Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Title: Lecture #1/Clip ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC

Introduction

The Lecture #1/Clip ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC is a preview of the lecture series. The run time for this lecture is 00:13.51 to give insight into the general format for all the lectures and to assist you in envisioning the entire lecture series.

[Note - Disclosure Statement: All of Rob Mathes' lectures on this website were transcribed. Complementary annotations have been added to the lectures, provided by professors, to serve as educational learning points in the form of a glossary of terms or wordlists. These wordlists are annotated after each lecture section where the words are mentioned by Rob Mathes. Various dictionaries and online searches were used as sources and references to assist in drafting the annotations. The wikipedia.org free online encyclopedia and dictionaries provided a starting point for searching the terms that have been annotated. The annotations with the names and terms listed in the lectures along with discussion questions offer you an educational learning opportunity to begin a search for further discovery, investigation, and to enhance the learning process. The lectures were recorded in front of a live audience with the minimum use of noticeable moving technology to keep the audience from distraction and to preserve the natural format of the lectures. Therefore, you may notice minor variations in the environmental lighting and slight changes in the lecture audio because of the natural movement and the voice inflections of Rob Mathes. A boom microphone was not used, avoiding interference with the audience, nor was a dubbing or overdubbing process. The live sound allows you to "participate and experience" the Rob Mathes lectures in real time as if you were seated in the room. In summary, the annotations supply explanations, comments, and points of clarification along with thought provoking questions for discussion and interesting writing activities. ]

Lecture #1/Clip ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC

The Lecture #1/Clip ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC provides music, graphics, singing, and lecturing to allow you to hear Rob Mathes speak and to give you a preview of the lecture series. The lecture series prompts discovery through music with the power of music that is integrated, among disciplines, into the learning process. Therefore, becoming mindful that music is a necessary part of our learning lives.

Conclusion

The Rob Mathes: Beyond the Music website and lectures along with discovery through music provide solutions to problems. You identify the problem that you are trying to resolve, and discovery through music and Rob Mathes: Beyond the Music with lectures brings you a catalyst for creativity, innovation, and ideas that serve to auspiciously encourage you to take action and to bring your ideas to life.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Graphic is on screen.

This particular question and example for the comments and queries section for the transcriptions is the same example provided in this Lecture #1/Clip that is repeated in Lecture #2 Part I, Part II, and Part III: Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks): (Blue) ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC graphics appear often in the lectures and on the ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC website www.robmathesbeyondthemusic.com.

Discussion Questions:

Describe the graphic and the design of the ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC graphic, and why you feel the graphic applies the color blue, the audio/sound, and music in the ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC graphic on the website and design.

Writing assignments:

What do you feel the audio/sound, colors, music, and graphic branding are trying to communicate?

Listen to Rob Mathes' music in the SPECIAL FEATURES in the Performance (7:00 P.M.)/Recital Hall Chapter 7 and Performance (9:00 P.M.)/Recital Hall Chapter 8 and watch the ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC Trailer in Chapter 12.

What do you feel the trailer is communicating to you with the Logo (eighth note with animation) for BEYOND THE MUSIC MEDIA at the beginning and end of the trailer?

What do you feel is being communicated to the viewer/customer? (More music is available at www.robmathes.com).

Additional comments:

The discussion questions regarding communication and the graphic (abstract thought) engages all disciplines and opinions while also integrating audio/sound and music with video as a means of design and as a universal language.

Additionally, you may want to practice writing a one page artist statement for ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC or for a project of personal interest and benefit. You can search the Internet on how to write a one page artist statement. It is often expressed that the reason why people write ten pages is because they did not have time to write one. This is not the situation in all cases. In presenting a topic, subject, report, or other work, you may want to present more than one page to make your case. However, certain letters and query letters are conventionally expected to be one page. People are often too busy and do not have the time to read ten pages or listen to your ten songs. Give the person your best one page query letter or your best one song. You may want to investigate on the Internet, how to write a one page successful query letter and then practice by writing a one page query letter for www.robmathesbeyondthemusic.com or for a project of personal interest and benefit.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

[ The black on the screen dissolves to Rob Mathes playing the guitar, singing, and illustrating the 12 bar blues form in front of a live on-campus audience who are attending the lecture. He is playing the guitar and singing to open the lecture by illustrating the 12 bar blues form. ]

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Lecture #1/Clip along with Lecture # 2: Part I, Part II, and Part III provide complete lectures, transcripts, and annotations on the TRANSCRIPTIONS page. Lecture #1/Clip is also available without transcriptions and annotations on the SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 5 . Lecture #2 is also available without transcriptions and annotations on the SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 9 . [Brackets used in the transcriptions and annotations indicate additional comments or a possible alternative lyric.]

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Discussion of the Blues Form: excerpt of the song that Rob Mathes is selecting to illustrate the 12 bar blues form is the song: Cross Roads Blues [Crossroads] by Robert Johnson, an excerpt from the lyrics to the song is listed below.

I went to the crossroad, fell down on my knees

I went to the crossroad, fell down on my knees

Asked the Lord above "Have mercy, now save poor Bob, if you please"

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Robert Johnson: (1911 to 1938) was an American - Delta blues singer and musician. He was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi and spent time near Tunica and Robinsonville, Mississippi in the Delta blues region of Mississippi. The Delta blues area in Mississippi is often referred to as "Route 61" or the "Blues Highway" because "Route 61" goes from Memphis, Tennessee into the Delta region of Mississippi and is the area that "rooted" traditional blues musicians such as: Willie Brown, Elmore James, John Lee Hooker, Son House, Lead Belly, Charley Patton, Pinetop Perkins, Howlin Wolf, and others. Other blues singers and musicians also became notable from outside the Delta region such as Blind Willie Johnson, Reverend Gary Davis, Blind Willie McTell, W.C. Handy, and others.

12 bar blues - basic definition: The 12-bar blues (blues changes, form, or structure) are one of the most popular chord progressions in popular music, including the blues. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrasing, chord structure, and duration.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Rob Mathes' "Evening Train" lyrics are printed below for discussion. Rob Mathes' song, "Evening Train" uses the blues form.

[The song and lyrics: "Evening Train" by Rob Mathes from his album, Evening Train, if still available, can be accessed at www.robmathes.com.]

[Below are the lyrics for the song "Evening Train" by Rob Mathes.]

Gonna take the 7:10 to Boston

get to South Station 'bout 11:45

Gonna take the 7:10 to Boston

get to South Station 'bout 11:45

Evening Train take this tired, tired man

and bring him back alive

see my Grandpa drove the steam train

'til the diesel came around

Then my Grandpa drove the diesel train

Providence to Boston , back on down

Evening Train, stop in Providence

I gotta get out and kiss the ground, that sacred ground

CHORUS

Gonna ride the evening train

Gonna ride it all night long

Gonna hear the whistle blow

Then I know I'm gone

No turning back

Evening train rushing down the track

Now my Grandma rides for free, now that Grandpa's gone

Grandma rides for free, now that Grandpa's gone

She likes to ride the Evening Train

She likes to ride it all night long

She says sometimes she feels him

when the wheels start to crank and groan

She says sometimes she feels him

when the wheels start to crank and groan

he use to love to blow the whistle

he loved to hear the engine moan

CHORUS

Now my Grandpa thought that music

was straight from heaven above

my Grandpa thought that music

was straight from God in his heaven above

but the sound of a train in the middle of the night

Now well...... that's true love.

CHORUS

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Discussion Questions:

What would you suggest that Rob Mathes would like us to understand about the writing process?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Discussion Questions:

What do you consider to be most important information in the story that Rob Mathes is telling?

Berklee College of Music: is located in Boston, Massachusetts, and is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world.

Second Clarinetist: the first clarinetist usually will have larger numbers, plays, and frequency in performing solos. The second clarinetist complements and enhances the harmony and at times intensifies the music piece, especially when the music calls on the first and second clarinetist to play in concert.

Greenwich Symphony Orchestra (GSO): is located in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Interdisciplinary:

Writing assignments:

Write one page to yourself comparing Rob Mathes' story about his journey as a musician with that of the novella/novel, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (French aviator and author) that was published in 1943. Access to information regarding The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry can be researched by using a search engine on the Internet.

These quotes are from the novel [novella], The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: "Goodbye, said the Fox. "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." "What is essential is invisible to the eye," "the Little Prince repeated, so he would be sure to remember."

"It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important."

"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose…"

A few of the characters that are in the book, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint -Exupéry are listed below :

Businessman [ Businessperson or Businesswoman ]: from the context of the book, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the businessperson is accounting for things that are owned.

Lamplighter: charged with the task of lighting the lamp at night and extinguishing it in the morning.

Geographer: spends all of his time making maps, but never leaves his desk to examine anywhere (even his own planet), considering that it is the job of an explorer.

Fox: gives lessons to the Little Prince.

Railway Switchman: is responsible for trains and people.

Rose: The Little Prince is caught in a dilemma in trying to determine if his rose on his planet among a garden of roses is unique and whether he is responsible for the things that he tames.

Writing assignments:

Write one page to yourself, comparing and contrasting the words of Rob Mathes in this lecture regarding his feelings for music with the words of advice from the Fox to the Little Prince. The Fox is suggesting that what is essential is invisible to the eye.

Also, write one page to yourself, comparing and contrasting the words of Rob Mathes in this lecture regarding his feelings for music with what you feel makes the Little Prince's rose unique among all the other roses in the garden. The Fox suggests to the Little Prince that he is responsible for what he has tamed.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Lady Gaga: American pop singer, songwriter, and performer.

Madonna: American pop recording artist, singer, performer, actress, and entrepreneur.

Rob Mathes states: "I just loved music." What do you feel the words, "I just loved music," by Rob Mathes, is expressing or suggesting to you?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Chuck Mangione: American flugelhorn player and composer who achieved international success with his jazz-pop single, "Feels So Good." The song is considered by many smooth jazz radio stations to be the number one smooth jazz song of all time.

Discussion Questions:

What are some of the relationships of business to the arts including music, audio recording, mixing, audio engineering, and music technology?

If business can profit from producing and/or distributing a product or service of value to satisfy a customer need, what is being produced or communicated of value when we speak of the arts and music as well as related supporting industries such as audio engineering, audio recording, and music technology?

Businesses often develop plans and marketing plans as a business model and as an important function of their business. The business tries to follow these plans when marketing and selling a product or service for profit, what could be some of the advantages and disadvantages of the planning process?

What could be some of the advantages and disadvantages of strict planning or models when not managed, balanced, or structured correctly with flexibility, adjustments for improvements, suggestions, innovations, creativity, and ideas?

Additional comments:

Red Rocks: an amphitheater that is surrounded by a rock structure in Red Rocks Park west of Denver, Colorado, where concerts are given out-of-doors with the stage nestled in a natural rock acoustical setting of beautiful red rock.

Montreux: known as Montreux or the Montreux Jazz Festival (MJF) in Switzerland that has evolved into a world music festival.

Gustav Mahler: composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation.

Discussion Questions:

If music is considered valueless because of the low transfer costs of sharing and transferring digital music over the Internet or through other technology for free, how does an artist create her or his art and get paid so she or he can continue to create and be able to continually sustain the creative process and the art form?

In the song, "She's with Me" by Rob Mathes, listen to this song on the SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 8 Performance # 2(9:00 P.M)/Recital Hall. Rob Mathes mentions in the song the classical composer, Mahler. From the lectures, we learn that Gustav Mahler is one of Rob Mathes' favorite composers. Rob Mathes uses Mahler's name in the song, "She's with Me" relating the words in the song to the love Rob Mathes has for his wife.

The above statement is referring to the lyric in the song "She's with Me" that is sung by Rob Mathes:Just like Mahler's Adagietto... though the music is now familiar... I love it even more... SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 8 Performance # 2(9:00 P.M)/Recital Hall.

Additional comments:

Mahler had not yet found the love of his life. This missing element in his life fell into place when Mahler met Alma Schindler.

By the time Mahler was back at his summer villa in summer 1902, Mahler and Alma were married, and she was expecting their first child. Mahler's "Adagietto" is considered by many to be one of the most romantic classical songs ever written. If you want to dig deeper, give Mahler's Adagietto a listen by searching the Internet. Also, search: Mahler's Adagietto Leonard Bernstein.

Additional Comments:

"Rock N Roll" by Zeppelin: was the opening song or main song for a number of years at Led Zeppelin concerts.

Led Zeppelin: English rock band.

The Beatles: English rock band.

The Police: English rock band.

XTC: band from England.

Leonard Bernstein: American conductor composer, author, music lecturer, and pianist.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Discussion Questions:

Is a large amount of music becoming valueless for most artists because the market can transfer digital music for free?

What are some of the concerns that artists may have about music being transferred for free and the idea concerning intellectual property? (For further discovery and investigation, search these words on the Internet: intellectual property, intellectual capital, and human capital.)

If this is the case and music is in fact becoming valueless, what are a number of solutions to allow artists and recording industry professionals to make money from creating music as a "day job" and career?

Can artists make a living creating music as their "day job?"

If artists want to make a living by creating music or art as part of their "day job," what are some of the possibilities and solutions or recommendations that you can make to an artist to help the artist fulfill her or his objective and goals?

Additional comments:

Peter Gabriel : English singer, musician, and songwriter.

Kathy Mattea: American country music performer.

Vanessa Williams: is an American recording artist, songwriter, and actress. She received considerable media attention for her comic and villainess role as former model and magazine creative director turned Editor-in-chief, Wilhelmina Slater, in the ABC comedy series, Ugly Betty. Vanessa Williams joined the cast of Desperate Housewives in its seventh season.

Phil Ramone: sound engineer and music producer.

Billy Joel "The Stanger:" fifth studio album by musician Billy Joel and produced by Phil Ramone. Billy Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer/songwriter, and classical composer.

"Frank Sinatra Duets:" an album by American singer Frank Sinatra. Frank Sinatra was an American singer and actor.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Discussion Questions:

If the market values art and music as free and therefore valueless, how are we, then, going to be able to create and receive art and music?

Is it necessary to subsidize art creation, music creation, and an audio related music and art technology industry?

If the market system no longer has a major role or profit motive in producing, creating, or making art and music, how and what type of art and music do you feel will be created, or we will receive?

Additional comments:

Luciano Pavarotti: was an Italian operatic tenor, who also crossed over into popular music.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Discussion Questions:

When Rob Mathes states three times and emphasizes in the statement, "do your homework," what do you feel he is specifically suggesting to you?

Additional comments:

Nashville: is a city in the state of Tennessee in the United States of America and is often referred to as "Music City" as one of the music centers for the music industry.

Los Angeles: is a city in the state of California in the United States of America and is one of the music centers for the music industry.

New York: is a city in the state of New York in the United States of America and is a diverse and important music center in the world of music and in the arts.

Group writing assignments:

Six Degrees of Separation: (also referred to as the "Human Web") refers to the idea that everyone is on average approximately six steps away from any other person on Earth, so that a chain of, "a friend of a friend" statements can be made, on average, to connect any two people in six steps or fewer. For example, the information about "Six Degrees of Separation" was gathered through an Internet Search and Wikipedia by copying and pasting the words "Six Degrees of Separation" into a search engine and receiving the search results. Reading, discovering, and investigating the term further by using various links and websites provided the motivation to "dig deeper."

How can you benefit from utilizing the theory of "six degrees of separation" to help you meet your goals and objectives?

What responsibilities do you feel you have in developing relationships connected with personal, professional, and functional competencies in technology, communication, arts, business, writing, producing, editing, and music technology, or any industry or organization you are associated where competency, experience, creativity, and innovation are important?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

May 21st, 2009 Interview with Daniel Levitin Part One THIRTEEN for WNET.ORG The Music Instinct: Science and Song is a co-production of THIRTEEN for WNET.ORG

[Excerpt from the interview.]

Daniel Levitin, PhD: an American cognitive psychologist, neuroscientist, record producer, musician, and writer. He is a James McGill Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with additional appointments in Music Theory, Computer Science, and Education.

The average person has an extraordinary memory for the components of music, even when there's no theoretical reason why they should. So, take the song "Happy Birthday." Every time you sing it, you sing it in a different key. It's still the same song. Whoever it is that's in the room that starts, they just start any way they feel like; they may not even think ahead. And then you all join in, and some of you are synchronized in the right pitch, and some of you aren't, and it doesn't really matter. It's still the same song. For reasons that we don't fully understand when people sing together, oxytocin is released. People trust more, people that they've sung and played music with. So there's all this neurochemical change that occurs, in response to playing and listening to music. And we're just at the beginnings of trying to sort it all out.

Dr. Oliver Sacks: Neurologist - Columbia University from an interview: Interview with Dr. Oliver Sacks Monday, October 29th 2007, 12:12 PM in the New York Daily News.

[Excerpt from the interview.]

Human beings - and only human beings, for that matter - respond to a rhythmic beat with synchronized movement. There's no one music center in the brain. There are many different parts that respond to different aspects of music: to pitch, to rhythm, to timbre, to melodic contour, to emotional content. This is why music can affect people in so many ways and also why the recognition of music and the pleasure of music tend to be so robust and survive all sorts of brain injuries and diseases.

Fifty percent of those born blind have absolute pitch, which is rare - 1 in 10,000 - in the general population. All of the senses, and particularly hearing, are greatly heightened in blind people, as vision is heightened in deaf people.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

[Rob Mathes starts to sing the song, "Everywhere" playing the guitar and guiding the group in the room to sing with him.]

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Alternative lyrics: a change of the lyrics in the song "Everywhere" is placed in italics such as [They are everywhere] versus It is everywhere.

Group Discussion Questions and Group writing assignments:

Explain and provide an example if you feel there is a difference in meaning or feeling with the change in lyrics, and if you feel the lyrics phrased differently give you a different interpretation or feeling in the song "Everywhere," for example, [They are everywhere] versus It is everywhere.

Compare and contrast the song with the below video link:

Video: Search the Internet for Rob Mathes "Everywhere" and if you find that the Rob Mathes "Everywhere" video is still available on the Internet compare and contrast your feelings and thoughts following the transcribed lyrics and singing in a group with watching the "Everywhere" video online. You can read about the "Everywhere" CD in the liner notes (album liner notes), if still available, at the albums link at www.robmathes.com.

Explain why you feel that singing in the group generated emotion in some group members and with the artist. Rob Mathes states, "I had a tough; I had to hold it together for a second you got me all emotional."

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

The question that is being asked is about the emotions felt while singing the song "Everywhere" with the live group and as an artist how to make sure that when singing a song that an artist is able to "keep it together" and not to be overcome emotionally.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

The answer is given below to the question about emotion as Rob Mathes expresses how a singer may need or want to control her or his emotions as a responsibility that the artist needs to have or feel to the audience.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Rob Mathes states that he feels he owes it to the audience to keep singing and not to be tearing up; though sweet, he has consideration for the audience not to lose the impact of the song.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

END of Lecture #1/Clip

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Title: Lecture #2 Part I Finding Your Voice and Following Your Passion

Introduction

The first two topics for discussion by Rob Mathes in Lecture #2 Part I are “Finding Your Voice” combined with the topic of “Following Your Passion.”

[Note - Disclosure Statement: All of Rob Mathes’ lectures on this website were transcribed. Complementary annotations have been added to the lectures, provided by professors, to serve as educational learning points in the form of a glossary of terms or wordlists. These wordlists are annotated after each lecture section where the words are mentioned by Rob Mathes. Various dictionaries and online searches were used as sources and references to assist in drafting the annotations. The wikipedia.org free online encyclopedia and dictionaries provided a starting point for searching the terms that have been annotated. The annotations with the names and terms listed in the lectures along with discussion questions offer you an educational learning opportunity to begin a search for further discovery, investigation, and to enhance the learning process. The lectures were recorded in front of a live audience with the minimum use of noticeable moving technology to keep the audience from distraction and to preserve the natural format of the lectures. Therefore, you may notice minor variations in the environmental lighting and slight changes in the lecture audio because of the natural movement and the voice inflections of Rob Mathes. A boom microphone was not used, avoiding interference with the audience, nor was a dubbing or overdubbing process. The live sound allows you to “participate and experience” the Rob Mathes lectures in real time as if you were seated in the room. In summary, the annotations supply explanations, comments, and points of clarification along with thought provoking questions for discussion and interesting writing activities. ]

Finding Your Voice and Following Your Passion

All of the lectures and sections within the lectures by Rob Mathes are capable of being viewed independent of each other. However, in Lecture #2 Part I, the first two lecture topics, by Rob Mathes, “Finding Your Voice” and “Following Your Passion,” establish the essence for the creative process and creative writing topics discussed by Rob Mathes in Lecture #2 Part II. The Questions and Answers sessions from the live audience are covered in Lecture #2 Part III.

Conclusion

Rob Mathes provides you with six words (A through F) in Lecture #2 Part I to help you in your journey of finding your voice and following your passion.

1. 1-A. First word, Discovery: finding and the process of learning something
2. 2-B. Obsession: passion and fascination
3. 3-C. Investigation: study and exploration
4. 4-D. Dreaming: visualization of an idea
5. 5-E. Emulating: trying to equal or surpass somebody who you admire
6. 6-F. And then F, Crucial Transformation: the essential process of altering and shifting to the innovation stage in the process of finding your own voice

The specific discussions concerning the six words (A through F) are at reference numbers below from number 7 through number 17. The corresponding running times for the reference numbers 7 through number 17 in the video to Lecture #2 Part I are from 00:02:55 to 00:28:14.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Graphic is on screen

This particular question and example for the comments and queries section for the transcriptions is the same example provided in Lecture #1/Clip and is repeated in Lecture #2 Part I, Part II, and Part III: Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks): (Blue) ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC graphics appear often in the lectures and on the ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC website www.robmathesbeyondthemusic.com.

Discussion Questions:

Describe the graphic and the design of the ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC graphic, and why you feel the graphic applies the color blue, the audio/sound, and music in the ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC graphic on the website and design.

Writing assignments:

What do you feel the audio/sound, colors, music, and graphic branding are trying to communicate?

Listen to Rob Mathes’ music in the SPECIAL FEATURES in the Performance (7:00 P.M.)/Recital Hall Chapter 7 and Performance (9:00 P.M.)/Recital Hall Chapter 8 and watch the ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC Trailer in Chapter 12.

What do you feel the trailer is communicating to you with the Logo (eighth note with animation) for BEYOND THE MUSIC MEDIA at the beginning and end of the trailer?

