Author Archives: Ryan Libel
The Killers and Mika
I’m taking this cold and lazy Sunday morning to consider and learn more about the recording artists I have added to my list of favorites over the past ten years or so – since I moved to Chicago. I’ve only been able to come up with two – The Killers and Mika. I guess I’m […]
Music and Morality
“To suggest that people who live with a metric pulse as a constant background to their thoughts and movements are living in the same way, with the same kind of attention and the same pattern of challenges and rewards, as others who know music only from sitting down to listen to it, clearing their minds, […]
Tuning
My mother told me about an old friend the other day. He’s an orchestra teacher at a suburban school in Kansas, and during his hour-long orchestra classes he spends the first fifteen minutes tuning instruments. I can only imagine how tedious and what an assault on the ears that must be. As I’ve just been […]
Names, History, Mythography
Audre Lourde called her autobiography a “Biomythography.” It was an acknowledgment of the fact that facts are hard to come by and they’re hard to sort out. Telling one’s own story is particularly fraught – if there’s anyone about whom we lack perspective it’s ourselves! Among the side quests I’m on since I started my […]
Kagami Biraki and Spaghetti Arms
I don’t normally experience playing the violin as an upper body workout, but yesterday was a high holiday. Kagami Biraki is traditionally the end of the new year period in Japanese cultures, and many martial arts descended from Japanese cultures incorporate the celebration into their new year calendars too. For my karate community, it’s a […]
Opera and the Huffington Post
I have been visiting the Huffington Post for years, but I was still surprised when I googled “classical music news” and Huffington Post’s Classical Music section was one of the first results. Prior to today, I did not know about it at all. As my first post on musical news mentioned, I am not interested […]
Fat Cats and Fourth Finger
Yesterday’s lesson was jam-packed. As I’ve mentioned, I’m getting a new song every week – Suzuki songs are sequenced to be skill-building, and this week’s is not only the longest to date, but it also brings in fourth (my pinkie) finger. I still find it quite strange how little I remember from my three years […]
Musical News
In thinking about ways to broaden my musical horizons, I have decided to periodically look into some websites that focus on musical news. But going in, I know I have a bit of a problem – I just do not have it in me to consume entertainment news, with the rumors of love lost and […]
The Right Stuff
I like the stuff of productivity – as a kid it started with an affinity for office supply catalogs and school supplies. I have a fascination with all the stuff that comes along with anything worthwhile that we humans do. People who sew, for example, need a lot of stuff – a machine, a box […]
Beethoven and Practicing Twice
On maybe four occasions now, I’ve had two practice sessions in one day. Yesterday was one – I played in the morning for a little over an hour, then late in the afternoon for about an hour. These things happen on lazy days off; it’s such a luxury to be able to devote so much […]
Ryan Libel 