It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been listening to Christmas since October 1st.

Not ’round the clock, of course, and not to simply annoy my family, but here’s the facts: If you’re a music teacher or a gigging musician, you’re professionally obligated to be listening to, practicing, and perfecting Christmas tunes long before the calendar finally flips over to December 1st. I’m responsible for three Christmas performances and recitals by both my elementary school students and my studio kids, I personally go Christmas carolling every year with friends, and it’s become a bit of a family tradition for me to play through some Christmas favorites at the family gathering on Christmas day. If I didn’t start preparing my kiddos until December 1st, there’d be no Christmas shows. (In fact, my first one this year is actually on December 1st!) free cut pattern without registration.

So, contractually, I’ve got to start my personal Christmas music prep season before the leaves even fall off the trees. You’d think that by the time the actual Christmas season rolls around, I’d be sick of listening to Christmas music. You’d be wrong! I LOVE CHRISTMAS MUSIC… with one exception.

The radio.

I don’t know about your local radio stations, but my local radio station – who is starting Christmas music today at 2pm, which is what prompted this post – plays the same 50 or so songs on repeat until December 25 (because apparently, that’s when the Christmas season ends – insert eye roll emoji here). Ok, maybe by the time you factor in different versions of the same carols by different performers, the playlist grows to about 100 different tracks. I checked last year, and if I remember correctly, the most “recent” song in their entire library came out in something like 2015 herunterladen.

Let me repeat that, the most “recent” song in their entire library of music came out – let me double check my math – 9 years ago. Do you know how much new Christmas music has been released since then? A LOT.

It’s overwhelming the number of new Christmas albums that are released every single year and absolutely infuriating how little airplay they all receive.

Just to give you an idea of just the tip of the iceberg, a few years ago I started curating my own Christmas music playlists, one for literally every single mood whatsapp illegally download. My “Holiday Pop” playlist, which includes music from 2000 and on (with just a few throwbacks I couldn’t resist), currently sits at 663 songs and is 36 hours long (and counting). How deep does the iceberg go? My Megamix, which includes every Christmas song from every list (more or less), has over 2500 songs and is 144 hours long. That’s 6 solid days without a repeat.

And I haven’t even updated any lists with 2024 releases yet.

When people tell me they don’t like Christmas music, I can totally relate windows media player deutsch kostenlos herunterladen. I hate what the radio station has done to Christmas music, too! (When I ask some follow up questions, it’s almost always the same answer – that the radio station plays the same songs and that gets boring really quickly). But also, at the heart of it, I still really love Christmas music, and it makes me so sad that people who do celebrate Christmas have been so turned off to one of the nicest parts of the season.

So here’s an early Christmas gift for you – links to all my Spotify Christmas playlists. I haven’t had the time to update any for 2024 (I have to admit, I didn’t get to spend as much time on them in 2023 as I would have liked either), but you know I will video aus mediathek downloaden online! Now taking bets for how long that Megamix will be by the time I’m done with it this year!

Let’s kick things off with the aforementioned “Holiday Pop” playlist. This list includes a variety of genres, as the only requirement is that the music is released after 2000. This will give you the most current take on the holiday with many GREAT originals and some lovely covers of classics. As I’ve been typing up this blog post, two songs that have stuck out to me are a beautiful rendition of “Silent Night” by The Lovely Unexpected and “Christmas Song” an original by Tim Reynolds and Dave Matthews.

Ok, from here on out, to make sure I don’t skip over anyone, we’re just going to go in alphabetical order. Next up is “Americana Christmas” which includes country, folk, bluegrass and blues. There is some Jethro Tull in this playlist and I know, I know, they’re British, but their Christmas music still fits the folksy vibe here so we’re going with it.

Next up is “A Capella Christmas” which includes a lot of choirs, Pentatonix and Straight No Chaser.

In this playlist, you’ll hear holiday choirs, but you’ll also hear some big orchestras, too, so this playlist is aptly named “Christmas Orchestras and Choirs.” Basically, this is the classical music flavored playlist for all you Mozart lovers.