What do you feel is being communicated to the viewer/customer? (More music is available at www.robmathes.com).

Additional comments:

The discussion questions regarding communication and the graphic (abstract thought) engages all disciplines and opinions while also integrating audio/sound and music with video as a means of design and as a universal language.

Additionally, you may want to practice writing a one page artist statement for ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC or for a project of personal interest and benefit. You can search the Internet on how to write a one page artist statement. It is often expressed that the reason why people write ten pages is because they did not have time to write one. This is not the situation in all cases. In presenting a topic, subject, report, or other work, you may want to present more than one page to make your case. However, certain letters and query letters are conventionally expected to be one page. People are often too busy and do not have the time to read ten pages or listen to your ten songs. Give the person your best one page query letter or your best one song. You may want to investigate on the Internet, how to write a one page successful query letter and then practice by writing a one page query letter for www.robmathesbeyondthemusic.com or for a project of personal interest and benefit.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

[Black was on the screen and dissolves to Rob Mathes speaking.]

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Lecture #1/Clip along with Lecture # 2: Part I, Part II, and Part III provide complete lectures, transcripts, and annotations on the TRANSCRIPTIONS page. Lecture #1/Clip is also available without transcriptions and annotations on the SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 5 . Lecture #2 is also available without transcriptions and annotations on the SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 9. [Brackets used in the transcriptions and annotations indicate additional comments or a possible alternative lyric.]

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Rob Mathes refers to the names; Stemmer and Melinda are two professors who helped make arrangements for the Rob Mathes two day visit and performances on two campuses. Miles Fulwider and other teachers along with professionals in the recording, sound, and film industry, photography, digital media, and website development also took an active role in the project as producers, audio engineers, directors, and developers including Daniel Atanasovski and his Axis Group in Macedonia.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

It is often expressed that accounting is the language of business and mathematics is the language of science and that music is the international language depending how language is defined. Communication in understandable musical notation such as Treble and Bass Clef for example may serve as a topic for discussion of music as a language.

There is much discussion and debate on what constitutes a language. Why do you feel a person would spend her or his entire life studying a composer’s work and becoming for example a Bach scholar?

Additional comments

Bach Scholar: a person who studies Johann Sebastian Bach a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist best known during his lifetime as an organist, organ consultant, and composer of organ works.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Music Copyist: produces meticulous reproductions from a composer or arranger's original work. There are many copyists in the business, but at the uppermost echelon, it is a very concentrated profession. There is low patience for mistakes and defects are not permitted. Deadlines cannot be missed and there is forever competition. The handwritten and computer-based (use of software) music copying requires a foremost comprehension of musical notation, musical distinctive forms, music theory, and the understanding of normal treatments of numerous musical forms with an obsessive attention to detail and a comprehensive knowledge of present and historical practices. Since meeting deadlines and the need for perfection is an absolute necessity with the utmost quality, it is not unusual for a composer or arranger to have a wearisome association with her or his music copyist.

Additional comments:

Stravinsky: Igor Stravinsky was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He is widely acknowledged as one of the most important and influential composers of 20th century music.

The Beatles: was an English rock band.

Nelson Riddle: was an American arranger, composer, and orchestra bandleader.

Frank Sinatra: was an American singer and actor.

George Martin: an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as the “Fifth Beatle” as producer of all but one of The Beatles original records.

From the above definition of a music copyist, we understand that it can be a high pressure position, what are some of the reasons that one may want to become a music copyist?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Rob Mathes is speaking at UVU (Utah Valley University) for Lecture #2 Part I, Part II, and Part III. He is referring to BYU (Brigham Young University) in this lecture as one of the other campuses he visited, lectured, performed, and spoke with students (Lecture #1/Clip is an excerpt from Rob Mathes’ BYU lectures).

Discussion Questions:

As a result of Rob Mathes showing his enthusiasm about discovering a song, what would you suggest that Rob Mathes would like us to understand about his discovering a song as a youngster?

What is Rob Mathes foreshadowing as an artist when he speaks of the enjoyment for music when he was kid?

Additional comments:

The Turtles: a United States rock group that is known for its 1967 hit song, "Happy Together.”

Happy Together: is a 1967 song from the rock group, The Turtles, which has been used in numerous commercials, television, and in many movies.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Happiness: direct measures of happiness present challenges and Rob Mathes states happiness is such a tricky word but on his journey, creativity and passion are probably essential elements for him to be happy.

Discussion Questions:

What do you consider to be important to happiness? There are many books written about the subject of happiness. There is scientific research measuring a person’s welfare and the measurement of a level of happiness based on facts that often include a certain level of financial and health well-being.

Rob Mathes: Beyond the Music was created with a level of passion.

The market and business activities are usually concerned with serving a customer need with value by creating a customer that generates cash flow and a return on investment.

Does Rob Mathes: Beyond the Music meet the above concerns in the market for a business by serving a customer need with value by creating a customer that generates cash flow and a return on investment?

There are several innovative activities listed below that may trigger creativity and/or passion in the discovery, investigation, or learning process.

Please give three or more of the suggestions below a try.

What did you learn today?

1. Attend two cultural events or lectures and write a one page response to what you attended and explain what you learned.
2. Attend a music event that you would normally not attend and write a one page response to what you attended and explain what you learned.
3. Make a list of sixty (60) items that you would like to have happen to you in your life time.
4. See or read the play King Lear and write one page about the experience. An Internet search will allow you find information on the play King Lear.
5. Your choice.
6. Your choice.

King Lear: is a tragedy by William Shakespeare and is considered one of his greatest works. An Internet search will help you discover more about King Lear.

Cordelia: is a character in the play, King Lear by William Shakespeare. She is Lear’s youngest of three daughters. Cordelia no longer connects with her father. Her father disinherits her because Cordelia is unwilling to excessively compliment her father.

Interdisciplinary:

Writing assignments:

Compare and contrast the words of Rob Mathes mentioning that going to see King Lear will change your life with his thoughts that when Cordelia forgives her father at the end of the play, “It’s one of the most moving things that you can see in the theater.” In addition, relate your analysis to your own interests.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Discovery: finding and the process of learning something

Obsession: passion and fascination

Investigation: study and exploration

Dreaming: visualization of an idea

Emulating: trying to equal or surpass somebody who you admire

Crucial Transformation: the essential process of altering and shifting to the innovation stage in the process of finding your own voice

Writing assignments:

Write one page on how you feel the six words (A through F) mentioned by Rob Mathes in this lecture relate to your journey in your career and trying to find your own voice and passion. [ You may want to view reference numbers from number 7 through number 17 and the corresponding running times in the video for this Lecture #2 Part I from 00:02:55 to 00:28:14 to assist you in the writing of the one page. ]

Stemmer: referring to a teacher at UVU (Utah Valley University) involved in generating interdisciplinary music activities with other teachers and industry professionals from many different disciplines.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

The Turtles: a United States rock group that is known for its 1967 hit song, "Happy Together.”

The Beatles: was an English rock band.

I’ll Be Back: is a song by The Beatles.

Gustav Mahler: composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation.

Mahler’s 9^th Symphony: by Gustav Mahler written between the years 1908 and 1909, was the final symphony that Mahler completed.

Happy Together: is a 1967 song from the rock group, The Turtles, which has been used in numerous commercials, television, and in many movies.

Discussion Questions:

When hearing Rob Mathes play the piano, explain and relate hearing the piano playing with that of the sadness within the major... “That yearning had got me my whole life. It’s still why I'm doing music, that, that expression of, of beauty and sadness and happiness and searching.”

Relate the searching that Rob Mathes is speaking about in the lecture to your career and discipline such as recording, mixing, and music or any career that you are pursuing such as business, accounting, digital media, music technology, and communications to Rob Mathes’ words, “That yearning had got me my whole life. It’s still why I'm doing music, that, that expression of, of beauty and sadness and happiness and searching.”

Additional comments:

Listen to the song "She's with Me" by Rob Mathes on the SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 8 Performance # 2(9:00 P.M)/Recital Hall. Rob Mathes mentions in the song the classical composer, Mahler. From the lectures, we learn that Gustav Mahler is one of Rob Mathes' favorite composers. Rob Mathes uses Mahler’s name in the song relating the words in the song to the love that Rob Mathes has for his wife.

Listen to the lyrics in the song "She's with Me" by Rob Mathes:Just like Mahler's Adagietto... though the music is now familiar... I love it even more... SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 8 Performance # 2(9:00 P.M)/Recital Hall.

Mahler had not yet found the love of his life. This missing element in his life fell into place when Mahler met Alma Schindler.

By the time Mahler was back at his summer villa in summer 1902, Mahler and Alma were married, and she was expecting their first child. Mahler's “Adagietto” is considered by many to be one of the most romantic classical pieces ever written. If you want to dig deeper, give Mahler's Adagietto a listen by searching the Internet. Also, search Mahler's Adagietto Leonard Bernstein. You may also want to search on the Internet, these two words, Adagietto definition.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Rock Around the Clock: is a song structured in the 12 bar blues form. A version of the song became popular in the 50’s under the group called Bill Haley and His Comets and stated by many as one of the songs that helped bring rock and roll into the mainstream. The song was written by Max C. Freeman and James E. Myers [ James De Knight].

Elvis: is Elvis Aaron Presley who was one of the most popular singers of the 20th century. He is often referred to as “The King” because of the reference to Elvis as the “King of Rock and Roll.”

Hound Dog: is a song structured in the 12 bar blues form and was written by John Leiber and Mike Stoller. Originally, the song was recorded by Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thorton and recorded many more times by many other artists. The remake of the song “Hound Dog” by Elvis Presley became the best-known version of the song.

McCartney: is Sir James Paul McCartney an English singer, songwriter, musician, and performer. He is formerly one of the members of the famous English rock band, The Beatles.

Yesterday: is a song that was originally recorded by The Beatles.

Sinatra: is referring to Frank Sinatra who was an American singer and actor.

Discussion Questions:

What do you discover as you “dig deeper” into the above songs and artists?

Explain by researching various sources along with giving your own opinions, thoughts, and ideas on how the process of discovery may lead to obsession?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

F. Scott Fitzgerald: was an American author of novels and short stories.

Shakespeare: refers to William Shakespeare who was an English poet and playwright who is regarded as one of greatest writers of all time.

Discussion Questions:

Rob Mathes speaks of obsession in his lecture, “And then if you, if you're going to start writing, you want to write a short story of your own, whatever, you're, you're just full of love for this thing, discovery of it and then obsession with it. If you don't have the obsession with it, I don't know if you'll go into the arts. The obsession is – it may be – that’s kind of a negative word, obsession, well you don't want to become obsessed. Well, in the creative arts you have to. You have to become completely consumed with your love for that thing.”

What does the above message by Rob Mathes suggest to you, and what does the word obsession used in the above context by Rob Mathes mean to you?

How does obsession relate to your own goals and objectives?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Discussion Questions:

How does the example given by Rob Mathes about his wife being beautiful relate to music and chords? Rob Mathes states, “And when I go to a party, my wife makes me look a lot better than I normally look, because she’s a beautiful woman.”

Additional comments:

Sus: is a suspended chord, and the chord is said to be in transition.

The Doobie Brothers: is an American rock band.

Michael McDonald: is a Grammy Award winning American singer and songwriter.

Motown Catalog: is one of the most significant song lists in music history either written or recorded by major artists such as Diana Ross (The Supremes), Stevie Wonder, The Jackson 5 (Michael Jackson), Marvin Gaye, The Supremes (Diana Ross), and Smokey Robinson.

Takin’ It to the Streets: is the sixth studio album by the American rock band The Doobie Brothers, and the first song to feature Michael McDonald on lead vocals.

Group writing assignments:

G7 Chord, G flat 9, 1 Chord, 4 Chord, and G Chord: by searching the Internet you can “dig deeper” into the history of these chords and research the history of their earliest usage and their progression. If you have a musical background, you may offer additional insight into a discussion and writing assignment with your group, and you may learn more about the language surrounding music or music as a language.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Discussion Questions:

Rob Mathes states “If you're going to become a creative person, those three are absolutely essential.” What are the three words that Rob Mathes is mentioning in his lecture that he feels are absolutely essential to becoming a creative person?

Do you agree or disagree with the Rob Mathes’ assessment of these three words being absolutely essential to your journey as a creative person and why? (See the TRANSCRIPTIONS page Lecture #1/Clip Chapter 5 annotation reference 8 where the Fox says to the Little Prince, what is essential is invisible to the eye…).

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Discussion Questions:

Rob Mathes in his lecture points us to an important question, “Because once you investigate music and if you know you have a good voice or you're a good writer, that’s when you think, well what can… I do with this… what can I do with this talent?” How does this question and your answer relate to your talent and discipline?

Additional comments:

Sting: an English musician, singer and songwriter who prior to his solo career was the principal songwriter, lead singer, and bassist of the rock band, The Police.

Rob Mathes states, “The greatest thing about this thing for me, Beyond the Music, is when they collected my credits. You know, I guess I did a bio because people will ask for a bio, but they collected my credits, and literally, this is absolutely true, I am not lying to you guys, I looked at it and I thought, Oh I’ve done – you know, I've done some nice stuff.”

There is laughter after the above statement by the live audience, please discuss why you think the statements by Rob Mathes caused laughter from the audience?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Reverend Gary Davis: also known as Blind Gary Davis was a blues singer and guitarist.

Robert Johnson: who was an American blues singer and musician who has been labeled as one of the most influential blues singers in the history of the blues.

Blind Willie McTell: who was an influential blues musician, sang and accompanied himself on the guitar.

Blind Willie Johnson: was an American singer and guitarist whose music combined the blues and spirituals. While the lyrics of all of his songs were religious, his music drew from both sacred and blues traditions. Among musicians, he was considered to be one of the greatest slide and bottleneck guitarists.

Eric Clapton: an English guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter.

Kanye West: is an American rapper, singer, and record producer.

John Mayer: is an American musician, singer and songwriter, recording artist, and guitarist.

Group Discussion Question and Group writing assignment:

Explain and compare emulating (trying to equal or surpass somebody who you admire) with plagiarism, fabrication, cheating, and dishonesty as an ethical dilemma. Compare the word emulating with the words “creative imitation” as the term is used in entrepreneurial strategy, business, innovation, and marketing. Refer to reference 19 below in the annotation in this lecture to provide additional information for discussion.

Search the Internet to increase your understanding and to discover and investigate the meaning of the words “creative imitation,” plagiarism, fabrication, cheating, dishonesty, and ethical dilemma. Placing the word definition after each term as you search the Internet may help your search. For example, these terms have added the word definition to the search: emulating definition, ethical dilemma definition, fabrication definition, plagiarism definition, and creative imitation definition. Refer to reference 19 below in the annotation in this lecture to provide additional information for discussion.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Boston Pops: is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts that plays classical and popular music.

Pavarotti: refers to Luciano Pavarotti who was an Italian operatic tenor, and who also crossed over into popular music.

Panic At The Disco: is a Grammy nominated rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2004. The band was comprised of vocalist, guitarist, and pianist Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith. In July 2009, guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker left the band, citing creative differences as the reason for their departure and formed a new band called The Young Veins.

Beethoven: refers to Ludwig van Beethoven who was a German composer and pianist and is considered to be one of the most famous and influential composers of all time. His hearing deteriorated, and he eventually became completely deaf. He continued to compose, conduct and perform even after he was completely deaf.

Bach: refers to Johann Sebastian Bach who was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist best known during his lifetime as an organist, organ consultant, and composer of organ works.

Chopin: refers to Frederic Chopin. [In Polish the name is Fryderyk Franciszek] Chopin was a Polish composer, virtuosos, pianist, and music teacher with both French and Polish heritage and one of the great masters of Romantic music.

Fantasy (Fantaisie) Impromptu: Frederic Chopin’s “Fantasy (Fantaisie) Impromptu” is a solo piano composition and one of his most well-known pieces.

Peter, Paul and Mary: an American folk-singing trio who was one of the most well-known acts in folk music in the 1960s. The trio was composed of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey and Mary Travers.

Bob Dylan: an American singer and songwriter who has been a major figure in music and songwriting.

Motown: was a record label founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. that was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation and was originally from Detroit, Michigan which is often called the Motor City as a result of the location of a number of automobile manufacturers.

Never Can Say Goodbye: was a song written by Clifton Davis that was originally recorded by The Jackson 5 featuring Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson: was an American recording artist, singer, dancer, and songwriter referred to as the “King of Pop.”

Thriller: as of 2010 this album by Michael Jackson is the bestselling album of all time.

Vanessa Williams: is an American recording artist, songwriter, and actress. She received considerable media attention for her comic and villainess role as former model and magazine creative director turned Editor-in-chief, Wilhelmina Slater, in the ABC comedy series, Ugly Betty. Vanessa Williams joined the cast of Desperate Housewives in its seventh season.

Ugly Betty: was an American comedy and drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006.

Mutt: has a characteristic of two or more types of breeds such as in a dog that is also called a mongrel.

Additional comments:

Rob Mathes compares hearing Michael Jackson singing the song “Never Can Say Goodbye” with hearing the song from the rock group, The Turtles, “Happy Together.”

Discussion Questions:

How does one progress from emulating to transformation and “finding your own voice?”

As stated by Rob Mathes crucial transformation from emulating to becoming interested in expressing something other than what has been expressed before, this is finding your own voice.

Innovation and creative imitation in business and marketing are part of the entrepreneurial aspects of making a product and inventing something of value to satisfy a customer’s need. Pricing a product in a certain way or using licensing can also be an innovation for a company as well as marketing and sales creation.

How does innovation and creative imitation in business and marketing relate to emulating and crucial transformation as discussed by Rob Mathes in this lecture?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

What are the six words that are set forth as being important in your career journey and for an artist’s journey? (Discovery, Obsession, Investigation, Dreaming, Emulating, and Transformation)

Additional comments:

Search, investigate, and listen to Marvin Gaye’s song, “What’s Going On” on the Internet.

Berklee College of Music, The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin: were annotated in Lecture #1/Clip and normally are not annotated in the lectures a second time unless for emphasis. Use the Internet to search any names or terms you feel you would like to investigate or to learn more about that are mentioned in the lectures. Terms and names mentioned in the lectures are also annotated in Lecture # 2 Part II and Lecture #2 Part III.

Marvin Gaye: was an American singer and songwriter.

What’s Going On: is the eleventh studio album by musician Marvin Gaye on the Motown subsidiary label Tamia Records. The song has been voted as one of the landmark recordings in pop music history.

Beethoven Sonata Opus 110: by Ludwig van Beethoven composed in 1821. It is the central piano sonata in the group of three opp. 109–111 which he wrote between 1820 and 1822, and the thirty-first of his published piano sonatas.

Star Trek: was an American television series, created by Gene Roodenberry, and followed the interstellar adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Federation Starship, Enterprise.

Bach’s Italian Concerto: is a three-movement concerto for two-manual harpsichord solo composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. The Italian Concerto has become popular among Bach's keyboard works and has been widely recorded both on the harpsichord and the piano.

The Beatles: was an English rock band.

Led Zeppelin: was an English rock band.

Jimi Hendrix: was an American electric guitarist and singer and songwriter and is considered to be one of the greatest electric guitarist in the history of rock music.

Berklee College of Music: is located in Boston, Massachusetts, and is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world.

Pat Metheny: is an American jazz guitarist and composer.

The Dixie Dregs: evolved from an Augusta, Georgia band called Dixie Grit, formed by Steve Morse and Andy West in 1970.

Steve Morse: is an American guitarist, best known as the founder of the Dixie Dregs, and the guitar player in Deep Purple since 1994.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

John Coltrane: was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was prolific, organizing at least fifty recording sessions as a bandleader during his recording career. He appeared as a sideman on many other albums, notably with trumpeter, Miles Davis, who was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer and is widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century and with pianist, Thelonious Monk, who was an American jazz pianist and composer who is considered one of the giants of American music. Coltrane “Trane” influenced innumerable musicians, and remains one of the most significant tenor saxophonists in jazz history. (For further investigation, search names Benny Carter, Johnny Hodges, Keith Jarrett and others that will lead you to other artists such as Miles Davis and Duke Ellington.)

Additional comments:

Sideman (person): is a professional musician who is hired to perform or record with a group. They often tour with acts as well as bands. Sidemen (person) are generally required to be adaptable to many different styles of music. Often aspiring musicians start out as sidemen (person), and then move on to develop their own sound, a name, and fans of their own, or go on to form their own groups.

A Love Supreme: is a jazz studio album recorded by John Coltrane’s quartet and generally considered among Coltrane’s greatest works.

Innervisions: is referring to an album by the artist Stevie Wonder. [ Rob Mathes actually clarified that it was "Impressions" and not Innervisions" which is a great Stevie Wonder record in Rob's collection. Rob Mathes is referring to the album Impressions, a John Coltrane album released in 1963 referencing and mentioning Innervisions which was a Stevie Wonder album released in August of 1973. ] The Impressions album is the John Coltrane album that Rob Mathes serendipitously refers to as Innervisions. [ Note: It is not surprising. John Coltrane had incredible concentration that allowed him to spirituality examine his “inner visions” through music. There are many books and articles that have been written about Coltrane. The articles and books mention his ability to concentrate and communicate through music. The “India” track on the Impressions album features Coltrane on soprano saxophone. The Impressions album (Coltrane: soprano sax and tenor sax), reflects Coltrane's evolving emotional and musical range. ]

Discussion Questions:

In this lecture, Rob Mathes explains how an accidental mistake (serendipity) of receiving the wrong tape, Mahler’s “Sixth Symphony” emotionally moved him.

Rob Mathes states, “I became transfixed. Similar to the thing to what I talked about in the last, the last class, you know, The Beatles and The Turtles and – anyway, I, I stayed.”

“And it was a 25-minute symphonic movement. And I went back and said, what, what did you give me? They said, oh, we're so sorry it was Mahler’s “Sixth Symphony.”

Was there an incidence in your life that implies or suggests that serendipity or an accident occurrence may have been working to move you in making a particular life choice, discovery, or may have directed you to further investigation?

If yes, write one page to yourself explaining the incident or occurrence and the process that seems to work for you in making a decision or in solving a problem.

If no, discuss and explain on one page, written to yourself, what tends to move you to the process to make a particular life choice, discovery, or investigation when making a decision or solving a problem.

