Capitol Musings

Here the Musicians Play

2006-08-14T17:18:00.000-07:00

So on your next birthday, I highly recommend that you take the day off, invite over your best friends, and sit eating pizza and cake and playing games all day. It will make you feel like a kid again. And now I am back at work, refreshed and raring to go. Caitlin is doing all our publisher contact for me now, and she's doing a great job, so I can relax a little more.

One of the great perks of this job is that people come in and play live music. Right now, I can hear two violinists and a cellist trying out Baroque trios in one of our practice rooms. Very nice. Often, talented musicans come in to try out our guitars and keyboards, filling the store with strains of flamenco or brilliant jazz improvisations. Once a woman sat down at a piano and played the whole Moonlight Sonata. All ten-plus minutes of it. From memory. And it was quite impressive.

Now someone is strumming a ukulele. It doesn't quite mix with the string trio, but it's still fun to listen to. And they're enjoying themselves, too, and that's what life is all about. So drop in and try out a keyboard, a banjo, or even a flute - you'll be glad you did.

Ron B.

Island Getaways and Birthday Wishes

2006-08-06T15:58:00.000-07:00

I know my faithful readers missed my entry last week. I was actually on a short vacation. We stayed overnight at a little bed and breakfast outside of the city. It was very nice to get away for just a day, take a ferry ride to nearby Bainbridge Island, walk in the woods, and take a break from thinking about work! **********************************************************************************

Work has been on my mind a lot lately. I'm changing my responsibilities here so I can have a little less stress. I think it will really help. Meanwhile, things here are in even more flux than usual. The stock order are coming in - Lorenz, FJH, Hal Leonard, Alfred - and the shelves are filling up nicely. Also, we have a new shipping/receiving person, Nick, who has caught on very quickly and is doing a great job - come by and say Hello!
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In other news, the choir I'm in is working on a new set of music, getting ready for our next concert in October. I will tell you all about it when the date gets closer...If I'm still writing my blog. Did I mention flux? Not that this is a source of stress, but as duties here shuffle, blog writing may shuffle too, or stop altogether. I would like to think my writing would be missed.
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Do you wait at the computer every Saturday, watching for my entry to appear? Were you crushed when none came last week? I understand that it's fairly complicated to post a comment on this site, but you could always drop us an e-mail to tell us how you feel. Oh, and it's my birthday next Sunday. I've always liked those little animated e-cards. Just a thought. No pressure. Ron B

Lock, Stock, and Cheese Barrels

2006-07-22T10:06:00.000-07:00

This is stock order season. That means that over the next few weeks, our shelves will virtually explode with new stock - particularly from Hal Leonard, Alfred, FJH, and Peters. So come by the store and check it out!

I like the seasonal nature of our business. We can trust that, come September, the store will be full of parents and eager ten year olds, as the instrument rental season begins, and bright youngsters get to unlock their undiscovered musical talent. Then around mid October, the world comes looking for Christmas music. And we stock every kind there is, from the easiest piano arrangements to carols for brass quintet. November is when people start thinking about Christmas itself, and come in seeking presents. Of course, some know just what to give, and others have no idea.

I still remember the time, maybe ten years ago, when this woman came in to get a present for her nephew, a teen who was in a rock band. I must have recommended some current band's guitar collection, but she left with a scarf and a mug, both with musical designs on them. I've always wondered how that nephew felt about his gifts. I've pictured him, all in black with a nose ring or two, opening packages on Christmas morning. "Gee thanks, Aunt Kathy - just what I've always wanted!" But, like they say, it's the thought that counts.

So even though we are now battling the heat of July, it's nearly time to stock up on Christmas titles. Strains of Frosty the Snowman will soon drift through the air, as customers in shorts and tanktops play through music and think about snow. And candy canes. And cheese barrels.

Happy Holidays!

Ron B

From the Capitol Music Folder

2006-07-15T13:51:00.000-07:00

It's definitely time for a change. Do you ever get the feeling that you are heading for some big life change, but you don't know what it is? It's like that. It's time to reassess, clean house. Radically change what I eat, or the work that I do, or my circle of friends. I don't know what, but something.

I suppose I should start by literally cleaning house, dusting the shelves, throwing out old files. That would help clear the way for whatever new thing this is that I feel waiting for me. I tend to keep everything. My fifth grade science notes might come in handy someday, right?

