Heather S. Ingemar's Blog, page 28
June 13, 2012
Music Notes: a Dear Abby of sorts
I’ve been getting a fair number of questions lately from a variety of people looking for advice on musical topics. After I received the most recent via email I had a brainstorm: Why couldn’t I do a “dear Abby” type of column, only for advice on musical topics? I’ve already written about practice aids, finding a good teacher, and other types of things.
Why not make it a regular feature? 
So!
Do you have a musical question you just have to have an answer to? Drop me a line via my Contact page and make sure to check “Music Notes Submission.”
Please note: I will repost your email on my blog! And, I will not share last names or emails or locations in the interests of privacy.
June 8, 2012
Billboard
Some days
The chalkboard of my faults
Stares me
Down,
A billboard
Of vicious, cutting letters.
They pile up,
Even as I try
To erase.
Life has ups and downs. It’s a well-known fact. Life is unpredictable, and we are little ants at the mercy of the weather. Sometimes — hopefully most times — life is wonderful, full of smiles and laughter and love. Sometimes, it’s not. Sometimes it’s unfair, hard, and painful, even.
It’s been a rough week. My shoulder (and the arm connected to it) has been giving me grief and I find myself frustrated with the slow pace of recovery; I found out I have to have some of my teeth removed (my least favorite thing to go through); and there’s hardly enough time in the day to accomplish the things on my to-do list. I find myself often either on the verge of tears or holding back snappish, bitchy comments. And I hate it.
But these are the days when music is most precious and most valuable. Because rather than remain under tension, I can cradle my guitar and turn the tap to let the ache out. Because there’s a song for every ill suffered. Angry? I can plug in The Balrog and let it rage and wail under my hands and I can scream angry lyrics to the walls. Sad? I can sing tragic songs until my guitar weeps with me. Hurting? I can find lyrics to address any hurt, be it emotional, physical, or psychological. Within the confines of the song, I am okay. I am taken care of. I am safe and whole. All that exists is the music, all that matters is the next note. And for a little while, that billboard with its angry little chalk letters can’t touch me.
June 7, 2012
Demon’s Music V: Visions
“Goodnight Maren, thanks!” said one of the tenors as they headed up the unlit staircase from the rehearsal room.
She smiled back, and began to gather her music. Rehearsing with the tenors was infinitely more fun than rehearsing with Miss Poulan, though no less demanding. After she stuffed her music back in its case, she took a few moments to stretch her arms and fingers.
The pure note sang in the quiet.
Maren froze, holding her breath.
Another sweet piano note rippled through the night, then the gentle strains of a song Maren recognized as Beethoven’s Sonata Pathetique, the Andante Cantabile in C-minor.
She was out of the chair and tip-toeing up the stairwell.
The piano looked like a square blob of darkness along the wall. Maren hid in the shadows for a moment, watching as the keys played themselves. As she looked on, the piano took on a silver glow that coalesced into the shape of a man.
Maren blinked, then rubbed her eyes. What the Hell? Men don’t glow…
He was still there when she looked again, only, he looked solid. His skin was so pale it seemed to shine like a murky mirror, reflecting his surroundings in a surreal manner. The black and white of the piano keys made the oddest pattern across his torso, and she blinked, almost unable to separate the instrument from the man in front of it.
The music quit abruptly and he turned around, his weird silver gaze finding her with no hesitation. “I know what you want,” he said, his soft words reaching her with no difficulty.
Then, he was gone, and the piano rested — normal and unassuming — against the wall.
* * *
This is part of an ongoing serial story. Catch up on the tale via the Serials page!
June 1, 2012
Spring Song
Springtime is a major seven chord:
Full of promise,
Trembling with bright change,
Ratcheting tension into full bloom –
Like the moment just before
A lover’s kiss.
May 31, 2012
Demon’s Music IV: Crush
“Have you seen Ben?” Cal asked as Maren passed his office door.
She paused, then backed up. “No, why?”
Cal frowned. “It’s not like him to miss work without calling.” He shrugged absentmindedly.
He didn’t realize she’d left until she was no longer in his doorway. Cal leapt from his seat and a pile of papers slid to the floor. He hesitated, then waved a hand at them and jogged out of his office. He’d pick them up later. “Hey! Wait up!” he called to Maren as he caught up to her.
She paused in the hall, giving him a quizzical look. Sunlight from the window gave her lovely brown hair a red glow that looked very good against her snug denim jacket. Hell, she looked good, period. He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. He couldn’t stop himself from looking…
“What’s up, Cal?” she asked.
He tore his gaze from where it traveled over her hips. “You sounded great this morning during practice,” he said in a rush. He kicked himself internally: if you didn’t know any better, you’d think he was a nervous teen boy with his first crush. Sure he’d been crushing on Maren Thompson for a long, long time, but he was almost thirty and he knew he could be more suave than that…
…and she was giving him a funny look. Had he said something wrong?
“Um, Cal, I wasn’t here this morning…”
Just as he processed her words, two of the tenors walked in and waved at Maren. “I’d better go,” she said with a quick smile and he found himself letting her walk away. What did she mean she wasn’t at the Theatre this morning? The beauty of the songs being played could only have come from her. No one else in this little town had half the talent she did, nor the heart.
Cal scratched his head as he puzzled over the situation. Then the phone rang in his office and he had no more time to consider things other than his managerial duties.
* * *
This is part of an ongoing serial story. You can catch up via the Serials page.
May 30, 2012
May 27, 2012
Hold On
Brand new song… YouTube video to follow…
Dark clouds roll across the sky
Plunging my world into night
Wind picks up, dusty grey
And here I stand not turning away
‘Cause I’m not afraid and I’m not scared
Holding your hand I’ll stay right here….