Additional comments:

Mahler’s Sixth Symphony: Alma (Schindler) Mahler-Werfel, Gustav Mahler’s wife felt her husband had lured destiny by composing the sixth symphony, but Gustav Mahler himself considered that an artist might sense his own future by the foreshadowing force of true inspiration.

12 Tone Harmony: technique orders the 12 notes of the chromatic scale, forming a row or series and providing a unifying basis for a composition's melody, harmony, structural progressions, and variations. (For more information and to investigate and “dig deeper” in areas of interest, search the Internet).

Discussion Questions:

Interdisciplinary:

Writing assignments:

To investigate and research information, an auditor or editor may verify information and perform the audit or editing functions to a selected work, manuscript, report, or document. The accountant-auditor or editor often finds that certain information needs to be further explained or disclosed (annotated) while being able to exercise judgment within sound ethical conduct and decision making.

Write one page for discussion comparing and contrasting the accounting audit function such as disclosure, correctness, validity, and verifiability with the editing and research function in verifying information for disclosure, correctness, validity, and verifiability while also exercising judgment and ethical conduct in decision making. You may want to refer to the annotation reference in Lecture #2 Part III at reference number 9 for another comparable analysis of auditor and editor.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Yale: refers to Yale University an Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, and the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Also, Yale University is the school that Rob Mathes’ mother and father, aunt, and uncle along with close friends graduated.

Ulysses: is a novel by the author James Joyce and the title alludes to the hero of Homer’s Odyssey and establishes a series of parallels between characters and events in Homer's poem and Joyce's novel. There are a number of stories including the movie by the Coen brothers, O’ Brother Where Art Thou that allude to the story Ulysses and the Odyssey.

James Joyce: was an Irish novelist and poet who is best known for his novel Ulysses.

Discussion Questions:

Emulation is often defined as your ambition and effort to equal, excel, or surpass someone in their work or project and to compete or rival with some degree of learning or through imitation while seeking or working towards transformation and finding your own voice.

Compare emulation or emulating with the dishonesty associated with cheating, plagiarism, and fabrication. Refer to reference 15 in the above annotation in this lecture to provide additional information for discussion.

When and how may emulation crossover into dishonesty? Refer to reference 15 in the above annotation in this lecture to provide additional information for discussion.

How do you make sure as you emulate to learn structure and form that you are mature enough not to be dishonest? Refer to reference 15 in the above annotation to provide additional information for discussion.

How do citations and the listing of references with sources demonstrate the maturity and honesty associated with learning through emulation? Refer to reference 14 in Lecture #2 Part II in the annotation to provide additional information for discussion.

Could there be legal, release, and rights issues (cover songs and parody) associated with emulating a work of another person in order to learn structure and form?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Chuck Mangione: an American flugelhorn player and composer who achieved international success with his jazz-pop single, “Feels So Good." The song is considered by many smooth jazz radio stations to be the number one smooth jazz song of all time.

William Faulkner: is considered an important writer of Southern Literature, along with Mark Twain, Robert Penn Warren, Flannery O’Connor, Truman Capote, Eudora Welty, and Tennessee Williams.

Hemingway: refers to Ernest Hemingway who was an American author and journalist.

Discussion Questions:

Interdisciplinary:

Writing assignments:

Write one page of notes on the enormous amount of literature written about business and explain what is meant by literature and business versus business literature.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Jingles: are short tunes used in advertising and in commercials usually on radio or television or on the Internet.

SUNY Purchase: is a public Four-Year College located in Purchase, New York located across the street from the Pepsi Corporation headquarters and is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. It offers a unique education that combines programs in the liberal arts with conservatory programs in the arts in ways that emphasize inquiry, mastery of skills, and creativity. It is dedicated to creating opportunities for transformative learning and training in a community where disciplines connect, intersect, and enhance one another.

Hunter College: is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY), located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Hunter is nationally recognized for its diverse student body and academic excellence.

Fugue Course: is the general movement of two melodic lines in opposite directions in two or more voices, built on a subject (theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition. A fugue usually has three sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation containing the return of the subject in the fugue's tonic key, though not all fugues have a recapitulation.

Study Polyphony and Counterpoint: Polyphony in music is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony). Counterpoint in music is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent and involves the writing of musical lines that sound very different and move independently from each other but sound harmonious when played simultaneously. (For more details and further explanation, search the Internet).

Discussion Questions:

Relate fugue and counterpoint to writing a letter, essay, short story, cover letter, article or proposal.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Myron Fink: was on the faculty of Hunter College of the City University of New York. He also taught at the Curtis Institute of Music and at the State University of New York College at Purchase. As a pedagogue (teacher who teaches in a dogmatic manner) his areas of interest are composition, analysis, harmony, and counterpoint.

Fugue Subject: The subject of a fugue or fugue subject is the first voice to enter, usually by itself and which provides most of the melodic figures to be heard throughout the fugue. The subject of a fugue or fugue subject is the primary theme of the entire fugue.

Synesthesia: music triggers color and there are many types of synesthesia. Sound often changes the perceived hue, brightness, scintillation, and directional movement that the person sees. The color the individual sees can relate to a key or note but the particular color for the sound, key, or note may not be in agreement among individuals.

B Flat: the sound of the note called B flat.. (For more information, search the Internet).

Discussion Questions:

You are hearing sounds all around you every day. Keep a journal by time for one day and name the sounds with descriptions of how each sound that you hear is beneficial or detrimental to you as well as naming the sounds that you hear that bestow attention or warnings.

What did you learn from keeping a journal of sounds and how do the sounds around us affect us even if we are not always attentive to the actual sound? Additional sound activities are provided at reference 7 annotations (1-28) Lecture #2 Part II.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Chuck Mangione: an American flugelhorn player and composer who achieved international success with his jazz-pop single, “Feels So Good." The song is considered by many smooth jazz radio stations to be the number one smooth jazz song of all time.

Sideman (person): is a professional musician who is hired to perform or record with a group. They often tour with acts as well as bands. Sidemen (person) are generally required to be adaptable to many different styles of music. Often aspiring musicians start out as sidemen (person), and then move on to develop their own sound, a name, and fans of their own, or go on to form their own groups.

Discussion Questions:

As an artist, musician, or in any career, how important is experience and the building of relationships with others? Why?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Lady Gaga: American pop singer, songwriter, and performer.

Madonna: American pop recording artist, singer, performer, actress, and entrepreneur.

Prince: a singer, songwriter, musician, and actor.

Keith Richards: is an English musician best known as guitarist for the band The Rolling Stones.

Start Me Up: is a song by The Rolling Stones featured on the album Tattoo You.

Bruce Springsteen: nicknamed “The Boss.” He is an American singer and songwriter who records and tours.

Polymorph: an organism that can assume more than one adult form and a living thing that has the ability to act or function independently.

Mahler: referring to Gustav Mahler who was a composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation.

Miles Davis: was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer and is widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.

Sinatra: referring to Frank Sinatra who was an American singer and actor.

Discussion Questions:

It appears that there are common threads, factors, or models that increase the probability of achieving goals and objectives in a career.

What are some of the common threads, factors, and models that one can follow to increase the probability of reaching or achieving goals and objectives?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Dickens: was English author who wrote numerous highly acclaimed novels.

Song Cycle: is a group of songs designed to be performed in a sequence.

Peter Gabriel: English singer, musician, and songwriter.

Kathy Mattea: American country music performer.

Cut it: to make a recording of a song for future broadcast or distribution versus placing a “song on hold” that may get recorded but not get “cut” for future broadcast or distribution.

Good News: is the title of the first album of Christmas music released by American country music artist Kathy Mattea. The title song was written by Rob Mathes. Good News won a Grammy.

Vanessa Williams: is an American recording artist, songwriter, and actress. She received considerable media attention for her comic and villainess role as former model and magazine creative director turned Editor-in-chief, Wilhelmina Slater, in the ABC comedy series, Ugly Betty. Vanessa Williams joined the cast of Desperate Housewives in its seventh season.

Star Bright: is the first Christmas album recorded by Vanessa Williams. The title song is written by Rob Mathes along with several other songs on the album. The album achieved critical acclaim and success as one of the best-selling holiday albums of 1996 and 1997, and was nominated for a Grammy.

Phil Ramone: sound engineer and music producer.

Billy Joel: Billy Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer and songwriter, and classical composer.

Frank Sinatra: was an American singer and actor.

Paul Simon: is an American singer and songwriter. His initial success came as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel with musical partner Art Garfunkel. One of their early influences was the Everly Brothers, Don and Phil Everly.

Ball: to be given the “ball” is to suggest that a person is being given an opportunity and responsibility because she or he is assumed to be capable of delivering favorable results and outcomes.

Pavarotti and Friends: were annually hosted charity concerts by Luciano Pavarotti in his home town in Modena, Italy. He joined various artists and of course singers from the music industry to raise money for several UN causes.

Pavarotti: refers to Luciano Pavarotti who was an Italian operatic tenor, who also crossed over into popular music.

Elton John: is an English singer and songwriter, composer, and pianist.

Sheryl Crow: is an American singer and songwriter, guitarist, musician, and actress.

Eric Clapton: an English guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter.

James Brown: was an American singer and songwriter.

Holy Mother: song was written by Stephen Bishop and Eric Clapton.

Tenore: is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register and tenore di grazia is a flexible tenor type of voice.

Discussion Questions:

Songwriters, artists, business people, audio engineers, film makers and others emulate their heroes and are influenced by others, how does a creative person allow the influence by others and emulation to enter their work and still be able to find their own voice?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Natalie Cole: is an American singer and songwriter and performer. She is the daughter of jazz legend Nat King Cole.

George Michael: is an English singer and songwriter and performer.

Tony Bennett: is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz.

Avril Lavigne: is a Canadian singer and songwriter, fashion designer, and actress.

Fallout Boy: was an American rock band.

Panic At The Disco: is a Grammy nominated rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2004. The band comprises vocalist, guitarist and pianist Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith. In July 2009, guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker left the band, citing creative differences as the reason for their departure and formed a new band called The Young Veins.

Bernard Herrman: was an American composer noted for his work in motion pictures particularly his work with director Alfred Hitchcock.

Hitchcock: refers to Alfred Hitchcock who was a filmmaker and producer.

This is Halloween: is a song by composer Danny Elfman from the film, The Nightmare Before Christmas.

The Nightmare Before Christmas: often promoted as Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, directed by Henry Selick and produced and co-written by Tim Burton. Danny Elfman wrote the film score and provided the singing voice of Jack, as well as other minor characters.

Danny Elfman: is an American musician who is best known for composing music for television and movies. He is a frequent collaborator with long-time friend Tim Burton and has scored most of his films. Danny Elman in his early years spent time in the local movie theater, admiring the music of film composer Bernard Herrman.

Jonathan Daniel: Crush Management is a New York City musician management company founded by Jonathan Daniel and Bob McLynn.

Discussion Questions:

Explain how relationships may play a role in any profession, career, and artistic endeavor.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

MTV: is an American network based in New York City known as Music Television. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos.

Kennedy Center Honors: is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. The Honors were created by George Stevens, Jr., and the late Nick Vanoff. Roger Stevens, the founding chairman of the Kennedy Center asked George Steven’s Jr. (no relation), to have an event at the Kennedy Center. George Steven’s Jr., remains involved as producer and co-writer for the Honors with Rob Mathes as music director.

Obama Inauguration Concert at Lincoln Memorial: was a public celebration of the then forthcoming inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44^th President of the United States at the Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on January 18, 2009. The event was musically directed by Rob Mathes who also musically directs the Kennedy Center Honors. George Stevens Jr., producer said, "There's a sense of history about it. Much of the music will be in the context of that history.”

America the Beautiful: is one of the most beloved and popular of the many American patriotic songs. Singer Beyoncé closed out the Obama Inauguration Concert at the Lincoln Memorial, We Are One, with the song “America the Beautiful” at the Lincoln Memorial musically directed and arranged by Rob Mathes.

Beyoncé: is an American Pop, R&B, singer and songwriter, actress, and fashion designer.

You'll Never Walk Alone: is a show tune from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Carousel and performed by Renee Fleming at We Are One, The Obama Inauguration Concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Rob Mathes arranged and musically directed We Are One.

Renee Fleming: is an American soprano specializing in opera and lieder. She performed on January 18, 2009 at We Are One, The Obama Inauguration Concert at the Lincoln Memorial singing the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic "You'll Never Walk Alone" with the combined choirs of the United States Naval Academy arranged and musically directed by Rob Mathes.

The Rising: is the title track on Bruce Springsteen’s 12th studio album and performed by Bruce Springsteen and The Joyce Garrett Singers at We Are One, The Obama Inauguration Concert at the Lincoln Memorial that was arranged and directed by Rob Mathes.

Evening Train: is the name of the album by Rob Mathes that contains the title track to the album “Evening Train.” Rob Mathes music can be heard at www.robmathes.com.

Wheelbarrow: is the name of the album by Rob Mathes that is to be the sequel to the Evening Train album and will contain the title track to the album, “Wheelbarrow.” Rob Mathes music can be heard at www.robmathes.com.

Discussion Questions:

Summarize on one page, the theme or premise regarding the Rob Mathes story using his concluding remarks, “So that’s my story.”

Summarize on one page, the theme or premise regarding Lecture #2 Part I by Rob Mathes.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Huge Dollop of Grace and Love: paraphrasing the words by Rob Mathes, a dollop is a portion or dose.

Sting: an English musician, singer and songwriter who prior to his solo career was the principal songwriter, lead singer, and bassist of the rock band The Police.

Six Degrees of Separation: (also referred to as the "Human Web") refers to the idea that everyone is on average approximately six steps away from any other person on Earth, so that a chain of, "a friend of a friend" statements can be made, on average, to connect any two people in six steps or fewer. For example, the information about Six Degrees of Separation was gathered through an Internet Search and Wikipedia by copying and pasting the words Six Degrees of Separation into a search engine and receiving the search results. Reading and investigating the term further by using various links and websites provided the motivation to “dig deeper.”

Phil: referring to Phil Ramone a sound engineer and music producer.

Pavarotti: refers to Luciano Pavarotti who was an Italian operatic tenor, who also crossed over into popular music.

Discussion Questions:

Explain what is met by the phrases:

“Be relentlessly self-promotional. You have to relentlessly promote yourself, but you've got to combine it with a huge dollop of grace and love…”

“And then you got to stay the course, and make sure when you get that opportunity that you're ready…”

“So the opportunity met the preparation, okay.”

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

END of Lecture #2 Part I

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Title: Lecture #2 Part II Creative Writing

Introduction

Rob Mathes explains that creative writing is a means to improve our writing and to clearly express our thoughts and emotions through the writing process. He discusses that the creative writing process involves methods to engage and encourage us to improve our expression and articulation with action. He indicates that the writing procedure and creative activity may assist us in enriching our lives, but we need to practice and do our homework.

Creative Writing

The creative writing process entails critical analysis and skillfully developing a realistic-self-assessment, including discovery, obsession, and investigation. By integrating these words and processes with dreaming, emulating, and transforming, you can determine the course of action to help you solve a problem and improve your writing.

Rob Mathes reminds us that we are often motivated to write by our willingness to express the relationship among our emotions and feelings with an event, activity, or endeavor. His position is that there are risks for a writer when extracting feelings combined with emotions that may result in an overly sentimental outcome, and he wants us to pay attention to the excessive cloying that can inadvertently enter a piece of work.

The writing path does not have to end as an exercise in over-romanticizing, extreme corniness, sappiness, or predictability. Rob Mathes emphasizes throughout his lectures that by doing your homework (preparation) combined with relationships (collaboration) and learning with a realistic-self-assessment of your gifts, as well as your limitations, will help you to advance your creative process.

Conclusion

Rob Mathes gives us six words or steps to facilitate the creative writer (person) and the creative process: Discovery, Obsession, Investigation, Dreaming, Emulating, and Transformation.

To get you into the mood of creative writing, Rob Mathes begins the segment for Lecture #2 Part II by reading several short poems from a few of his favorite poets.

Note - Disclosure Statement: All of Rob Mathes’ lectures on this website were transcribed. Complementary annotations have been added to the lectures, provided by professors, to serve as educational learning points in the form of a glossary of terms or wordlists. These wordlists are annotated after each lecture section where the words are mentioned by Rob Mathes. Various dictionaries and online searches were used as sources and references to assist in drafting the annotations. The wikipedia.org free online encyclopedia and dictionaries provided a starting point for searching the terms that have been annotated. The annotations with the names and terms listed in the lectures along with discussion questions offer you an educational learning opportunity to begin a search for further discovery, investigation, and to enhance the learning process. The lectures were recorded in front of a live audience with the minimum use of noticeable moving technology to keep the audience from distraction and to preserve the natural format of the lectures. Therefore, you may notice minor variations in the environmental lighting and slight changes in the lecture audio because of the natural movement and the voice inflections of Rob Mathes. A boom microphone was not used, avoiding interference with the audience, nor was a dubbing or overdubbing process. The live sound allows you to “participate and experience” the Rob Mathes lectures in real time as if you were seated in the room. In summary, the annotations supply explanations, comments, and points of clarification along with thought provoking questions for discussion and interesting writing activities. ]

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Graphic is on screen

This example for the comments and queries section for the transcriptions is the same example provided in Lecture #1/Clip and is repeated in Lecture #2 Part I, Part II, and Part III: Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks): (Blue) ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC graphics appear often in the lectures and on the ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC website www.robmathesbeyondthemusic.com.

Discussion Questions:

Describe the graphic and the design of the ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC graphic, and why you feel the graphic applies the color blue, the audio/sound, and music in the ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC graphic on the website and design.

Writing assignments:

What do you feel the audio/sound, colors, music, and graphic branding are trying to communicate?

Listen to Rob Mathes’ music in the SPECIAL FEATURES in the Performance (7:00 P.M.)/Recital Hall Chapter 7 and Performance (9:00 P.M.)/Recital Hall Chapter 8 and watch the ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC Trailer in Chapter 12.

What do you feel the trailer is communicating to you with the Logo (eighth note with animation) for BEYOND THE MUSIC MEDIA at the beginning and end of the trailer?

What do you feel is being communicated to the viewer/customer? (More music is available at www.robmathes.com).

Additional comments:

The discussion questions regarding communication and the graphic (abstract thought) engages all disciplines and opinions while also integrating audio/sound and music with video as a means of design and as a universal language.

Additionally, you may want to practice writing a one page artist statement for ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC or for a project of personal interest and benefit. [ The word page is used throughout the annotations to refer to any electronic medium or mobile device that you may use to generate a “page.”] You can search the Internet on how to write a one page artist statement. It is often expressed that the reason why people write ten pages is because they did not have time to write one. This is not the situation in all cases. In presenting a topic, subject, report, or other work, you may want to present more than one page to make your case. However, certain letters and query letters are conventionally expected to be one page. People are often too busy and do not have the time to read ten pages or listen to your ten songs. Give the person your best one page query letter or your best one song. You may want to investigate on the Internet, how to write a one page successful query letter and then practice by writing a one page query letter for www.robmathesbeyondthemusic.com or for a project of personal interest and benefit.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

[Introduction: segment on creative writing.]

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

[ Lecture # 2 Part I, Part II, and Part III provide complete lectures. Lecture #2 is available on the SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 9. Lecture #1/Clip is available on the SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 5. The TRANSCRIPTIONS page provides the videos and transcriptions of the lectures with annotations to allow for discussions, discovery through music, and further investigation. ]

Disclosure and Reference: The songs “Maggie’s Farm” and “Ring Them Bells” were written by Bob Dylan and are performed by Rob Mathes with Joe Bonadio on percussion. Watch and listen to these songs with Rob Mathes: Beyond the Music in performance on the SPECIAL FEATURES page (9:00 P.M.)/Recital Hall Chapter 8.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

The Topic is CREATIVE WRITING. Rob Mathes’ Lecture #2 Part II

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Creative Writing as explained by Rob Mathes was presented at the beginning of the Lecture #2 Part II and is presented here, again, for discussion purposes.

Introduction

Rob Mathes explains that creative writing is a means to improve our writing and to clearly express our thoughts and emotions through the writing process. He discusses that the creative writing process involves methods to engage and encourage us to improve our expression and articulation with action. He indicates that the writing procedure and creative activity may assist us in enriching our lives, but we need to practice and do our homework.

Creative Writing

The creative writing process entails critical analysis and skillfully developing a realistic-self-assessment, including discovery, obsession, and investigation. By integrating these words and processes with dreaming, emulating, and transforming, you can determine the course of action to help you solve a problem and improve your writing.

Rob Mathes reminds us that we are often motivated to write by our willingness to express the relationship among our emotions and feelings with an event, activity, or endeavor. His position is that there are risks for a writer when extracting feelings combined with emotions that may result in an overly sentimental outcome, and he wants us to pay attention to the excessive cloying that can inadvertently enter a piece of work.

The writing path does not have to end as an exercise in over-romanticizing, extreme corniness, sappiness, or predictability. Rob Mathes emphasizes throughout his lectures that by doing your homework (preparation) combined with relationships (collaboration) and learning with a realistic-self-assessment of your gifts, as well as your limitations, will help you to advance your creative process.

Conclusion

Rob Mathes gives us six words or steps to facilitate the creative writer (person) and the creative process: Discovery, Obsession, Investigation, Dreaming, Emulating, and Transformation.

[Rob Mathes commented on the creative process. The following is an excerpt from his written review on Amazon of the movie Vanya on 42nd Street with comments about the movie Dinner with Andre. Excerpt from Review: Anyone involved in the arts, the process is everything. Doing good work with all your heart, mind and soul down to the smallest detail is all we can ask of ourselves. Within that there will be artists able to push through and be a part of something transcendent… ]

Discuss the concept of creative writing and whether or not you feel the writing process and the creative process can enrich your life.

Mary Oliver: is an American poet who has won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize.

Thirst: a book of poems by Mary Oliver.

Agnostic Nature Poets: can be defined in various ways, and is sometimes used to indicate doubt or a skeptical approach to questions (usually with deity) that poets often express in their poems in which nature plays an integral role.

Red Bird: a book of poems by Mary Oliver.

Evidence: a book of poems by Mary Oliver.

Search the Internet and read three Mary Oliver poems and write three sentences to yourself about each poem you selected.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Percy and Books: a Mary Oliver poem.

Words arranged in a certain way or lyrics in a song with music can generate an emotional feeling in a person, why do you feel that music and/or words (lyrics) arranged in a certain way may create an emotion?

Additional comments

Poet: is a person who writes poetry.

