You´re my favorite work of art.
Is your figure less than Greek?
Is your mouth a little weak?
When you open it to speak, are you smart?

Frank Sinatra. My Funny Valentine

Here are some new videos. Not all of them are entirely safe for work.

Big Band Week burst onto our screens this week, bringing with it all the glitz and glamour of a Las Vegas stage.  The judges were all present and correct too, as Louis was back on the panel.  So, with all the X Factor family back together, it was time to get the party started!

Olly Murs was up first singing ‘Bewitched’.  I was really impressed with Olly this week and thought the Big Band genre suited his style of singing.  It seems I wasn’t alone – Cheryl said: “It’s like you’re really coming into your own, each week you’re just growing that little bit more”.  So Olly might be 10 feet tall in next weeks show!

Little Lloyd Daniels sang ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ and threw in the added bonus of a backflip.  I thought Lloyd’s performance was a tad predictable (except for the backflip).  Simon’s critique of it was just genius, he said: “Doing a backflip and singing ’Fly Me To The Moon’ is like eating a sandwich while you’re swimming!”  Somebody give that man a comedy award!

Miss Frank were next, singing the song that made the judges want to put them together as a group at the auditions, ‘That’s Life’.  I enjoyed their performance, and thought the rap gave it a unique twist.  Dannii felt that the performance had put the girls ‘back in the race’ and the rest of the judges seemed to agree.

Rachel Adedeji seemed like she had been transformed this week when she came to the stage singing Beyonce’s version of ‘Proud Mary’.  With her new image and attitude, to me, Rachel seemed to be comfortable on the stage for the very first time.  Louis said: “I can’t understand why people don’t vote for you – you’re an amazing singer, you owned the stage, and I’m glad you got your confidence back”.  Me too!

Jamie Archer had a rather controversial song choice this week – ‘Angel Of Harlem’.  I was worried for Jamie when I heard that he’d only had 24 hours to learn the song because Simon wasn’t happy with the original choice, but I thought he pulled it off.  However, Louis thought that it was a bit of a cheat because the song isn’t usually played by a Big Band.  Cheryl also said that the performance didn’t excite her as much as last week’s.  Never mind, Jamie, at least they didn’t diss the fro!

Stacey Solomon was up next singing ‘When You Wish Upon A Star’.  As I’ve said before, I’m a big fan of Stacey’s, but I didn’t think this week’s performance was as good as her previous ones.  The tightness of her dress probably didn’t help!  Simon felt that she needs to learn some performance skills.  I agree, it would be nice to see Stacey move about a bit more but again, a loose fitting wardrobe would help with that!

Danyl Johnson sang ‘Feeling Good’ and I thought he was back on form this week.  The judges seemed to enjoy it too – Dannii thought his performance ‘was very good’.  So it’s straight to the top of the class for everyone’s favourite teacher.

Joe McElderry added a bit of Latin flavour to this week’s proceedings with Michael Buble’s version of ‘Sway’.  It was nice to see Joe having some fun on the stage and I liked his performance.  However, Simon gave it another one of his one line classics: “You’ve got about as much Latin flare as a dolphin”.  Where does he think these up?!

Lucie Jones was next singing Ella Fitzgerald’s ‘My Funny Valentine’.  I’d never really heard this song before, but thought that it showed off Lucie’s voice really well.  Louis said: “There was no tricks, there was no dancing, there was no dancers – you did the hardest thing, it was just you and the voice, and it was an incredible performance”.  So true, Louis.

Finally, bringing some more Latin flavour (if you can call it that) to the stage, were John and Edward who sang ‘She Bangs’.  I thought their performance was quite surreal, the audience seemed to think so too.  When referring to their singing, Simon said: “This is apalling”.  He obviously couldn’t think of a one liner for that one!

