New Music Student

 Hello! I'm Lisa and I live in Alaska! I am a student at University Alaska Fairbanks and have created this blog for my Explorations in Music class. I will be sharing what I am learning in the class and maybe some personal things as well. 

A little about me- 

                I'm a returning college student after an absence of about 20 years. During those years, I mostly was a stay-at-home mother and homeschooling teacher to my 4 children, who are pretty much all grown now. I still homeschool the youngest, who is starting his junior year of high school. Our family has a sled-dog kennel and enjoys the sport of dog mushing. This takes up a considerable part of our time, but it's just become a way of life now. While we all enjoy recreational mushing, some of us have raced our team in big competitive races here in Alaska, like the Iditarod, the Junior Iditarod and the Yukon Quest. My other hobbies include yoga, reading, gardening and spending time with family.

              

This is a photo of my daughter finishing the Junior Iditarod sled-dog race. This photo was printed in the New York Times print edition and posted on New York Times Kids on Instagram.

My relationship with music is rather lacking I would have to say, especially compared to many people I know. My town is NOT lacking in fantastic music opportunities, concerts, and an overall appreciation of the fine arts. As a child, I was not exposed to different genres of music and mostly listened to country music on the radio or to hymns sung at the church we attended. I did learn to read music while in piano lessons for a few years, but my playing ability is very limited, as it was long ago.

 I have loved listening to my kids play their instruments over my adult years and have attended many grade school and high school performances. My son played the cello through high school and my daughter plays the piano and dabbles in learning the ukulele. So at least maybe I've done a little better with my kids. One thing that probably affected my thoughts on singing and music, is when I was a young child, I was told by my elementary music teacher, that I was not a good singer. I will never forget that, and to this day, I never feel comfortable singing.  

Right now in my life, I mostly listen to my kids' contemporary playlists and occasionally selective religious music, if anything at all. (I tend to choose audiobooks or podcasts over music and this does concern me a little.) My 10-year-old granddaughter is a huge fan of Taylor Swift, as most kids are these days, and I have come to enjoy singing along with her almost daily when I pick her up from school. I am very much looking forward to enhancing my education in music through this class and hopefully finding some new musicians and songs to enjoy. One song I really love is "Be Kind to Yourself" by Andrew Peterson. I hope you enjoy it too!