This leads us to the question, what is poetry?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

The excerpt and graphic on the screen (edited video) omits a few words or lines from the original poem, “Percy and Books.” Compare and contrast Rob Mathes’ reading of the poem “Percy and Books” by Mary Oliver with the transcript and excerpt graphic on the screen.

How does the omission of the words or lines in the excerpt on the screen in the graphic (video) affect the poem as compared to the transcript and the reading of the complete poem by Rob Mathes? (Make notes and refer to the words that have been omitted in the graphic as compared to the transcript and readings.)

What does the poem, “Percy and Books” by Mary Oliver say to you about how you feel when you hear or read the poem? Write one paragraph to yourself expressing what feelings this poem generates in you and explain why reading and hearing the poem may or may not have generated any emotions in you. [ The word paragraph or page is used throughout the annotations to refer to any electronic medium or mobile device that you may use to generate a paragraph or “page.” ]

Additional comments:

I say, Ideas! The elegance of language!

The insights, the funniness, the beautiful stories

that rise and fall and turn into strength, or courage.

Write one page to yourself why you think we utilize poetry, ideas, stories, movies, computer games, board games, card games, gambling, art, and music as human beings? Read to Percy the one page that you wrote to yourself.

Write a one page conversation with Percy. Write down the conversation or dialogue of what Percy and you said to each other to document or to record what Percy and you visited about. Example: What would Percy say and what would your response be to Percy as you both converse and exchange ideas about poetry, stories, movies, music, and any other subject?

Search the words anthropomorphism and personification on the Internet. Write a three sentence definition of each word.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

I Ask Percy How I Should Live My Life: a poem by Mary Oliver.

Do you feel anthropomorphism and/or personification were used in the poem, “I Ask Percy How I Should Live My Life” by Mary Oliver?

Discussion Questions:

Why do you feel that the author uses her dog Percy to answer a question such as I ask Percy how I should live my life?

Additional comments:

Place a few keywords and notes on one sheet of paper to help you explain why you feel anthropomorphism and/or personification were used or not used in the poem. [ The words,” one page,” “one sheet of paper,” paragraph, and page is used throughout the annotations to refer to any electronic medium or mobile device that you may use to generate a paragraph or “page.” ]

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

At certain times, a person may write or become successful as a writer or want to write for the mere enjoyment of writing for their “own desk.” Others may work at a particular profession because they have been given an opportunity.

Having time to write is often a factor as well as having an opportunity to develop a talent or gift.

Not everyone is provided an opportunity.

Discussion Questions:

What do you think motivates you as a person to write or not to write and to discover your gifts as well as your limitations enabling you to provide yourself with a realistic-self-assessment and an opportunity?

Once again, Rob Mathes: Beyond the Music was created with a level of creativity and passion.

Again, you are encouraged to give two or three creative and innovative activities listed below a try. Several of these creative activities may trigger the creative process [Discovery, Obsession, Investigation, Dreaming, Emulating, and Transformation].

A question you may often ask yourself, what did I learn today?

Please give two or three of the suggestions below a try. [Again, the words, ”one page,” “one sheet of paper,” paragraph, and page is used throughout the annotations to refer to any electronic medium or mobile device that you may use to generate a paragraph or “page.” ]

Listed below are journal writing experiences that you may want to consider that are associated with sound and in certain cases “sound studies.” There are 28 (twenty-eight) items listed below that may help to trigger the creative writing and innovative creative discovery process.

[Example: Again, try this learning experience if you like - Participate for 1 (one) week by performing small acts of kindness. (Open up a door, say thank you, clean-up an area even if it is not your responsibility and help someone.) Do something for someone. Are there sounds connected to these experiences? Listen and hear the sounds. Write one page to yourself about the experience].

1. Give someone your time, and discuss their thoughts. Listen carefully to the other person and hear their voice. Listen for any sound that may be distracting or adds to the conversation and then concentrate on the conversation. Write one page to yourself about the experience of carefully listening to another person.
2. Participate in a service event with an organization. Listen for any sound that may be distracting or adds to the service event. Write one page to yourself about the experience.
3. Attend 2 (two) cultural events or lectures and type a one page response to what you attended (what, who, where, when, why, and how). Listen for any sound that may be distracting or adds to the cultural event or lectures. How is audio and sound connected to the activity? Write one page to yourself about the experience. You are welcome to use the performances and lectures for Rob Mathes: Beyond the Music for this activity.
4. Attend a music event or artistic event. How is audio and sound connected to the activity? Write one page to yourself about the experience. You are welcome to use the performances and lectures for Rob Mathes: Beyond the Music for this activity.
5. Join a club and discuss your thoughts. How is audio and sound connected to the activity? Write one page to yourself about the experience.
6. What is something that you would like to do to make the world a better place? Discuss and outline with notes what action you feel is necessary and your contribution. Ask yourself what action you would like to implement, and the steps you need to take. Assess the relationships you have and collaborations that you will need to take action. Perform a realistic-self-assessment of the activity and your own capabilities. How is audio and sound connected to the activity? Write one page to yourself about the experience.
7. Observe nature. Listen and hear the sounds. Write one page to yourself about the experience.
8. Observe an animal. Listen and hear the sounds. Write one page to yourself about the experience.
9. Observe people. Listen and hear the sounds. Write one page to yourself about the experience.
10. Write or type a list of 60 (sixty) items that you would like to have happen to you or you would like to achieve in your life time. Are there sounds connected to any of the 60 (sixty) items? Listen and hear the sounds. Write one page to yourself about the experience.
11. Describe your dreams and goals. Are there sounds connected to any of the dreams and goals? Listen and hear the sounds. Write one page to yourself about the experience.
12. Discuss what you are grateful for and why. Are there sounds connected to the gratefulness? Listen and hear the sounds. Write one page to yourself about the experience.
13. If you could be anything or do anything, what would it be? Are there sounds connected to these experiences? Listen and hear the sounds. Write one page to yourself about the experience.
14. Write a poem and set the poem to music and record the results. Listen, hear, and collaborate. Write one page to yourself about the experience.
15. Write a 2 (two) page short story. Set the story to music and record the results. Listen, hear, and collaborate. Write one page to yourself about the experience. Write a tagline regarding your short story (you can search the Internet for the word “tagline”). Write a “log line” regarding your short story (you can search the Internet for the words “log line”).
16. Discuss an important community issue (non-religious). Are there sounds connected to these experiences? Listen and hear the sounds. Write one page to yourself about the experience.
17. Discuss an issue of importance to you (non-religious). Are their sounds connected to these experiences? Listen and hear the sounds. Write one page to yourself about the experience.
18. Discuss how you will be successful in an endeavor – write one page discussing your action plan. Are there sounds connected to these experiences? Listen and hear the sounds. Write one page to yourself about the experience.
19. Write a short note concerning three different circumstances. Do not send it. Write the same note, change word choices based on your audience and set the writing to music and record the results. Are there sounds connected to these experiences? Listen and hear the sounds. Write one page to yourself about the experience.
20. If a book was written about you, what would be the main theme? Are there sounds connected to these experiences? Listen and hear the sounds. Write one page to yourself about the experience discussing who you are.
21. Who is your favorite historical person and why (non-religious)? Are there sounds connected to these experiences? Listen and hear the sounds. Write one page to yourself about the experience.
22. What is your favorite book and why? Are there sounds connected to these experiences? Listen and hear the sounds. Write one page to yourself about the experience.
23. What is your favorite movie and why? Are there sounds connected to these experiences? Listen and hear the sounds. Write one page to yourself about the experience.
24. You are sitting in a room. Are there sounds connected to this experience? Listen and hear the sounds. Write one page to yourself about the experience.
25. You are in a public place. Are there sounds connected to this experience? Listen and hear the sounds. Write one page to yourself about the experience.
26. Select your own activity (your choice). Are there sounds connected to this experience? Listen and hear the sounds. Write one page to yourself about the experience.
27. Select your own activity (your choice). Are there sounds connected to this experience? Listen and hear the sounds. Write one page to yourself about the experience.
28. Select your own activity (your choice). Are there sounds connected to this experience? Listen and hear the sounds. Write one page to yourself about the experience.

Interdisciplinary:

Writing assignments:

Listen to the song “Evening Train,” if it is still available, online at www.robmathes.com. Compare and contrast the actual sounds that you may hear when a train is coming down the tracks with the sounds in the song “Evening Train.” Comment on the musical composition and arrangement, recording, mixing, and mastering of the song. You can also hear the song “Evening Train” being rehearsed by Rob Mathes and percussionist Joe Bonadio at the SPECIAL FEATURES Rehearsal Part III Chapter 4. You will also hear when the train is coming down the tracks with the sounds, tempo, and rhythm using piano and percussion in the song “Evening Train” at the SPECIAL FEATURES Rehearsal Part III Chapter 4.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Jane Kenyon: was an American poet. Originally from the Midwest, she married poet Donald Hall. Three years later they moved to Eagle Pond Farm, his grandparents' former home in Wilmot, New Hampshire.

Otherwise: a poem by Jane Kenyon.

The excerpt and graphic on the screen (edited video) omits a few words or lines from the original poem, “Otherwise.” Compare and contrast Rob Mathes’ reading of the poem “Otherwise” by Jane Kenyon with the transcript and excerpt graphic on the screen.

How does the omission of the words or lines in the excerpt on the screen in the graphic (video) affect the poem as compared to the transcript and the reading of the complete poem by Rob Mathes? (Make note of the words that have been omitted from the graphic.)

Writing assignments:

Write one page on how you feel about the poem “Otherwise” by Jane Kenyon and how it may relate to your journey in life as a creative person in finding your own passion and your own voice.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

William Carlos Williams: an American poet whose primary occupation was a pediatrician and general practitioner of medicine. Williams had a full literary career. His work consists of short stories, poems, plays, novels, critical essays, an autobiography, translations, and correspondence. He lived in New Jersey and often wrote at night and periodically spent weekends in New York City with friends, writers, and artists.

The Red Wheelbarrow: a poem written by William Carlos Williams.

This Is Just To Say: a poem written by William Carlos Williams.

The excerpt and graphic on the screen (edited video) omits a few words or lines from the original poems “The Red Wheelbarrow” and “This Is Just To Say.” Compare and contrast Rob Mathes’ reading of the poems “The Red Wheelbarrow” and “This Is Just To Say” by William Carlos Williams with the transcripts and excerpt graphics on the screen.

How does the omission of the words or lines in the excerpts on the screen in the graphics (videos) affect the poems as compared to the transcripts and the readings of the complete poems by Rob Mathes? (Make note of the words that have been omitted from the graphics.)

Discussion Questions:

Assume that the poem “This Is Just To Say” was written from William Carlos Williams to his wife. Williams eats her plums from the icebox [ An “icebox” was a type of refrigerator in the early 1900’s for keeping things cold.] and proceeds to write a small apology in the form of a poem on a napkin to his wife, “This Is Just To Say.” Let’s assume that the below poem is Flossie Williams' reply in a poem of her own to her husband’s poem "This Is Just to Say." [ It is also suggested that William Carlos Williams, the husband, took the note left by his wife for him and rewrote it into a poem.]

Reply

(crumped on her desk)

Dear Bill: I've made a

couple of sandwiches for you.

In the ice-box you'll find

blue-berries--a cup of grapefruit

a glass of cold coffee.

On the stove is the tea-pot

with enough tea leaves

for you to make tea if you

prefer--Just light the gas--

boil the water and put it in the tea

Plenty of bread in the bread-box

and butter and eggs--

I didn't know just what to

make for you. Several people

called up about office hours--

See you later. Love. Floss.

Please switch off the telephone.

Additional comments:

Please listen again to the song, "Ring Them Bells" written by Bob Dylan and performed by Rob Mathes and featuring Joe Bonadio on percussion at SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 8 Performance # 2(9:00 P.M)/Recital Hall. The significance of the repeating the investigative process is that investigation requires additional research that may lead to a more profound understanding and discovery.

The lyrics of the song are the words of the songwriter, artist, and performer, Bob Dylan, but the arrangement and performance of the song “Ring Them Bells” is by Rob Mathes featuring Joe Bonadio on percussion. Again, please watch and listen to the song “Ring Them Bells” at SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 8 Performance # 2(9:00 P.M)/Recital Hall.

Search the Internet for the poem “The Catholic Bells” by William Carlos Williams. Read the poem (dig deeper) while watching the video and listening to the song “Ring Them Bells’ performed by Rob Mathes featuring Joe Bonadio on percussion at SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 8 Performance # 2(9:00 P.M)/Recital Hall.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

The Catholic Bells: a poem written by William Carlos Williams.

Compare and contrast the poem “The Catholic Bells” by William Carlos Williams with the song “Ring Them Bells” written by Bob Dylan. Continue that comparison (discovery and investigation) from your Internet search, “dig deeper” and compare and contrast once again the poem “The Catholic Bells” by William Carlos Williams with the song “Ring Them Bells” written by Bob Dylan and performed by Rob Mathes and featuring Joe Bonadio on percussion at SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 8 Performance # 2(9:00 P.M)/Recital Hall.

Radiohead : an English alternative rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985.

Discussion Questions:

Again, there are impressions that materialize in repeating an investigative process, if you have the time and the budget, making inquiries is part of the discovery and investigation process. Along with inquiries, additional research and information may lead to a more profound understanding and discovery.

What do you discover as you “dig deeper” into the poem “The Catholic Bells” by William Carlos Williams and the song “Ring Them Bells” written by Bob Dylan as performed by Rob Mathes and Joe Bonadio on percussion at the SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 8 Performance # 2(9:00 P.M)/Recital Hall?

How may the Internet search and “digging deeper” by reading poems, watching, and listening to performances when combined with “discovery through music” lead to discovery, obsession and investigation that may lead to dreaming, emulating, and transformation?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

William Shakespeare: was an English poet and playwright who is regarded as one of greatest writers of all time.

Iambic Pentameter: describes the particular rhythm that the words establish in a line. The rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables; these small groups of syllables are called "feet.” The iambic describes the type of foot that is used such as a pentameter indicates that a line has 5 of these "feet."

Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare : is about love and is one of the most often quoted of Shakespeare’s sonnets.

Sonnet: is one of several forms of lyric poetry originating in Europe. The sonnet has evolved. Shakespearean, or English, sonnet consists of 14 lines, each line containing 10 syllables and written in iambic pentameter.

A Day in a Life: a song by the English rock band The Beatles.

Blues: is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities, primarily in the “Deep South” region of the United States, of which the 12 bar blues chord progression is the most common.

Discussion Questions:

Why do you think knowing how to write well or knowing someone who knows how to write well is important to you in your profession?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Riff: entered as musical slang in the 1920’s and in the simplest sense is used to mean a short repeated musical phrase or phrasing that relates to style in the manner of playing the individual notes of a particular group of consecutive notes.

Lyric: the words of a song and often used in the plural.

Hippest: knowing about what the newest styles are and what is fashionable and having or showing awareness or involvement in the newest developments that are trendy.

Heck: used to express mild annoyance or to emphasize something.

Pitfalls: factors causing trouble in achieving positive results.

Edge: a state of being excited or containing a state of having strong excitement.

Discussion Questions:

How do you avoid excessive sentimental outcomes (sentimentality) and unwarranted predictability from inadvertently entering your writing?

Additional comments:

Sentimentality: excessive feelings of tenderness, sadness, or nostalgia that becomes an issue for nearly every writer at some point when attempting to convey strong emotions, it's easy to push the writing too far and make your reader or listener feel manipulated instead of moved.

Predictability: in writing or listening allows for the reader or listener to plainly foretell what is going to happen to the point of becoming bored or irritated with the excessive use of signs with expected outcomes or occurrences. In a song or lyric, the listener completes a lyric or rhyme to the point of becoming uninterested and jaded as a listener or reader.

Group writing assignments:

Write and discuss in one paragraph what you feel your likes and dislikes are in reading a novel, watching a movie, playing computer games, reading a short story, or listening to a song, or music as well as being involved in social networks that leads to excessive sentimental outcomes and unwarranted predictability.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Contemporary Christian Music (CCM): is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith.

Scene: as used in the lecture, part of the connection in a single location such as New York, Nashville, or Los Angeles that is often phrased as someone who is part of the music scene or Nashville scene.

Genre: in a very general manner identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that is distinguished from other types of music.

Packed: as used in the lecture, to plunge and prepare in a hastily, rough, or forceful manner that allows for a noticeable hurried result.

U2: an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1976.

The Joshua Tree: fifth studio album by rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno and was released in 1987 on Island Records.

Miraculous: an extraordinary happening that brings welcomed results.

Edge: refers to David Evans who is widely known by his stage name The Edge or often referred to as Edge. He is a musician best known as the guitarist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist of the rock band U2.

Designated Driver: is a person who abstains from alcohol or other substances in social occasions in order to drive companions home safely.

Bono: refers to Paul Hewson who is known as Bono. An Irish singer and musician, best known for being the main vocalist of the rock band U2.

Agnostic Person: a person who claims that it is unknown or unknowable to determine the existence or non-existence of any deity.

Evening Train: is the name of the album by Rob Mathes that contains the title track to the album “Evening Train.” Rob Mathes’ music can be heard at www.robmathes.com.

Discussion Questions:

The album Evening Train was written by Rob Mathes about his life. It is the name of the album by Rob Mathes that contains the title track to the album “Evening Train.” Rob Mathes’ music can be heard at www.robmathes.com.

Compare and contrast the music and lyrics of the following songs from the Evening Train album. The songs: “Evening Train,” “(I Wanna Be) Plastic,” “End of the Day” and “Don’t Let Me Fall” are from the Evening Train album and reflect a life’s journey. Explain the connection of each of these songs in a cycle of songs on the Evening Train album with a life’s journey. If the songs are still available online, the songs can be heard at www.robmathes.com.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Sappy: overly sweet or excessively sentimental writing.

Howlin’ Wolf, Blind Willie Johnson, and Blind Willie McTell: blues singers.

Meet Me In The Morning: is a song written by songwriter and performer Bob Dylan that was released on his studio album entitled Blood On The Tracks.

Bob Dylan: an American singer and songwriter who has been a major figure in music for decades.

Blood On The Tracks: studio album, released by Columbia Records in 1975 and is often regarded as one of Bob Dylan’s great albums.

Tangled Up in Blue: is a song by Bob Dylan from his album Blood On The Tracks.

Guise: a form or style.

Grit: a firmness of character.

Discussion Questions:

There are often many rumors about the history of songs. It has been said that Dylan wrote the song “Tangled Up in Blue” after spending a weekend immersed in singer and songwriter Joni Mitchell’s album, Blue.

Why is it difficult to know exactly the origins of the creative aspects of a piece of work?

Assuming that you are mature enough to know that you did not “rip” the ideas off from somewhere and you are not being dishonest, what is the origin or history of your creative process or innovative work? (See the below as one example of discloser of creative work).

Below is an example of disclosure and appropriate referencing provided in the liner notes of the album Evening Train. For those who wish to investigate or “dig deeper,” see the liner notes and artwork for the Evening Train album at www.robmathes.com.

All orchestration and arrangements are written and conducted by Rob Mathes. All songs are written by Rob Mathes. © 2002 Maybe I Can Music (BMI), River Oaks Music (BMI). Don’t Let Me Fall partially based on a translation by Kathryn Hellerstein of a Russian prayer by Kadya Molodowsky from Women In Praise Of The Sacred. Edited By Jane Hirschfeld. Published By Harper Collins © 1994. Another World uses a spiritual transcribed by Eve Jessye and modernized by Al Young drawn from the same collection (Women In Praise Of The Sacred). Although It is The Night verses based on various translations of a poem by St. John Of The Cross, most prominently the translation by Roy Campbell.

Additional comments:

Joni Mitchell, born in Canada, is a singer, songwriter, performer, and painter. Search the Internet for Joni Mitchell. Her work is highly respected both by critics and fellow musicians. Listen to a few of her songs in the earlier years of her career and then listen to a few of her songs in later years. In the course of listening, think of these six words as you “dig deeper,” discovery, obsession, investigation, dreaming, emulation, and transformation.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

What do you feel is the creative process or procedure of finding your own voice?

Group Discussion Question and Group writing assignment:

Explain the reasoning behind having to stop listening for a while to your favorite singer or reading your favorite author to find your own voice.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Arrange: arranging music is the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form and the art of giving an existing melody musical variety. Search also on the Internet the words orchestration, head arrangements, and head charts.

Circuitous Path: an indirect path motivated by the obsession for something such as music, writing, arts, career, or any profession that leads a person to take one path versus another or many paths to get to a certain point.

Fall Out Boy: an American rock band.

The Tonight Show: an American late-night talk show that started airing on the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) in 1954.

Beck Mutations Tour : “Mutations” is a studio album by American alternative rock artist Beck and is referring to the tour of the album.

Led Zeppelin: was an English rock band.

Hendrix: referring to Jimi Hendrix who was an American electric guitarist and singer and songwriter and is considered by many to be one of greatest electric guitarist in the history of rock music.

Leonard Bernstein: was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer, and pianist.

Gustav Mahler: one of the leading conductors of his generation.

Orchestration: is adapting music for an orchestra or musical ensemble and is the study or practice of writing music as a compositional art.

Nashville Writer: a writer of lyrics, music, and/or tunes for songs who is located in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville, Tennessee is often referred to as “Music City.”

Bob Dylan: an American singer and songwriter who has been a major figure in music and songwriting.

Leonard Cohen: is referring to Leonard Cohen a Canadian singer and songwriter, musician, poet, and novelist.

Additional comments:

Realistic-Self-Assessment as presented in the lectures is the process of gathering information about you and your goals as well as assessing your values, interests, personality, and skills along with your character, forcefulness, confidence, self-esteem, and relationships and other “tools” that you have in your “tool kit” including your gifts and limitations.

Discussion Questions:

Rob Mathes mentions getting out there. What does it mean to you when he states that you need to be getting yourself out there?

“(I Wanna Be) Plastic” is a song written by Rob Mathes on his Evening Train album. Mathes mentions he was obsessed and just loved music and the music was more thrilling to him than trying to go out and greasing the wheels, going to the parties, you know, losing that last 40 (forty) pounds, wearing the hippest clothes. If the song“(I Wanna Be) Plastic” is still on the website at www.robmathes.com listen to the song online and explain what you feel the song is saying to you.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Ryan Ross: is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter known for his work as the lead guitarist, backup vocalist, and songwriter for the band Panic At The Disco. He is one of the founding members of the band The Young Veins.