The Results

After stunning performances from Westlife…

…and Michael Buble…

…the results were in.  This week I thought it was the most shocking bottom two ever – Danyl Johnson and Miss Frank.  The judges couldn’t make a decision, so the vote went to deadlock and unfortunately, Miss Frank recieved the least votes from the public – a real shame.

It’s rock week next week gang and we have performaces from Bon Jovi and JLS to look forward too – so go and rip your jeans in preperation!

Ciao for now!

Yes, it’s back! Sorry for a week of delay. I was not on a blogging mode, and I actually waited for more votes to break the tie for the recent post. But the one who got the majority of the votes is, hands down, Brooke White! Thank you for all who participated, voted, and commented!

And now for the 3rd match (hehe!). I lost my list but I remembered this one particular song sung by, again, two of my favorite Idols on their respective seasons. Season 6’s Melinda Doolittle, who I thought who’s gonna win, and 4th Season’s Constantine Maroulis. The song? Yes, it’s My Funny Valentine. I just love how both of them nailed the song and gave it their own style. But who do you think did it best?

First up, Melinda:

And now, Constantine:

Time to vote again! =)

I’m a little too tired to blog about tonight’s show, so I’ll post it tomorrow. Lucie was great though, wasn’t she? And Rachel was good too, but I hope her odd post-performance behaviour hasn’t hurt her chances. Please vote Rachel…I don’t wanna see her in the bottom two again, she’ll be heartbroken.

Make sure you read tomorrow.

‘Night.

In the long, hot days of August, it’s common for students to get tired of doing the same stuff over and over again (as it is for teachers to keep teaching the same stuff over and over again). If you’re looking for a way to put a new spin on your lessons, consider giving them some kind of music writing assignment.

For younger students, writing a song can be a fun way for them to better learn their instrument and to develop their ear training and music notation skills. When one of my students finishes a piece I sometimes print it out for them in music notation software. For young kids who have never seen music printed out from a computer, it can be exciting. (My software of choice, the discontinued and probably currently unavailable Digital Sheet Music Plus, isn’t exactly on the leading edge of the industry, but it gets the job done).  Students can find printable staff paper at www.blanksheetmusic.net, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like.

For intermediate students, who perhaps have already tried writing songs, I encourage them to write music to help them with their technical challenges. For example, if a piano student has a tough time with key signatures, have them write a song with a lot of sharps or flats, or perhaps one that modulates. If a guitar student is having a problem with a specific chord, have them write a song that features it.

You can give advanced students an assignment where the composition itself has certain rules that challenge them to be creative. Have a student write a song in an odd time feel; with a groove or in a style they’re not used to; or with a chord progression that might be outside of their comfort zone. Of course, you can also challenge your students to downsize. Sometimes writing less is harder. A teacher of mine at Berklee College of Music said that one of the toughest things he ever had to do was write a piece that was four minutes, and no longer, for a concert program. “Not Long Ago”, which seems to be one of my more popular instrumentals, was an assignment I gave myself. Perhaps it was an unconscious rebellion against the jazz and film scoring education I had just completed, but my challenge to myself was to write the simplest song I could, using only the three most common and basic chords.

I often ask my students if they’ve ever heard a song on the radio and thought, “I could write something better.” The answer is almost always yes. “Well, then write it!” I will say. “Record it, submit it, get it played, make money. I’ll consider a 5% commission more than enough.” You never know, the next Bruce Springsteen or Sheryl Crow might be your student at 4pm on Tuesdays.

The question of the week is: How have you encouraged students to write music, and how have they responded?

And the joke of the week:

A piano player and female vocalist are playing at a jazz club. The singer says, “Let’s do ‘My Funny Valentine.’ How do you want to play it?”

The piano player says, “Let’s start off in C minor, play the next eight in D minor in 3/4 time, play the bridge in F in 5/4 time and the last section in G minor in 6/8 time.”

The singer gives him a look and says, “Are you crazy? How am I going to keep track of that?”

 The piano player replies, “That’s how you played it last night.”