Music books, song books, sheet music, hymns, hymnals, new releases, or out-of-print books may be the diamond in the rough that will light up your music décor. These might be new, vintage, or even antique, and on the rarest of occasions, you might even find some that appear to be older than dirt.
What appears to be a rare find, "the guitars friend", recently caught my attention because it is an out-of-print book. It is a catalog of musical instruments, supplies, parts, accessories, and books. The copyright date is 1977. Included in its pages are evaluations of the best in electric guitars and acoustic guitars, banjos, dulcimers, mandolins, fiddles, recorders, flutes, harmonicas, concertinas, drums, and more. You can read more details about it at http://www.preservationsound.com/?p=3001 and there you will also find a 13-page excerpt from the book that you can download. Learning more about this book will help you decide if it is a good fit for your music décor. As to sources where this book and others might be found, it is hard to pinpoint, but eBay, a book sale, or a yard sale might be a good place to start.
These diamonds in the rough could be music books about or for specific instruments, not just a guitar, but perhaps a 12-string guitar, accordion, organ, piano, hammered dulcimer, violin or classical music from the great composers. In fact, one day I was sorting through a stack of old stuff that I had forgotten about in my music filing cabinet and ran across a dozen special pieces of classical music called Progressive Series Compositions 97 to 100 years old. These even showed the grade of the composition.
Why do I call them special? Because this classical music has a picture of the composer on the front, and had been revised to include a biographical sketch of the composer and a healthy discussion of how the music was meant to be played, along with the music composition itself, and on the back page was a note to the music teacher, basically telling the music teacher they are the judge of its merit. WOW! How cool is that! If you were a music teacher, could you see that in a frame on your music wall?
How many times have you been to a flea market or a yard sale and come across music? Did you ever think about framing a piece of sheet music or creating a type of mural in a frame using multiple pieces? You might even find old hymn tunes that have been decoupaged onto old stained blocks of wood designed to be displayed on the wall. I could go on and on, but only your imagination limits the opportunities that await you with the discovery of musical treasures.
B# (be sharp), keep an open mind and train your eyes to seek the unusual and unexpected. However you choose to define rare finds, diamonds in the rough, or the catch of the day makes no difference. Do not stress if you have days when treasures that will enhance your music decor are no where to be found. The main thing is to have fun, enjoy the journey, and keep smiling.
Your comments are welcome.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Music Decor and the Unusual
The unusual things we learn about music can shed new light on what we display, and how. Learning more about music and its great music composers can often have a huge impact in selecting music decor. A little bit of history, especially with a story to tell, can make your music decor even more interesting.
The famous song AVE MARIA lists two names, Bach-Gounod, as its composer. Bach and Gounod lived about one hundred years apart. How could these two men who never met write the same composition?
The story goes that Bach wrote a composition based upon broken chords -- chords sounding like they were played on a harp. About a hundred years later, Gounod heard it and thought it would make a great accompaniment for a melody. Gounod wrote the tune in which he set the words of AVE MARIA to music.
Bach is considered to be one of the three greatest music composers who ever lived, but for nearly one hundred years after his death, his works were not sung or played much. As other fine musicians like Gounod and Mendelssohn discovered his work and included them in their own programs, Bach's name reached the height in music that we know it today.
One evening while Ludwig van Beethoven was taking a stroll through the poorer section of Vienna, he heard the sounds of his famous MOONLIGHT SONATA coming from an attic window. It was being played different than he intended when he wrote it. There was an occasional wrong note and the player would play to one point and then seem to get mixed up. He listened for a while and then curiosity got the best of him. He climbed the stairs to the attic, knocked on the door, and a little girl greeted him and invited him in. The pianist was her brother and his blindness was the reason for the mistakes. When Beethoven played the piano for her brother, he knew it had to be Beethoven because no one else could play the beautiful music so well.
When you think of Handel, did you know his father did not want him to be interested in music? He was told he must not perform music. They even moved the harpsichord away so he could not play it. There is a painting that shows Handel playing the clavier (like a piano)in his night clothes and in the background are his mother and father holding a lighted candle. They are gazing into the dark trying to see who is playing in the middle of the night. Handel would tip-toe to practice when no one was around.
When you select music decor, don't overlook possible history and/or the rest of the story that your guests will be sure to enjoy!
Thank you for visiting Music Decor and More. Your comments are welcome.
The famous song AVE MARIA lists two names, Bach-Gounod, as its composer. Bach and Gounod lived about one hundred years apart. How could these two men who never met write the same composition?
The story goes that Bach wrote a composition based upon broken chords -- chords sounding like they were played on a harp. About a hundred years later, Gounod heard it and thought it would make a great accompaniment for a melody. Gounod wrote the tune in which he set the words of AVE MARIA to music.
Bach is considered to be one of the three greatest music composers who ever lived, but for nearly one hundred years after his death, his works were not sung or played much. As other fine musicians like Gounod and Mendelssohn discovered his work and included them in their own programs, Bach's name reached the height in music that we know it today.
One evening while Ludwig van Beethoven was taking a stroll through the poorer section of Vienna, he heard the sounds of his famous MOONLIGHT SONATA coming from an attic window. It was being played different than he intended when he wrote it. There was an occasional wrong note and the player would play to one point and then seem to get mixed up. He listened for a while and then curiosity got the best of him. He climbed the stairs to the attic, knocked on the door, and a little girl greeted him and invited him in. The pianist was her brother and his blindness was the reason for the mistakes. When Beethoven played the piano for her brother, he knew it had to be Beethoven because no one else could play the beautiful music so well.
