Coffee Klatch

This is just too cool not to share on my blog. Bobby McFerrin was part of the World Science Festival last summer where he participated in a talk called “Notes and Neurons: In Search of a Common Chorus.” In this video clip, he demonstrates the power of the Pentatonic Scale through audience participation.

Weird Al Yankovic wrote a spoof on a song called “Ridin’ Dirty” and he called it “White & Nerdy.” It’s very funny and stars Donny Osmond dancing (not singing). I’ve included the video below, but down below that video is another. It’s the “green screen” version where you can see Al singing and Donny Osmond dancing for the whole song. Talk about “white and nerdy!” How funny!!

And here’s the one where you can see Donny Osmond being just hilarious!!

You might be a Music Theory geek if…

1. Your favorite pickup line is, “What’s your favorite augmented sixth chord?”
2. You can look at a piece by Bach and say, “You know, I think he could have gotten a much better effect this way . . .”
3. You like to march around your room to the rhythms of Stravinsky’s “Le Sacre du Printemps.”
4. You love to quote Walter Piston.
5. You long for the good old days of movable G-clefs.
6. You like polytonal music because, hey, the more keys the merrier.
7. You dream in four parts.
8. You feel the need to end Tchaikovsky’s Pathetique Symphony with a picardy third.
9. You can improvise 16th century counterpoint with no trouble, but you frequently forget how to tie your shoes.
10. You lament the decline of serialism.
11. You enjoy the tang of a tritone whenever you can.
12. You like to deceive your friends and loved ones with deceptive cadences.
13. You only drink fifths, and then you laugh at the pun.
14. Instead of counting sheep, you count sequences.
15. You only sing tunes that make good fugal subjects.
16. You find free counterpoint too liberal.
17. Mussorgsky’s “Hopak” gives you nightmares.
18. You wonder what a “Danish Sixth” would sound like.
19. The Corelli Clash gives you goosebumps.
20. You can hear an enharmonic modulation coming a mile away.
21. You have ever done a Schenkerian analysis on “Three Blind Mice.”
22. You have ever tried to do a Schenkerian analysis on John Cage’s “4′33″.
23. You have hosted a “Gurrelieder” party.
24. You have ever pondered what an augmented seventh chord would sound like.
25. Bass motion by ascending thirds or a sequential pattern with roots in ascending fifths immediately strikes you as “belabored.”
26. You know what the ninth overtone of the harmonic series is off the top of your head.
27. You can name ten of Palestrina’s contemporaries.
28. You can answer your phone with a tonal or a real answer.
29. You have ever heard a wrong note in a performance of a piece by Berio, Stockhausen, or Boulez.
30. You suspiciously check all the music you hear for dangling sevenths.
31. When you’re feeling particularly prankish, you transpose Mozart arias to locrian mode.
32. You keep a notebook of useful diminutions.
33. Those “parasitic” dissonances make you queasy, especially when left unresolved.
34. You have composed variations on a theme by Anton Webern.
35. You know the difference between a Courante and a Corrente.
36. You have trained your dog to jump through a flaming circle of fifths.
37. You have ever used the word “fortspinnung” in polite conversation.
38. You feel cheated by evaded cadences.
39. You have a poster of Allen Forte in your room.
40. You know who Allen Forte is.
41. Every now and then you like to kick back and play something in hypophrygian mode.
42. You wonder why there aren’t more types of seventh chords.
43. You wish you had twelve fingers.
44. You abbreviate your shopping list using figured bass.
45. You always make sure to invert your counterpoint, just in case.
46. You have ever told a joke that had this punchline: “because it was POLYPHONIC!”
47. You know dirty acronyms for the order of sharps.
48. You consider all music written between 1750 and 1920 to be “rather elementary.”
49. You memorize dates and times by what they would sound like in set theory.
50. You can not only identify any one of Bach’s 371 Harmonized Chorales by ear, but you also know on what page it appears in the Riemenschneider edition and how many suspensions it has in the first seven bars.

