Monthly Archives: December 2007

Battin' 1000!

Miss Music Nerd surged past 1000 hits this week! And that’s after less than a month! (I imported some older posts from my other blog, Our Detroit Odyssey, but I started this blog on Dec. 2nd.) Here’s some music to … Continue reading

Posted in 30 Days, composition, milestones, music, news | 1 Comment

Holiday Music, Hot off the Presses!

Sigh… Procrastination is so inspiring sometimes… I was sitting at the piano last night, feeling bored and uninspired, looking for a way to do anything but what I was supposed to be doing. I started noodling around and came up … Continue reading

Posted in holidays | 1 Comment

Our Musical Christmas Tree!

We’ve received some lovely ornaments as gifts this year, and some of them are music-themed, which prompted me to take inventory of our musical decorations. The Tree at McVirgo Manor Click Mr. Readmore for the specifics!

Posted in holidays | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Music Vocab: Catching Some Bass

Students who are new to music appreciation have a number of vocabulary challenges to deal with. Music terminology, like language in general, has developed over hundreds of years with input from vast numbers of temperamental artsy types speaking several different … Continue reading

Posted in classical, hip hop, jazz, music, rap, rock, vocab | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

What makes music funny?

WARNING: Tricks are for kids, but these videos are for grown-ups who aren’t easily offended. If you don’t like to work blue, you might want to hold out for my next, clean post! File this under Things I Wish I’d … Continue reading

Posted in classical, composition, humor | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Barry. Freakin'. Manilow!!!

I’ve been to see Barry Manilow, Live, in Concert, and I have the glow-stick to prove it! One of the perks of working for a large organization is that once in awhile, you get something for free. McDoc occasionally gets … Continue reading

Posted in concerts, pop | Tagged | 11 Comments

Snow Music!

Last night, McDoc asked me for examples of music that make reference to snow — a very timely topic for two Californians experiencing their first Michigan winter! The first thing I thought of was “The Snow is Dancing,” (audio sample) … Continue reading

Posted in classical, holidays, music, rock | Leave a comment

Karlheinz Stockhausen: Supah Genius! (RIP)

In the previous post, I wrote about the passing of my first composition professor Andrew Imbrie on December 5th. It turns out two other important figures in classical music died on that same day: American musicologist H. Wiley Hitchcock and … Continue reading

Posted in 20th century, classical, composition, contemporary classical, contemporary classical music, contemporary music, milestones, music, news | Tagged | 2 Comments

Sad News

I’m terribly sad to report that I just found out about the passing of my first composition professor, Andrew Imbrie. I studied with him as an undergraduate at U.C. Berkeley, and he was the subject of my master’s thesis at … Continue reading

Posted in 20th century, classical, composition, contemporary classical, contemporary classical music, contemporary music, milestones, music, news | 1 Comment

The Alphabet Makes Odd (Musical) Bedfellows!

McDoc and I recently installed a couple CD towers in our living room… it was way past time to get the CD’s out of the cardboard boxes! (VirgoDad was kind enough to anchor them to the wall for us while … Continue reading

Posted in 20th century, classical, jazz, rock | 2 Comments