On My Mind: Historical Fantasy

Hello, Fantastical Creatures.

First of all, sorry this post is up late.

Today, I am thinking about historical fantasy.

Have you ever heard of Trans-Siberian Orchestra? Trans-Siberian Orchestra is a group that specializes in rock and rock opera, which is, well, a combination of rock and opera. In other words, they tell stories through music. It's amazing, and I love it. Not to mention, the stories are some of the best stories I've ever read.

In any case, they did an album called Beethoven's Last Night. This album is the story of Beethoven's last night on earth. However, it is fantasy. I love this. It's real historical characters, but with a fantasy story.

Have you ever heard of historical fantasy?

Spruce Nogard

Creative Complex: Parody

Hello, Friends!

Today, I am going to teach you how to write parodies. Even though this might seem slightly useless at first, it really is another creative exercise. A variety of creative exercises helps stretch your brain, even if you don't like music. Plus, it's fun and different. :)

So, yes, parodies are replacing the words of a song with your own words. However, there are a few rules.

Rule #1: Always go line by line. Don't try to do the entire thing all at once.

Rule #2: Keep the number of syllables in each line the same as in the original song. I'm going to use "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" as an example.

First of all, the original song goes:

Row, row, row your boat,--5

Gently down the stream,--5

Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily,--12

Life is but a dream.--5

So for the first line, I have to have five syllables, etc. My first line is:

Love, love, love your kids

Rule #3: Keep the same word scheme. For example, the third line has to have four three-syllable words. It probably makes most sense to have it be the same word each time. I will use the word "tenderly."

Rule #4: Keep the same rhyme scheme. 

Row, row, row your boat, A

Gently down the stream, B

Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, C

Life is but a dream. B

So, the last word of the second line and the last word of the fourth line have to rhyme.

These are the basic rules. Here is my parody:

Love, love, love your kids,

Each and every day,

Tenderly, Tenderly, Tenderly, Tenderly,

Life is naught but play.

What did you come up with?

Spruce Nogard

Attributions: https://pixabay.com/en/boot-lake-water-rowing-boat-1620452/  

Creative Complex: Music

Hello, Fairies!

Again, sorry this post is up late (I am writing this on February 10th. . . .ignore the "actual" date of this post.) I will try my best to do my posts on time, but sometimes I just don't have time.

Today, write around music.

(I'm listening to Riverdance right now.)

Spruce Nogard

Attributions:

https://pixabay.com/en/catholic-celtic-christ-christian-1297460/

 

Creative Complex: Musical Mentality

Hello Friends.

Pick your favorite piece of music and write a short story around it.

 

 (This was inspired by the Google doodle for Beethoven's birthday. To see it, click here.)

Music is so great, isn't it?

Spruce Nogard

Attribution: https://pixabay.com/en/symphony-orchestra-concert-183612/

On My Mind: Musical or Play?

Hello, Friends!

I recently went to an amazing musical, and that got me thinking: which do you like better: musicals, or plays?

I like both very well. Musicals, obviously, have wonderful music. Some of my favorite musicals are: Les Miserables (to listen to), Fiddler on the Roof, and, some happier ones, like Disney princess plays (Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, etc.), and of course, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

My favorite songs from musicals are probably all of the songs in Beauty and the Beast. But, then again, all the songs are very different types of music. . . I think I just like them all. :)


One of my favorite plays is A Christmas Carol. It seems I go to musicals more than plays. :)

What are some of your favorite plays and musicals?

Spruce Nogard

Attributions:

https://pixabay.com/en/little-mermaid-ariel-disney-501639/ 

https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Carol-Annotated-Charles-Dickens-ebook/dp/1409583961/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471275111&sr=1-1&keywords=achristmas+carol

On My Mind: Hanggai

Greetings, Friends.

How many of you like to listen to music? Okay, how many of you like to listen to popular songs and artists, like Taylor Swift? Finally, how many of you like to listen to unique songs and artists?

I am one who prefers unique music over popular music. Actually, I really only used to listen to Christian music, classical, and movie soundtracks. I find them fun, exciting, and soothing in turn. However, I recently discovered a new type of music.

This is Hanggai. On a school field trip, we saw them perform, and when I got home, I started listening to their music. Hanggai is a Mongolian folk/rock band, and they combine traditional instruments, like the horse fiddle, with modern instruments, like electric guitars. Here is a link to a picture of a horse fiddle (I couldn't find any free images): http://www.festival.si.edu/images/past_festivals/silk_road/nomads_morin_large.jpg.

This is a video of one of their songs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjRskDUq_eM

It's about horses, so here is a picture:

 
Their songs aren't in English, and one maddening thing about the one song I've looked up the lyrics to is Google Translate doesn't read Mongolian very well. Their are translations, but they don't seem to be 100% accurate. For example, there is a word, "Тогур" that is repeated many times, but is nonexistent in the English translation. The other word that is repeated is "Шигэp," which is in the translation.


They also use tuvan throat singing, which is traditional. The person playing the horse fiddle does the throat singing, and you can tell when he starts. Throat singing is amazing, and I have no idea how human voices can make those sounds.

Do you like Hanggai? Do you think it's unique? What types of music do you like to listen to?

Farewell, Travelers.

Spruce Nogard

Attributions: https://pixabay.com/en/meadow-horse-nature-animal-summer-691623/