I’m just back from a four-day weekend with my in-laws. Technically, they are not legally related to me but after Judge Vaughn Walker’s overturning of Proposition 8 in 9th Circuit District Court, that should change. But I digress.

A. and I were in Southern Oregon visiting her mother, along with her two brothers and one niece. We enjoyed musical fun all weekend long. This issue of Musician’s Motivator is about the many ways music infiltrated our vacation.

The Jazz Singer

Friday night, we heard a concert in the park, singer Greta Oglesby, with piano and drum accompaniment. Greta sang a wide variety of tunes; from Minnie the Moocher and Summertime to Proud Mary and Hannah’s Hips. The performance was free, sponsored by the local theater company with which Greta is also acting. Minnie the Moocher calls for some audience participation on the chorus:

Hidee-Hidee-Hidee-hi (Hidee-Hidee-Hidee-hi)
Hodee-hodee-hodee-ho (Hodee-hodee-hodee-ho)
Heedey-hee-dee-hee-dee hee (Heedey-hee-dee-hee-dee hee)
Hidee-hidee-hidee-ho (Hidee-hidee-hidee-ho)

Queen of Hearts

A game of Oh Pshaw! in the “in-law’s” home tends to be crazy wild with laughter, jokes, and bursts of spontaneous song.

“Deal the cards, R.” ”Just one this round, right?”

I sing, “One is the loneliest number they you ever knew.” Brother B. adds harmony, “Two can be as bad as one. It’s the loneliest number since the number one. oh.”

The game continued.

Out In The Country

We visited the family-owned tenanted-home in the country. The tenants are a sweet family of five who are also spontaneous performers in their own right. After touring the land, we made our way back to the house and gathered into small groups conversing.

Niece E. and I discovered the electric keyboard tucked into a corner of the great room. We turned it on and experimented with the different sounds and “instruments” that were programmed into the machine. Just below the keyboard were some small African hand drums, rattles, and tambourines.

Flower Drum Song

Tenant J. brought out the big drums: a doundoun from Mali, a songba, and a kingkin; pitched from low to high respectively. He gave us a mini-lesson in African drumming, which he is studying. In Africa, when someone begins drumming, others will join in singing and dancing. The music, the song/story, and the dance are intricately woven together. You wouldn’t have one without the others.

J. got me playing a dum-ba rhythm, then he improvised a high drum part. Our dancers, A. and R., got their happy feet going.

Opus One

Back at “Mom’s house, we played duets and trios. B. on mandolin, “Mom” on violin, and I on clarinet.

My transposing skills were not flowing as I would have liked. So… I improvised; sometimes harmony below, sometimes a descant above. And B., talented fellow, sang harmony while he played his mandolin.

Another day, “Mom” and I played some lovely clarinet and violin duets by Bartok.

Sweet Ride Home

You’d think we’d be all music-ed-out by the ride home. But we weren’t! A. and I played one of our favorite road trip games. Check it out.

Using the melody from The Mockingbird Song, we take turns improvising lyrics that fit the melody and rhyme. Like so:

1st person: hush little baby, don’t you cry
momma’s going to buy you a deep blue sky.
and if that sky should turn to grey…

2nd person: momma’s going to buy you a game to play.
and if that game should lose its pieces…

1st person: momma’s going to buy you a visit with your nieces.
and if those nieces should move to Greece…

The lyric format is that momma will always get you something pleasant and in the next line, some problem occurs with the pleasant something.

We sing and get real creative with our imagination. It is a barrel of monkeys, for real. Hmmm… what rhymes with monkeys?

Hey Hey We’re The Monkees

Raise you hand if you remember the TV cartoon, Scooby Doo, Where Are You?. Wow! That’s almost everyone. Is it just me, or did anyone else notice that almost every 1970s TV cartoon was about a group of teens who were in a rock band together? The Archies, Scooby Doo, Josie and The Pussycats. And let’s not forget The Monkees, even though they were not a cartoon.

To close up this harmonious holiday review, I will leave you with this bit of bumper sticker wisdom I picked up on the ride home. It may be helpful to you when you are faced with an important decision.

What would Scooby Doo?

Extra points to those of you who recognized the song titles in each subhead.  The headline, of course links to this post, here’s the song link.