Tuesday, November 17, 2009

People International Incorperated



I was going through some things online today and found this picture. This People International rehearsal had to be six or seven years ago. I'm the girl sitting on the ground in front with a black leather vest and a red thing in my hair. I remember, that was part of my show costume in the year I first got to play keys with the band.

People international is a really cool charity oriented musical performing group. It's members range in age from 14 to old enough that it would be impolite to ask. ;-)~ The group does songs that have positive messages that express ideas such as concerned love for one's community, the value of openness and honesty, the importance of self discipline and dedication, and the joy which comes from deep connection to others.

Each year a different song list is chosen by the music committie with many suggestions from the general membership, and the group learns covers of many modern songs with positive things to say. It is not unlike a show choir with a band and dancers, and it can be a truely theatrical event when this group performs. Once a year, members from all over the country get together to put on a show to benifit a different charity each year that the group deems worthy. The members come together for a week, spend most of the time rehearsing, and put on a great show in a different city each year. It is a great experience, and the group is very welcoming to new members.

If you're interested in further information, leave me a comment here with your email, and I will forward you more information and contacts.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Love Your Lurkers Week

I've been looking through my music theory notes from back at OU* and found a lot of stuff I think would be useful to some of the folks stumbling through here. I'll be posting a lot of that this week and some more great rock tutorials I found on the net.

I noticed that there are actually a lot of people starting to check this page out, and I thought I'd be social and smile and wave through the Internet. I've been getting some nice notes, and I'm glad that some of what I'm posting is useful or entertaining to others with a lot of musical interests. My experiences are varied, and I like a lot of different styles of music, so I'm trying to reflect that in the different things I'm posting about. Making music, in whatever fashion you do, is a journey. Many different things influence it. An intelligent interview with a songwriter you respect will influence you in one way, the funny you tube video you watched 12 times will influence you in another, and discovering a chord progression you like will move you in other ways too. This page is a reflection of the idea that all those different experiences are useful, and may lead to enjoying or making great music.

If you happen to be reading this, I'm curious about the people checking out this blog- I'd like to know what kinds of things you'd like to see more of in a page like this. If you have a moment, please stop by in the comments here and say Hello.

Peace!
~ Nicolette


(* for musicians in Michigan, Oakland University in Rochester has an excellent program that I have a lot of good things to say about. It was the professor's there that really helped me learn how to translate the music I could imagine in my mind into actual notes on a piano or guitar. :-) )

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Measure for Measure from N.Y. Times

I was looking around for some other great blogs and websites to talk about here, and found Measure for Measure. It's a N.Y. Times blog which is apparently on vacation momentarily; but holds a lot of interesting thoughts for visitors who like to make music. There are multiple contributors, including Suzanne Vega, who I've always thought of as very talented and creative in the wold of making music. Check it out:

MEASURE FOR MEASURE
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