Elliott Music Studio

Quote of the Week: "Saying thank you is..."

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Mon, 25 Nov 2013 13:00:00 +0000

"Saying thank you is more than manners.

It is good Spirituality."

~Alfred Painter

Video of the Week: "All Creatures of Our God and King"

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 05:06:00 +0000

Today's Video of the Week celebrates my love for hand bells and is a two for one!

I have been playing with a group from Central UMC in Lawrence, KS for the last couple years. I was so glad to find a church that had a hand bell group when I moved back home from Kansas City. We recently played an arrangement of "All Creatures of Our God and King" during Sunday worship. I am so proud of our two newbies that were playing for with us for the first time. I'm the first person on the table on the right wearing dark glasses and hopefully smiling.

"All Creatures of Our God and King"
played by the Central UMC Lawrence Bell Choir

One of my fellow bell ringers was experimenting with her smart phone and took video of herself playing during rehearsal. I of course had to give that a try. I was able to prop my android smart phone right above my music while using my reading lights to keep it secure.

I think there are quite a few uses for videos like this. An obvious use would be to check your form and watch how you ring. A fun thing might be to have each ringer make a video and then create a video mash up of everyone ringing their part. I would definitely do this again.

"All Creatures of Our God and King"
Featuring Emily Elliott and the Central UMC Lawrence Bell Choir

If you love hand bells like I do check out this cool Facebook page!

Holiday Music at Your Fingertips

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Source: Koerts Music

It's that time of year when musicians are hurrying to put together their holiday music. I usually like to have most of my Advent, Christmas and Epiphany selections chosen months in advance so that I have time to rehearse and plan. This year I have not been so lucky. I started a new interim music director position a couple months ago so November and December planning has been rushed quite a bit.

The list I have created below are some of my favorite websites that I go to again and again for sheet music of all kinds. Each one makes downloading and printing at home easy so you don't have to wait for it to come in the mail. I also love anything I can get for free especially with the limited budgets I usually work with in music ministry.

I hope these resources help you wrap up your holiday season planning and give you some extra time with your family and friends. You deserve it!

Holiday Sheet Music has a great collection of PDF's you can download for free to use when caroling this holiday season.

The piano page on About.com has a few free holiday piano solos with stories behind each song for free download.

I love Susan Paradis and her collection of music for piano and teacher resources. She has been my go to place for several years now. Her collection of seasonal music is awesome. I especially like the early non-reader arrangements so even my youngest piano students just starting out can enjoy playing a song for the holidays.

Worship Together is my go to place for free contemporary Christian music resources that are hot off the press. They have compiled a list of 10 original songs for you to use this holiday season. Each song has a free lead sheet and links to buy full accompaniments and recordings when available.

Making Music Fun has quite a few pieces for piano that you can print and use whenever the spirit moves you. Their list is arranged by level making it easy to find the perfect holiday song for each of your piano students or yourself. There are also midi recordings of each arrangement to aid in practice. Check out the Jazz piano Intermediate level 4 arrangement of "Bring a Torch Jeanette Isabella".

Do you work with a children's hand bell group? I would encourage you to visit The Inspired Instructor. There is a wonderful collection of Christmas songs already marked for your color coded bells.

Joy Morin at Color in my Piano has a fantastic list of free Christmas music from all over the web. She continues to update it so don't forget to bookmark this site for next year.

8notes.com has another collection of easy sheet music that is helpful if you are working with many different instrumentalists. You pick the song and the instrument that is going to play it and download the arrangement. These are also good choices when you want simple arrangements or are working on sight reading.

Free-Scores.com is another wonderful site for free sheet music of all kinds. You can search by instrument and find arrangements from all over the world. I have been thinking about borrowing a xylophone for the holiday season so I can play a few carols along with piano accompaniment. I was able to download a free arrangement of "O Holy Night" that will do quite nicely.

