The typewriter made a great percussion instrument. In the hands of a skillful typist, it churned out a steady rhythm with each episode punctuated by a satisfying bell. Have you forgotten the sound and the physical satisfaction of mastering the device? No electronic gadget, handy … Read more
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We’ve just left a season of Advent Hymns, with nearly a week of Christmas hymns to enjoy. But what about New Year’s Hymns? We can start with a collection of New Year’s Hymns (1749) by Charles Wesley. They are filled with energy and reflect a … Read more
I’m waiting out a storm. We’ve moved everything that could get damaged by hail into the barn. Since it’s Holy Week, the menacing clouds and thunder seem right in tune. In my lap is a 1956 edition of The Baptist Hymnal. I now have 35 of … Read more
Earl Scruggs has left this world. Called by some the “Prometheus of the Banjo,” he was a musical hero to many of us. He’s credited with popularizing a style of picking (3-finger) that “super-charged” the banjo style. Tunes that our pepper our musical landscape today … Read more
Thomas Hampson. His name keeps coming up, or, better said, I keep bringing it up. Sometimes it’s at a workshop called “The Roots of American Music” that I like to give at conferences. Or maybe I’m simply talking with students who, finishing Unit 16 of … Read more