Vinyl winner and Brandi Carlile CD Giveaway!

* If you find this post to be boring, please feel free to not read it.*

If, however, you like music, and you like free stuff....read on!

Okay, first things first... here is my winner for the Ten23 designs Welcome sign! (And I hope some of you will go back and buy something for yourselves. Her prices really are fantastic!) Anyway, as you can see from my random number generator (that I learned how to get a snapshot of but was a huge pain in the booty for me so not sure I'll be doing it much) the winner is....

Whimsical Creations who said... 25

i have your button


=D melanie
http://melaniescrafts.blogspot.com

Tuesday, October 06, 2009 7:08:00 PM

First things first, click on the widget above and press play!

Okay, now on to the fun stuff! I was sent a download of the new CD by Brandi Carlile (who I had never actually heard of before) called Give up the Ghost to review. You might wonder how I can agree to review an artist I have never heard of... But I am such a lover of music I am willing to check out almost anything, even if I do end up hating it.
Which I didn't! The first time I listened to it I was thinking, "Hmmm, I guess this is pretty good. Kinda mellow and nice. I definitely don't hate it but would I actually go out and buy it?" But then the more I've listened to it the more I like it. It has really grown on me. I love her smoky mezzo voice, but I also like that she has a nice range. To me she is kind of a cross between Colbie Callait and Norah Jones. My favorite songs were Before it Breaks and If There was No You.

Okay, now go check out her site and buy it for yoursef!

http://www.brandicarlile.com/

OR I have a free download of this CD to give to one of you!
Want to win? Here's the gig:

(Required for initial entry)
Tell me what your newest favorite song is! Nice 'n Easy!

For extra entries after the initial entry above
(please leave a separate comment for each one):
BEFORE YOU DO THESE MAKE SURE YOU'VE SUBMITTED YOUR INITIAL ENTRY!

• Subscribe to my totally awesome blog! (top left)
  
• Put my adorable button on your blog. (make sure you have the new one!)
  
• Follow my blog! (top left)
• Follow me on Twitter
  
• Tweet about this contest!
• And seriously, if you want to do anything else like blog or stumble or whatever you just do it and let me know and I'll count it. Sound good?
• And make sure you leave a separate comment for each one!!

This contest will end Sunday, Oct. 25 at 11:59 and I will announce the winner the next week. Please leave your email address or make sure your blogger profile is public so I can find you! Good luck!

Preschoolers playing piano? (a giveaway)

You better believe it, baby! Around here we only raise musical geniuses that are concert pianists by the time they are two and writing symphonies by three. With two musical parents how can you expect anything less?

Okay, okay, so maybe every single one of my babies cried even harder when I tried to sing lullabies. That doesn't mean I'm going to give up on music! My 8 year old is coming along well. He can play the piano a little and is a good singer. And tonight he even played the marimba at a talent show. But I've been trying for a couple of years now to find a good program for teaching my preschooler piano. I've read up on the Orff and Kodaly methods but it's easier for me to do piano, since that's what we've got!

And today I am SO EXCITED to tell you about a program I discovered called Piano for Preschoolers.
And know what's awesome? One of you will win their program! First off, a little more about them:
Piano for Preschoolers is an effective piano teaching method that uses color-coded notes written on a traditional music staff to teach beginner piano lessons to children. A durable color strip sits behind the keys and guides the child to the correct key for each note. This method of teaching preschool music allows children to begin playing piano as soon as they know their colors.

For the last few years I've been working with Roo on his colors and singing lots of songs which meant he picked up on playing these songs with little to no effort on my part! It was so cool! He sat right down and started playing the key that coordinated with the note color and soon he recognized the song and started playing the right tune!

I have tried teaching a few younger kids piano with success, but with very, very slow success. With this program they are playing a real song on day one! Another thing I love is that it encourages singing. I have all of my preschoolers start singing and matching pitch on day one. I think many parents would be surprised what good singers their children are or can be at a very young age.

Another great thing? Parents with little or no music talent can teach their preschoolers piano with their easy to follow instruction book. Don't have a piano? They have a great package that includes a very fair priced keyboard designed just for little hands! One of my piano students was struggling and I started her on this program and now she's loving learning and feeling good about her progress.


There are many things I love about this program but there are a couple of things I would change. At first I was really impressed that the notes on the page were actually the right notes, just color coordinated. Until I realized that only some of them were right. I say either all right or all not. And I do wish this had more general music to it. Like teaching music terms like dynamics, note names, rests, things like that. Even if it was later in the book. That is something I will supplement with my own children and students. Other than that, I love it!!