“Christmas Remixed” is probably the shortest of all the playlists (not even 100 songs), but it’s a fun listen. It’s remixes and dance music versions of Christmas classics.

“Instrumental Christmas” is an absolute grab bag of selections. Everything from some more traditional classical ensembles, to groups like Mannheim Steamroller and Trans-Siberian Orchestra are here, plus musicians like Lidnsey Sterling, the Blue Man Group and a variety of jazz ensembles. Like I said – this one is chaotically all over the place!

“Jazzy Christmas” is exactly that – a lot of jazz and a little bit of the blues, too.

This one is another bit of a grab bag of genres, but with good reason. “Lawrence Christmas” includes, you guessed it – family favorites. We are, of course, not even limited to one language – there are a variety of Ukrainian favorites in there, of course, in addition to classic rock Christmas songs that my family has been rocking out to since I was little.

This next one might be a bit controversial for some, as it’s my “Retro Christmas” playlist. This one will probably feature the majority of what gets overplayed on the radio, but, c’mon folks, they’re classics for a reason!

Save this one for December 24 and after the holidays, because it’s “Sacred Christmas.” If you want to be very traditional, you know you don’t actually start singing Christmas carols in church until December 24 and the carols stick around til sometime in January. You won’t find Rudolph, Frosty or any other pop Christmas figure in this playlist, only the shepherds, angels, wise men, and of course, Jesus and his fam.

For all my Ukes in the crowd, “Ukrainian Christmas.”

If you want to get in on seasonal, wintery listening, but don’t celebrate Christmas, don’t worry, I’ve got you, too! “Winter Songs” does get a little repetitive (there are a lot of versions of Let it Snow, let me tell you), but it’s still a nice variety of songs from a variety of artists.

And finally, the “Christmas Megamix.” As I add new music to each individual playlist each year, it all also gets added to this one, so this, I guess, is the most chaotic playlist of them all. You’ve been warned!

Oh, you’re still here and reading? Well, first of all, thanks for making it all the way to the bottom of this collection. I hope you’ve found a holiday playlist that contains some new favorites! And if somehow I’ve managed to miss a song or whole album, please leave it in the comments! I work every year to add new music to all my lists, and am happy to include your suggestions. Being a seasonal DJ is more of a year-round endeavor, so all help is welcomed!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Beautiful People

If I weren’t afraid you’d laugh at me
I would run and take all your hands
And I’d gather everyone together for a day
And when we gather’d
I’ll pass buttons out that say
Beautiful people
Then you’d never have to be alone
‘Cause there’ll always be someone
With the same button on as you
Include him in everything you do

Melanie Safka, “Beautiful People”

I listened to a lot of classic rock as a kid pc spiele frei herunterladen. More accurately, I listened to the Woodstock album (yes, on a record player) a lot. Like, a lot, a lot. Before the Woodstock album, I, of course, knew bands like Crosby Stills and Nash, Santana, and Grateful Dead and solo artists like Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker and others, but it introduced me to other musicians that may have had their time (they did play Woodstock after all) but have faded a bit from the limelight, artists like Joan Baez, John B how can I android apps for free. Sebastian, and Melanie. The real folksy type folk musicians that you imagine when you think of the “peace, love and happiness” kind of hippies from the 60s downloaden netflix op laptop.

Nowadays I listen to a lot of music, whether it’s for my job, my other job, oh yeah or the other job, or just for fun. In the same way, staying updated with modern technology is essential, click here for advanced video conferencing for any event taschenrechner herunterladen kostenlos. But one of the songs that has stuck with me all this time is Melanie’s “Beautiful People.”

No offense, Melanie, but from a purely analytical stand point, this song could use a lot of work remix programm download kostenlos. There’s no rhyme scheme, and the chord progression doesn’t really have an easily recognizable pattern. It doesn’t even very strictly follow a verse/chorus/verse/chorus/etc. kind of pattern. On paper, if a student had brought me a piece of work such as this, well, I’d have to admit we’d probably spend a lot of time refining it. And yet, it’s still one of my favorite songs of all time.