Young Veins: Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker both formerly of the band Panic At The Disco are the founding members of the band The Young Veins. Ryan Ross is the lead singer.

Panic At The Disco: is a Grammy-nominated rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2004. The band comprises vocalist, guitarist and pianist Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith. In July 2009, guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker left the band, citing creative differences as the reason for their departure and formed a new band called The Young Veins.

The Zombies: are an English rock band that was formed in 1961.

The Kinks: was an English rock band.

Brendon Urie: is an American musician and the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and pianist of the band Panic At The Disco.

Billy Joel: is an American musician and pianist, singer and songwriter, and classical composer.

Ray Davies: is an English rock musician who is best known as lead singer and songwriter for The Kinks, which he led with his younger brother, Dave. He has acted, directed, and produced shows for theatre and television.

Dylan: is referring to Bob Dylan an American singer and songwriter who has been a major figure in music for decades.

Relentless: pursuing a goal or objective with steady persistence.

Dollop: a small quantity or portion as if in a small soft touch.

Grace: a characteristic or quality pleasing for its politeness or favorable manner.

A&R: refers to artists and repertoire and is a division in a record company that is responsible for discovering new recording artists who are able to be commercially successful.

Tape: referring in general terms to a record (demo tape on a cassette tape) that in the past was presented to an A&R person at a record label who was interested in hearing your song.

Pester: a persistence or frequent request.

Cocky: pertaining to a type of person or action that is self-assertive.

When viewing the creative process and trying to get your work into the hands of the people who are the decision makers, no matter what profession you are seeking, how do you feel you need to relentlessly promote (market) yourself with grace and be noticed?

What is the normal process or protocol in the arts, writing, and your profession in being able to be noticed for your gifts?

Additional comments:

Being self-assertive while using grace and a dollop of kindness can be difficult when trying to be relentless in pursuing your objectives and goals.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Wheelbarrow: is an album in development by Rob Mathes that will be a sequel to his album Evening Train. Additional information is available at albums on www.robmathes.com.

Commissioned: is a type of contract that is for performance or creation of a specific work.

Christ’s Church in Greenwich, Connecticut: a project commissioned by Christ Church. Rob Mathes with St. Luke players, the Christ Church Choirs, and other noted artists and musicians perform At Night A Song Is With Me : A Cycle of Ballads and Psalms for Singers, Rhythm Section and Orchestra is basically a series of 18 songs linked by a unifying theme. The texts come from both the work of a wonderful Irish poet, Micheal O’Siadhail, [Pronounced mee-hawl o'sheel] and selections from the Psalms.

Psalms: word translates as "song" or "hymns" from both Hebrew and Greek.

Micheal O'Siadhail [Pronounced mee-hawl o'sheel] : is an Irish poet. An excerpt from the poem “Matins for You” written for his wife Brid [Pronounced briede], the lines read:

As when late last night you started telling me
How even as a girl you’d known your dream would be
Bringing others’ dreams about.
This once I think I glimpsed you,
You my glistening, lonely, giving Mistress Zen.
Thank you. Thank you for so many dreams come true.

(From Our Double Time 2009)

William the Angel: a song written by Rob Mathes about himself, an alter ego song.

Additional comments:

Listen to the song “William the Angel” at the SPECIAL FEATURES page in the Performance (7:00 P.M.)/Recital Hall Chapter 7. The audience sings with Rob Mathes. Rob Mathes gives a slight nod and the audience sings with him. It is often difficult to organize a great number of people to do something together.

What do you feel it is that allows a group of people (audience) to start singing together unrehearsed as in this song, “William the Angel?”

Discussion Questions:

Do our dreams help others’ dreams come about?

Additional comments:

The song “William the Angel” is a story song; instead of playing a separate character, Rob Mathes plays himself in the song.

Discussion Questions:

Interdisciplinary:

Writing assignments:

Why do you think the song “William the Angel” is often requested at Rob Mathes’ performances?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Deadlines: final moment at which something must be done.

Writer’s Block: is a condition usually associated with writing when a writer is unable to produce text.

Abbey Road Studio One: is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St. John’s Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. Studio One space can easily accommodate a 110-piece orchestra and 100-piece choir simultaneously.

Sting: refers to English musician, singer and songwriter, activist, actor and philanthropist. Prior to starting his solo career, he was the principal songwriter; lead singer and bassist of the rock band The Police. Sting began his Sting Symphonicity Tour of North America and Europe in 2010. The tour features many of Sting's songs performed with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, as recorded on the Symphonicities album. The album is a companion piece to the tour, in which Sting, performing with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, reinterprets the songs as classical symphonic compositions. Symphonicities was produced by Rob Mathes and Sting, mixed by Elliot Scheiner and Claudius Mittendorfer, and mastered by Scott Hull. As of November 2010, the album had sold over 600,000 copies worldwide.

Roxanne: is a hit song by the rock band The Police written by Sting who was the lead singer in the band and credits the drummer Stewart Copeland for suggesting the final rhythmic form. The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra reinterprets the song “Roxanne” as classical symphonic composition. The song is Track # 6 on Sting’s Symphonicities album that was produced by Rob Mathes and Sting.

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic: is a song by the British rock group The Police. The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra reinterprets the song “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” as classical symphonic composition. The song is Track # 3 on Sting’s Symphonicities album that was produced by Rob Mathes and Sting.

King of Pain: is a song by the band The Police. The song was performed in the live concerts on the Sting Symphonicity Tour.

Soul Cages: studio album released by Sting. The first song written for The Soul Cages was "Why Should I Cry for You.”

Why Should I Cry For You: is a song by Sting on the album, The Soul Cages. The song was performed in the live concerts on the Sting Symphonicity Tour.

Kennedy Center Honors: is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. The Honors were created by George Stevens, Jr., and the late Nick Vanoff. Roger Stevens, the founding chairman of the Kennedy Center asked George Steven’s Jr. (no relation), to have an event at the Kennedy Center. George Steven’s Jr., remains involved as producer and co-writer for the Honors with Rob Mathes as music director.

Melding: refers to the joining, blending, fusing, combining, or merging things into one or together with something else.

Orchestral Language: the writing in music notation symbols and arrangements while studying and practicing the arranging of music for an orchestra or musical ensemble that deals with the techniques of writing music for specific instruments.

Pop: a term that originally derives from an abbreviation of "popular" is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented towards a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes. Pop music has absorbed influences from most other forms of popular music but as a genre is particularly associated with the rock and roll and rock style of music.

Domain: in the area of an expansive music field or in a certain vastness of an area.

In The Pocket: is when a percussionist or drummer plays a “groove” that has a rhythmic “feel” and is referred to as being "in the pocket." When the percussionist or drummer maintains this “feel” for an extended period of time, this is often referred to as a “deep pocket.” Groove is the sense of rhythmic "feel" or “forces” of unseen connection that get a foot tapping and/or sends chills to the listener that directly influences the musical experience. Get “funky” is a term used as well as some other terms such as “groove,” “swing,” and “flow” that are often used to mean “in the pocket.” The following provides an illustration of two musicians being “in the pocket.” Listen to four songs with Rob Mathes performing and featuring Joe Bonadio on percussion at SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 8 Performance # 2(9:00 P.M)/Recital Hall (“Maggies’ Farm” “I Slept 12 Hours Baby,” “When I Was a Child,” and “Ring Them Bells”). The Rehearsals and Sound-Check at SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 4 and Chapter 6 will also provide illustrations of the concept “in the pocket.”

George Martin: is an English record producer, arranger, composer, and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle" due to his work as producer of all but one of The Beatles' original albums.

John Lennon: was an English musician singer and songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles.

The Beatles: was an English rock band.

Hokey: appearing as obviously contrived with a corny and sentimental insincere emotion.

Paul Buckmaster: is a Grammy Award English artist, arranger, and composer. Perhaps he is best known for his orchestral collaborations with Elton John.

Elton John: is an English singer and songwriter, composer, and pianist.

Eleanor Rigby: is a song by English rock band The Beatles.

Beethoven: referring to Ludwig van Beethoven who was a German composer and pianist who eventually lost his hearing.

String Quartet: is a musical ensemble of four string players. Usually the string quartet consists of two violin players and a violist and a cellist. The string quartet is widely seen as one of the most important forms in chamber music.

Sketches: a brief composition executed often in freehand versus the computer and is not intended as a finished work. Sketches are a quick way to record an idea for later use or development. Music sketches are in music notations with notes that primarily serve as a way to try out different ideas and establish a composition before undertaking a more finished work. Sketching can serve to sharpen an artist's ability to focus on the most important elements of a subject.

Gig: live performance by a musician or other performer and is used in the broader sense by shortening of the word engagement as in a place for an appointment or for an activity.

Colleague: an associate as used in a profession and is often used to refer to a co-worker.

Bring Something To The Table: a contribution and an idea that is often put forward for discussion and acceptance.

Template: something that establishes or serves as a pattern.

Full Orchestra: is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. A full-size orchestra (about 100 players) may sometimes be called a "symphony orchestra" or "philharmonic orchestra" (for instance, the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra). The actual number of musicians employed in a particular performance may vary according to the work being played and the size of the venue. A leading chamber orchestra might employ as many as 50 musicians; some may be much smaller.

Chamber Orchestra: is a small orchestra that plays orchestral music often with 30 to 50 musicians.

Percussion: is any object which produces a sound when hit with hands or an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration. The term usually applies to an object used in a rhythmic context of music. Listen to the song with Rob Mathes performing and featuring Joe Bonadio on percussion at SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 8 Performance # 2(9:00 P.M)/Recital Hall (“I Slept 12 Hours Baby”).

Loops: a small section of sound or music that is repeated. Watch Rob Mathes and Joe Bonadio in Sound-Check where Rob Mathes illustrates and states that the song loops at SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 6 Sound-Check.

Vanessa Williams: is an American recording artist, songwriter, and actress. She received considerable media attention for her comic and villainess role as former model and magazine creative director turned Editor-in-chief, Wilhelmina Slater, in the ABC comedy series, Ugly Betty. Vanessa Williams joined the cast of Desperate Housewives in its seventh season.

Cassette: often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, commonly used magnetic tape in sound recording in combination with digital formats.

Song Cycle: is a group of songs designed to be performed in a sequence.

Drummer: is a person who plays drums, particularly a drum kit. Many drummers create the drum beats themselves without songwriting credit and convey or drive the rhythm of the music. To illustrate, listen to the song with Rob Mathes performing and featuring Joe Bonadio on percussion where Joe Bonadio says, “drive that thing” at SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 8 Performance # 2(9:00 P.M)/Recital Hall (“I Slept 12 Hours Baby”).

Healthy Pressure: influences that move a situation into positive action.

New Realms: moving to an innovative range of ideas and discoveries.

Crutch: a sense of using something as a fabricated or made-up support that may or may not move the action or the process forward in a progressive manner.

Wheelbarrow: is the name of the album by Rob Mathes that is to be sequel (follow-up) to the Evening Train album and will contain the title track to the album, “Wheelbarrow.” Rob Mathes music and additional information is at www.robmathes.com.

Rhythm Tracks: meaning bass, drums, guitar, and piano, and these tracks are then given to an audio mixing engineer (audio procedure) who mixes to one single track to produce a finished version of a recording track.

Discussion Questions:

There are a number of terms (language) that are peculiar to a profession or discipline such as in music, digital media, science, history, education, accounting, business, and other disciplines. As part of the learning experience, there is a need to become familiar with the terms (language) of the interested profession or discipline as a necessity for maintaining efficient communication. In the creative process, whether listening or creating a poem, music, movie, advertisement, short story, computer game, or novel, being able to understand the structure and form in writing such as in writing a proposal or a query letter is important so as to be professional, prepared, knowledgeable, and not to appear amateurish.

How has the Rob Mathes Lecture Series increased the understanding for the need to be prepared and determined through investigation and discovery in becoming more knowledgeable and prepared for an opportunity?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Amazing Grace: is a Christian hymn written by English poet and clergyman John Newton published in 1779.

Audio Mix - Live Recording - Creative Process

In the audio mix, live recording, and creative process of the song “When I Was a Child,” there is an analysis of the song by the audio engineer. In the audio mix of the song, as well as musically setting the live audio recording for the song, there is a need by the audio engineer to join in the interpretation with the artist and percussionist of the song in the live performance. The objective in the mix is not to lose the live voice and interpretation of the song by the artist and to capture the expression of the musicians, Rob Mathes and the percussionist Joe Bonadio. It is important to maintain the live sound with the musical and vocal expressions, in a sense discovering the music, while maintaining the qualities of the live musical performance, live audio recording, and the technical elements in a live audio mix.

Listen and watch at the SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 8 Performance # 2(9:00 P.M)/Recital Hall (”When I Was a Child” and then listen a second time while following along with the below lyrics to the song).

Rob Mathes: Beyond the Music - “When I Was a Child” by Rob Mathes

[Also, you can find the lyrics, photos (artwork), and liner notes a t albums www.robmathes.com for the album Evening Train and the song “When I Was a Child.” ]

[Well… Note: the word “Well” is not in the original song lyrics.]

My grandfather used to drive the train

From Providence to New Haven

One year when I was in school

He rode with me back home from Boston

He said, “Son, you’re wearing black

[and] listening to the blues

Who told you, you don’t know a thing

Unless you’re full of bad news?”

CHORUS

When I was a child, When I was a child

I spoke like a child, I acted like a child

I thought like a child but I believed like a child

Now that I’m a man, I wonder,

will I ever believe that strongly again?

[Well… Note: The word “Well” is not in the original song lyrics.]

My Grandfather said, “Son, I’m an old man

and soon [I] will not be here

You don’t think I’ve got a million questions myself.

Murky waters only the Lord might clear.

But as I grow closer to that meeting by the by

I grow more and more certain

That his arms are open wide.”

CHORUS

I think I need a hymn. (bridge)

[When] We got down around Bridgeport

He told me ‘bout a train wreck in the 60’s

Train went down off an elevated track

Taking businessmen, students and families

[“Whoo”- voice of percussionist]

and when his story was told

I asked him if he ever thought the heavens were cold

He said to [tell you the truth] “Son, to tell you the truth,

[Son], I have loved my creator since the days of my youth.”

CHORUS

When I was a child, When I was a child

I spoke like a child, [I acted like a child]

I thought like a child [I behaved like a child] but I believed like a child

Now that I’m a man, I wonder,

will I ever believe that strongly again?

[will I ever believe that strongly again?]

[will I ever believe that strong?]

I think I need a hymn. (bridge)

ANALYSIS OF THE SONG“WHEN I WAS A CHILD”

GENERAL COMMENTS: In this song, Rob Mathes is not physically a child any longer and he and his grandfather, in the song, are reflecting the duality of the lyrical phrase, when I was a child. We may ask similar questions when we are living like a child or acting like a child in ways that lack maturity, as well as, when we have to make a transformation from childhood into adulthood or make a passage (transformation).

ANALYSIS: Rob Mathes in the song is making a transformation to what it was like to believe like a child, behave like a child, and have the childlike innocence (juxtaposition), compared to his grandfather.

We hear the words of the title to the song repeated, “When I Was a Child.” Rob Mathes rides “life’s journey train” with his grandfather but there are two voices saying the same thing, “calling or crying out” to each other in the voices of the grandfather and the grandson, “When I Was a Child.”

The train and the tracks serve as a metaphor for life’s journey and the train symbolizes a journey moving down the tracks (rhythm and beat). The train is what is carrying the people on the journey, and the moving train ((rhythmic heart beat) could be a representation of the moving of life itself that provides the symbolism with the moving train throughout the song as the train moves faster and faster down the tracks.

The lyrics, From Providence to New Haven: Providence is the capital city in the state of Rhode Island where there is family history. The East Providence area was “home” for the family. Providence also symbolizes heaven but yet it is a place on earth. It is the sacred ground as mentioned in the song “Evening Train” on the Evening Train album and connects the song cycle in the Evening Train album with the song “When I Was a Child.” New Haven is where Yale University is located. Both his parents, and his mother’s twin sister, and her husband all studied music at Yale.

Rob Mathes’ musical birth started long before he was born. The metaphor is saying, From Providence to New Haven. He is presently spiritually and physically riding the train with his grandfather, He rode with me back home from Boston is a symbol for riding the train both literally and figuratively as part of his journey with his parents. In a sense, he is being born again as he is connected to the past on this train with his grandfather. Rob Mathes is taking a similar journey that his parents took. The word, “Haven” and “Providence” often means a place of safety, consecrated area, and ground, or sheltered harbor that helped bring Rob Mathes, the hero in the journey, into existence.

The lyrics from the song, One year when I was in school, we do not know Rob Mathes’ age in the song at this point, but we know he is in school.

He rode with me back home from Boston , these lyrics are an indication that Rob Mathes is located in Boston in school and coming home. We know that Rob Mathes is with his grandfather and traveling home with his grandfather on the train from Boston.

MYTHOLOGY: The wisdom of the wise elderly man, the grandfather, comes together with the hero, grandson, to provide the hero with guidance. We have the hero’s journey in the song “When I Was a Child.”

[Mythology may refer to a traditional story within various story formats. There may be a separation as part of the story. In this case, the hero, Rob Mathes, leaves home to go to school and returns home. There is a call to adventure in the song when the hero is riding the train with his grandfather. Then there is a refusal of the call or questioning. Crossing the first threshold occurs when Rob Mathes, the hero, first experiences symbolically the “road of trials.” In his journey, in the song, a train went off the elevated track. Rob Mathes, the hero, starts to make a major transformation in character and moves from one type of behavior to a more mature person as he begins to make his passage. This is the beginning of the hero’s evolution from being in one place versus being in another place spiritually and physically .]

In mythology, there is often atonement with the father or with a parental figure, in this case, Rob Mathes’ grandfather (mentor), is responsible for helping to guide the hero through the journey. This representation recognizes the importance for Rob Mathes, the grandson, to free himself and mature into adulthood. Transformation or passage is the means for Rob Mathes to overcome the symbol of wearing black and being full of bad news. Rob Mathes is wearing black (metaphor) and is questioning. Rob Mathes asks questions of his grandfather and has doubts. The hero is skeptical.

Rob Mathes’ grandfather sees his grandson as the song states, full of bad news and believes his grandson is need of advice, foresight, and wisdom. The grandfather recognizes it is the grandson’s journey, but the grandfather feels the responsibility, without being judgmental, to help by giving the hero figure an elixir.

MYTHOLOGY

1. WISDOM PROVIDED OR GIVEN BY THE ELDER (Grandfather to Grandson)

He said, “Son, you’re wearing black

and listening to the blues

Who told you you don’t know a thing

Unless you’re full of bad news?”

2. QUESTIONING-SEARCHING-INNOCENCE-TWO VOICES SPEAKING

When I was a child, When I was a child

I spoke like a child, I acted like a child

I thought like a child but I believed like a child

Now that I’m a man, I wonder,

will I ever believe that strongly again?

3. ILLUMINATION-ENLIGHTENMENT-KNOWLEDGE

My Grandfather said, “Son, I’m an old man

and soon [I] will not be here

You don’t think I’ve got a million questions myself.

Murky waters only the Lord might clear.

4. SUPERNATURAL JOURNEY-PASSAGE

But as I grow closer to that meeting by the by

I grow more and more certain

That his arms are open wide.”

5. BOTH VOICES CALLING OUT-PLEADING TO BE SAVED

When I was a child, When I was a child

I spoke like a child, I acted like a child

I thought like a child but I believed like a child

Now that I’m a man, I wonder,

will I ever believe that strongly again?

6. RESCUE-LIBERATION-RELEASE-SAVED

I think I need a hymn. (bridge)

7. CROSSING-THE RETURN THRESHOLD-POINT WHERE ROADS OR TRACKS CROSS-DANGER-RISKS: [Symbolically the elder and hero have lost their life]

When we got down around Bridgeport

He told me ‘bout a train wreck in the 60’s

Train went down off an elevated track

Taking businessmen, students and families

8. ROB MATHES (THE HERO) QUESTIONS THE WISDOM AND DOUBTS-BECOMES KNOWLEDGABLE ON MASTERING THE TWO WORLDS-ASKS QUESTIONS-RECEIVES HIS ANSWER: [He sees both sides and is moved]

and when his story was told

I asked him if he ever thought the heavens were cold

[Alternative]

He said to [tell you the truth] “Son, to tell you the truth,

[Son], I have loved my creator since the days of my youth.”

He said “Son, to tell you the truth,

I have loved my creator since the days of my youth.”

9. TRANSFORMATION TO FREEDOM- RECONCILIATION-RECONCILES THE TWO VOICES: [The hero is transfigured]

When I was a child, When I was a child

I spoke like a child, [I acted like a child]

I thought like a child [I behaved like a child] but I believed like a child

Now that I’m a man, I wonder,

will I ever believe that strongly again?

[will I ever believe that strongly again?]

[will I ever believe that strong?]

I think I need a hymn. (bridge)

The song, “William The Angel” by Rob Mathes may follow a similar analysis as the above song, “When I Was a Child.” Listen and watch “William the Angel” at the SPECIAL FEATURES page in the Performance (7:00 P.M.)/Recital Hall Chapter 7. After watching and listening, follow along again with the below lyrics.

Rob Mathes: Beyond the Music - “William The Angel” by Rob Mathes

William the Angel sits on the yellow line

William the Angel stuck in the middle of the road

Staring out at his broken wing

He sheds a couple of tears

Says "I haven't seen my friends St. Paul and [or] St. Peter in 15 years"

William the Angel sits on the yellow line

Says "God [Lord] are you crazy these humans seem a waste of my time"

Well I've flown round the world, seen many things

The victories and struggles they bear

And I tell them of your love

How you watch

How you listen

They no longer seem to care

This is my prayer

Before you return me to heaven

Let [May] my wing be repaired

Send me to Tokyo, Beirut or London

Doesn't matter to me

I did as [what] I was told

Still, I'd like to save one soul

William the Angel stands on the yellow line

There's now a state trooper wondering

What's on his mind?

Well I've seen both death and destruction sir

The cruelty of nature and of man

But when God points left

Man [You] wanders [wander] right

Follows his [your] own plan

William the Angel walks the straight yellow line

William the Angel says "the answers can be simple sometimes"

Why consider the smile in a baby's eye

When it's wrapped in its mother's arms

And consider the sound and the look of the sky after a violent storm

You've been forewarned

Before he returns me to heaven

[Sir] I’d like to move on

Send me to New York, Toronto or Berlin

Or even the back of your car

Peace and joy are clichés I know

Still, I'd like to save one soul

Just one soul

[The audience joins in the singing of the song with Rob Mathes.]