Okay, so I know you want to know how you can win, don't you? Here is what the winner will get:

• Beginning piano book containing 17 familiar kids piano songs written in color-coded notes on a traditional musical staff
• 17 Track CD with voice-over "count aloud" for each song in the music book
• Durable coordinating color strip that sits behind the keys of your piano or keyboard to guide your preschooler to the correct key
• A second durable color strip to fit securely on most quality electronic keyboards with mini-keys
• Parent/Teacher Guide that includes step-by-step instructions for teaching each of the 19 music lessons

Here's how you win:

(Required for initial entry) I really want to get some traffic to them because I really believe in this product so please go to Piano for Preschoolers and tell me something you learned that you didn't learn from me!

For extra entries after the initial entry above (please leave a separate comment for each one):

• BEFORE YOU DO THESE MAKE SURE YOU'VE SUBMITTED YOUR INITIAL ENTRY!
• Tell me if you have a piano, a preschooler, and if you won who this would be for!
• Email 3 people you think might be interested in this and cc me so I know you did!
  
• Subscribe to my totally awesome blog!
• Put my adorable button on your blog. (oh, you know it is!)
• Follow my blog! (top left)
• Follow me on Twitter
• Tweet about this contest!
• And seriously, if you want to do anything else like blog or stumble or whatever you just do it and let me know and I'll count it. Sound good?
• And make sure you leave a separate comment for each one!!

This contest will end Wednesday, April 29 at 11:59 pm and I will announce the winner the next day. Please leave your email address or make sure your blogger profile is public so I can find you. Good luck!

Playing with magnets? We like them apples. (A giveaway)

I know that sometimes I make no sense. But it's cool, right? And I also like to have really long titles....I don't know why.

But I am really excited to tell you about my Magnaplay review and giveaway for this week!!


They sent my boys their Magnetic Activity Case which you can actually use with all of their other products! With that they sent the Magnetic Coloring travel set. Then they also sent their Magnetic Wooden Number match up puzzle. My boys loved all of these and especially my four year old. He doesn't go anywhere without it. The puzzle is fun, easy to do, and very sturdy so they won't fall apart on day one. The magnacase and coloring pages are fun and handy to use. And there are even two magnetic strips to keep your papers in place. Here is a little video of my two older boys trying them out.

Want to know the coolest part??!! I am the featured Mom on the MagnaPlay website.
Go check me out HERE!!

Okay okay, so now on to the part you've been waiting for. MagnaPlay has offered one of my readers their very own MagnaKase Magnetic Dry Erase activity case.


How can you win?? I thought you'd never ask!

(Required for initial entry) I know this giveaway has nothing to do with music but I'm looking for some new songs so tell me what your favorite song is. And if you have a link to it share that as well so I can listen. Thanks!

For extra entries (please leave a separate comment for each one):

• BEFORE YOU DO THESE MAKE SURE YOU'VE SUBMITTED YOUR INITIAL ENTRY!
• GO HERE and vote for #27 ONCE A DAY!! Leave an extra comment each time you vote!
  
• Go visit MagnaPlay and tell me what your favorite item is!
  
• Subscribe to my totally awesome blog!
• Put my adorable button on your blog. (oh, you know it is!)
• Follow my blog! (top left)
• Follow me on Twitter
• Tweet about this contest!
• And seriously, if you want to do anything else like blog or stumble or whatever you just do it and let me know and I'll count it. Sound good?
• And make sure you leave a separate comment for each one!!

This contest will end Sunday, April 19 at 11:59 pm and I will announce the winner the next day. Please leave your email address or make sure your blogger profile is public so I can find you. Good luck!

I said Yanni......NOT yawning.....jeesh

Okay, I am going to be totally honest here. I was sent a copy of Yanni Voices to review. My parents listened to Yanni when I was growing up and we always thought it was pretty.

But I have to admit we kids always called him yawning. Yep. It got pretty boring after a while. It all sounded the same to me. And yes, that was before my musical taste was as cultured and refined. Ahem.

Now, I never judge a book by it's cover. And as you can see the front cover is pretty tame, right? Of course I've always held that if I ever had a CD I would not put a picture of myself on the front. But that's cool. I mean, he's definitely got a new look, so that's good.

And then I flipped it over. And the "voices" on the back look like actors straight from Twilight. And I couldn't help but wonder.....did Yanni go looking for voices.....or vampires? So right there I admit, I was a little against this CD. Although I do think Ender is a really cool name.






But I'm getting way off topic here. The point is....how is the music? And my answer is.....good. Not fantastic knock my socks off. But good.

And the thing I love best? I love that Yanni is no longer "yawning". The different genres, and yes, voices, bring a freshness to his music. And even though the girls look hoochie and the guys are gorgeous, the can actually sing pretty good too. Especially the guys. I was kind of surprised by the girls. I was expecting a more classical sound but one of them has a bluegrassy timbre to her voice and the other sounds totally pop to me. And yet at times I hear them singing in classical style as well. Which is totally cool.