But the very fact that I still have fifth grade science notes tells you that I've been this way for a long time. I can imagine all those ten year olds, dumping out the contents of their lockers and running down my school's hallways yelling, "I'm free! I'm free!" And as they ran past, I must have gathered the pages of my report on kidneys and tucked it carefully into a manila folder marked, "Kidney Report."

Habits like that don't die quickly. I still file everything in manila folders. In fact, on my desk right now there are eleven of them - helping me organize the web orders I have processed. I'd be lost without my folders.

So as big as this change may turn out to be, it won't include letting go of manila folders. That would be too much stress. And stress can wreak havoc on the adrenal glands. And the kidneys. I should know - it say so in my report. See, I told you it might come in handy someday!

Ron B

Passing Torches

2006-07-08T15:05:00.000-07:00

Since September, I have served as assistant manager here at Capitol. Funny thing, though. There has never been a job description. I basically do the things that Steve, our manager, doesn't. Mostly, I process web orders, make all publisher contact, and answer customer e-mails. And of course I also help our customers, like I have all of these years. It's rewarding work, but I don't suppose I will always be Capitol's assistant manager, so I have been starting to write a manual for whoever might take my place someday.

It's an interesting exercise. You need to step outside of yourself and look at your process in a new way. You have to break down each thing you do into its most basic elements. The goal is to be able to hand someone your manual and say, "Here you go - you're on your own now." Make yourself obsolete, as it were.

The same thing happens with the creative process. Me and my friend Marie have written an original musical together. We're very proud of it, and we want to get it produced. So far, it has been just me and Marie creating together, plus our arranger, Paul. As we expand that circle, we will have less and less control over the process. We can describe our concept to the producer, and participate in production decisions, but we can only share so many of our thoughts with the cast and crew. At some point, we will have to let go and trust that they will honor our vision and create a show we can all be proud of. And when everyone adds their own ideas and talents to the production, it may even surpass our original concept.

Well, I hope someday our next assistant manager will appreciate the guidance of the manual I am writing now and will do the job well, and I hope the producer of our show will grasp our intentions and produce the wonderful show we have imagined. But it will be in their hands. All we can do is pass the torch, and hope it stays lit!

Ron B

Playing our Parts

2006-07-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

So I just discovered this online site where you can read full scripts of movies. I never knew such a thing existed, but there they are, hundreds of scripts. It's fascinating to read the script of a movie that you've seen before, and to compare the bare framework the actors had to work with with the rounded characters they created.

Music is like that, too. The composer writes, say, four eighth notes in a row, but doesn't mark which beat is strong and which weak. We let our past experience and our intuition tell us how it should be played. And of course every composer is different, so the more music you experience, the more you can say, "Ah, Dvorak! I've played Dvorak before. These should be played like this," and be fairly certain that you are honoring his intentions.

If only he was there with you, giving you little pointers! I remember once at summer music camp we were reading a new work, and the young composer was actually there himself. We poor violas were struggling with a part that showed his understandably limited knowledge of the viola. We took the bold step of complaining to the maestro himself, and he surprised us all by saying, "Oh! Okay, I'll change it." We are rarely so fortunate. We usually have to interpret the part that is in front of us without the composer looking over our shoulder.

Like life. We follow our scripts and play our parts, but really we are making most of it up as we go along. And since no-one can tell us how our parts should be played, we just hope for the best
and play on!

Ron B

Capitol Music - A Veritable Hotbed of Diversity

2006-06-24T13:44:00.000-07:00

Our store has customers of every gender, race, background, and creed. This morning, for example, a young man from Poland came in looking for arrangements of jazz standards for his string quartet to play aboard a cruise ship. It took some time, but together we found several good choices. He apologized for his English (which was really just fine, and certainly better than my Polish!) and left with an armload of titles to take back to the ship. Then right after, we had a group of Austrians who were living in Australia - now that was an interesting accent.

People say music is a universal language. That really is true. As long as someone can explain that they want a Haydn piano sonata, we can find it for them, whatever other language barrier there might be. And when they play it, none of Haydn's charm and grace is lost in translation.

