Author: mystro2b

Air on the G String by J.S. Bach.

I remember the first time I played this song for one of my general music classes. It was a grade four class, and the curriculum had these animated “listening maps”. This was one of the songs to teach form and would start with different colored balloons on the left side of the screen moving or floating to the music. The typically talkative class was mesmerized by the music and the balloons floating before them. Hoping they were not just intrigued by the cheesey animation, I later played it for them with just the audio and the lights off. It became one of our favorite “calm down” pieces and was requested often by the students.

Sama Kama Wacky Brown by The Brothers Four.

This was an album my dad owned. We loved to put this on at home and sing the crazy lyrics together.

All I Wanna do by Sheryl Crow.

This song came out when we were living in Southern California. This is the perfect driving music along Santa Monica Blvd, through Beverly Hills and West Hollywood and reminds me of that laid back So. Cal vibe (minus gridlock traffic…).

Wind Power by Thomas Dolby from the album Retrospectacle. Jazz flute and the shipping forecast set this track apart.

I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom by Robert Johnson.

When you learn how to play guitar later in life like me (age 40) you eventually turn to the blues. There are many versions of this song by electric blues guitarists, but Johnson’s was the first. Every blues guitarist you know was inspired by this blues giant. This is the genesis of so many blues guitar riffs. Part One of your Blues education: A Brief History of “I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom.”

Zacchaeus by Jim Lauderdale and Ralph Stanley.

“This vocal style has been characterized as the “high lonesome sound.” The “High Lonesome” sound can be credited to Shape-Note music where a high-pitched harmony, that can generally be characterized as having a nasal timbre, is sung over the main melody”*. This song is Part One of your Bluegrass education.

*Bluegrass Music.

Canzona Bergamasca by Samuel Scheidt performed by the Eastman Brass Quintet.

I played trombone on scholarship in a brass quintet in college. Up to that point I had been an average player, but after my first quintet rehearsal, I realized there is no faking it with chamber music, especially when it is one person on a part. While playing in a band or orchestra is fun, chamber music is really where you learn how to be an independent musician. This song is a staple of the brass quintet repertoire.

Jet Airliner by Steve Miller Band.

Guitar riff greatness and Steve’s voice combined with the vocal harmonies= big smile and sing along at the chorus.

Eighth of January by Tony Rice.

Flatpicking guitar playing at it’s best. In 2005 my dad and I saw Tony Rice live at Rockygrass in Lyons Colorado. I had been playing the guitar for about a year and had a large collection of flatpicking how-to guitar books. Every time I listen to Tony play, I am just amazed at how fast he moves that pick. I tried to play this and other fiddle tunes on my guitar, and while my bass picking and G runs are passable, even on one string, I could never get my pick moving very fast. And Tony is doing it on all six strings with a tempo that smokes.

Night Train by Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery.

Tight horn lines, the wailing saxophones, and that killer Hammond B3 organ solo: it swings so hard you just can’t sit still. Play it loud.