High Notes, Low Notes

High notes and low notes - here's Madison's homework for her music class. Daddy went on the internet with Madison, and together we scoured for high sounds and low sounds. Once we gathered enough images, Daddy printed them out and then cut them out - Madison's assignment was to separate the high from the low and then paste them on the treble or bass scale. It took a little bit to explain the concept to her, but she did eventually get the idea. It was fun scouring for the sounds these things make too - we looked for sound effects for all of these items, including the didgeridoo. Did you know Ye-Ye and Nana have a didgeridoo? I'm not entirely sure why, but we'll have to go over there and let them play it for Madison sometime soon. Until then, it was fun for Daddy to make didgeridoo noises.

Tonight there was somewhat of a concert at our children's ministry. We recorded some material for an upcoming release, and wanted lots of energy from the children. No problems there: once the school season starts and we have the next generation in, things seem to be crazy - almost like you're riding a wave, just ahead of it crashing down upon you! Lots of kids and lots of energy!

These are the only concerts we've been to lately. I think the last one Mommy and Daddy went to may have been the Newsboys, but that was some time ago. Before that - way before that - Daddy was a concert-crazed person, going to all sorts of 'em, from Wayne Newton to Aerosmith to Jimmy Buffet to Reba McEntire. Favorite ones would have to be the parrot head events, but the best and most creative thing I've ever seen on stage was certainly the Peter Gabriel concert. The most hilarious moment was watching Jackyl use a chainsaw on stage to hack up lots of furniture. Concerts used to be a lot cheaper, and Daddy went to a ton of them - something like a checklist: Billy Joel, Elton John, Paul McCartney...

That reminds me - Mommy got to hear Paul McCartney and the rest of the Beatles in concert. That was back when she lived in New York (which Madison can point to on a map). She wasn't inside the stadium, but she was very young and could hear them perform at Shea Stadium to a roaring crowd. Pretty historic stuff there!

Today, our listening habits are quite subdued, obviously. For example, this morning on the way to school, Daddy plugged in some music for Madison: "The Little Mermaid: Songs from the Sea."

Oh yeah. Roll down the windows and crank up the bass on that one!

Before we met Madison, we accumulated at Goodwill and other places - or got donated from other sources - lots of children's music along the way. One CD in particular Madison listens to every night before bedtime. For the last three years, it's been "Celtic Lullabies: Dream," by Eden's Bridge. If there's one song Madison has heard more than any other at this point in her life, it's that first track: Brahm's Lullaby. Night after night! But it actually doesn't get old, like other music can if you hear it time and again. It's the perfect music to end the night on a high note. Or a low note. You'll have to listen to the track yourself to figure that out, but after today, Madison certainly knows the answer.