[Rob Mathes continues singing the song.]

William the Angel sits on the side of the road

The trooper says "Be careful, haven't you [got] some place to go?"

William says "No, I'll just sit here and wait"

While pointing to the remains of his wing

He is offered a ride

But says "Thank you, no thank you, I'm an angel to the [a] king"

And this is what I sing

Before he returns me to heaven

May he fix my wing?

Send me to Mexico City or Cape Town

It doesn't matter at all

There's always hope I was told

Still I'd like to save one soul

Just one soul

[One soul]

[One soul]

[One soul]

[One soul]

[One soul]

[One…soul]

[One…… soul]

I would like to save

Just one soul

Discussion Questions:

Interdisciplinary:

Writing assignments:

Write one page of notes comparing and contrasting the song at SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 8 Performance # 2(9:00 P.M)/Recital Hall ”When I Was a Child” with the song, “William The Angel” at the SPECIAL FEATURES page in the Performance (7:00 P.M.)/Recital Hall Chapter 7.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Kris Kristofferson: is an American singer and songwriter, actor, musician, and performer.

Bob Dylan: is an American singer and songwriter who has been a major figure in music.

Jeff Z: was a student of Rob Mathes, who is referred as a student of his, who became familiar with great artists and songwriters at an early age.

Patty Griffin: is an American singer and songwriter and musician.

Richard Shindell: is an American folk singer and songwriter.

[ Other songwriters and musicians who have been mentioned in many performances by Rob Mathes is Allen Shamblin (songwriter). Jeff Kievit is an outstanding trumpeter. arranger, composer, and producer who Rob Mathes often credits in his performances as giving him counsel to move forward in composing, arranging, musical directing, and producing. ]

Discussion Questions:

How do you feel about mentoring or having a mentor as being a necessary vital force in receiving critical opportunities?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Testimony: is a statement or declaration of fact.

Adoration: is the act of admiring strongly with a fascination and honor for something or someone.

Lennon: referring to John Lennon who was a member of an English rock band The Beatles and who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles.

McCartney: referring to Paul McCartney who was a member of an English rock band The Beatles and who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles.

Dylan: referring to Bob Dylan an American singer and songwriter.

Classical: referring to the study of the art of music and musical traditions.

Orchestration: referring to the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra.

Discussion Questions:

What may generate problems with being a “butterfly” (moving from subject to subject) when involved in discovery and the creative process?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Angela: name of the person asking the question.

(I Wanna To Be) Plastic : a song on the Evening Train album, if still available online, the song can be heard online at www.robmathes.com.

Discussion Questions:

What do you feel are some of the choices and changes that can be made in life to meet certain objectives or creative goals?

Listen and watch at SPECIAL FEATURES page Chapter 8 Performance # 2(9:00 P.M)/Recital Hall “She’s With Me.” Comment on the song.

Listen and watch at SPECIAL FEATURES page Rehearsal Part II “Valentine’s Day [Far Away]” and if still available online, the song can also be heard online at www.robmathes.com. Comment on the song.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Brick Wall: refers to the unrelenting, unyielding, or impenetrable thought process in the creative process of being unable to move forward to solve a problem.

Contradictory: logically opposite and appears irreconcilable.

Kris Kristofferson: is an American singer and songwriter, actor, musician, and performer.

Hone: to make more acute, intense, or effective.

Discussion Questions:

In the creative process, how do you know when you have honed a piece of work enough to the point of feeling it is finished or completed?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Bravado: confident conduct.

Immeasurably: referring to the fact that life may be vastly better when given the opportunity to be creative.

Command: referring to gaining an understanding and becoming knowledgeable of the subject matter involved in the creative process.

Writer’s Block: is a condition usually associated with writing when a writer is unable to produce text.

Harsh: being tough in order to be able to meet a deadline with the quality expected.

Discussion Questions:

How can one know that a piece of work is good enough?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Wheelbarrow : is the next album of Rob Mathes that is in development and is a sequel to the album Evening Train. See www.robmathes.com albums for more information.

Rwanda: the song “Consider It Joy” with a 30 second excerpt is on the STORE page and at the end of this Lecture #2 Part II. The song is about Rob Mathes’ Rwanda experience.

Genocide: is referring to the mass murder of people in the East African nation of Rwanda.

Springsteen: is referring to Bruce Springsteen who was nicknamed "The Boss," and is an American singer and songwriter, performer, and musician.

Discussion Questions:

How do you suggest that the creative writing process differs when you are able to write a story playing many characters versus writing a story that is your own character? If you had to select one or the other to write a story about which one would you select and why?

Listen and watch “William the Angel” at the SPECIAL FEATURES page in the Performance (7:00 P.M.)/Recital Hall Chapter 7 to help you with the above questions.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Tortured: referring to inflicting coercion and undue pressure to the point of compulsion to get things done and meet deadlines or reach a certain accomplishment.

Composition: structure or organization of a musical work that is often or generally called its musical form. The people who practice composition and compositional technique used to create music are called composers.

Christ Came Back and Trashed the Cathedral: is a song written by Rob Mathes that will appear on the Wheelbarrow album that is a sequel to the Evening Train album. For more information, see www.robmathes.com albums.

Desecrating: is to violate the sanctity or to treat disrespectfully, irreverently, violently, or outrageously something that is considered to be sacred and is the act of depriving something of its sacred character. It is the violent disrespectful treatment of that which is held to be sacred or holy by a group or individual.

Horrific: grossly offensive to decency or an intentional act met to cause fear, dread, or terror.

Staunch: steadfast and committed to the point of devotion or being dedicated to a specific purpose.

Devout: dedicated to a religion or to the fulfillment of religious obligations or to a steadfast purpose.

Catholic: believed to be first used to describe the Christian Church in the early 2nd century to emphasize its universal scope since the word catholic also means universal. Also, known as the Roman Catholic Church that is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members worldwide and is one of the oldest religious institutions in the world.

Latter-day Saint: common use of the term may have begun in about 1834 or in about 1838 and in 1852 when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was incorporated by that name in Salt Lake City, Utah. This form is used only by that denomination, and its usage and the abbreviation LDS generally denote only members of that church and are commonly referred to as Mormons derived from the title of the Book of Mormon. The official name of the Salt Lake City headquarters-based church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Ruckus: a disturbance that is sometimes violent or noisy behavior displayed in public.

Horrified: the state of being surprised or result of an unpleasant surprise.

Self-sanctimonious: trying to appear self-righteous or full of goodness.

Pro Tooled: referring to the use of software called Pro Tools for recording and editing in music production, film scoring, computer games, film, and television post production.

Scoops: approaching a sung note from below, rather than attacking it which is essentially starting below the desired note and pitch and then moving to the desired note and pitch.

Crossfire: a Stevie Ray Vaughan song that appeared on his final album In Step that was a number one hit.

Stevie Ray Vaughn: was an influential guitarist, singer, and performer.

Tempo: is the speed or pace of a given piece and is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.

Pro Tools: software for recording and editing in music production, film scoring, computer games, film, and television post production.

Panic At The Disco: is a Grammy-nominated rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2004. The album that is being referred to in the lecture is the album Pretty Odd. The band comprises vocalist, guitarist and pianist Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith. In July 2009, guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker left the band, citing creative differences as the reason for their departure and formed a new band called The Young Veins.

Micro-tuning: used to describe tiny frequency adjustments.

Anti-musical: that which is opposing to music.

Bugged: to be annoyed by something that is bothersome.

Micromanaging: is excessive obsession with the smallest of details that causes a lesser result rather than improved outcomes.

Discussion Questions:

Summarize on one page, the theme or premise regarding Lecture #2 Part II by Rob Mathes.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

What is the theme of the song “Consider It Joy” based on the 30 second excerpt of the song “Consider It Joy” at the STORE page?

Discussion Questions:

Explain what is met by the phrases above from the excerpt of the song “Consider It Joy” based on the 30 second excerpt of the song “Consider It Joy” at the STORE page.

Watch and listen to the excerpt of the song “Consider It Joy” the 30 second excerpt at the STORE page and at the end of Lecture #2 Part II. The song is about Rob Mathes’ Rwanda experience.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

END of Lecture #2 Part II

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Title: Lecture #2 Part III Questions and Answers

Introduction

Rob Mathes answers questions from the audience.

For Lecture #2 Part III, questions (1-12) from the audience are listed below with references and running times from the video and transcription of Lecture #2 Part III. These questions serve as an outline for topic discussion and as a table of contents (1-12) for Lecture #2 Part III. You are able to locate easily and quickly in any sequence (nonlinear) the reference points and running times, those questions (1-12) that are of interest, from Lecture #2 Part III.

Various Questions and Answers

Reference 3 to 11. Running times 00:00:50 to 00:06:25:

Transcription (Annotated):

1. First question: FEMALE VOICE: How do you decide when, what, what’s your “bread-and-butter” [ referring to the main source of earnings that provides a livelihood or focused activity] and what’s your love or something?

Reference 11 to 13. Running times 00:06:25 to 00:09:15:

Transcription (Annotated):

2. Second question: MALE VOICE: Maybe you produced this style that you don’t like. How do you kind of stay unbiased?

Reference 13 to 14. Running times 00:09:15 to 00:12:26:

Transcription (Annotated):

3. Third question: FEMALE VOICE: When you’re singing really soulful music, it’s hard to be, like, vocally healthy. So how do you go without losing your voice when you’re singing like wholeheartedly with all of it?

Reference 14 to 16. Running times 00:12:26 to 00:16:12:

Transcription (Annotated):

4. Fourth question: MALE VOICE: What do you find that comes easier to you, writing classical music for a symphony, or writing a pop song?

Reference 16 to 17. Running times 00:16:12 to 00:18:22:

Transcription (Annotated):

5. Fifth question: MALE VOICE: Yeah, when you write a song, you have the whole thing in your head?

Reference 17 to 18. Running times 00:18:22 to 00:20:23:

Transcription (Annotated):

6. Sixth question: ROB MATHES: [Repeating a question] - What subjects do I find inspirational?

Reference 18 to 19. Running times 00:20:23 to 00:22:27:

Transcription (Annotated):

7. Seventh question: FEMALE VOICE: I’m wondering if you had a daughter who was deaf, would you continue writing music, if so, how would you show your daughter what music… is? [ A female voice is speaking for a student who is signing and asking a question of Mr. Mathes.]

Reference 19 to 20. Running times 00:22:27 to 00:26:10:

Transcription (Annotated):

8. Eighth question: FEMALE VOICE: When you are writing music for other parts, do you use software or something to actually create the sound?

Reference 20 to 21. Running times 00:26:10 to 00:29:20:

Transcription (Annotated):

9. Ninth question: MALE VOICE: How many hours have you spent just on trying to write one song, for like even yourself or for someone else?

Reference 21 to 24. Running times 00:29:20 to 00:33:21:

Transcription (Annotated):

10. Tenth question: FEMALE VOICE: So what have your favorite experiences as a musician been so far?

Reference 24 to 27. Running times 00:33:21 to 00:36:50:

Transcription (Annotated):

11. Eleventh question: MALE VOICE: What are your feelings on modern copyright law and file sharing?

Reference 27 to 28. Running times 00:36:50 to 00:40:33:

Transcription (Annotated):

12. Twelfth question: MALE VOICE: There's been a huge rise with the indie labels, what are your thoughts on it as well?

Conclusion

Reference and running times are provided to allow you to visit the questions in any sequence that is of interest to you without you losing continuity or connections with lecture topics or questions and answers from any part of the lecture.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Graphic is on the screen.

This example for the comments and queries section for the transcriptions is the same example provided in Lecture #1/Clip and is repeated in Lecture #2 Part I, Part II, and Part III: Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks): (Blue) ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC graphics appear often in the lectures and on the ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC website www.robmathesbeyondthemusic.com.

Discussion Questions:

Describe the graphic and the design of the ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC graphic, and why you feel the graphic applies the color blue, the audio/sound, and music in the ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC graphic on the website and design.

Writing assignments:

What do you feel the audio/sound, colors, music, and graphic branding are trying to communicate?

Listen to Rob Mathes’ music in the SPECIAL FEATURES in the Performance (7:00 P.M.)/Recital Hall Chapter 7 and Performance (9:00 P.M.)/Recital Hall Chapter 8 and watch the ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC Trailer in Chapter 12.

What do you feel the trailer is communicating to you with the Logo (eighth note with animation) for BEYOND THE MUSIC MEDIA at the beginning and end of the trailer?

What do you feel is being communicated to the viewer/customer? (More music is available at www.robmathes.com).

Additional comments:

The discussion questions regarding communication and the graphic (abstract thought) engages all disciplines and opinions while also integrating audio/sound and music with video as a means of design and as a universal language.

Additionally, you may want to practice writing a one page artist statement for ROB MATHES: BEYOND THE MUSIC or for a project of personal interest and benefit. [ The word page is used throughout the annotations to refer to any electronic medium or mobile device that you may use to generate a “page.”] You can search the Internet on how to write a one page artist statement. It is often expressed that the reason why people write ten pages is because they did not have time to write one. This is not the situation in all cases. In presenting a topic, subject, report, or other work, you may want to present more than one page to make your case. However, certain letters and query letters are conventionally expected to be one page. People are often too busy and do not have the time to read ten pages or listen to your ten songs. Give the person your best one page query letter or your best one song. You may want to investigate on the Internet, how to write a one page successful query letter and then practice by writing a one page query letter for www.robmathesbeyondthemusic.com or for a project of personal interest and benefit.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

[Dissolve to Black and cut to video.]

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

[ Lecture # 2 Part I, Part II, and Part III provide complete lectures. Lecture #2 Part I, Part II, and Part III are available on the TRANSCRIPTIONS page Chapter 9 . Lecture #1/Clip is available on the TRANSCRIPTIONS page Chapter 5 and provides a 13 minute and 50 second (13:50) sample of the lectures. The TRANSCRIPTIONS page provides the videos and transcriptions of the lectures with annotations to allow for discussions, discovery through music, and further investigation. ]

Disclosure and Reference: The songs “Maggie’s Farm” and “Ring Them Bells” were written by Bob Dylan and are performed by Rob Mathes with Joe Bonadio on percussion. Watch and listen to these songs with Rob Mathes: Beyond the Music in performance on the SPECIAL FEATURES page (9:00 P.M.)/Recital Hall Chapter 8.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

The Topic is QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. Rob Mathes Lecture #2 Part III

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Questions from the audience (1-12) for Rob Mathes were presented at the beginning of the annotations for this Lecture #2 Part III as a table of contents and are presented here, again, for discussion purposes.

Introduction

Rob Mathes answers questions from the audience.

For Lecture #2 Part III, questions (1-12) from the audience are listed below with references and running times from the video and transcription of Lecture #2 Part III. These questions serve as an outline for topic discussion and as a table of contents (1-12) for Lecture #2 Part III. You are able to locate easily and quickly in any sequence (nonlinear) the reference points and running times, those questions (1-12) that are of interest, from Lecture #2 Part III.

Various Questions and Answers

Reference 3 to 11. Running times 00:00:50 to 00:06:25:

Transcription (Annotated):

1. First question: FEMALE VOICE: How do you decide when, what, what’s your “bread-and-butter” [ referring to the main source of earnings that provides a livelihood or focused activity] and what’s your love or something?

Reference 11 to 13. Running times 00:06:25 to 00:09:15:

Transcription (Annotated):

2. Second question: MALE VOICE: Maybe you produced this style that you don’t like. How do you kind of stay unbiased?

Reference 13 to 14. Running times 00:09:15 to 00:12:26:

Transcription (Annotated):

3. Third question: FEMALE VOICE: When you’re singing really soulful music, it’s hard to be, like, vocally healthy. So how do you go without losing your voice when you’re singing like wholeheartedly with all of it?

Reference 14 to 16. Running times 00:12:26 to 00:16:12:

Transcription (Annotated):

4. Fourth question: MALE VOICE: What do you find that comes easier to you, writing classical music for a symphony, or writing a pop song?

Reference 16 to 17. Running times 00:16:12 to 00:18:22:

Transcription (Annotated):

5. Fifth question: MALE VOICE: Yeah, when you write a song, you have the whole thing in your head?

Reference 17 to 18. Running times 00:18:22 to 00:20:23:

Transcription (Annotated):

6. Sixth question: ROB MATHES: [Repeating a question] - What subjects do I find inspirational?

Reference 18 to 19. Running times 00:20:23 to 00:22:27:

Transcription (Annotated):

7. Seventh question: FEMALE VOICE: I’m wondering if you had a daughter who was deaf, would you continue writing music, if so, how would you show your daughter what music… is? [ A female voice is speaking for a student who is signing and asking a question of Mr. Mathes.]

Reference 19 to 20. Running times 00:22:27 to 00:26:10:

Transcription (Annotated):

8. Eighth question: FEMALE VOICE: When you are writing music for other parts, do you use software or something to actually create the sound?

Reference 20 to 21. Running times 00:26:10 to 00:29:20:

Transcription (Annotated):

9. Ninth question: MALE VOICE: How many hours have you spent just on trying to write one song, for like even yourself or for someone else?

Reference 21 to 24. Running times 00:29:20 to 00:33:21:

Transcription (Annotated):

10. Tenth question: FEMALE VOICE: So what have your favorite experiences as a musician been so far?

Reference 24 to 27. Running times 00:33:21 to 00:36:50:

Transcription (Annotated):

11. Eleventh question: MALE VOICE: What are your feelings on modern copyright law and file sharing?

Reference 27 to 28. Running times 00:36:50 to 00:40:33:

Transcription (Annotated):

12. Twelfth question: MALE VOICE: There's been a huge rise with the indie labels, what are your thoughts on it as well?

Conclusion

Reference and running times are provided to allow you to visit the questions in any sequence that is of interest to you without you losing continuity or connections with lecture topics or questions and answers from any part of the lecture.

In previous lectures, Lecture #2 Part I specifically, Rob Mathes gave us six words or steps to facilitate the creative process or journey: Discovery, Obsession, Investigation, Dreaming, Emulating, and Transformation. From Lecture #2 Part I Reference 8 and 9. Running times 00:02:55 to 00:07:12: Transcription (Annotated): these six words were provided by Rob Mathes: Discovery, Obsession, Investigation, Dreaming, Emulating, and Transformation.

[ As mentioned in Lecture #2 Part II, Reference 3. 00:00:14 to 00:01:03 Transcriptions Annotated ON, Rob Mathes commented on the creative process or journey and also reads poetry. The following is an excerpt from his written review at Amazon.com of the movie Vanya on 42nd Street with comments about the movie Dinner with Andre.” Annotated Review: Anyone involved in the arts, the process is everything. Doing good work with all your heart, mind and soul down to the smallest detail is all we can ask of ourselves. Within that there will be artists able to push through and be a part of something transcendent… ]

Discuss the concept of being a “butterfly” and compare being a “butterfly” and deciding what’s your “bread-and-butter” [ referring to the main source of earnings that provides a livelihood or focused activity] with your love (gifts) of something.

When a message is set to music, people listen.

From the 30 second sample of the song “When It All Comes Down” from the STORE page for the opening of Lecture #2 Part III Questions and Answers, what do you feel the song is saying to you?

Butterfly: Rob Mathes is using the mannerism of an insect (butterfly) for comparison with the human trait of lacking focus - personification or anthropomorphism - and is suggesting that an artist needs to eventually become focused, like when a butterfly eventually lands on a flower, to create their own work.

Bread-and-butter: is referring to the main source of earnings that provides a livelihood or focused activity.

Ritalin: is a trademark name of a drug used as part of a treatment program to control symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Facebook : is a social network service launched in 2004.

IMing: refers to instant messaging (IM or MIM) and is a form of real-time direct text-based communication between two or more people using computers, mobile devices, or other devices.

Paramore: is a rock band formed in 2004.

ADD: While ADHD-PI is sometimes still called "attention deficit disorder" (ADD) by the general public, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD - ADHD predominantly inattentive (ADHD-PI or ADHD-I) is a subtype of Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Search the Internet and list what you feel are a few of the advantages and disadvantages of social networking that we need to be aware.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

What do you feel are the advantages and disadvantages of doing, kind of, a little bit of this, and a little bit of that?

Search the Internet and compare your thoughts to Joni Mitchell singing her songs “The Big Yellow Taxi” and “Both Sides Now” with that of Judy Collins singing the Stephen Soundheim song “Send in the Clowns.” Include the folksinger Pete Seeger singing the Malvina Reynolds’ written song “Little Boxes” in your comparison.

Again, when a message is set to music, people listen and discover through music.

[ Side note: In the Joni Mitchell song “The Big Yellow Taxi,” some people suggest that the big yellow taxi is a metaphor for the combination of heavy construction equipment (Dylan cover) with the yellow taxi cab (police car) and a bus (leaving). Since Joni Mitchell is Canadian, police cars at that time in Toronto, Canada were yellow with police lights on the roofs, similar in appearance to a New York City yellow cab. It is also put forward that Joni Mitchell was at a hotel in Hawaii when she wrote the song. As she pulled back the curtains, the views from her hotel window were in contrast to the natural conscious beauty of the rich green distant setting. It is understood that the contradictions of distant natural beauty in separation with the direct destructive forces of the vegetation and the environment prompted her to sit down and write the song. ]

Additional comments

After listening to the songs above, this leads us to the question of how to define a singer/songwriter or writer?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Write one paragraph to yourself comparing and contrasting the 30 second song and video samples on the STORE page of the song “When It All Comes Down” with the song “Consider It Joy.”

Additional comments:

Write one page to yourself why you think discovery through music may or may not be helpful in moving imagination and creative ideas forward into action with value.

Write a one page conversation or discussion of what another person feels toward discovery through music that may or may not be helpful in moving imagination and creative ideas forward into action with value. Write down the conversation or dialogue of what was said to each other to document or to record what you visited about. Example: What did the other person say and what was your response to the person as you both conversed and exchanged ideas about discovery through music. (A face-to-face conversation is recommended that may also be supplemented with social networking conversations and instant messaging.)

How do the words anthropomorphism and personification relate to the use of a “butterfly” in “landing on a flower” to increase our understanding for the need to focus on developing our gifts as well as recognizing our limitations?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Suite of songs : a sequence of musical pieces or songs tied together by a common theme.

