It's good to be back writing! I have been away longer than I like. No real excuse....just life I suppose. Six years into this blog, finding ideas and ways to keep things fresh and interesting is always a challenge. What does not change is my love of listening to and playing music. And that's the basis for this journal...to write about classical music first and foremost, and then other thoughts and ideas. Heck, it's my blog...I can write about anything I want. But I have had a great week, full of new ideas that I am looking forward to incorporating into this format. Stay tuned!
This week, I "discovered" a person on YouTube named Rick Beato. Rick is an accomplished musician, producer, and teacher who makes videos about music on YouTube. He explores a wide range of musical topics such as "what makes this song great?" He is also a music theorist who breaks down the theory behind music in all genres. Anyway, what I admire about Rick is his enthusiasm. It is clear that he loves music...all kinds of music.
Here is a video he made about virtuosos.
Here's a video he made about the greatest riff using only the white keys of a piano. Yep, it's Prokofiev.
And here Rick shares some of the albums that he loves and made a big impression on him. This is really where you can sense his enthusiasm and love for music and it made me so happy.
Rick also has an Instagram page: @rickbeato1.
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Last week, my wife and I finished staining the shelves that have been housing much of my CD collection...yes I still have CDs, which is what I want to talk about next. Like most people, I have used iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music and YouTube over the years. I still do. But I love CDs and vinyl records the most. You actually own them...hold them...touch them. Streaming formats don't give me that. So I still buy CDs and records and I listen to them more than music streams. I was going though some old posts this week where I shared music via YouTube, just as I have here. It works great, until the person who posted the video takes it down...then it's gone.
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I shared awhile back that I have been playing the guitar quite a bit this year. I am not a trained guitar player...I am self taught, and I have some very clear limitations. But I am having a blast practicing and learning. I have developed enough courage to make videos of my playing and share them on Facebook and Instagram. I have learned a valuable lesson that has made this possible...to accept my imperfections. There pursuit of perfection will drive you crazy. There is no such thing. There will always be something you feel you can improve upon. At some point you just have to let it go. Cheryl confronts this same challenge when she is working on refinishing furniture. She chases perfection. So we had this discussion about embracing the flaws of your work. They can actually add to the beauty of it. In the example of a musical performance, I am not interested in hearing someone play every note perfectly. I am interested in someone going to the edge musically...taking chances...NOT playing it safe. If during the course of this effort a note is fluffed or an entrance is not as crisp as possible, so be it. These imperfections are part of the climb to the top of the mountain. A climber often slips or stumbles on the way to the summit. But the view erases those missteps. Once again, Rick Beato addresses this point very well in this video.
"It's the imperfections that make it great."
