nobody likes mondays

Songs in the key of life: What makes music emotional? - life - 11 January 2010 - New Scientist

Happy Monday!

I found this great article online, via @newscientist on Twitter. Ever wonder why some songs sound sad, and some songs sound happy, regardless of the lyrics? Here's something that breaks it down for you. Enjoy!

Songs in the key of life: What makes music emotional? - life - 11 January 2010 - New Scientist.

current project: the make-you-smile song

Hope you guys enjoy the song! Have a great weekend!

It's not yet finished, but here are the lyrics so far.

I thought that I would write you a song
In case your day's gone a little bit long
And the rain is pouring, making your heart feel blue

I wish that I could be there beside you
Jump up from behind and surprise you
But for now, I guess a song is gonna have to do

Oh and if your hand should feel
The chill of the winter morning
Baby, breathe
Close your eyes and think of me, saying

I love you, now and forever
I love you, always remember
I wrote it into a song so you can sing it along, sing it along
I love you, no pretending
I love you, never ending
If everything should go wrong, my love just
Sing it along
Sing it along

For more videos, go to www.youtube.com/reneegeronimo

giving up my lunchbox: morsels to miracles

This morning, I read the story in scripture of the day Jesus fed 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish. It really made me think.

Somewhere in that crowd of 5,000 hungry people, someone decided to give up what little food they had on them, into the hands of this seemingly crazy person who was under some notion that it would be enough to feed the entire crowd. If that had been you or me, would we have given up our food? It seems like a lost cause. It would be a waste of a perfectly good meal. I would've probably eaten half of it and saved the other half for the trip home. And then inwardly snickered at the rest of the fools who didn't think to pack a lunch.

But whoever had the food in that story wasn't like me. They gave up their lunchbox. And it turns out they weren't so crazy, because the story tells that by the end of the meal, there was not only enough food, but there was more than enough. Twelve baskets full. I guess in this case mere sufficiency isn't really God's style - it would appear He prefers abundance. Overflowing, prodigious, unimaginable abundance.

Sometimes I think I spend too much time trying to give up my lunchbox to the wrong people. There are the people who take you for everything you've got, and then there are those who repay you in fairness. But in the right hands, your small lunchbox could be returned to you in a feast fit for five thousand. Now, I know I only have so little to give. When I consider how much hunger, pain and suffering there is in the world, it seems impossible that anything I could give would ever put a dent in the world's sorrows. And then I consider the story of how five loaves of bread and two fish fed five thousand people, and I realize: maybe it's not how much I have to give. It's who I give it to. In the right hands, my little lunchbox just might have enough in it to turn a morsel into a miracle.

be a light

Yesterday, I went to church with my husband and was inspired by the sermon, where the priest encouraged us to "be a light" for others. It's such a cliche nowadays to say "Let your light shine" or "Shine on". It's become almost a selfish thing to let your light shine, because people so often do it to glorify themselves. And yet when you think about how light really is used in the world, it's anything but self-glorifying. You use light to dispel darkness, to help others see, to banish fear, to rescue and give hope. You use light to make things more beautiful, or to guide those who don't know their way. Nobody ever shines a light for the mere sake of shining a light. Light always shines with a purpose.

I want to be a light, and I want to shine with purpose. To point people to the things that are greater than me, that make me who I am. Family. Friendship. Love. Passion. Humility. Goodness. Faith. God.

We all have it in us to be a light for others. It could be in the greatest masterpiece or the smallest gesture, but everyone has the power to dispel darkness. I think the most important thing is to know what it is you are shining your light upon. What are we helping others to see? Because we only have so much time to illuminate our small part of the world. Before we know it, our fire runs out. This is the truth for all of us. When this happens, can I say that I helped people find something worth looking for?

Powering Through

It's a new year.

2009 was probably one of the most unpredictable, exciting, angst-ridden, stressful, joyful, miraculous, friendship-filled, heartache-prone years in my life. I could list all the milestones, but we all have our share of reminiscing to do. There are only a couple of things that I will share.

Last year, I had a lot of unanswered questions and open roads waiting for me. I had just figured out how serious I really was about my music, and was just figuring out how to go about getting started. With the help of incredibly generous and talented friends in my band and my semi-manager/financier/all-around music business crutch, I got around to achieving some goals that I would've never been able to do alone.

This year, there are still a lot of unanswered questions and open roads waiting for me. I'm not really sure where to take my career, and as with any other aspiring musician or songwriter in the world, the odds of success are slim to none. But there is one thing I think I need to work on, and I'm willing to be accountable for in 2010: powering through. I'm fortunate to be working with friends who are as loving as they are brilliant. However, it occurs to me that they might not always be there, and there has to be a point when I start being responsible for my own dreams and aspirations. Quit being a baby, get over the fears that don't make sense, put your money where your mouth is and run with it.

2010: The Year of Powering Through.

What are your reflections on the coming year? :)

too much room

Here's a new song I'm working on. I'll release a tidbit of the mp3 later on. Hope you enjoy. :)

Too Much Room

Copyright 2009 Music and Lyrics by Renee Geronimo

I lay across my bed sideways to fill up the space you left

I breathe in deeply; I'm drowning, drowning in empty air

There is too much room without you

There is too much room without you

There is too much room without you

Silence deafening, wailing like sirens in the night

Heartbeat crashing in, falling down like waterfalls on a pond

There is too much room without you

There is too much room without you

There is too much room without you

better than a weekend

Yesterday and today, I was in the studio recording an album for Brian Doerksen as part of an 8-piece choir for his new musical play, Prodigal God. I haven't done a lot of session work to date, so I felt very privileged to have been selected into the group.