“Beautiful people… you live in the same world as I do…” is where the song begins. It’s not just a song about generally “loving your neighbor.” It’s literally about opening your eyes and looking at the beautiful people around you. In your neighborhood, riding on the subway with you every morning. “We have so much in common,” Melanie sings, “I go the same direction that you do.” And I don’t know if she meant it very literally that hey, we’re all on the subway headed downtown, or if she meant it in a more figurative sense. We’re not just riding the N train, we’re all trying to make our way in the world. We all have the same struggles. We all have the same wins. I’d like to think she was talking about something bigger.

One of the things that stands out about this song is the pins. “There’ll always be someone with the same button on as you, include him in everything you do.” Do you really need a pin to signal that you should be kind to the person next to you? I really hope not – just hold that door open for the next person. Smile when you pass someone in the hallway at work. Make small talk with the person ringing up your groceries at the supermarket. Apologize when you bump into someone.

But this isn’t the 60’s anymore, and sometimes you really don’t know about the random person on the street. Or maybe you want to be friendly but your anxiety keeps you from reaching out. Or maybe you just need a gentle reminder for yourself. In this day and age where the handheld devices distract us, where the politicians do more to divide us, maybe we all need a reminder that we’re all one of the beautiful people, living in the same world together, and we need to take care of each other. “Beautiful people never have to be alone, cause there’ll always be someone with the same button on.” Did I listen to a hippy dippy song about being kind to your neighbor and turn it into a pin I plan on handing out to all my friends? YOU BET I DID. And I put the design in my online store (link here) so you can get a few for yourself and do the same (can’t afford some pins on your own? Email me and I’ll gladly send you some for free).

So I hope you take the message of this song and carry it with you when you wear pin. Share the pin with your friends. Encourage them to share pins with others. Remind yourself and others that we’re all just beautiful people, making our way in the world. “And if you take care of him, maybe I’ll take care of you.”

All the Pretty Girls

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2024 came in with a bang! I have not been gigging as much, but I’ve been doing some pretty significant work anyway, and I just want to talk about it for a minute origin spiel herunterladen.

One of the things that I love about performing regularly is the challenge of learning new music. I try to keep it seasonal, so that means more winter-y and holiday songs in December downloaden wordpress. Love songs in February. Irish tunes (both of the pop and traditional variety) in March.

This year, however, I decided to do something a little different in February herunterladen. A dream of mine for a very long time has been to do an entire show of music by my favorite all-time artist, Ani Difranco. This probably sounds easy enough if you don’t actually know who Ani is bab formular herunterladen. But if you know, you know.

Ani Difranco isn’t just an emotion- and thought-provoking songwriter. Ani’s guitar tunings get a little…. complicated. Here’s a crash course in guitar tuning. Standard guitars are tuned EADGBE. Sometimes we get fancy and do DADGBE (this is called drop D tuning and my favorite example is “Everlong” by Foo Fighters). Sometimes we can experiment with open tunings like DADGAD – this means you don’t have to press any strings down with your left hand, you can just strum the strings with your right hand and it will sound pretty cool.

Most of Ani’s songs, on the other hand, are in quite a variety of radical tunings. I won’t even go into specifics but a very reliable website I have been using for years – anitabs.net – lists 33 different tunings, in addition to standard tuning. Some tunings are only used in just one song. Some she uses for just a handful. What this means from a performing standpoint is that if you want to do more than 3 of her songs at a gig, you’ve got to either be really, really good at changing the tuning of your guitar on the fly, or you’ve got to have multiple guitars ready to go and quite possibly – like Ani does – you’ve got someone else assisting you with tuning your other guitars for you.

I don’t have a guitar tech to come to shows with me – yet – but I did have a dream to fulfill. I learned the songs, I plotted out the tuning changes very, very carefully, and then on February 16 I did it. I played a 3-hour show featuring 26 Ani tunes and more music from some great female musicians – everyone from Janis Joplin to Amy Winehouse. I had a blast! And more importantly, I was pretty proud of the fact that I put in the effort and played a great show of a lot of new-to-me, challenging music.

I don’t know when or where I’ll do the next “All the Pretty Girls” show, but if you’re a venue that sounds interested in having this special show – let’s get in touch!

