchers and developers of cochlear implants to help ensure the continuing improvement of musical satisfaction and proficiency for CI recipients. It was a great experience and one I will never forget!

I closed out the year working in the county schools teaching songwriting to two classrooms of 5th graders.

Of course, December was filled with holiday concerts and sing alongs with many groups.

I am full of optimism for this new year of 2019 and I wish you all a very good year!

Thanks as always for stopping by!

The picture above is from my travels up north for the holidays when I went up to the Ashokan Reservoir. It was beautiful!