Duke Ellington: Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was a composer, pianist, and big band leader. He was a prominent figure in the history of jazz and various other genres with a career that spanned over 50 years.

Bob Marley: was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter.

Deck the Halls: Track # 4 on the Christmas is Coming album at www.robmathes.com is the Rob Mathes arrangement of the song. The original song is a traditional winter festival song and both the traditional and more modern versions of the song can be heard by searching the Internet.

Discussion Questions:

What do you feel motivates arrangers to create different versions of the same song?

Additional comments:

Place a few keywords on one sheet of paper to help you explain why you feel arrangers are motivated to create different versions of the same song.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Bono: refers to Paul Hewson who is known as Bono. An Irish singer and musician, best known for being the main vocalist of the rock band U2.

Grammy: refers to the Grammy (trademark) Awards that is given by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievement in the music industry.

That’s Life: is a song that was written by Dean Kay Thompson and Kelly Gordon for singer Frank Sinatra and released in a 1966 album by the same name. The song expresses fluctuating good fortune and hardship.

A person may surpass others by pushing through creatively and then be a part of something to the greatest possible degree - transcendent. What aspects do you think exists in an individual to allow for the opportunity to accomplish to the greatest possible degree?

Discussion Questions:

What do you think motivates you as a person to use your gifts as well as your limitations, to the greatest degree possible? Several of these words may trigger ideas: [Discovery, Obsession, Investigation, Dreaming, Emulating, and Transformation].

Interdisciplinary:

Writing assignments:

There have been many great songwriters throughout history and in the recent years. The songwriters plant the musical seeds of their time. Listen on the Internet to the song “Last Thing On My Mind,” written by Tom Paxton and sung by Neil Diamond and compare that song to Dan Fogelberg’s “Leader of the Band.” Comment on the musical compositions and arrangements as well as the singing and writing styles.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Genre: in a very general manner identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that is distinguished from other types of music.

Evening Train: is the name of the album by Rob Mathes that contains the title track to the album “Evening Train.” Rob Mathes’ music can be heard at www.robmathes.com.

Gospel-inflected blues: examples may be on the Night Beat album by Sam Cooke in the songs “You Gotta Move” and “Get Yourself Another Fool.” Also, you can feel the R&B and jazz harmony inflection with a slow-shuffle groove and blues presence. Samples of the song “You Gotta Move” and “Get Yourself Another Fool” by Sam Cooke may be available by searching the Internet. Other artists that you may want to investigate are Al Green, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, and Bettye LaVette

Jazz harmony: is the theory and practice of how chords are used in jazz music. Artists that you may want to investigate are Keith Jarrett, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, Pat Metheny, John Coltrane, Benny Carter, and Wynton Marsalis to mention a few. These musicians will lead you to investigate so many other great jazz musicians and jazz vocalists both female and male.

Classical music: referring to the study of the art of music and musical traditions.

Song craft: is writing the words (lyrics) combined with musical structural form with a tempo, rhythm, and melody that can turn into a song.

Dylan: is referring to Bob Dylan an American singer and songwriter who has been a major figure in music for decades.

Joni Mitchell: is a Canadian musician, songwriter, and painter whose work is highly respected both by critics and fellow musicians.

Investigate: to inquire into a situation or problem and examine thoroughly to resolve an issue usually resulting in learning and discovery. Rob Mathes gave us six words or steps to facilitate the creative process: Discovery, Obsession, Investigation, Dreaming, Emulating, and Transformation of which investigation is one of the steps to help facilitate the creative process.

Rob Mathes reassures us that investigation is an important step in the creative process, and he mentions that no one can tell you how but gives us encouragement to investigate, and live in these things that you love, and then you'll figure it out.

Since we understand there are no guarantees that we will be able to push through and be a part of something transcendent, how do the six steps facilitate the creative process possibly increasing our probabilities to live in the things we love? From Lecture #2 Part I Reference 8 and 9. Running times 00:02:55 to 00:07:12: Transcription (Annotated): these six words or steps were provided by Rob Mathes: Discovery, Obsession, Investigation, Dreaming, Emulating, and Transformation.

Writing assignments:

Write one page to yourself on how you feel you can increase your probabilities to live in the things you love.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

ABAB and CB: Rob Mathes is referring to verse–chorus form or ABA form that may be combined with other variations that can also be used such as the twelve bar blues form. The A section or verse forms the main melody, and the B section is sometimes mentioned as the bridge.

Radiohead: an English alternative rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985.

Death Cab for Cutie: is an American rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997.

Discussion Questions:

Emulating is one of the six steps of the creative process in the creative journey for an artist or for many people in developing a specialty or skill. How do you feel emulating enables or does not enable the creative process, specialty, or skill?

Rob Mathes is referring to emulating as one of the six steps in the creative process or creative journey: study to the point of “almost stealing” and make a “clear decision to leave something behind.” From a previous lecture, Rob Mathes suggests that we be mature enough not to “rip the work off” see Reference 21. Running times 00:28:39 to 00:29:45 Transcription (Annotated): TRANSCRIPTIONS page Lecture #2 Part II.

Write one page about emulating and the ethical dilemmas (judgment) associated with the process or need for disclosing and referencing sources that may have helped you in creating a piece of work. List some of the elements that you feel make referencing possible as well as the constraints that may make disclosing or referencing difficult or impossible?

Additional comments:

Please comment on the following statements: Proof reading for errors in a document or for spelling and grammatical errors is a form of editing or auditing to verify the correctness of a document.

Auditing is a form of assessment of financial information, operational activities, and compliance with established standards, polices, and procedures. An editor and an auditor exercise judgment in their work. Compare and contrast an editor’s responsibilities with an auditor’s responsibilities.

Explain where a few of the activities and procedures of an editor and auditor are similar and where they are different. Additionally, compare and contrast the functions of an editor and an auditor with film editing and an audio mix engineer (audio) in post-production work.

Searching the Internet may help you in making your comparison by investigating the essential functions of an editor, auditor, film editing, and mix engineer.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Dylan: is referring to Bob Dylan an American singer and songwriter who has been a major figure in music for decades.

Police : was an English rock band from London, formed in 1977 with Sting as lead vocalist.

Ghost In the Machine: was the fourth album by The Police, released in 1981.

Synchronicity: was the fifth studio album by The Police released in 1983.

Story songs: many different song structures and forms that are written in various musical story arrangements that may include a narrative about a particular character or where the writer or singer plays a particular character. The musical story arrangement sometimes speaks to a particular situation, emotion, event, child, animal, or person as well as a combination of these characters or emotions.

Joni Mitchell: is a Canadian musician, songwriter, and painter whose work is highly respected both by critics and fellow musicians.

Discussion Questions:

Listen to the song and watch the video sample of the song “Tiny Hands” on the STORE page written and performed by Rob Mathes and featuring Joe Bonadio on percussion.

From the 30 second sample of the song “Tiny Hands” on the STORE page, what do you feel is the theme of the song and what is the song saying to you? (For further investigation, the lyrics are available at ALBUMS page linked to www.robmathes.com on the Evening Train album art (downloadable).

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Panic of the Disco : is a Grammy-nominated rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2004. The band comprises vocalist, guitarist and pianist Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith. In July 2009, guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker left the band, citing creative differences as the reason for their departure and formed a new band called The Young Veins.

Alternative music: a term that is widely used to classify music that is being listened to and is suggested as a music listening category that does not fit into the mainstream. The problem of classifying music as mainstream or non-mainstream is that at various times music that was classified as alternative at a particular time may move into the mainstream.

Radiohead: an English alternative rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985.

Stravinsky: is referring to Igor Stravinsky who is widely acknowledged as one of the most important and influential composers of 20th century music. He achieved wide notoriety and impressed fellow composers and audiences with three ballets: Firebird, Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring.

Ryan Ross: is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter known for his work as the lead guitarist, backup vocalist, and songwriter for the band Panic At The Disco. He is one of the founding members of the band The Young Veins.

Brendon Urie: is an American musician and the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and pianist of the band Panic At The Disco.

Pretty Odd: is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band Panic At The Disco. The album was recorded in the Studio at the Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada with additional production at Abbey Road Studios in London, England. Rob Mathes was the producer and the album was released March 2008.

Self-critical: is being critical of oneself in a positive manner to recognize one's faults and weaknesses to allow one to benefit others through a realistic-self-assessment to make possible corrections for improvement.

Selfless: allowing oneself to give attention and to take action in a manner that contributes and benefits others by sacrificing one’s own interest for the good of others in a piece of work to complete a project. The selfless behavior may be in agreement with one’s own self-interest.

Discussion Questions:

Select a picture, photograph, or painting and write one to three paragraphs describing the picture, photograph, or paining. Read your writing to another person or group of people and have them draw or sketch, to the best of their ability, the picture, photograph, or painting that you described in your written portrayal.

Searching the Internet may help you in your discovery and investigation.

Listen to the song “Vincent (Starry Starry Night)” by Don McLean that is a tribute to the 19th century Dutch painter, Vincent van Gogh.

Listen to Eva Cassidy sing the song “Fields of Gold: written by Sting.

Listen to Nat King Cole singing the song “Autumn Leaves” written by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston.

For abstraction, listen to Joni Mitchell sing “If” a poem by Rudyard Kipling that Joni Mitchell set to music.

For cross culture abstraction, listen possibly to Edith Piaf (French), Paganini, Mahler, Bach, Beethoven, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky or music of your choice that inspires you to write in a way that describes a picture, photograph, or painting.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Panic of the Disco: is a Grammy-nominated rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2004. The album that is being referred to in the lecture is the album Pretty Odd. The band comprises vocalist, guitarist and pianist Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith. In July 2009, guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker left the band, citing creative differences as the reason for their departure and formed a new band called The Young Veins.

Beat Detective: is a (proprietary) tool for manipulating and editing audio material that is rhythmic in nature.

Micromanaged: is excessive obsession with the smallest of details that causes a lesser result rather than improved outcomes.

Panic boys: referring to members of the Panic of the Disco band.

Brendon: refers to Brendon Urie an American musician and the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and pianist of the band Panic At The Disco.

Pro Tools: software (proprietary) tool for recording and editing in music production, film scoring, computer games, film, and television post production.

Ryan: is referring to Ryan Ross an American guitarist, singer and songwriter known for his work as the lead guitarist, backup vocalist, and songwriter for the band Panic At The Disco. He is one of the founding members of the band The Young Veins.

Discussion Questions:

Why do you feel Rob Mathes is concerned about making sure, in his opinion, that the correct use is being made of software for editing music and that we are not micromanaging everything in a musical recording?

Additional comments:

Group writing assignments:

Write and discuss in one to three paragraphs your three musical preferences (tastes) and why.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Vocal coaches: are trainers and teachers who instruct singers on how to improve their singing technique, develop their voice, and prepare for a performance.

Study voice: singing when done with proper vocal technique is an integrated and coordinated act that effectively coordinates the physical processes of singing.

Breathing from the diaphragm: breathing support stages must be under conscious control by the singer until they become conditioned reflexes. Vibrato occurs naturally, and is the result of proper breath support and a relaxed vocal apparatus.

R&B music: stands for rhythm and blues and is a genre or category of music marketed as popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term seems to have been originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, eventually, evolving into its own musical genre.

Black Box Theater: usually a large square room with black walls. The black box is also considered by many to be a place where performances occur with the most human closeness and with the minimum amount of focus on technical elements.

A's above middle C: referring to the vocal range that may feel the most comfortable.

Roxanne: is a hit song by the rock band The Police written by Sting who was the lead singer in the band and credits the drummer Stewart Copeland for suggesting the final rhythmic form. The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra reinterprets the song “Roxanne” as classical symphonic composition. The song is Track # 6 on Sting’s Symphonicities album that was produced by Rob Mathes and Sting.

Sting: refers to English musician, singer and songwriter, activist, actor and philanthropist. Prior to starting his solo career, he was the principal songwriter; lead singer and bassist of the rock band The Police. Sting began his Sting Symphonicity Tour of North America and Europe in 2010. The tour features many of Sting's songs performed with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, as recorded on the Symphonicities album. The album is a companion piece to the tour, in which Sting, performing with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, reinterprets the songs as classical symphonic compositions. Symphonicities was produced by Rob Mathes and Sting, mixed by Elliot Scheiner and Claudius Mittendorfer, and mastered by Scott Hull. As of November 2010, the album had sold over 600,000 copies worldwide.

High C: singers within a voice type or range may be able to sing somewhat higher or lower.

Message in a Bottle: is a 1979 song by The Police from their second album.

Vowels work: finding specific vowels that may enable a singer to open the voice to reach a certain note.

Opens the voice: referring to the techniques that are used for preparing the voice for singing and performing or for reaching a particular note or range.

Gigs: referring to live performances by musicians or other performers. The word or term is often used to express in the broader sense, by shortening of the word engagements, as in a place for appointments or for activities.

Sets: is referring to the songs or number of songs that are played in a particular order within a set of songs at a location, gig, or performance versus setting a poem to music, composing music to fit a given text or to write words to fit a given melodic line.

Incalculable: immeasurable or not likely to be able to predict or calculate to the point of being impossible to foresee.

Resilient: referring to the voice and its ability to recover quickly and resume its original condition.

When It All Comes Down: the song written by Rob Mathes that opens Lecture #2 Part III and is planned to be a song that will be recorded and be a track on the Wheelbarrow album. The sample video of the song and performance “When It All Comes Down” was uploaded for the lecture opening from the 30 second sample at the STORE page.

G: referring to one of several keys in the song “When It All Comes Down” that brings Rob Mathes’ voice up to a G a lot.

Gravel: referring to using voice to sing with a harsh, rasping, or grating sound.

False vocal effects: is referring to the use of the voice when speaking or using the singing voice to generate sounds such as growling or gravelly sounds for voice emphasis when singing a song for example by screaming or using harsh growling effects.

Gravelly sounds: usually a deep and rough sounding voice or a rough quality, rasping, or grating sound in some singers' voices.

Range of your voice: is within the framework of singing as a characteristic for classifying a singing voice into voice types.

Road muscle: is the use of exercises and healthy maintenance to keep a strong singing voice to avoid damage to voice by using warm versus cold water and keeping the throat moist as well as using amplification in order to maintain a strong singing voice through the many on-the-road performances.

Discussion Questions:

Maintaining a healthy voice is important to a singer. Compare and contrast the healthy concerns of a singer with the concerns associated with maintaining a healthy universal earth environment and your own health.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Leonard Slatkin: a conductor and composer.

Commissioned: is a type of contract that is for performance or creation of a specific work.

Orchestras: is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. A full-size orchestra (about 100 players) may sometimes be called a "symphony orchestra" or "philharmonic orchestra" (for instance, the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra). The actual number of musicians employed in a particular performance may vary according to the work being played and the size of the venue. A leading chamber orchestra might employ as many as 50 musicians; some may be much smaller.

Boulez: is referring to Pierre Boulez a composer, conductor, and writer.

Minimalism: a category of music that is also referred to as minimalist music. In the arts and in architecture, the term can describe various forms of art and design. In the visual arts and music, the art or piece of work is reduced down to its most fundamental features. It also describes a trend in design and architecture where the subject is reduced to its necessary elements. Literary minimalism is characterized by an economy with words and a focus on surface description. The poem “The Red Wheelbarrow.” by William Carlos Williams may serve as an example of literary minimalism. Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Wall) in Washington, D.C. may also serve as an example of the certain aspects of minimalist design and architectural.

Scriabin: is referring to Alexander Scriabin who was a Russian composer and pianist.

Rimsky-Korsakov: was a Russian composer.

The Firebird: is a 1910 ballet by Igor Stravinsky. The ballet is based on Russian folk tales of the magical glowing bird of the same name that is both a blessing and a curse. This work has found its way into popular influences such as in Disney animated films.

Tchaikovsky: was a Russian composer.

Petrushka: is a ballet with music by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It is a story of a Russian traditional puppet, Petrushka who is made of straw and with a bag of sawdust as his body, but who comes to life and develops emotions.

The Rite of Spring: is a ballet with music by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky.

Stravinsky: is referring to Igor Stravinsky who is widely acknowledged as one of the most important and influential composers of 20th century music. He achieved wide notoriety and impressed fellow composers and audiences with three ballets: Firebird, Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring.

Cerebral: appealing to intellectual appreciation and the thought process associated with a piece of work.

Discussion Questions:

Divergent thinking is a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. Divergent thinking is often combined with convergent thinking which follows a particular set of logical steps to arrive at a solution. Hopefully, the solution has value.

Some researchers have found that musicians are more adept at utilizing both hemispheres and more likely to use divergent thinking in their thought processes. Many people suggest that one aspect of creativity is the process of having original or innovative ideas that have value. Also, there may be a creative activity that has value to you personally. You create because the creative process has value for your “own desk.”

Additional comments:

Having a sense of devoting time to a creative project such as writing a novel or essay that you think will sell but does not sell can change your motivation as a writer. If a work or artist is not marketed correctly or the novel or essay is not considered valued by the market place, this can also change your motivation as a writer. It is not always clear that the creative process will give the artist, engineer, business person, or other creative person the results that are desired, yet, we often take the time, if we have the opportunity of time available, to create because it enriches our lives.

Why is it difficult to forecast, predict, and know exactly what creative aspects need to be considered for intrinsic, extrinsic, practical, or monetary value?

How may having an opportunity or having a mentor increase the possibility of being marketed correctly?

What would you advise a creative person to do in order to have their work to be considered to have value?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Leonard Slatkin: a conductor and composer.

Exploratory harmonies: investigating unique musical ingredients through the creative process while discovering and learning more through music.

12 Tone Music: is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg. The technique orders the 12 notes of the chromatic scale, forming a row or series and providing a unifying basis for a composition's melody, harmony, structural progressions, and variations. (For more information and to investigate and "dig deeper" in areas of interest, search the Internet).

Schoenberg: is referring to Arnold Schoenberg a composer who was among the major creative innovators of 20th century musical thought.

Baird: is referring to Tadeusz Baird who was a Polish composer.

Wagner: is referring to Richard Wagner [pronounced (vagner) for the German pronunciation] who was a German composer, conductor, theater director and essayist primarily known for his operas.

Music of dissonance: is the quality of sounds that may seem "unstable."

Lennon: referring to John Lennon who was a member of an English rock band The Beatles and who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles.

McCartney: referring to Paul McCartney who was a member of an English rock band The Beatles and who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles.

Joni Mitchell: is a Canadian musician, songwriter, and painter whose work is highly respected both by critics and fellow musicians.

Bob Dylan: is an American singer and songwriter who has been a major figure in music.

What do you feel is your creative gift in writing and why?

Is your gift in journal writing, cover letter job applications, effective proposals for project approvals or funding, effective sales proposals, resume writing, biographies, short stories, songwriting, essays, poetry, fiction, non-fiction or other writing categories?

Group Discussion Question and Group writing assignment:

Explain the reasoning behind deciding on which category or categories that you are more gifted as a writer. Use both divergent thinking and convergent thinking to generate the reasoning and solution for your choice or choices.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Finger fish: is an effort to catch a fish with your hands and is a form of expression [finger fishing] where one is trying different things to see if something may work or trying to inadvertently discover an idea that by chance turns out, at best, to be an unlikely stroke of luck.

Harmony: is the use of simultaneous pitches, tones, notes, or chords and generally sounds pleasant to the ear.

Composer: is a person who puts together or creates music for a musical composition.

Songwriter: is a person who writes both the lyrics and the music to a song as compared to a person who writes the music who may be called a composer or person who writes the words who may be called a lyricist.

Myron Fink: was on the faculty of Hunter College of the City University of New York. He also taught at the Curtis Institute of Music and at the State University of New York College at Purchase. As a pedagogue (teacher who teaches in a dogmatic manner) his areas of interest are composition, analysis, harmony, and counterpoint.

Bach: refers to Johann Sebastian Bach who was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist best known during his lifetime as an organist, organ consultant, and composer of organ works.

Counterpoint: refers to the interweaving of melodic lines, and polyphony. Polyphony in music is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony). Counterpoint in music is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent and involves the writing of musical lines that sound very different and move independently from each other but sound harmonious when played simultaneously. (For more details and further explanation, search the Internet).

Lyrical idea: inspiration or inkling that stirs an emotion to write a song about how the songwriter may feel. Often, the songwriter or writer wants to express the relationship, in a song in written form, with a style of writing and music that connects the emotions and feelings with an event, activity, or endeavor.

Additional comments:

Lecture #2 Part II, Reference 5. Running times running 00:01:18 to 00:01:55:

Transcription (Annotated):

[Percy and Books by Mary Oliver]

Percy does not like it when I read a book.

He puts his face over the top if it and moans.

He rolls his eyes, sometimes he sneezes.

The sun is up, he says, and the wind is down.

The tide is out, and the neighbor’s dogs are playing.

But Percy, I say, Ideas! The elegance of language!

The insights, the funniness, the beautiful stories

that rise and fall and turn into strength, or courage.

Books? says Percy. I ate one once, and it was enough.

Let’s go.

Discussion Questions:

In writing, we need to be able to communicate in a manner that will allow our audience to understand what we are trying to say. In the poem “Percy and Books” by Mary Oliver, ideas and the elegance of language along with insights and funniness are speaking to beautiful stories that can be found in books.

What are a few difficulties that you may encounter as a writer in connecting your emotions and feelings with an event, activity, or endeavor?

What are a few solutions that you can use to overcome your writing difficulties?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Tony Anderson: Rob Mathes is referring to the name of his English teacher who encouraged Rob Mathes to write on a topic that he cared about.

The Sun Also Rises: novel written by Ernest Hemingway based on Hemingway's own trip to Spain.

Hemingway: refers to Ernest Hemingway who was an American author and Journalist.

How do you select a writing topic that you care about and balance the emotions you are feeling with researched facts so as not to become overly sentimental or sappy in your writing?

Watch and listen to the song “Consider It Joy” based on the 30 second excerpt of the song “Consider It Joy” at the STORE page. This song concerns Rob Mathes’ trip to Rwanda shortly after the genocide. How does the song by Rob Mathes relate to Hemingway’s writing of the novel, The Sun Also Rises?