When you think of Handel, did you know his father did not want him to be interested in music? He was told he must not perform music. They even moved the harpsichord away so he could not play it. There is a painting that shows Handel playing the clavier (like a piano)in his night clothes and in the background are his mother and father holding a lighted candle. They are gazing into the dark trying to see who is playing in the middle of the night. Handel would tip-toe to practice when no one was around.
When you select music decor, don't overlook possible history and/or the rest of the story that your guests will be sure to enjoy!
Thank you for visiting Music Decor and More. Your comments are welcome.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Design Ideas for Music Decor
Think about design ideas that use music-related items. Music decor can be one simple design or incorporate many related ideas. Keep it simple or use your imagination to create home decor that speaks volumes.
Remember, simple is what you perceive it to be. Want it more glamorous -- try adding larger pieces, more color, and create different styles. Music can encompass a variety of topics. Design ideas can be created with musical items by varying shapes, styles, sounds, art, and types of music.
Make it jazzy, if you like jazz. If your theme is western, keep it country. If you like gospel, there are a lot of vintage hymns, traditional, and contemporary selections from which to pick. Design ideas using classic Rock, classical, big band sounds, bluegrass, are among others from which to select to create different styles that add a sophisticated, comfy, dreamy, upbeat, or relaxing mood to your music decor.
Start by jotting down some ideas, such as types of music you like, songs you enjoy listening to, your favorite dance tunes, and determine what all of these ideas have in common. Is there a commonality, such as how all of them pertain to music? Identify their differences as well, and think about what makes them special to you. How many of these design ideas can you incorporate into your decor? Music, like wood decor, can all match, or it can be different types arranged to accent and compliment each other.
Design ideas may include music-related wall art, music boxes, decorative pieces, music books or sheet music, anything with music notes, rugs, furniture with a music design, windchimes, or anything that captures your attention that will compliment a common theme.
A memory from life experiences whether it is a pamphlet from a play or a simple reminder of fun things you've done, such as waltzing, dancing to folk tunes, going to the symphony, singing with the church choir, reminiscing to the oldies, attending a ballet, listening to contemporary jazz on a cruise ship or a song you heard at the local fifties diner, tapping to the beat of a distant drum, or something altogether different can be incorporated into your musical design ideas. Decorate your living quarters to give it a flavor for who you are with a warmth that welcomes friends.
As you decorate your room, pay particular attention to the direction of the items you are using. You may want a wall that is balanced from left to right to give a central focus. This can be accomplished with two pictures whose direction is toward each other. Sometimes an entire grouping can be arranged with one picture to the far left and one to the far right, giving your design ideas a centering effect.
Other times, you may want your design to go completely around the room. In this case, make sure each piece is placed in the same direction, so your eyes easily follow and move around the room in one direction. If the direction of one item is opposite, it will cause your eyes to instantly switch direction and move the other way around the room. This creates an imbalance because instead of moving in one direction, it is as though your attention is first directed right, then left, etc.
When I first heard of this technique, I walked into one room where I had decor on every wall. The first thing I noticed was the direction of one item flowing in the opposite direction from all of the others. I relocated it to a position whereby it naturally redirected my attention in the opposite direction. The difference was amazing! Almost unbelievable, an immediate feeling of harmony entered that room. Placement and direction of your design ideas are important to the harmony in your room.
Remember, simple is what you perceive it to be. Want it more glamorous -- try adding larger pieces, more color, and create different styles. Music can encompass a variety of topics. Design ideas can be created with musical items by varying shapes, styles, sounds, art, and types of music.
Make it jazzy, if you like jazz. If your theme is western, keep it country. If you like gospel, there are a lot of vintage hymns, traditional, and contemporary selections from which to pick. Design ideas using classic Rock, classical, big band sounds, bluegrass, are among others from which to select to create different styles that add a sophisticated, comfy, dreamy, upbeat, or relaxing mood to your music decor.
Start by jotting down some ideas, such as types of music you like, songs you enjoy listening to, your favorite dance tunes, and determine what all of these ideas have in common. Is there a commonality, such as how all of them pertain to music? Identify their differences as well, and think about what makes them special to you. How many of these design ideas can you incorporate into your decor? Music, like wood decor, can all match, or it can be different types arranged to accent and compliment each other.
Design ideas may include music-related wall art, music boxes, decorative pieces, music books or sheet music, anything with music notes, rugs, furniture with a music design, windchimes, or anything that captures your attention that will compliment a common theme.
A memory from life experiences whether it is a pamphlet from a play or a simple reminder of fun things you've done, such as waltzing, dancing to folk tunes, going to the symphony, singing with the church choir, reminiscing to the oldies, attending a ballet, listening to contemporary jazz on a cruise ship or a song you heard at the local fifties diner, tapping to the beat of a distant drum, or something altogether different can be incorporated into your musical design ideas. Decorate your living quarters to give it a flavor for who you are with a warmth that welcomes friends.
As you decorate your room, pay particular attention to the direction of the items you are using. You may want a wall that is balanced from left to right to give a central focus. This can be accomplished with two pictures whose direction is toward each other. Sometimes an entire grouping can be arranged with one picture to the far left and one to the far right, giving your design ideas a centering effect.
Other times, you may want your design to go completely around the room. In this case, make sure each piece is placed in the same direction, so your eyes easily follow and move around the room in one direction. If the direction of one item is opposite, it will cause your eyes to instantly switch direction and move the other way around the room. This creates an imbalance because instead of moving in one direction, it is as though your attention is first directed right, then left, etc.
When I first heard of this technique, I walked into one room where I had decor on every wall. The first thing I noticed was the direction of one item flowing in the opposite direction from all of the others. I relocated it to a position whereby it naturally redirected my attention in the opposite direction. The difference was amazing! Almost unbelievable, an immediate feeling of harmony entered that room. Placement and direction of your design ideas are important to the harmony in your room.
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