Koerts Music offers a nice arrangement for piano of "Joy to the World" matched with "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" for free download. I downloaded this one for myself this year.

This is no where near an exhaustive list of what the world wide web has to offer. Tell us in the comments your favorite site for sheet music.

Quote of the Week: "I would maintain that..."

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 15:07:00 +0000

"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of though,

and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder."

~G.K. Chesterton

Quote of the Week: "The Lord respects me when..."

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 12:00:00 +0000

"The Lord respects me when I work, but he loves me when I sing."

-Anon

Quote of the Week: "Your life..."

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 04:30:00 +0000

"Your life is an occasion, rise to it."

-Mr. Magorium

Quote of the Week: "My life didn't..."

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 02:58:00 +0000

"My life didn't please me, so I created my life."

~Coco Chanel

So, how are things?

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 05:14:00 +0000

Happy Tuesday and welcome to the first day of October!

I had plans to share a long post today about my experiences at Leadership Institute 2013 this past week. Unfortunately due to many different things it's just not quite ready yet. I'm shooting for tomorrow.

I've been busy with a few projects I have yet to share that I can't wait to explore with you. One, is my new position of Contemporary Music Director at Central United Methodist Church in Lawrence, KS. I have hit the ground running and playing a little catch up to prepare for worship for the last few weeks. This hasn't left much time for writing but I am confident my schedule will settle down once a few more things are organized in advance.

I have also been doing a ton of reading about the United Methodist Church and the future of our denomination with an eye towards worship and the arts. We are looking at ways to rethink what it means to be a church for the future.

In addition to all that reading I have created the rough draft of a vision statement that I have been mulling around for the past few days:

Connecting people of all ages and enriching people's lives with music

in the church and the greater community.

Easier said than done for sure but it's a great goal and one that I feel is worth striving for. I can't wait to see this evolve in the next couple months.

So, how are things with you? Are things getting busier for you this month? What are you doing to stay sane?

A Year Ago on Elliott Music Studio: September

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Mon, 23 Sep 2013 22:00:00 +0000

Let's flash back and see what we were talking about a year ago at the Elliott Music Studio. Enjoy!

Theta Music Trainer: A Swell Deal

Piano Chord and Scale Finder @ 8notes.com

Have Your Piano and Eat it, Too!

Video of the Week: Clair de lune Animated Piano Solo

Quote of the Week: "Forget all the reasons why..."

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Mon, 23 Sep 2013 20:32:00 +0000

Made with Quozio

Looking Back: Reviewing 2012

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 12:00:00 +0000

After reading this annual review and a list of music goals here, I was finally ready to start thinking about what I had done and experienced in 2012 and what I would like to accomplish in 2013. This post was planned to be part-one in a two part series that would reflect on 2012 and look forward to 2013. Life happened and I didn't get around to posting. I figure it's never too late to reflect and do some goal setting. So, let's start by looking back.

Here are some of the high lights from 2012:

January
-Started the Certification for United Methodist Musicians paperwork process after finishing my last class to complete the education requirements in December of 2011 at Saint Paul School of Theology

April
- I celebrated my 30th year!

May
-Put together a music resume CD.
-Read "Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality" By Donald Miller
-Certification paperwork was sent and references collected. Background check was not completed due to lack of funds. First paycheck of 2013 should fix that up quite nicely.

June
-Oli turned 3 years old and started preschool!
-Read John L. Bell's "The Singing Thing" and "The Singing Thing, too: Enabling Congregations to Sing"

July
-Worship & Song Fest at Saint Paul School of Theology
-Read "From Beginning to End" by Robert Fulghum

Worship & Song Musicians

August
-Performed as a wedding soloist in Kansas City, MO
-Madi turned 6 years old and started 1st grade!
-Started to attend regularly again at my home church in Lawrence, KS but not sure about the future.
-Read "A Community Called Taizé: A Story of Prayer, Worship and Reconciliation" by Jason Brian Santos
-Read "Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith" by Rob Bell

