Author Archives: Ryan Libel
Juice Newton Live in Haysville
I have not seen many concerts. It’s never been a priority for me, and I’ve written here before about a lack of initiative in seeking out live music. That’s starting to change somewhat, but as far as pop acts go the list of folks I’ve seen live is extremely short. All the same, about 20 […]
Learning Wards off Stodgy
The other day I wrote about how happy I’ve been to fill in a couple of blanks of the “I’ve always wanted to ________” variety. I mentioned a friend who’s always wanted to play the cello. Well, I’m happy to report that she went out and rented a cello last weekend, and will start lessons […]
Puff the Magic Dragon
I don’t know much about the folk trio Peter, Paul, and Mary, except to know that they were part of the counterculture of the 1960s and they recorded Puff the Magic Dragon. My dad loved “oldies,” and it’s the genre with which our household was the most familiar as I was growing up. When I […]
Polishing with Staccato
As my tone production is evening out somewhat, I’m able to work on some of the finer points. My current Gavotte from Mignon contrasts a main theme, reproduced throughout the piece, with two other sections. The main theme is to be played staccato, and in yesterday’s lesson Teacher was helping me with it. It’s not […]
The Nutcracker
It was a normal Monday off for me yesterday, so I took the opportunity to put up our Christmas tree. Doing so as a child, we always put on Christmas music and made it a family affair – even so, I think we managed, in our incredibly musical household that loved Christmas more than just […]
Oh Holy Night and the Difference a Year Makes
Oh Holy Night has long been my favorite Christmas song – I love the wonder the music conveys; it seems to perfectly capture the mood of the nativity moment from the Christmas story. It’s also just a beautiful collection of notes, with highs and lows and plenty of drama! Last year as Christmas approached I […]
“I’ve always wanted to ________.”
I’ve always wanted to play the violin. I don’t really know why, except to say that in the Wichita Public Schools we could start string instruments in the fourth grade, a year before any other kind. But after I stopped playing the violin in the sixth grade, I occasionally considered starting back up. It was less […]
Shared Experience and Challenges
Well, this Gavotte is magnificently difficult. I talked to Teacher yesterday about other people’s view of the piece – perhaps I mentioned before that she says kids tend to hate it. She says she likes it (she does not necessarily love them all) but that many, many people get it “good enough” and then never […]
Band Aid 30
Recently I sponsored a friend’s independent journalism project on Beacon. She’s interested in traveling to West Africa to report on Ebola, titling her appeals “After Ebola Comes Hunger.” She’s lived in Ghana before, and, like many westerners who travel to the region, she apparently left a bit of her heart behind. I’ve heard from many […]
A. Thomas and his Gavotte from Mignon
According to Wikipedia, Ambroise Thomas was a French composer, primarily of operas, who lived a long life in the 19th century. The son of musicians, his early music education and jump on his performance career doubtless paved the way for his lifetime of moderate success. For the majority of his life, he enjoyed a robust […]
Ryan Libel 