Etudes

Jacob Collier Performs Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing” This video shows a young Jacob Collier doing it all—singing all the parts, playing all the instruments, manipulating all the technology and creating wonderful music. Enjoy his rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing” and come back on the other side.

For what event (moment, mood, etc.) in your life would this rendition of Debussy’s Clair de Lune be the perfect music? Describe the time, what was happening and why this music suits it. Or, if it hasn’t happened yet, what would you like it to be? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c977QdbTImU&t=21s Steinway & Sons @steinway steinway.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1qQOGCyRbYu0026t=13s I can’t resist including Paul Barton’s version of Debussy’s Clair de Lune for elephants. Barton plays classical music for rescued elephants at a reserve in Thailand. Click the YouTube link above. Watch and react. How are you like that elephant? OR Write a monologue from the elephant’s point of view. ******************************************************** Can’t get enough

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQM97_iNXhku0026t=178s Valkyries are female figures in Norse mythology that usher dead heroes from the battlefield to Valhalla. Wagner gives these beings a rousing number in the third act of the opera Dië Walküre (The Valkyries), which is itself the second of four installments of the epic opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. Yes. Huge. Wagner

Watch this version of Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries which was staged at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 2019. The orchestra is there but not in the picture. The video focuses completely on the staged performance of the Valkyries themselves, here fully costumed and riding into the fray on giant planks. The music

Here’s a guy who’s not afraid to take a classic and switch it up a little. Since you’ve already slogged through the other Valkyrie videos, this one’s just for fun—unless, of course, you feel inspired to write about why certain styles suit you better than others, or what else in your life you could tweak

New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein–Conductor, Pianist and All-Around Amazing Human Gasp! This one is a stunner. In this 1975 performance with the New York Philharmonic, Bernstein conducts from the bench of the grand piano THAT HE IS PLAYING. He is conducting WITHOUT A SCORE and playing WITHOUT SHEET MUSIC. Seventeen some-odd wildly complex minutes committed

There are all kinds of ways to create, perform and react to art. Edvard Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King” (1875) from Peer Gynt is just a few measures of notes played over and over again. How could it possibly be interesting? Close your eyes. Listen to the music through a couple of

Close your eyes. Sit back and listen to this piece through without interruption. Let the music suggest images and watch as these images appear behind your eyelids or somewhere in your mind. When the music stops, open your eyes and write down descriptions of what you saw as best as you can. Then, listening to

Etudes are musical lessons. Composers write them to help musicians build skills, practice technique and master their instruments. Music has lessons for writers, too. Experiencing it can help us to master skills we need in our art form—things like sensory awareness, observation, focus and how to transfer all of that into words. Here’s a chance