And these people I worked with - the writers and producers all included - are such lovely people. I've been to a number of studios and worked with all kinds of personalities, and it's such a breath of fresh air to work with individuals who are not only talented but are also quite wonderful. There was not an air of defensiveness or showing off, no negativity or sarcasm. It was just good music with genuinely great people. 

There's something about being immersed in such good music and great company for two days. I'm completely drained from singing in A5's for hours, but I feel so full on the inside. It's almost as reviving as a weekend. But it's better, because I was doing what I love to do.

If you want to hear what the project sounds like, click here to download a free 5-song promo. The choral parts that we recorded are in "Life is Sweet" and "Provision". Any time you hear a really high female part in the choir (like at the end of "Provision"), you're hearing me! Woohoo :)

assess and discover

On top of working full time and writing music, I also teach voice lessons from home. Half of what I do within a voice lesson is to figure out what type of voice I'm dealing with and uncover its strengths and weaknesses. It's like a diagnosis. Singers usually hate this part. This is the part where they get to hear what their weaknesses are, and it usually incites either a sense of panic or cements any underlying insecurity the singer might already have. Some singers get the feeling that they've gotten worse at first. But it's inevitable. Without it, you really have no idea what direction the next 30 minutes are going to go. If you're not careful, you might end up making the singer worse by the time they walk out the door. That's why these two things are so important.

Lately, I've been so caught up trying to stay on top of the whirlwind of my life that I think I've kind of lost track of where I am. Today I sat in church pondering again what it is that I'm doing with my talents and time, and how that sits in relation to what my heart feels called to do. Looking back at where I was less than half a year ago, I know I've come a long way. The question is, have I come the long way towards the right direction?

It's an uncomfortable position, to allow yourself to see where you've gone a bit off path. But it's necessary. Every now and then, you have to look back, assess yourself, and discover the things you might need to correct, improve or challenge. Maybe you're a bit off. Maybe you're moving too slow. Maybe you haven't moved at all. But you need to look back, assess and discover. Without this, you might not have any idea where you need to go.

resonant truth

I went to a Speech Level Singing Masterclass today (with Jeffrey Skouson, who is one of the eight SLS instructors who teaches other SLS instructors around the world). He said something that really resonated with me. Unfortunately I'm a horrible notes-taker so I am not able to quote a lot of what he said except one thing:

"Truth rings."

He had the audience listen to a sample of a young man in his early twenties who has amazing vocal talent and technique. To put it in the simplest of terms, the guy soared through his bottom range to a dazzling high note. I was moved almost to tears. If there hadn't been other people there I probably would've cried. And there was a collective gasp in the audience as this man just soared and carried us all with him in the height of the music.

When there is true beauty in a voice, people know. They don't have to be a musician to know. They feel it. It might not be the kind of music they prefer to listen to, but they are compelled to listen to it and their hearts are compelled to move because of it. It's almost like an unspoken language.

And what's even more interesting to me is the fact that he called it "truth". It taps into the great mystery of music and called me to ask the same questions that people have been asking for years: why does music speak so powerfully to people? Why do human beings sing? Why do we even have music in society in the first place?

So many questions without answers. And yet, music is as much the puzzle as it is the picture. When we listen, we understand. That understanding may be beyond words, but when we hear a young man soaring beautifully in an aria, or hear a guitar solo as his fingers dance on the strings, or feel the pounding of a drum in our chest, we know it. It's there. It has always been there and it will always be there, whether or not we understand it. It's truth.

when two or more gather

"For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

Matthew 18:20

Whether or not you believe in God or a higher power, there's no denying that there is a certain fire kindled when people are gathered. It doesn't matter what the setting - all you have to do is walk into a room full of friends and you will know that there is life there that does not exist in a room full of strangers. But this is most evident when the group is assembled for a creative purpose.

Today, for the first time in many weeks (months, even), I got together with the band to go over the track we're recording next week. We had some time left over after to work on some new material that I had written in the last couple of months. It was amazing. I walked out of there feeling refreshed. There is an energy in my veins that wasn't there earlier this week, or earlier today for that matter. I'm ready to unpack more songs, to toil at the ones that are halfway done, and to perfect the ones that are already complete.

There's no denying that it's hard, persistent work to create anything of value, whether it's music, art, dance, business, science. It's certainly knocked a bit of wind out of me, especially now that we've started with the nitty-gritty ("neety greety" as we say in the band). Studios, shows, press kits and networking events can really suck the fire out of the music if you go it alone. But like it says in the Bible, "When two or more are gathered in my name, there I am with them." Some people call it energy, genius, angels, life force...it's taken many names. I happen to believe it's God. Whatever good name you call it, I do know that when people gather in earnest - and in love - it comes. And whether you're a band trying to be famous, or just a band trying to have fun, it brings out the best in you. If only for that reason, it's totally worth bringing everyone out and ticking your neighbors off with the drums and bass once in a while. :)