This is why I teach…

I had one of those weeks this week.

One of these really good weeks, actually.

The kind of week I want to write about because I want to remember it. It was filled with a lot of really important teaching moments for me. The kind of moments that remind you to keep going, that remind you, hey, the kids really are alright.

I teach music, art, and dance at a Catholic elementary school – these are all school stories this time around.

Ukrainian dance is always a mixed bag minecraft behavior packages. It’s an after-school group, there is no audition required, and it’s open to students from 3rd through 8th grade. I have some students who have been dancing with me since before the pandemic, I have some students who didn’t even know what Ukrainian folk dancing was before September. And I have them all at the same time, in one big happy group, anyone who wants to come. I’m not sure I know what the ideal number of students for a dance class is, but I’m sure I do not have it this year. I have over 30 students of varying abilities on the stage with me all at the same time.

You already know I have behavior issues. Not because the kids are bad, but just because there’s so many of them putty dateien herunterladen! And they’re all together! Did I mention there are 30 of them? And only one of me? And some of the kids could do all the moves with their eyes closed, and some of the kids are still working on moving to the beat of the music without tripping over themselves. The older kids get bored; the younger kids get frustrated. Somehow, we still manage to have some fun every week.

We’ve been working HARD since the beginning of September, just trying to get the new kids through all the basic moves, and that hard work is finally paying off. This week, at only our *checks calendar* sixth meeting of the year, we finished the choreography for our first dance.

It’s not difficult icd 10 kostenlosen. It’s not long. It’s not complex. But it’s done. And the cheer they let out when I announced that we had finished it? DEAFENING. I had the presence of mind to capture the moment in a selfie (something I often forget), and the sheer joy from these children is just beaming straight out of the pic. I’ll share it on my Facebook page, you’ll have to go check it out.

It may have been a bit of a struggle to get there, and we still have some cleaning up to do, but I could not be prouder of these kids steam all games. The kids who have been dancing with me for six years, and the kids who’ve only been with me six weeks alike. They’re giving it all their ALL this year, and their enthusiasm is infectious.

Now for a heartwarming story.

I’ve got a kid in one of my lower grades, who has some issues, he has had some struggles in his life even at his young age, and to complicate matters, there is a language barrier that we are ever so slowly working to take down. But this child loves coming to all my classes, he loves dancing and singing (even if he’s not singing the right words.. or melody), he loves art sims 4 kostenlosen vollversion deutsch mac. Who needs to speak the “right” language to enjoy these things?

We were working on steady beat in his class this week, and discussing the importance of a steady beat in a song like a lullaby. So I started rocking my imaginary baby to a slow, steady beat.

So of course all the students join in, too, with all their imaginary babies. And this student joins in as well. He bounces his baby gently like the rest of the students. Then he does something that is a little peculiar I guess when you are on the outside looking in but it’s something we’ve come to expect from him, he just burst out into some energetic dance moves, and then he sat down. (He is definitely a dancer!)

I noticed, though, that he was looking a little teary-eyed. I knew that I didn’t know enough of his language (and he didn’t know enough of mine) to really be able to communicate what was going on, so I walked over to his table as I went on with my lesson. Instead of trying to talk to him, I just held my hand out to him on the table, for him to hold if he wanted to, and I went on talking to the class. I was just hoping he would know I was there for him in that moment.

He immediately grabbed my hand. Looked right at me and said, “I love…” and we locked eyes for a sweet little moment. Then he let go. The classmates at his table and I were fully invested, “What do you love?” they asked. I said to them, “maybe he’s just vibing right now.” That is the lingo nowadays right? We smiled at each other, I squeezed his hand, and I got back up soon after and continued on with my lesson.

This is why I teach. Sure, I want my kids to understand steady beat, but I also want them to be feel safe. Most of all, I just want my students to know they are loved.

Which brings me to my final story, which is really more of an observation than a story. I’ve had many conversations with teacher friends on the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sure, the health threat has been minimized, but the weeks (months… and in some cases, years) of isolation took its toll on everyone, and I think behavior-wise, us teachers are still seeing the effects in our classrooms.