CHORUS
Your love means more to me than the terror of these storms
And your love grants to me the strength to carry on
There’s nothing we can’t weather as long as we’re together
So I’ll hold on….
Hold on
They say marriage is tough
That life these days is way too rough
There’s no way to make it last…
But all I know is that you can’t look back
CHORUS
‘Cause I’m not afraid and I’m not scared
Holding your hand I’ll stay right here….
CHORUS, 2x
May 25, 2012
Stringed Sound Sculpture of Epic Proportions
Reblogged from Luna Guitars' Blog:
French artist David Letellier has created an ephemeral and mesmerizing kinetic sound sculpture for Saint Sauveur Chapel of Caen, France entitled ‘Caten’. Letellier developed the work from 300 fine wires suspended from two ropes and given shape by gravity and the slow shifting of rotating arms connected to the four corners of the stringed fabric. The name is derived from the term catenary, which describes the plane curve formed by a rope hanging between two points.
This blows my mind. Eerie and beautiful at the same time...
May 24, 2012
Demon’s Music III: Eaten
The piano rested quietly in the shadows, listening to the sounds of early, early morning in the theatre. The old building creaked and popped as the heating system kicked on, warming the old boards and bricks and stones. The piano was not content, and a small vibration began in the bass register, rumbling and rolling its way up all eighty-eight notes. Things were not going as planned… Yet. The woman would help. The piano rumbled again, lighter and softer, as it remembered the feel of her hand on its wood structure. It had been a long time since it had felt any true music, like that in her fingers. Untapped talent like that could last it a long, long time… But it would make her difficult to persuade…
The piano settled closer to the wall when it detected the scrape of a key in the lock. Stealthy, it regarded the worn old man who entered. The man carefully shut the backstage door and shuffled toward a closet door. The ring of keys jingled on his hip with every halting step, and the noise was cacophonic when he searched for the key to the closet door.
The piano rolled forward, inch by sneaky inch, being sure to stay close to the wall. It halted just behind a set piece sporting bloody handprints on fake stone.
The old man created even more racket when he drug a mop and bucket from the array of cleaning supplies in the closet. A cupboard of other utensils crashed down inside, and the man let out a soft curse as he dropped to his knees to tidy the mess.
The piano waited.
At last, the man finished re-stacking the fallen items, and he seized the mop and bucket from the floor. Using the mop as a cane, he began to lever himself upright.
The piano made its move. It rolled from behind the set piece and gathered speed. The old man looked up, squinted in the shadows as if he couldn’t believe what he saw. Unable to contain its glee, the piano let forth an eerie growl of moving steel and wood as it rolled inevitably toward its prey.
The old man struggled to rise, and realizing he was too slow, stuck out the mop to defend himself.
The piano shifted it’s lower panel open and rumbled in for the kill…
* * *
This is part of an ongoing story… Catch up via the Serials page!
May 22, 2012
Gibson guitars, the Federales, and Musicians in the Crossfire
I try to not get involved in politics within the professional scope of my life, but as a musician who prizes a well-made instrument above most else, this PISSES ME OFF.
Remember the Federal Government’s high-profile raids last year on the Gibson guitar company? Well, musicians, you’d better get ready, because it’s only just begun:
US Government Plans to Seize Guitars from Famous Musicians at Summer Music Festivals
Law Could Be Used to Seize Musicians’ Guitars May Need Fix, Senator Says
Feds Threaten to Disrupt Summer Concerts
Nashville Politicians Lamar Alexander Fights to Keep Guitars Out of Border Agents’ Hands
The thing that makes me angry (aside from the Feds having the despicable audacity to steal a man’s guitar) is that when this whole thing started, I made several warning posts on Facebook about this. I was outraged. I knew it was only going to be a matter of time before the Feds got it in their head to come after the people owning these beautiful instruments. I could see it, plain as day. So I posted, vehemently. I saved and copied articles to my Wall. And you know what?
Most of my musician friends called me stupid.
They called me Chicken Little.
They said I was making a mountain out of a mole hill. They said I was blowing things out of proportion.
“Gibson guitars was guilty! The Government will never, ever target musicians.”
In their eyes, I was batshit crazy for even thinking something so dire of our government.
Yeah, well guess what? I think I hear an “I told you so”…
…
I sincerely hope this Nashville-based senator can get this law changed before the government takes over the music industry. Because while it’s just “famous” musicians now, it will come on down the line until it’s honest players like you and me having the Feds come knocking. Don’t think that will happen? How many people in 1930′s Germany said the same thing — “Oh, it won’t happen to ME, I’m just the little guy.” I know that’s a pretty dire example, but still. Please don’t make the mistake of writing this off. Beginnings of major things never seem huge or important until they are.
Because once the government sticks their foot in this door, once they flex their muscle and get away with it, what’s to make them stop with guitars?
How about vintage instruments or centuries old violins and such?
Or Irish flutes, which are made from exotic woods?
World instruments made in foreign countries?
Imported modern instruments?
Repair materials?
Accessories?
The music you play?
I could go on, but I think you get the picture. Give the government an inch and they’ll take a mile. Don’t wait to speak up. Spread the word.
[Addendum, May 23rd 2012 9:00am] For those of you claiming I’m making this shit up to be alarmist, read: Has Anyone Actually Had their Guitar Seized? — Les Paul Forums
It HAS happened, folks. It IS happening. And it’s going to KEEP ON happening as long as this loophole in the Lacey Act remains. Want to know how iffy it really is? Read Fretboard Journal’s article on it. Still think this issue is cut and dry? Still want to travel abroad with your guitar?
