Class Updates November 17th
Dates to Remember
- November 20—Country House at 2;00 p.m.
- November 24—Deadline for Musically Speaking.
- December 1—Executive Committee Meeting at Oscar’s at 12:30 p.m.
- December 3—Willow Creek Day Care Center at 10:15 a.m.
- December 9—Frostburg Village Nursing Home at 2:00 p.m.
- December 15—Christmas Quarterly at Midland Fire Hall at 1:00 p.m.
- December 15—Westernport Mason’s Lodge at 8:00 p.m.
- December 22—In class Christmas Party (Potluck).
- December 29—NO CLASS.
- January 5—Executive Committee Meeting at Oscar’s at 12:30 p.m.
Class Updates
10:00 a.m.—Easy Play Music
Texts: Personally owned Christmas Books
Ellie met the class at 10 a.m. this morning because of the RSVP luncheon at 11:30 at the Salvation Army building in South Cumberland. The class will meet at the regular time next Tuesday.
Ellie first went over the Upcoming Dates as shown above and on the white board in the Keyboard World Classroom. She noted that we have a gig this Friday, November 20th at the Country House located right behind the Kensington/Algonquin. The time of the gig is 2:00 p.m. The sign up book was circulated around the classroom, and people were asked to sign up for the new gig at Frostburg Village Nursing Home on December 9th.
Ellie announced that the price for the Christmas Quarterly will be $10.00 per person, and Rosie is already collecting the money. People must pay in advance, please, because we have to give Phyllis Cullen, head of the auxiliary at Midland Fire Hall, a headcount one week in advance. We appreciate your cooperation on this.
We decided to decline the invitation to play at the Goodwill Industries Adult Day Care Center in December because we are fully booked. Ellie will tell them that we will perform for them in January.
When the organ playing segment of class began, Jeanne Otto was the first to play. Ellie asked her to play the song, What Did I Say To Old Saint Nick, a song she introduced to the class several weeks ago. We liked it so much that we have decided to use it as our focus song for next week. Jeanne played the song on the Premier Lowrey Organ. She used the Big Band automatic rhythm at a tempo of 118. Her right hand voice was the Rhythm Preset. Jeanne also used the 4-part AOC. Excellent, Jeanne. That’s a good one! Thank you!
Then Ellie told the group that she had tried a lot of various background rhythms with What Did I Say To Old Saint Nick, including Toy March, Big Band, Swing, Latin, Ballad, Broadway, and others. She played the song on the Star Dust Lowrey Organ for the class. She used the Toys automatic rhythm and Vibes as her right hand voice. The tempo was 127. She played a portion of the same song, using the Latin Rhythm, to show how it sounded with that. Several people wanted to hear the song a few times so they could work out the melody.
Rosellen Morgan played a rather difficult rendition of the song, I’ll Be Home For Christmas on the Star Dust Lowrey Organ. She had gotten the song from Dennis Awe’s Website. It was a challenge for Rosie, as it included many difficult, seldom seen chords, including minor sevenths, diminished and augmented ones. Rosie’s song was played on the Ballad background rhythm at a tempo of 72. Her voices in the right hand included the Organ, Bells, Clarinet, Saxophone, and Piano. She changed voices by using the foot pedal. Her timing was precise! She also transposed a number of times, changed octaves, added right hand harmony with AOC, and used Glissando to enhance the sound. Her ending was a fade out and the Programmed Ending on the Star Dust. Excellent—nice, easy listening, dinner music type presentation. Thank you so much, Rosie! Everyone enjoyed your song! Thanks for the copy you gave me, too!
Mike Gallaher played next. His song was We Three Kings, which he played on the Premier Lowrey Organ. He changed octaves for variation, and played the song on the Waltz background rhythm. His tempo was 104. His voice in the right hand was the Organ, and he used the AOC. No particular ending was played. Very nicely done, Mike, Thank you so much!
Shirley Hoopengarner then played What Did I Say To Old Saint Nick and proved that she had the right timing! She played on the Star Dust Lowrey Organ, using the Toys automatic rhythm background at a tempo of 88. She used the Rhythm Preset as her right hand voice. Excellent, Shirley. Many thanks!
Martha Filsinger played Angels We Have Heard On High on the Prestige Lowrey Organ. She used no automatic rhythm; rather Martha used the Easy Button and the Golden Harp to accompany her melody of the song. Her voice in the right hand was the Organ sound. She ended with an up and down glissando on the tiny keyboard on the Prestige. Thank you very much, Martha!
Bill Ewing played a different version of the same song, Angels We Have Heard On High. It was quite different from the one that Martha had played right before him. He, too, used the Easy Button and the Church Organ Sound on the Premier Lowrey Organ. Bill did a great job, and various people said it sounded like the prelude to a church service. His ending was a fade-out. So beautiful, Bill. Thanks very much!
Shortly before the end of class, the group of eleven people went to various organs and played the chorus only of Jingle Bells. The group included Joe Radcliffe, Dot Radcliffe, Shirley and Harold Hoopengarner, Mike Gallaher, Jeanne Otto, Sylvia Twigg, Bill Ewing, Rosie Morgan, Diane Lynch, and Betty Twigg. They first played through the chorus with no background rhythm after Ellie gave them the downbeat. They did quite well, though some of them were playing a slightly different arrangement of the song. They each selected a right hand voice that they felt was good for a Christmas tune. Next, Dot Radcliffe added the Fox Trot background rhythm on her organ and played a bar or so for the group to know the tempo. Then Ellie counted them in again and they played the chorus of Jingle Bells with the rhythm. Nice job, folks. We’ll try the entire song next week if time permits.
We will allow those who did not get to play their individual Christmas selection today to play first next week.
Ellie informed the group that next week, we will focus on White Christmas. We should be able to play that in ensemble format. Ellie will provide copies for those who need them. Also, we will focus on What Did I Say to Old Saint Nick.
Lunch will be at Bob Evan’s next week. We had to make an executive decision about that because we did not discuss it in class. Hope that place is fine for all those who join the group for lunch on a regular basis.
Shirley Hoopengarner meant to call everyone’s attention to an RSVP Gift Wrapping Service to be held at the Country Club Mall in conjunction with Tri- State Toys for Happiness. The dates are December 4, 7th, 16th and 21st. The times are 10-12 a.m., 12-2 p.m and 2-4 p.m. They need 4-6 volunteers for each shift. If any of you would like to participate in this worthy service for RSVP and Toys for Happiness, call 301-724-1559 to volunteer. When you call, please indicate what day and shift you prefer. Openings will be filled on a first come, first serve basis. Deadline to volunteer is November 30th. Also, Tri-State Toys for Happiness needs gift boxes and bows for their gift wrapping stations. If you have any new or used boxes and would like to donate them, please call Marilyn at 301-724-1559. Thank you so much!
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