After much hard work, creativity, and hours in the recording studio, I would like to announce my two new CDs!

Scott Sings the Narcissistic Hits

1. I Love Me, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah
2. Hopelessly Devoted To Me
3. How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By Me
4. I Wanna Hold My Hand
5. Everything I Do, I Do It For Me
6. I Am The Sunshine Of My Life
7. Tonight I Celebrate My Love For Me
8. I Light Up My Life
9. I’m The One That I Want
10. Up Where I Belong
11. I Love Me Just The Way I Am
12. In My Eyes
13. I’m The Inspiration
14. I Am So Beautiful (To Me)
15. I Love Me
16. I Honestly Love Me
17. (I’m) Still The One
18. Have I Told You Lately That I Love Me?
19. I Only Have Eyes For Me
20. I Was Always On My Mind
21. I Don’t Know Much (But I Know I Love Me)
22. I Can’t Help Falling In Love With Me
23. I’ve Got A Crush On Me
24. It Had To Be Me
25. You Made Me Love Me

Then there’s:
Scott Sings the Narcissistic Classics

Songs include:
1. I’ll Have To Say I Love Me In A Song
2. Dreaming Of Me
3. Because I Loved Me
4. I’ve Only Just Begun
5. I Decorated My Life
6. If I Leave Me Now
7. (I’m) More Than A Woman
8. I’ll Give Me A Diamond Ring
9. I Owe It All To Me
10. Unforgettable (That’s What I Am)
11. How Deep Is My Love?
12. Till There Was Me
13. And I Love Me
14. Just The Way I Am
15. Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of Me
16. Close To Me
17. I Want Me, I Need Me, I Love Me
18. Miss Me Much
19. I Can’t Stop Loving Me
20. How Am I Supposed To Live Without Me?
21. God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On Me
22. I Can Love Me Like That
23. I Just Called to Say I Love Me
24. Every Breath I Take
25. As Long As I Love Me

Look for both of these CDs coming soon to a fine music store near you!

The Eight Days of Hanukkah can be sung to the tune of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

Note: The words “my true love” can be replaced with the Yiddish “mein Liebchen.”

On the first night of Hanukkah my true love gave to me
Lox, bagels and some cream cheese

On the second night of Hanukkah, my true love gave to me
2 Kosher pickles and
Lox, bagels and some cream cheese

On the third night of Hanukkah, my true love gave to me
3 pounds of corned beef
2 Kosher pickles and
Lox, bagels and some cream cheese

On the fourth night of Hanukkah, my true love gave to me
4 potato latkes
3 pounds of corned beef
2 Kosher pickles and
Lox, bagels and some cream cheese

On the fifth night of Hanukkah, my true love gave to me
5 bowls of chicken soup
4 potato latkes
3 pounds of corned beef
2 Kosher pickles and
Lox, bagels and some cream cheese

On the sixth night of Hanukkah, my true love gave to me
6 pickled herrings
5 bowls of chicken soup
4 potato latkes
3 pounds of corned beef
2 Kosher pickles and
Lox, bagels and some cream cheese

On the seventh night of Hanukkah, my true love gave to me
7 noodle kugels
6 pickled herrings
5 bowls of chicken soup
4 potato latkes
3 pounds of corned beef
2 Kosher pickles and
Lox, bagels and some cream cheese

On the eighth night of Hanukkah, my true love gave to me
8 Alka- Seltzer
7 noodle kugels
6 pickled herrings
5 bowls of chicken soup
4 potato latkes
3 pounds of corned beef
2 Kosher pickles and
Lox, bagels and some cream cheese

PS: For the Israeli version, substitute 1 Falafel ball , 2 spoons of
Hummos, 3 liters of Tehina, 4 plates of salads, 5 glasses of
eshkoliot (grapefruit juice), 6 bags of pita, 7 mouthfuls of ful and
8 greps.

For all you “music nerds” out there.