And usually, when we have this conversation, we’re never talking about any good side effects. It’s always the negative. But I’d like to posit that there is an actual positive thing to come out of the pandemic with these kids.

I teach art, which is great, if you’re someone who likes to spend most of your day just cleaning up messes while occasionally teaching kids how to paint. What makes my life a whole lot easier are the helpers, and there are always helpers. Always. But what I’ve noticed in the last few years, is the kids are just so darn nice about it. They’re not helping because they’re supposed to. They’re helping because they genuinely want to. They volunteer to do it, they go above and beyond, they do it all with a smile. And if they won’t be able to see the people they’re helping – they leave them a little note instead.

When I came back around to this table before the next class came in, my heart just about melted.

The kids are gonna be alright, guys.

Rock out with me this Fall!

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GUYS! I’m so excited to be playing out in the next few months. Check the Upcoming Shows page for details, but I’ll be at Hailey’s in Metuchen AND Paragon in Clark not once, but TWICE happy birthday song download! These restaurants are family-friendly and so am I. I love playing a mix of rock and pop from the 60s to today to please all the generations. (And yes, I will pull out the Disney tunes if I must!) Bring the fam, all your closest friends, or make it a date night powerpoint entwürfe kostenlosen. Either way, I look forward to seeing you!

I’m always happy to take requests and learn a new song, so if you have one, please drop me a line… but check out my song list first because maybe I already know it Download beautiful pictures for free!

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A Ukrainian fundraiser (or an Facebook live, you choose)

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Earthsongs, Metuchen, NJ – Saturday June 24 @ 2:30 – 4pm. I’m super excited to be a part of this event. Linda and her ceramics studio Earthsongs are celebrating their 30th anniversary herunterladen! What an accomplishment! In addition to celebrating a wonderful woman and all the art she has helped others create over the years, it is also a fundraiser for Ukraine, and I am honored to be able to entertain by playing an exclusive set of all Ukrainian music herunterladen. If you can’t attend in person, I am hoping to live stream at least part of my performance, but I can’t promise it will work the way I want it to lol pc game free. Be sure to follow me on Facebook and check in around 2:30 to get a glimpse!

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My summer job as a year-long side-gig

Something you probably know about me is that I’m Ukrainian. Well, technically, I am Ukrainian, Hungarian and Czech, but I am most active in the Ukrainian-American community here on the east coast irc herunterladen. I’m active in my church community, I teach Ukrainian dance at my church’s school (in addition to music and art, of course), and I work at a Ukrainian dance camp for six weeks during the summer in the idyllic Shawangunk mountains in New York flugzeug spiele pc kostenlosen.

The Ukrainian community, both in Ukraine itself and across the globe, is a tight-knit community and we are able to easily enjoy and participate in cultural activities, buy Ukrainian products, find our favorite Ukrainian artists on YouTube and Spotify, and congregate at Ukrainian businesses and cultural centers double head.

For all of our abilities, however, and the ease with which we can engage in our culture, I have found a little gaping hole that I seem poised to be able to perfectly fill games app for free.

You see, when you’re a dance teacher, you’re practically a whole DJ on the side. You’re constantly looking through your CD collection (yes, almost every dance teacher I know still uses CDs, especially the Ukrainian dance teachers) for the perfect piece of music for the exercise, combo or choreography you want to create for your students hoe ebook bol.com. And while there are quite a few resources for full dances, there are almost zero resources for a Ukrainian dance class. And that is where I come in.

At my summer job, I accompany ballet and character classes at a Ukrainian dance class. What I do for my ballet classes is akin to what you would find from Joey McNamara or Nate Fifield (look them up on Spotify for a relaxing change of pace), in addition, of course, to the classical ballet music one would expect in a serious dance class. I have plenty of sheet music resources, from my own music collection and sheet music I can purchase online.

For my character classes on the other hand… All of that music comes directly out of my own head and heart. I have two primary sources for sheet music: A small songbook I found in my grandfather’s collection after he passed away, and my own musical mind. If I don’t have the music already written out, I transcribe it from any old recordings I can get my hands on.