September
-Wrote the only four Elliott Music Studio blog posts of the whole year
-Designed a Contemporary and Traditional Worship Planning Sheet for free download
-Started a Worship Arts Design Inspiration Board on Pinterest
-Read Rob Bell's "Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived"
-Finished reading Anne Lamott's "Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith"

October
-Met the Wedding Industry Networking Group in Lawrence, KS and was asked to participate in their bridal fair as a wedding soloist and special occasion musician.
-Read Rob Bell's "Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections Between Sexuality and Spirituality"
-Designed and printed a new weddings and special occasions postcard to help with publicity

November
-Resigned from my position at Cokesbury Bookstore at Saint Paul School of Theology
-Started a new office job closer to home to pay the bills and spend more time with my family
-Lead worship by invitation at Williamsburg UMC in Williamsburg, KS
-Took in Worship Night with East Lake Church at Liberty Hall in Lawrence, KS
-Finished reading Justo L. Gonzalez's "Church History"
-Decided to start regularly attending Central UMC in Lawrence, KS. Joined the hand bells and choir. Think we found a place where we can be fed and nurtured.

December
-Experienced the Lawrence Art Center's "Nutcracker" that was set in 1861 Lawrence, KS. The Free State Liberation Orchestra featuring the Uptown Mandolin Quartet was fantastic. I took my daughter who is an aspiring ballet dancer.

-Lead congregational Singing at Central UMC in Lawrence, KS and participated in the chancel choir and hand bell groups. Decided to be a part of the Leadership Council of the church in 2013 and accepted an invitation.

-Attended this year's Baker University Candle Light Vesper's which included the Baldwin Community Choir. It was such a wonderful night of music and it was free!

-Printed more wedding and special occasion postcards for a 2013 bridal fair in Lawrence, KS

I remember completing this list and being amazed at all the things that I had accomplished in 2012. If you are like me there is always more on the personal to-do list than is humanly possible to complete. I do a lot of rolling over to the next year with some of my list items. I also cross out things that just don't seem to fit my priorities.

More than half of 2013 has already passed. There are only four and a half months to go before 2014. There were so many things that I wanted to try and projects I wanted to complete. Now it's time to prioritize the rest of the year and be realistic of what I can accomplish in the next few months.

Stay tuned for my next post where I look forward for the rest of 2013!

Quote of the Week: "Prayer is not asking for..."

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 06:26:00 +0000

“Prayer is not asking for what you think you want, but asking to be changed in ways you can't imagine.”

- Kathleen Norris in Anne Lamott's “Grace (Eventually) Thoughts on Faith”

Happy Fourth of July!

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Thu, 04 Jul 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Wishing you a fantastic holiday!

Video of the Week: Masterpiece by The King's Singers

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 12:00:00 +0000

I met Simon Carrington and Bob Chilcott while I was a junior high student. Southwest Junior High's Bel Canto choir was chosen to be a part of an American debut concert and to sing Bob Chilcott's "Singing by Numbers". I didn't realize then how amazing that kind of invitation was. I have wonderful memories of that concert.

I continued to get the opportunity to work with Simon Carrington throughout my time in junior high, high school and even in college while he was the Director of Music at the University of Kansas. But I will have to admit that I wasn't as familiar as I should have been with the music of The King's Singers. One way or another one of their CD's finally made it into the house and for awhile there it was in regular rotation. Thanks to YouTube I have caught up even more.

I have too many favorite arrangements to list here but I was able to narrow down a piece to share for this week's Video of the Week. Imagine 400 years of western music all wrapped up into 9 minutes. Take a listen to "Masterpiece" sung by The King's Singers. Enjoy!

The King's Singers Sing Masterpiece

{If you are reading this post in an RSS Reader and don't see the video above please click over to my blog to view}

Quote of the Week: "Life is too short..."

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 12:00:00 +0000

"Life is too short. Don't let anything come out of your mouth that isn't true."