C, E-flat and G go into a bar. The bartender says, “Sorry, but we don’t serve minors.” So E-flat leaves, and C and G have an open fifth between them. After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished and G is out flat. F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is not sharp enough. D comes in and heads for the bath­room, saying, “Excuse me. I’ll just be a second.”

Then A comes in, but the bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor.
Then the bartender notices B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and says, “Get out! You’re the seventh mi­nor I’ve found in this bar tonight.” E-Flat comes back the next night in a three-piece suit with nicely shined shoes.

The bartender says, “You’re looking sharp to­night. Come on in, this could be a major development.”
Sure enough, E-flat soon takes off his suit and ev­erything else, and is au naturel. Eventually, C sobers up and realizes in horror that he’s under a rest. C is brought to trial, found guilty of contributing to the diminution of a minor, and is sentenced to 10 years of D.S. without Coda at an upscale correctional facility.

No one can fracture a Christmas carol better than a kid. Sing along with these new takes on old favorites:

• Deck the Halls with Buddy Holly
• We three kings of porridge and tar
• On the first day of Christmas my tulip gave to me
• Later on we’ll perspire, as we dream by the fire.
• He’s makin’ a list, chicken and rice.
• Noel, Noel. Barney’s the king of Israel.
• With the jelly toast proclaim
• Olive, the other reindeer.
• Frosty the Snowman is a ferret elf, I say
• Sleep in heavenly peas
• In the meadow we can build a snowman, Then pretend that he is sparse and brown
• You’ll go down in listerine
• Oh, what fun it is to ride with one horse, soap and hay
• Come, froggy faithful
• You’ll tell Carol, “Be a skunk, I require”
• Good tidings we bring to you and your kid

I’ve often said that you know something/someone (especially comedy) has really arrived when they do Bohemian Rhapsody. That was true for Weird Al (”Bohemian Polka“), Gerry Phillips the Manualist, Dictionaroke, LEGO, The Ten Tenors, and even All Your Base Are Belong To Us. And Wayne’s World, of course.

Today thanks to a friend on Facebook, I found out THE MUPPETS did Bohemian Rhapsody also! What a riot! And they changed most of the words, so that took care of any questionable issues that would have arisen from the combination of Queen and Muppets. Here you go:

I’ve been a fan of Mannheim Steamroller since their first Christmas album came out in 1984. (Yes, even though their first FIVE Fresh Aire albums preceded their Christmas ones.) But it’s been a long time since I’ve bought a new Mannheim Steamroller CD. I think Fresh Aire 8 was my last purchase, and that came out in 2000.

One reason I haven’t bought more is that so many of the new CDs seem to only be compilations or outside the normal Mannheim Steamroller traditions. You can listen to excerpts on Amazon and also read reviews.

I finally broke down and bought Christmas Song, which came out in 2007. I am VERY pleased with this CD! Chip Davis describes it as his most “personal” recording project so far. Several of the songs are dedicated to his wife and children (individually), which is very cool. Be sure to read those (I especially liked “Elyse Navidad”).

Some of the tracks on this CD are strongly reminiscent of their very first Christmas CD, which is what made so many people fall in love with Mannheim Steamroller. Others are a bit more contemporary. Chip Davis also managed to get Johnny Mathis to sing Davis’ arrangement of “The Christmas Song” and Olivia Newton-John to sing the very personal and touching “Christmas Lullaby,” which now has words. Davis wrote that he’d intended to include words all along.

My favorite tunes out of the 12 on this CD: It Came upon the Midnight Clear, Catching Snowflakes on Your Tongue, Masters in this Hall, and Frosty the Snowman.

The best part: You can get this for A PENNY at Amazon.com (plus shipping). I paid a total of $3.01 for the CD! Check it out on Amazon!

If you’re a fan of Talk Like a Pirate Day, you’ll love this song. It’s by Tom Smith and it’s called “Talk Like a Pirate Day.” (Go figure!) It’s a well-written song all about celebrating this greatest of holidays and is full of piratey humor. You can download it from Amazon for 99 cents and you really NEED this song!! Here’s a link: Amazon.com