Our staff also does quite well with "Name that Tune." If someone just plays a melody, one of us is bound to know what it is. We each have specialties. Caitlin is our flute expert; John is our authority on classical piano. And me? Well, an eclectic mix of quartet and orchestra literature, musicals, new country, and 50's and 60's pop!

We cater to the youngest budding musicians and to the most senior. I remember once a man buying sax reeds told me he'd been in the Musicians' Union for eighty years - he said he had joined when he was 13, and was now a youthful 93!

This is a good week to think about diversity, and to commune with someone whose background may be very different from yours. You might learn a new language - or even make a new friend!

Do zobaczenia - Ron

Dusty Roads and Old New York

2006-06-17T15:10:00.000-07:00

I like all kinds of music, and working here at Capitol lets me indulge many different passions. For example, today, during a break between customers, I picked out one of our song collections and played through one of Irving Berln's early "ethnic" songs. In them, he really captures the flavor of New York's lower east side at the turn of the century. Not at all politically correct, these songs are a far cry from White Christmas! But they are all clever and tuneful and really deserve to be better known.

Often I come home from an orchestra rehearsal, my head full of Dvorak or Brahms, and tune in my favorite country station. The songs are just as worthy as Berlin's. City boy that I am, I love hearing Tim McGraw or Trace Adkins sing about bars and trucks and fishing holes. I grew up right here in Seattle, far from any barnyard or dusty road, but listening to them I still feel nostalgic for a youth I never even had.

Good music can do that for you. It can create a whole world that you step into and leave your regular life behind. This morning I wandered into old New York and saw pushcarts rolling past brownstone apartments as people yelled to eachother out the windows. Tonight I may drive my
dusty old pickup truck to my favorite fishing hole. And sit a spell.

But first I should check my e-mail.

Ron B

Chance Encounters

2006-06-10T10:31:00.000-07:00

Working at Capitol Music has always been much more than a job for me. It's a wonderful network of musicians, and even a source of great friendships.

The director of the Market Street Singers is actually a regular customer who became a friend, and later invited me to sing in his new choir. We have a concert coming up, by the way, June 25. Check out our website at themarketstreetsingers.org for the details!

One day I mentioned to a customer that I played viola. I forgot all about it, but a few weeks later another customer was here in the store and said he was forming a string quartet. He said they needed a viola player, and had heard there was one who worked here - so now I am in a great string quartet! No concerts to shamelessly plug, but I will let you know.

In both cases, I wasn't trying to find a new musical experience. I was just "doing my job," and the experience found me!

You must have similar stories you can share. Post a comment! I know you are out there, silently reading, unwilling to be the first to post. But who knows who you might meet if you do? It may bring you your next gig, or you may even meet that special someone, and you can tell all your friends that you met, just by chance, through a blog you found on the Capitol Music website!

Ron B

A Beethoven Kind of Life

2006-06-03T15:44:00.000-07:00

I like thinking about life in terms of different composers and the major traits of their music. To me, Mozart is all about order. I enjoy playing Mozart, but it doesn't quite thrill me. Beethoven thrills me. My heart actually beats a little faster. There is order, but with it a wonderful kind of defiance. Minuets are fine things, but if you speed them up just a bit, you suddenly get a scherzo, a wild ride that may take you far from where you started.

I do like having order and structure in my life, but I also enjoy those surprising excursions into new territory. So sometimes, when life gets a little too Mozart-y, I start to shake things up, just to see what will happen. And then my world shifts, as that familiar structure gets far away and some exciting adventure begins.

Becoming assistant manager here at the store has been like that - new responsibilities, new procedures, new systems to create - it's all very Beethoven. Actually, at times it gets pretty Schoenberg! Still, there's enough of my old responsibilities and routine to provide a good balance with the new. And every day I see customers that I already know well and that helps ground me, too.

So, tell me, has your life been Bach-like lately? Sort of Bartok-esque? Or altogether full of Faure'?

Ron B

Playing the Rests

2006-05-27T09:33:00.000-07:00

While we were setting up and learning our new computer system, we reduced our stock of music books. Now that we are up-to-date, we decided that June was the perfect time to replenish the supply. Classical piano books, new vocal sheets, contemporary artist collections and more will soon fill our shelves. Come see for yourself!

