Piano CD Music

Living in a house with four other guys, there is rarely a moment when you can sit in peace and quiet. In order to be able to concentrate while reading or doing my homework, I began listening to instrumental music. Being a product of the grunge generation, there were few selections on my iPod that solely featured instrumentals.

In order to satisfy my need for instrumental music, I branched out and began listening to classical composers like Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. I quickly developed an appreciation for the passion and composition of the music, and no longer feel the necessity of having lyrics cover up the actual music. Now I’ll even throw on some classical music for enjoyment, and not just to drown out the banter from my housemates.

We pulled all the Christmas stuff down out of the attic.  Now we can begin setting out all the decorations and the seven trees.  Let me put this in perspective.  A dear friend  has forty-something gorgeous trees in her house, so I don’t feel that seven is over the top.

Soon our house will be filled with the scent of pine and cinnamon, and the sounds of Christmas piano music and train sets.  One of these train sets is a very special gift.  Nativity scenes, packages, and cards from loved ones will be a reminder of love, relationships, and hope.

Everything breaks down or wears out.  Computers crash, cars give it up, and washers and dryers give out.  Furniture and clothing wear out.  The fact that things wear out is a part of being in this world.

The good news is that most of these things can be replaced or repaired.
 I can listen to some piano music while I touch up the paint on the trim around the house.  By the time I’m finished touching things up, it will be time to start all over again.

Our musical environment is mainly made up of our speakers.  Whether we listen to CDs or mp3 players, or whatever, it all has to end up coming through the speakers, headphones, or earpieces.

We have speakers in our cars, speakers throughout the house, and speakers outside for the back patio.  It is good to be prepared so the next time we have an inclination to listen to solo piano music, there it is.

Technology is great.  I have a play list called “morning” that I like to listen to on days that I get to sleep in and just slowly get started.

This set of songs includes classical music, solo piano music, and classical guitar.  Later in the day I’ll switch to a different style, but when I get up at the crack of noon, I just want to ease into the day.

Although Christmas is intended to be a religious holiday, it has taken on a unique persona in American culture. From Black Friday until New Years, people celebrate the Christmas season with an assortment of decorations and parties that, quite frankly, have nothing to do with religion. My mom always tried to maintain some semblance of religion in our home décor during the holidays.

She would always display a small nativity scene on the mantel next to the stairs and force my siblings and me to go to church on Christmas Eve. One of her favorite ways to get into the spirit of the season was by playing instrumental Christmas music. For over a month every year the entire house was constantly filled with traditional Christmas tunes.

I love sharing music with kids, even though I am allergic to them now.  When I was a little kid barely in elementary school, I remember this man bringing a trumpet to an assembly and every time he tried to play it, a horse whinny would come out.  We all laughed and, at that time, I thought that was the funniest thing I had ever seen.  Kids have a different sense of humor than grown ups.

Now, I feel that we all should do special things for the children in our world.  We were all little children once.  That’s why I’ve recorded a music CD for  children.  When I get a chance to show kids how a trumpet works, I wonder if just maybe, one day, one of them will be making kids laugh when they grow up.

We should never take our relationships for granted.  I don’t think we know how much of a profound influence we have on one another.  I am truly grateful for my immediate family, our extended family, and our extended church family.

Over the weekend I saw someone extend an act of kindness.  It encouraged me to watch them help those they did not even know.  It’s the little things that can be so important.  At Christmas I’ll give out CDs with Christmas piano music to charities and different organizations.  I say this only to point out that this is a little thing that I hope enriches the lives of people.  We all can do our parts and it all adds up.

I built half our house.  By that I mean the wife and kids and I designed it, I handled all the purchasing and inspections, I was the general contractor, and I did a lot of the work myself.

After the framing crew finished, I went back and added custom touches like nooks, columns, and arches.  My wife and I set many of the windows, and our kids now know how to install air ducts.  They take pride in knowing that they helped put in the air conditioning to the rooms we all enjoy and call home.  I put in all the insulation, and I was so glad when that part of the project was finished.  My favorite part of this endeavor was hanging the dry wall. That’s when you could really see it coming together. I hung about two thirds of it and hired the high vaulted stuff out to pros.  I always had a boom box playing some smooth jazz, or classical, or some kind of instrumental music while I worked.

It took about a year and seven months to finish.  Now, all that’s left to completely finish is some trim, caulking, painting, and staining.  It’s been quite a family project from sitting around the kitchen table drawing plans, to now living in our new home.

Besides our regular cars I have what I call my “hobby car” that is a very old 1986 Caddy.  It’s been repainted and the interior has been restored.  The air conditioner works great.

Right now it has a cassette player in it.  I’m probably going to update it with a CD/mp3 player someday.  I do like to listen to instrumental piano music while taking a leisurely drive.  Although this car doesn’t get driven much, it has at times through the years been our “old reliable” friend.