I am sharing these recent school pictures I found – my friends have told me they like seeing pictures of me when I was young. So why not?

Message this morning to my high school choir teacher:

Hi Frankie,

Life is precious. I did not take an art project, yesterday. I was stressed to consider it – there were a lot of paintings and not enough compensation. In the past, I would have been desperate for any amount of income. I don’t feel that way anymore. I feel far more valuable writing my blog and composing my songs.

I had a voice lesson, yesterday. I love sharing my music with my voice teacher, Peaches. She really understands the nuances and phrasing that is helpful for my songwriting.

I have two songs I’m planning to record soon. I think recording is truly my greatest joy. Have a nice day!

Love, Judy

On Jan 14, 2011, at 9:39 AM, Frankie wrote:

Dear Judy,

Brava that you decided not to take a job for too little pay, Judy.  It is so wonderful that you are listening to your gut (pardon the expression).

How wonderful also to be recording your compositions!

Love, Frankie

Dear Frankie,

I think that for the last, thirty years I assumed my music was “gone forever.” It has taken a lot of energy for me to remember all my songs.

I lost a few, but it has been very exciting to “reinvent” even the ones that I thought were lost.

By recording my songs, I know that they will never be lost for me again. Even when I’m old and can’t perform them anymore – they are there for me. It has really given so much meaning and purpose to my life, whether or not anyone else appreciates them. Actually, the fact that I’ve received some nice responses has made me happier than I’ve ever imagined!

What will be interesting is – what comes next? I am finishing two more of my “former songs.” After that – I don’t think I have any old songs left to reinvent (but I never say never – I actually do have five more chord sheets!)

It will be very interesting when i write a completely, new song. Glad I could share!

Love, Judy

Thanks, Judy. Music is an amazing gift for us both.

How beautiful that you replaced your mom’s “holey” possessions with new ones.

Life is certainly a challenge, isn’t it, when one gets old?  Hang in there. Your many friends are behind you.

Love, Frankie

On December 27th, I performed my most recent song “Laughter and Tears” at Kulak’s Woodshed. It is very reasonable to purchase a video of any performance and it has helped me to view my progress as a performer!

I have no idea if any readers listen to my audio discussions about upcoming songs with my vocal coach, Peaches Chrenko.

I will summarize here for anyone reading this that doesn’t have time to listen to them. I certainly know what it means to be busy!

Despite my mother’s situation, I pick up my guitar for short intervals every day. Inspiration comes to me when I least expect it. It comes incrementally, and my songwriting always unfolds on it’s own – I cannot rush it.

At this time, I am actually working on two songs at once. I have shared clips about the development of a new song with lyrics derived from my instrumental song entitled, Farewell.

That song is very intimate for me. I do wonder when I will finish it. It could be tomorrow, or it could be a long time off. I feel that it will need a different title, but I’m not certain.

Writing song lyrics takes a special energy that is different from music.

For me, lyrics need to connect with the music. On Farewell, the chords are so aching that they “make me weep” with their beauty. I have now finished the chord and melody “segments,” but need to construct the overall song by linking everything together. It has been really meaningful for me to see the progress.

PEACHES LESSON ABOUT FAREWELL 1-13-11

“Retreat”

At this time, I’m very close to recording a song that is tentatively called “Retreat.”

It is another “musical seed” that was composed before the age of twenty-one.

Retreat was a song that spoke to escaping from stress and disappointment.

All that I had to remember this song was a song sheet of words and chords. Gradually, I remembered the chorus melody. I tried to remember the verses, but could not come up with anything. I decided to find new chords and compose a new melody for the verses.

The lyrics for this song seemed adequate. I liked the theme, however, the chorus really expressed disappointment. I couldn’t remember much about what prompted me to write this song. Obviously, I was disappointed with someone in my life.

The original lyric line was:

At those times, I’d wish you were there – but you never were . . .

I’ve decided I’m going to change it a little to this:

At those times, I’d wish you were there, and then you’d appear . . .

I always change lines of lyric when I want a “better fit” for singing the song in my current life.

I think I’ve spent far more time on this song than many of my other songs. I haven’t shared the progress, so I actually have clips going back several weeks. Those clips show how my song began and really improved. Once again, this is about sharing my passion for songwriting and for anyone interested – I love sharing!

PEACHES LESSON ABOUT RETREAT – 12-29-10

PEACHES LESSON ABOUT RETREAT – 1-5-11

PEACHES LESSON ABOUT RETREAT #1 – 1-13-11

PEACHES LESSON ABOUT RETREAT #2 – 1-13-11

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