Just when I've been starting to crave a day or two of vacation, here it is Memorial Day. For many, this is a time to pause and reflect. For me, it's more a time to do laundry and sleep, but still it's a needed break from routine. Which reminds me of something our orchestra conductor told us the other day about playing the rests. Not playing in the rests - that's altogether different. But honoring the composer's intention by giving rests their full value. Often, some budding young pianist will sit down at one of our digital pianos and play through that venerable favorite, Fur Elise, managing the notes, but leaving out most of the rests and turning Beethoven's gentle waltz rhythm into more of a rousing march. It takes a certain maturity to let that space be there, and trust the silence in between the notes.

So have a good holiday. Play the rest. Then come visit us and share the abundance!

Ron B

Capitol Music Does Community Service

2006-05-19T10:56:00.000-07:00

Community is a great thing. I am in this community choir, the Market Street Singers. People are there because they love music, and want to sing with other like-minded souls. Not everyone is a brilliant singer, but together we make a great sound. And because we are not affiliated with a church or a school, we are bound only by our director's imagination - and he has a lot of imagination! Our last concert actually included pieces in Japanese, Spanish, Maori, and one by the Beach Boys! So every Tuesday, after a long day's work, we all gather and rehearse. No one pays us - in fact, we pay monthly dues to be in the group. Just because it's such a worthwhile thing to do.

Capitol Music believes in supporting choirs of every size and shape. It's not really a source of profit to sell choral titles, but still we have always stocked an abundance of sacred and secular titles in every voicing available. Over the past several months, we have reduced the number of new choral titles that we carry. I have wondered about that policy, and especially wondered how our customers feel about it.

Of course, like any other store, we need to watch our bottom dollar and bring in income. But I have always felt that Capitol Music is much more than a store - we're a resource for musicians who want and need music, and to me, the dollar figure has never mattered as much as our serving the musical community. That philosophy has stood me well for all the 15 years that I have worked here, and I believe that it will stand for the next 15. I hope you agree with me. We are all part of the musical community, and as I may have said before, community is a great thing.
RB

Change is a foot - Capitol keeps instep.

2006-05-12T09:55:00.000-07:00

So, if you have visited our store lately, you've seen that we've been doing a lot of shuffling. Organ solos, vocal scores, children's music collections - they are just not where you expect them to be. But don't worry - they have only been moved to make room for new guitars and other exciting things.

Now, I'm not totally happy with the changes, but maybe I'm not the best judge. I still miss the card files at the old library, and the magical Bubblator at the Food Circus.

Change is a funny thing. Now matter how much you plan and analyze, you just can't know what will happen until you make the change. So we are about to find out what all this rearranging will bring. Let us know what you think. We might just put everything back where it was. And the library might just put back those card files. Well, you never know.

R Bolles

Historic Preservation

2006-05-05T09:37:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking a lot lately about history. Our store has been in business for 86 years.
That's a very long time. And for all of our 86 years we have kept track of our inventory using manilla cards. Just this year, we have started putting our inventory onto computer, and are letting go of those manilla cards.

In one way, it's a wonderful thing to be able to track our inventory better and to better serve our customers. In another, it's the loss of a valuable history. This card in front of me is for the Gershwin classic, Summertime. It shows our order record back to 1938. The country went through World War II, Vietnam, Watergate, presidents came and went, and we kept ordering Summertime. And this month, we will order it yet again.

I believe that history matters. It counts for something. It needs to be preserved somehow, even as we grow and change. I would like to set up a special place in our store where we acknowledge our past, and I would like your help creating it. What documents should we include? How should we display them?

Share your thoughts (or your mementos!) with us and together let's honor those 86 amazing years of history.

RB

2006-04-28T13:28:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Capitol Music's new blog! This will be my forum, as assistant manager, to talk about our store, about music, and about my life as a musician. It is also your forum to do the same - How do you feel about our store? How was your last gig? The last concert you went to? Who is your favorite composer? Your favorite band?

I'll go first. My name is Ron Bolles. and I'm glad to have worked at Capitol Music for 15 years now. I play viola in a community orchestra, sing in a community choir, and have written several original songs. My first love is classical music, especially Beethoven, but I'm also a big fan of Garth Brooks. And Billie Holiday. I figure good music is good music.

And it's great working in a store that sells it all! Now, tell us about yourself. Why is music important in your life?