~Allison Krauss

Video of the Week: Even in the Darkness You'll "Find the Light"

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 05:13:00 +0000

Happy New Year!

I wish for you so many wonderful things in 2013. I have been inspired by this week's video pick that reminds me that "Even in the darkness you'll find the light.".

I gave NoiseTrade a try a few weeks ago and have fallen in love with several artists and music groups that are new to me. I can't wait to feature a few of them in upcoming posts.

I am enamored with David Ramirez's intimate style and have read in several places about how humble he is as a writer and a performer. You can experience more of his music at http://davidramirezmusic.com. Enjoy!

David Ramirez "Find the Light"

{If you are reading this post in an RSS Reader and don't see the video above please click over to my blog to view}

I will share my musical goals and dreams for 2013 in a couple future posts. What are you excited about doing in the New Year?

Theta Music Trainer: A Swell Deal

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 05:26:00 +0000

Source: Theta Music Trainer

I have had Theta Music Trainer on my list so I thought I would give it a go this week. I sampled Parrot Phrases and Chord Drop and loved both of them. Both games work to train your ear to hear note patterns in chords or in short phrases. I enjoyed the graphics and I know my 6 year old daughter would think it's a pretty cool motivator.

My free membership account allows me access to the first three levels of each game. A full-access subscription lets you train with over 340 game levels, practice modes, master levels, and all progress reports, including the Personal Trainer reports. a full-access subscription is only $54.00 per year. I think that's a pretty swell deal.

What's your new favorite game on Theta Music Trainer?

Piano Chord and Scale Finder @ 8notes.com

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 05:10:00 +0000

Source: 8notes.com

I am a visual person and memorize so much better went I can see a diagram of something. 8notes.com has a piano chord and scale finder that highlights the keys you need so you can play in the right key every time. When I was playing in a praise band and learning new music fast I would have loved this resource. Now I have no excuse to brush up on my scales.

Have Your Piano and Eat it, Too!

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 04:35:00 +0000

Source: Instructables

September is National Piano Month. So, let's celebrate! Did you know that fudge stick cookies make the perfect black keys for an edible piano? Check out Instructables here for the step-by-step instructions to create your very own piano cake.

Video of the Week: Clair de lune Animated Piano Solo

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 12:00:00 +0000

The Music Animation Machine opens up a new dimension for enjoying music. The colors and patterns align with the sounds to create a truly unique music experience. This week's "Video of the Week" is an animation of one of my favorite pieces for piano, Claude Debussy's "Clair de lune". Enjoy!

Debussy, Clair de lune, piano solo

Quote of the Week: "Ring out the old, ring in the..."

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 06:29:00 +0000

"Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true."

~Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1850

Quote of the Week: "Let Christmas not become..."

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

"Let Christmas not become a thing
Merely of merchant's trafficking,
Of tinsel, bell and holly wreath
And surface pleasure, but beneath
The childish glamour, let us find
Nourishment for soul and mind.
Let us follow kinder ways
Through our teeming human maze,
And help the age of peace to come
From a Dreamer's martyrdom."

~Madeline Morse

Quote of the Week: "The universal Joy of Christmas is..."

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

"The universal joy of Christmas is certainly wonderful. We ring the bells when princes are born, or toll a mournful dirge when great men pass away. Nations have their red-letter days, their carnivals and festivals, but once in the year and only once, the whole world stands still to celebrate the advent of a life."

~Author Unknown

Quote of the Week: "If we have no peace..."

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

"If we have no peace, it is because

we have forgotten that we belong to each other."

~Mother Teresa

A Wesleyan Statement in One Sentence

noreply@blogger.com (E Elliott) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

"A journey of holy discernment enhanced by our traditions, cultivated by our experience, guided by scripture, and enlightened by reason."

This statement was generated as a United Methodist Doctrine class exercise on what it means to be Wesleyan and United Methodist. This is my statement that came out of that project.