So in addition to the 20 million OTHER things that I do all year long, I realized that I have to answer this calling to fill this void. So I started a Patreon….

Miss Anna’s Dance Music!

The point of Patreon is that I can create something – in this case, Ukrainian dance music recordings – and my patrons can help support me on my journey. Because contrary to popular belief, musicians can’t survive on “exposure” alone. Studio time costs money. Recording rights cost money. I’m doing a lot of work on my own, but to take it to the next level, I need the support of the people who already enjoy my music, or who just recognize the importance of what I’m trying to do.

For as little as $3 a month (I sound like PBS), you can support me on my quest. If you’re feeling extra generous, you can of course join a higher tier and give a little more each month, but for real – if you could “buy me a cup of coffee” each month and fuel my piano playing fingers, that would be more than enough to keep me on track!

So please visit the link above and support me if you can! Dyakoyu and thank you from the bottom of my little, musical, Ukrainian heart.

Facebook Live (and not so live)

Well the funny thing about finally creating a Facebook for all my gigs and music videos, is that once upon a time, the Miss Anna’s Music School Facebook Page was exactly that – my public page for gigs, music videos and music teaching related stuff kann keine bilder whatsapp herunterladen. Making the page today felt a lot like this…

I’ll bet Bernie would love coming to one of my shows lkw simulator pc kostenlos!

Well anyway, so here’s the plan. Go to my Facebook Page passwort tabelle herunterladen. Enjoy live music. Enjoy pre-recorded music. Enjoy funny music stories, memes and shares. Request songs. Generally, just be cool.

For starters, I’ve got four monthly gigs lined up at the coziest little place… my living room 7 wonders kostenlos downloaden. Join me on the last Sunday of each month for an hour of tunes in the afternoon. Pop me on and play me in the background as you enjoy a cozy cup of tea herunterladen. Or prop me up somewhere you can watch and make a ton of comments. It’s up to you! Remember, every time a poodle barks, it’s time to take a sip! Of what? That’s up to you!

See you on Facebook!

THANK YOU! And up next…

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Friends! Thanks so much for coming out to party with me at Hailey’s this past weekend! It was SUPER fun playing for you and you all looked like you had a pretty good time, too basisschrift zum herunterladen!

I’m looking forward to my next show on Saturday, Sept 12 at The Coffeehouse on Amboy Ave. in Edison. It’s seriously one of my favorite places to grab a coffee whether I’m taking it to go or am hanging around for a bit youtubeen online ddownr. Their pastries and desserts are tasty, their grilled cheese is EXCELLENT and the gelato is out of this world. For reals, their coffee might be some of the best in Middlesex county, if not all of central New Jersey itunesen windows 7 32 bit!

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And we’re back!

Hello, my friends! It’s been a wild few months and on top of that, quite a few years since the last time I really actively blogged here on my site 500 ps download kostenlos. I’ve recently gone through a bit of a major life change (pandemics and months of quarantine can have that effect, I guess), and I really look forward to sharing with you more often here on my blog snaptube herunterladen fehlgeschlagen.

this is jut a random fun picture of me in my favorite pajama pants museum org painting download. nbd.

In the meantime, I’ve already done plenty of writing so far that you can still browse through. Everything from my Star Wars/John Williams conspiracy theory (pretty certain he spoiled the ending of Episode 9 all the way back in Episode 7) to my volunteer trip to Ukraine a decade ago, and a lot of thoughts on music in between fiesta kostenlos downloaden. So feel free to scroll back through the archives if you’re bored.

Also please check out the new sections of my website – “Performing” and “Upcoming Gigs.” Getting back into playing live was something I was trying to do right when the virus hit NJ hard and everything shut down Diary for free. Some people might take that as a sign, but I am not some people. Now that businesses are opening back up again, I am looking forward to playing some local venues around NJ (have a local venue around NJ automatically series synology? let’s talk!). I’m practically built for that chill, outdoor on the patio on a laid back summer night kind of vibe! Check out the “Performing” tab for a short playlist – an amuse-bouche for your ears, if you will. Enjoy!