Some songs I liked more than others. Some I barely liked at all. And I lost my CD case the first day so I don't know who's singing. But overall, pretty good.

Way to go Yanni. I'm not exactly up and dancing but at least I'm not yawning.

Music makes the heart.... (a giveaway)

Music has always been a huge part of my life. And I don't just mean dancing alone in my room to the radio, or rocking out to my favorite CD when I'm alone in the car(although I love that too). Some of the best memories I have from growing up are singing with my family. It is still one of my favorite things to do. We would always sing together, and at church, and in school, so I grew up singing. I also played flute for many years and had a few piano lessons, although I'm not very good at either of those.

In college my minor was music and I was able to take a year of voice lessons. It is still a passion of mine that I really only get to fulfill by sharing music with others in my life. There is a young girl here in my neighborhood that I get to work with, which I love. And I teach piano and voice and I also include a lot of music in my preschool. (My preschool is actually called Do Re Mi Preschool which not everyone here understands). So you could say it's a huge part of my life, especially since I married a band teacher so I get exposure to the instrumental end of music as well. I don't get to actually sing much anymore but I know it's just the season of my life.

Wow, this post is even getting a bit boring for me. Sorry friends. This is turning into a really long and drawn out introduction to my newest giveaway so let's get on to business! I am always on the lookout for interesting and unique musical gifts. The Christmas before last I got Eldon a lamp made out of a clarinet that ended up being a really really old flute (but still cool). I was wandering around Etsy and found a fun shop called Diamonds and Sprinkles. I contacted her a while ago and she agreed to do a giveaway here on my blog. Sweet!

Here is the necklace I have!

I just got it tonight so I had my hubby take a quick pic of me wearing it while playing the guitar (not that you can tell). I was trying to fix it up in Paint.net which is my free version of Photoshop but it was taking too long so this is whatcha get! I LOVE it! It's big (which I'm totally into right now, and it's shiny and sparkles all over the room. Just imagine how it would look with a fancy black dress on performance day!?

Here are a couple of other pieces she has that I just love! Her items are not just music related but I think they are just so unique, funky and cute!

And here is what you can win! Isn't it gorgeous??
She has so many beautiful pieces but since I wanted to dedicate this post to music I asked her if we could give away a music piece. I hope you love it as much as I do!

Want to win??? Here's how:

(Required for initial entry) Finish my post title for me. Leave a comment and say "Music makes the heart......." and finish the sentence for me. I can't wait to hear your answers!

For extra entries (please leave a separate comment for each one):

• Visit Diamonds and Sprinkles and tell me what you like.
• Subscribe to my totally awesome blog! (you know you want to, top left)
• Put my adorable button on your blog. (oh, you know it is!)
  
• Follow my blog! (top left)
  
• Follow me on Twitter.
• And seriously, if you want to do anything else like blog or stumble or tweet or whatever you just do it and let me know and I'll count it. Sound good?

This contest will end Saturday, February 14 (the official love day) at 11:59 pm and I will announce the winner the next day. Please leave your email address or make sure your blogger profile is public so I can find you. Good luck and have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Singing? What's that?

I am a music nerd. No, I didn't major in music in college like my husband or brother but I am a big time NERD all the same. From an age I can't even remember I've been involved with music. With my family, in church, at school, etc. I was in band from grades 4-10 and then in choir from grades 9-12. Even though I always enjoyed singing better, (except for marching band, I loved marching band) I am so glad that I took more years of band. From a young age I learned to harmonize but band helped me learn how to actually read those black things on the page. And it also helped me recognize when I was flat or sharp.
Well, my point of all this is that I love to sing! I've sang in a multitude of choirs in church and choir but in the past year or so have had the opportunity to lead choir in church. And I'll admit it, I stink! I would much rather sing. But in the last...well...what seems like forever, I have had almost no opportunities to sing. I can't sing in the ward choir because I'm the director, I can't sing in the stake choir because my hubby is the Asst. choir director and we can't get babysitters on Sunday for me to sing too and there are no other choirs around. (My secret dream is to sing as the soloist for a jazz band)
Well, for the first time in forever I've been asked to sing a soloin church tomorrow. But I am ridiculously nervous! I teach lessons a few times a week and I was doing everything wrong! And on top of that I can't decide what song to sing. I can't decide between I Stand All Amazed, arranged by Jay Richards or Peace by Guy and Barry Gibbons. I love both songs in different ways but Peace is easier so I don't know which route I want to go. But all in all, it's fun to be able to sing again. Wish me luck tomorrow. ;)