What's wrong with a sad song?
I remember as a kid being intrigued by the song "Oh, my darlin' Clementine." Sure sounds like a sad story. Can't be! But it is fun to...
A blog honoring vocal coach Barbara Maier Gustern, beloved vocal coach to so many singers of so many genres: brutally attacked on the street, died of injuries on March 15, 2022. Reflections on music, singing, teaching, listening….
Nancy Garniez
- Sep 14
- 1 min
Hearing is Believing
Every time I cross 109th St. on my way up or downtown I cast a glance at the apartment building on the corner of 109 and Riverside Drive,...
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Nancy Garniez
- Sep 13
- 1 min
Anybody home?
Funny, how we take for granted that someone is listening when we talk to them. Do you recall ever talking to someone who wasn't paying...
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Nancy Garniez
- Sep 12
- 1 min
Tones do Talk
No matter how hard instrumentalists try to buy into the notion that tones without words are superior to those with text attached, I say:...
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Nancy Garniez
- Sep 10
- 1 min
All Together !! or All by Yourself
There is a vast difference between a song that you sing, or that I sing, and one that WE sing together. The difference is breathing. A...
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Nancy Garniez
- Aug 16
- 1 min
My voice
Why would humans have voices if not to use them: Is your voice recognizable? Probably, as it is now used for identification purposes. ...
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Nancy Garniez
- Aug 11
- 1 min
Spirited?
Words used to indicate tempo on a piece of music must be taken with a grain of something, if not salt. Take “Spiritoso,” for example. I...
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Nancy Garniez
- Aug 9
- 1 min
Do you have a favorite note?
Since my last post I enjoyed an impromptu video chat with a highly sensitive woman, just newly acquainted with my musical self. I was...
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Nancy Garniez
- Aug 2
- 1 min
New Sound
If you want your performances to sound new every time try including at least one segment of sound unlike any you have ever made before,...
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Nancy Garniez
- Jul 26
- 1 min
Person-al listeners
When a musician is hired for an ongoing gig it is important, you would think, to respect the fragile nature of this kind of work: at its...
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Nancy Garniez
- Jul 24
- 1 min
To be moved or to judge?
The question comes up: how to judge a performance. Apparently there is some need to engage in this woefully irrelevant (!) activity. ...
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Nancy Garniez
- Jul 21
- 1 min
The whole sum
The cliche is still among us: music is made up of melody, harmony, and rhythm. That, alas, (or not!) is not at all how the ear works. ...
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Nancy Garniez
- Jul 15
- 1 min
Blink, but you've already heard it
The issue arises, thanks to the last post, about the connection between body and the not-explicitly physical, call it what you will. ...
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Nancy Garniez
- Jul 11
- 1 min
Rubinstein meant it
The only difference between music with and without text is that the meaning conveyed by text is explicit on a literal level. In either...
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Nancy Garniez
- Jul 10
- 1 min
Groupmuse and the close-up
Yesterday a very special event took place at my place: A close-up of how much the piano was loved by Bartok, Mozart, and Gershwin; and...
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Nancy Garniez
- Jul 5
- 1 min
Music is alive
What if it would turn out that all hearing is physical participation in vibration? What if listening were really just another form of...
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Nancy Garniez
- Jul 4
- 1 min
Count! Or not.
What gives us permission to hear as we do? A great composer conceals the key in any number of ways: most annoying is, perhaps, an...
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Nancy Garniez
- Jul 1
- 1 min
No rehearsing!
The moment is precious: After decades of experimentation in teaching and in performing, I am now capable of matching in physical speed...
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Nancy Garniez
- Jun 28
- 1 min
Out of tune
Talk about hearing! Yesterday I took two hours out of a busy day to listen to a hearing of the Congressional Jan. 6 committee: It was...
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Nancy Garniez
- Jun 26
- 1 min
To be heard
To whom does hearing matter? We should not hesitate to reply: To everyone! But these days we have to be cautious: there is far too...
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