Odds and Ends #3: Inconceivable

1.  Yes, it's a year later than the last time I posted this, but isn't Princess Bride important enough to rate a mention every year? Twenty-fifth anniversary!

Photo from The Daily What.

B.   Your music selection of the week. After singing in the high school choir and with the Michigan State Singers choir in college, I find there is no better music than a good a cappella (an Italian phrase meaning "in the style of the chapel" - that is, without instruments) group. My favorite band for years was the Nylons, which unfortunately changed (not for the better) when their lead singer passed away. Here is another excellent a cappella group called the Musae. This is their website.  Enjoy.








Penultimate.   Just because it makes me smile on the day after Jim Henson's birthday.

From here.


The end.  I've mentioned before the Coursera online course website: lots and lots of free courses on every imaginable topic. A new one has popped up from a university new to the system: Berklee School of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. The course is called "Songwriting" and is taught by Professor Pat Pattison, whose former students include John Mayer, Gillian Welch, and Tom Hambridge, all Grammy winners. There are 6 lessons; here is an example:

Lesson 3: Sonic GPS—Mapping your Song with Rhyme

By the end of this lesson, you will understand the relationship of rhyme schemes and matched and unmatched musical phrases to prosody. You’ll create both stable and unstable sections, using various rhyme schemes to show your ear the way to go home. Matched and unmatched musical phrases solidify your sonic GPS.

If you are a self-taught music writer, it might be helpful to see what he has to say to improve your songwriting. You can find (and sign up) for the course here. Unfortunately it doesn't start until March 1, 2013. So find another course to take until then. How about the "Control of Mobile Robots" course? Whimzy and I are signing up for that. She's really excited.