Additional comments:

Ernest Hemingway in his novel The Sun Also Rises and Rob Mathes in his song “Consider It Joy” connect their writings with the emotions and feelings to an event, activity, or endeavor.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Pause and repeat and listen to the above lecture twice at:

18. 00:20:23 to 00:22:27:

Transcription (Annotated):

Additional comments:

Rob Mathes states, “Writing music is, is the greatest privilege and joy and if you said to me, you can go win 7 Grammys next year as a producer of music and writing arrangements for somebody else, but you can no longer – but the price you pay for that for becoming a millionaire and winning all the Grammys in the world, is that you have to stop writing music, I would say no, cause writing music is, is life for me.”

Discussion Questions:

What can you imagine your passion being to be able to state that something is life for you and why?

Additional comments:

We can often anticipate what we would do or how we would behave under certain circumstances but events or situations may change our mind in the future or make it difficult to make a decision.

Discussion Questions:

Interdisciplinary:

Writing assignments:

Why do you think we can tell ourselves what we need to do but when the time comes to take action, it is sometimes difficult to take action regarding the decision that needs to be made?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Software: files that allow for manipulation of the music score for instrument changes, transposition, and midi playback. [ It is suggested that care needs to be exercised in using different types of digital software in composing and transferring music from the software product files to the live sound desired by a real orchestra or musician. ]

Copyist: produces meticulous reproductions from a composer or arranger's original work. There are many copyists in the business, but at the uppermost echelon, it is a very concentrated profession. There is low patience for mistakes and defects are not permitted. Deadlines cannot be missed and there is forever competition. The handwritten and computer-based (use of software) music copying requires a foremost comprehension of musical notation, musical distinctive forms, music theory, and the understanding of normal treatments of numerous musical forms with an obsessive attention to detail and a comprehensive knowledge of present and historical practices. Since meeting deadlines and the need for perfection is an absolute necessity with the utmost quality, it is not unusual for a composer or arranger to have a wearisome association with her or his music copyist.

Scores: is a term for sheet music, and there are several types of scores such as film score, lead sheet, conductor’s score, and piano-vocal score to name a few types of scores.

Symphony orchestra: is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. A full-size orchestra (about 100 players) may sometimes be called a "symphony orchestra" or "philharmonic orchestra" (for instance, the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra). The actual number of musicians employed in a particular performance may vary according to the work being played and the size of the venue. A leading chamber orchestra might employ as many as 50 musicians; some may be much smaller.

Demoing: is referring to a recording or use of various types of software illustrating the abilities of a composer or musician. [ Again, it is suggested that c are needs to be exercised in using different types of digital software in composing and transferring music from the software product files to the live sound desired by a real orchestra or musician. ]

Sampler: is an electronic musical instrument with music sample files stored in digital memory for quick access to the information, play-back, and manipulation. [Also, care has to be exercised when using a sampler in composing.]

Flute range: standard concert flute is pitched in the key of C and has a range of three octaves starting from middle C which means that the concert flute is one of the highest common orchestral instruments, with the exception of the piccolo.

Flute line: flute sounds in an orchestra.

Warm strings: the heartfelt string sounds in an orchestra.

Voice the strings: referring to the sound of the strings.

Mixing on the computer: referring to the audio sounds from instruments and voice that are placed within computer software on a computer to hear a musical recording or production.

Juilliard: is a private conservatory offering programs through the Divisions of Dance, Drama, and Music from its campus at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Top of the range: for a musical instrument the distance from the lowest to the highest pitch it can play and for a vocal range it is simply the span from the lowest to the highest note a particular voice can produce. It is also helpful in determining singing voice types. It is more specifically and usefully defined in a singing voice as the vocal range that spans the "musically useful" pitches that a singer can produce. It is also used to identify the general vocal ranges associated with a voice type such as a soprano voice that maybe within the voice type that sings higher or lower with the soprano range.

Synthesizer: is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies.

Duck call: a device that simulates the sound of a duck in the wild that is in the form of a device that is similar to a whistle that a duck hunter blows into in order to attract ducks by its harsh quacking sound.

Woodwind: is a musical instrument which produces sound when the player blows air against a sharp edge or through a reed, causing the air within its resonator to vibrate such as in a flute, piccolo, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, or saxophone.

Orchestra: is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. A full-size orchestra (about 100 players) may sometimes be called a "symphony orchestra" or "philharmonic orchestra" (for instance, the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra). The actual number of musicians employed in a particular performance may vary according to the work being played and the size of the venue. A leading chamber orchestra might employ as many as 50 musicians; some may be much smaller.

Strings: is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. Some string instruments have keyboards attached which are manipulated by the player, meaning they do not have to pay attention to the strings directly. The most familiar example is the piano, where the keys control the felt hammers by means of a complex mechanical action. [Click on PHOTO BOOK page Chapter 3 to view felt hammer and strings.] A few other string instruments are the guitar, violin, viola, cello, double bass, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, and harp.

Plaintive: sounding sad and mournful or wailing as in expressing sorrow or melancholy.

Ned Rorem: is a Pulitzer prize-winner American composer who has written extensively about music.

Beethoven: referring to Ludwig van Beethoven who was a German composer and pianist who eventually lost his hearing.

Ninth Symphony: in D minor, OP. 125 is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven that was completed in 1824. The symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire. It is considered by critics to be one of Beethoven's masterpieces.

Missa Solemnis: is generally considered to be one of the Ludwig van Beethoven’s supreme achievements. Together with Bach's Mass in B Minor, it is the most significant mass setting of the common practice period.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir: is a Grammy-and Emmy-award-winning, 360-member, all-volunteer choir.

B flat, A, B flat: speaking to the keys.

Sopranos: is a singing voice with a vocal range using scientific pitch notation where middle C = C₄ from approximately middle C (C₄) to "high A" (A₅). In choral music - vocal line is not necessarily based on voice type. The soprano voice two octaves above middle C or higher is in operatic music.

Tessitura: generally describes the most musically acceptable and comfortable range for a given singer. It is the range in which a given type of voice presents its best-sounding texture or timbre and is not decided by the extremes of its range, but rather by which part of the range that is most used. Verdi's Otello is a good example of the need for a voice capable of substantial power throughout the length of a performance of the opera.

Discussion Questions:

Search the Internet and select, watch, and listen to one or more of the following: Ninth Symphony in D minor, OP. 125 is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven that was completed in 1824; Missa Solemnis is generally considered to be one of the Ludwig van Beethoven’s supreme achievements; or Verdi's Otello an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi.

Write three paragraphs or one page to yourself about the experience of intently listening to your selection of music and explain what you felt listening to the music.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Psalms: word translates as "song" or "hymns" from both Hebrew and Greek.

Psalms set: writing music for or to the Psalms text.

Musical setting: writing or composing for text or to place or arrange music in relation to something, such as setting music to a text of a poem or text of the Psalms.

Exploratory harmonically: two or more notes sounding and working for some agreement with each other. Then determining what may constitute agreement together with the interaction of pitches that can be understood in vastly different ways.

Snottiest: used as an informal spoken language (colloquially) or slang to mean someone who is arrogant, or rude to the point of being annoying.

Tonal and melodic: aggregate associations and relationships that are supportive within the musical piece.

Pop: a term that originally derives from an abbreviation of "popular" is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented towards a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes. Pop music has absorbed influences from most other forms of popular music but as a genre is particularly associated with the rock and roll and rock style of music.

Harmonic rhythm: is the rate at which the chords change.

Chords: in music is any set of notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously.

Bar: is used in musical notation or is a measure that is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. The term beat or beats in music refers to the basic unit of time in music. In popular music and in present times, a general reference to the term beat has also come to mean a groove as in a drum-rhythm. The Sound-Check on the SPECIAL FEATURES page at Chapter 6 may serve as an illustration of bar and beat.

When It All Comes Down: is a song written by Rob Mathes that will be recorded for the album Wheelbarrow. A 30 second sample and video of the piano performance of the song can be heard on the STORE page.

Tweak: is a minor or small modifications intended to improve and fine-tune a work, writing, system, or project.

B flat: referring or consisting of the pitch as in lower in pitch. The sound of the note called B flat provides a sound that can generate the oddest behavior. (For more information, search the Internet).

Melody: a succession of musical tones.

Choral piece: is the music written specifically for a choir to perform.

Bank on: to expect or rely with confidence.

Hip: is a slang term meaning fashionably current or possibly in general nonspecific terms as in describing something or someone as cool.

The Shawshank Redemption: is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freemen. Adapted from the author Stephen King novella Rita Haworth and Shawshank Redemption, the film portrays the story of Andy Dufresne, a banker who spends nearly two decades in Shawshank State Prison for the murder of his wife and her lover despite his claims of being innocent. Despite a lukewarm box office reception, the film received favorable reviews from critics, multiple award nominations, and has since enjoyed a remarkable life on cable television.

Discussion Questions:

Interdisciplinary:

Writing assignments:

Write one page of notes discussing what you enjoy writing about as well as your passion that you feel is matching your gifts and talents. List the actions that are convincing you that your passion for an activity matches your gifts and talents.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Sting: refers to English musician, singer and songwriter, activist, actor and philanthropist. Prior to starting his solo career, he was the principal songwriter; lead singer and bassist of the rock band The Police. Sting began his Sting Symphonicity Tour of North America and Europe in 2010. The tour features many of Sting's songs performed with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, as recorded on the Symphonicities album. The album is a companion piece to the tour, in which Sting, performing with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, reinterprets the songs as classical symphonic compositions. Symphonicities was produced by Rob Mathes and Sting, mixed by Elliot Scheiner and Claudius Mittendorfer, and mastered by Scott Hull. As of November 2010, the album had sold over 600,000 copies worldwide.

Bruce Springsteen: who was nicknamed "The Boss," and is an American singer and songwriter, performer, and musician.

Kennedy Center Honors: is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. The Honors were created by George Stevens, Jr., and the late Nick Vanoff. Roger Stevens, the founding chairman of the Kennedy Center asked George Steven’s Jr. (no relation), to have an event at the Kennedy Center. George Steven’s Jr., remains involved as producer and co-writer for the Honors with Rob Mathes as music director.

The Rising: is the twelfth studio album by American recording artist Bruce Springsteen released in 2002 and the song, “The Rising” is the title track. The song was performed at the Kennedy Center Honors and by Bruce Springsteen and The Joyce Garrett Singers at We Are One, The Obama Inauguration Concert at the Lincoln Memorial both events were musically arranged and directed by Rob Mathes.

Re-harm: is referring to the short version of the word re-harmonization that is to provide musical interest or variety as in chord substitution and re-harmonization that can be done in a variety of different ways.

Discussion Questions:

Write three paragraphs to yourself on some of the greatest experiences in your life and why?

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Uncanny: familiar yet surpassing and a feeling of somewhat normal circumstances under certain conditions or beyond what is normal and expected that can also, at times, result in a feeling of it being pleasingly comfortable yet amazing as in an uncanny singing voice.

Celebrities: is a person who is easily recognized in a society or culture as having a reputation and is someone who gets media attention for example in acting and popular music or another profession such as sports. Much of the publicity is due in large part to the massive scope and scale of the media and sometimes social networking. Celebrity does not always come to certain professionals nor do all individuals seek celebrity even though they are of equal in professional importance to a particular business or industry.

Freak me out: cause to be in a heightened emotional state, such as that of fear or excitement.

Discussion Questions:

Write one paragraph to yourself about a situation or thing that caused you to “freak out” and provided you with a feeling of fear or excitement. Explain in a second paragraph how you feel you handled the situation or you should have handled the situation. In a third paragraph, draw a conclusion to the circumstances.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Colleague: an associate as used in a profession and is often used to refer to a co-worker.

Beyoncé: is an American Pop, R&B, singer and songwriter, actress, and fashion designer.

America the Beautiful: is one of the most beloved and popular of the many American patriotic songs. Singer Beyoncé closed out the Obama Inauguration Concert at the Lincoln Memorial, We Are One, with the song “America the Beautiful” at the Lincoln Memorial musically directed and arranged by Rob Mathes.

Inauguration: is a formal ceremony to mark the beginning of a leader's term of office.

Obama’s Inauguration at Lincoln Memorial: was a public celebration of the then forthcoming inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States at the Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on January 18, 2009. The event was musically directed by Rob Mathes of the Kennedy Center Honors. George Stevens Jr., producer said, "There's a sense of history about it. Much of the music will be in the context of that history.

Conducting: is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble or orchestra. Conductors of choirs or choruses are sometimes referred to as a choral director, chorus master, or choirmaster, particularly for choirs associated with an orchestra. Other terms are used for a conductor under various circumstances such as a music director, chief conductor, bandmaster, drum major, or maestro (master).

Springsteen: referring to Bruce Springsteen who was nicknamed "The Boss." He is an American singer and songwriter who records and tours.

Tony Bennett: is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz.

Big band arrangement: music played by big bands is highly "arranged" or prepared in advance and notated on sheet music. The music is traditionally called "charts". Improvised solos may be played only when called for by the arranger. The big band is a type of musical ensemble that was associated with jazz, a style of music which became popular during the Swing Era from the early 1930s until the late 1940s. Big bands have evolved with the times and continue to this day. A big band typically consists of approximately 12 to 25 musicians and contains saxophones, trumpets, trombones, singers (vocalists) and a rhythm section. The terms jazz band, jazz ensemble, stage band, jazz orchestra, society band, and dance band are often used to describe a specific type of big band. Searching the Internet for the words big band will allow you to further investigate this topic as well as searching Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Wynton Marsalis, Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman as well as Duke Ellington.

k.d. Lang: is a singer and songwriter, performer, and actress. She gives her name in lowercase letters, with the given names in initials that are tightened to lower case letters and periods with no space between these initials.

Diana Krall: is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer who tours throughout the world.

Modulate: is most commonly the act or process of changing or varying the pitch, intensity, or tone of one's voice or a musical instrument as in moving from one key or tonality to another by means of a melody or chord progression.

Vocal arranging: the main singer and back-up singers are provided the information necessary to know how and when to sing with the main singer. Usually arranging includes two or more voices.

Pavarotti: referring to Luciano Pavarotti who was an Italian operatic tenor, and who also crossed over into popular music.

Panic At The Disco: is a Grammy-nominated rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2004. The album that is being referred to in the lecture is the album Pretty Odd. The band comprises vocalist, guitarist and pianist Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith. In July 2009, guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker left the band, citing creative differences as the reason for their departure and formed a new band called The Young Veins.

Pretty Odd: is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band Panic At The Disco. The album was recorded at the Studio at the Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada with additional production at Abbey Road Studios in London, England. Rob Mathes was the producer and the album was released March 2008.

Vibrant: is describing a personality as vigorous, energetic, exciting, stimulating, and lively.

Gifted: is referring to artistic or creative ability significantly higher than average.

Extraordinary: beyond what is usual, ordinary, regular, or established, that which is exceptional in character, amount, extent, degree, and noteworthy and remarkable.

Grateful: warmly or deeply appreciative of kindness or benefits received and thankful to the point of expressing gratitude.

Israel: located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea bordering Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan and the West Bank in the east, Egypt and the Gaza Strip on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its area.

Obsessed: dominated or preoccupied by thoughts and feelings for something and to think about something persistently or dwell with a single emotion or purpose on a topic, activity, or thing with a high degree of passion and fascination.

Mahler: referring to Gustav Mahler composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation.

Composer: is a person who puts together or creates music for a musical composition.

Conductor: a person who leads a musical ensemble by way of visible gestures known as conducting.

Leonard Bernstein: American conductor, composer, author music lecturer, and pianist.

New York Philharmonic: is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States with the Philharmonic's home at Avery Fisher Hall, located in New York's Lincoln Center.

West Side Story: is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreography by Jerome Robbins. The musical's plot and story are based on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Symphonies: is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra.

On the road: is referring to traveling from one location to another playing music with a band and working for a bandleader, or as an individual artist, singer and songwriter, or musician.

Chuck Mangione: an American flugelhorn player and composer who achieved international success with his jazz-pop single, "Feels So Good." The song is considered by many smooth jazz radio stations to be the number one smooth jazz song of all time.

Mahler’s Sixth Symphony: Alma (Schindler) Mahler-Werfel, Gustav Mahler's wife felt her husband had lured destiny by composing the sixth symphony, but Gustav Mahler himself considered that an artist might sense his own future by the foreshadowing force of true inspiration.

Berklee: is referring to the Berklee College of Music located in Boston, Massachusetts, and is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world.

Classical music: referring to the study of the art of music and musical traditions.

Carnegie Hall: is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City in the State of New York, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park.

Rochester: is referring to a city in the State of New York, United States. It is the birth place of musician Chuck Mangione and the location of the Eastman School of Music along with the Eastman Theater. Frederick Douglas, a former slave. founded the abolitionist newspaper The North Star in Rochester. The city was also home to Susan B. Anthony, an abolitionist who became active in the women’s rights movement. She and Frederick Douglas were acquaintances. There are bronze statues, in a park in Rochester, New York, of them sitting together having tea.

Powerful musical experiences : is referring to the influence of music to emotionally connect someone to musical exposure that translates to lasting significance.

Discussion Questions:

Listen to the song “(I Wanna To Be) Plastic” that is a song on the Evening Train album, if still available online, the song can be heard online at www.robmathes.com. Explain on one page the relationship of this song to the desire or objective of someone wanting to become famous or to seek celebrity.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Copyright law: is a set of exclusive rights granted to the author or creator of an original work and copyright owners can license or permanently transfer or assign their exclusive rights to others. One issue is the cost and lack of ease including the amount of time to credit or find the owner of a particular work. This can at times inhibit a new work from being created versus the simplification or modernizing of the copyright law to reduce the cost necessary in creating a new work.

File sharing: is the practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored information, such as computer programs, various digital products in the form of multi-media such as audio and video, documents, or electronic books.

Intellectual property: is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized. Under intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs. Common types of intellectual property include copyrights, trademarks, patents, and various design rights.

Literally: is expressing the feeling of exactness to the primary or explicit meaning of the words “getting a day job” that would prevent the creation of works. In a sense, the expression is avoiding exaggeration and is merely suggesting a fact by expressing a strong feeling toward an actual fact that is reflecting the belief in the essential or genuine character of something such as in the words “getting a day job” would hinder the creative process.

Day job: is a form of occupation taken by a person in order to provide economic support while working toward their preferred career. This phrase is often used "don't quit your day job" as a humorous response to poor performance in their preferred career. The phrase implies that the performer is not talented, creative, innovative, or does the performer have enough business savvy or relationships to be able to make a particular career effective and needs to try something else.

Compositions: can refer to an original piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.

Genius works: breaks new ground with discoveries or works of art.

Discussion Questions:

The process of becoming really good at something both requires and encourages your brain to wire itself to handle a particular function better by practicing and then having the opportunity of getting a chance. Without geniuses, our understanding of mathematics, literature, and music would be completely different. When creativity is combined with intelligence to create something of value then the label genius is often used. Intelligence without creativity may label a person smart but not a genius.

How do you feel it is best for you to recognize your gifts and combine creativity with intelligence to open an opportunity or have a chance to aspire with your gifts and talents? List your ideas on one sheet of paper.

Comments and Queries (Annotations and Remarks):

Dave Matthews Band: the name of the band is sometimes shortened to DMB, is an American band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The band is known for their annual tours during the summer months in the US and Europe. The band will frequently sell out on tour but will often give their music away.

50 bucks: is slang term meaning fifty dollars to represent the amount of money earned, saved, invested, or paid out. The amount can represent the general acceptance for payment as the amount of currency for a medium of exchange for value.

Gig: live performance by a musician or other performer and is used in the broader sense by shortening of the word engagement as in a place for an appointment or for an activity.

Beethoven: referring to Ludwig van Beethoven who was a German composer and pianist who eventually lost his hearing.

Haydn: [pronounced Haiden], Joseph Hayden was an Austrian composer who spent much of his career as a court musician for a wealthy aristocratic family.

Supported: is referring to musicians or artists who have a sponsor or who are being sponsored financially, maintained, compensated, or rewarded for appreciation of the music and the art form that is a revenue generating activity or income of value either monetary or nonmonetary for the benefit of the sponsor, musician, and artist.

Patrons: referring to people who support through money, gifts, and/or effort the endorsement of various artists’ work and can include support of writers, museums, various causes, charities, institutions, special events and various other artistic and humanitarian endeavors including education.

The court: was the residence of the wealthy or used as a phrase for nobility where the artist would attempt to solicit or gain the favor and attention of an aristocratic family (court) and seek to gain support for their art and artistic endeavors.

Financial support: financial resources provided to make a project or projects possible.

Bring your music to other people: suggesting that a musician plays music in public or fines the process to allow the music to be heard by people such as the Internet, television, radio, live performances, and other outlets.

Put food on the table: to provide enough money to cover basic necessities or to earn a living and pay bills that will arise out of necessity.

Intellectual property: is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized. Under intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs. Common types of intellectual property include copyrights, trademarks, patents, and various design rights.

Respected: a work or person that is well received or well thought of to the point of showing a willingness to demonstrate consideration or appreciation.

Discussion Questions:

In terms of a business model and in recognizing various situations, you may provide a person with an opportunity where that person may be creative but not be intellectually gifted, while another person maybe smart but not creatively gifted or others may be smart and creatively gifted in a particular specialized area. There are many different scenarios and definitions of gifted, intelligence, and what is meant by the term smart.

How would you suggest that one be able to increase the possibility or probability of financially being able to support themselves with their abilities and gifts, knowing that there are different combinations that one may need, no one person will possess all of the needed attributes, and there is a need for relationships and initiative for example: opportunity, ability to work hard, good decision-making skills, adequate physical and mental health, and the need to generate the possibility and to increase the probability of “good luck” versus “bad luck?”

From Lecture #2 Part I Reference 8 and 9. Running times 00:02:55 to 00:07:12: Transcription (Annotated): these six words were provided by Rob Mathes: Discovery, Obsession, Investigation, Dreaming, Emulating, and Transformation.

How would you suggest that a person handle a “bad” situation and also a “good” situation and still be able to earn a living and pay the necessary bills on time?

Use the six words from Lecture #2 Part I Reference 8 and 9. Running times 00:02:55 to 00:07:12: Transcription (Annotated): that are provided for a discussion to help you in your analysis.

Search the Internet for Liz Murray, author of Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard. The book chronicles Murray’s journey as a child born to drug addicted parents to being a runaway, living on the streets and then miraculously turning her life around through education and ultimately being accepted into Harvard University. A film, Homeless to Harvard, chronicling Liz’s journey, was also produced by Lifetime Television.