Coffeelosophy - Conclusion

Coffeelosophy

With the bad economy, the first thing to go is arts funding. Singing is a profession that is taken for granted just because we sing as a natural part of our existence. If the profession were not respected before, it is worse now. Gafaae and Ralph have seen a lot of artists at different levels striving to keep their heads above the supply-over-demand-in bad economy-water. Sadly, news coming out from opera companies is not good news. Gafaae and Ralph would hate to see fellow colleagues turning away from pursuing their dreams. There is a solution, and all have to join hands and address it together. It is their belief that the problem has to be addressed at the root level, but we need everyone's help to make the change happen sooner for all of us.

La CoffeeMelodie Suite

We do what we can with our own two hands, with many pairs of hands we will achieve our goal sooner. Gafaae and Ralph focus their attention on three aspects: The artists-musicians of today. The audience -keeping today's audiences happy while developing and recruiting in-coming audiences. The up-coming artists-musicians-music lovers of the future. Coffee and baritone build the suite to be a hub for people sharing the same profession, to keep our performance-goers happy, and to pass along the knowledge to the young musicians and audiences-to-be. But because Gafaae, especially, gave up her wonderful, high-paying, first rate day-time job when she relocated, they can't offer the use of La Suite with out any compensation. TAVADesign, Souvenirs, CoreMelody, and CoffeePrograms are good examples of how Gafaae and Ralph would like to generate an income in order to compensate the cost of putting up this community. Of course, there is a page inviting anyone to become a patron. These pages are self-explanatory, and we hope that if you have read this far you would also spend a little more time visiting them.

The big picture

Exclusive Artists-Musicians Lounge & Gallery- Gafaae and Ralph hope to see a good mix of artists, musicians,, coaches, teachers, directors, conductors, orchestras and even opera companies joining La Suite. The time that we all did our own things individually and minded just our own business is gone. We all need friends and together we stand proud and strong. As much as Gafaae's&Ralph's wishes are that you would hire TAVADesign to

produce your next you tube video, or come to them for PR Consultation in order to gain the benefit from a profile page and the use of the discussion and announcement board, they would settle for an agreement from you to embed LCMS link to your website in exchange for a profile page with your name on the URL. Not a bad deal, is it? The sooner we have profile pages up, the sooner we build our community. Souvenirs is a market place provided to aid you in selling your CDs and other fine products at a low cost .















Classical Music Lovers Social Club- As Gafaae and Ralph are writing this long page and building the website , they introduce themselves in the community and offer their musical services and

educational programs to everyone. They hope to use the club to be the center where their audience can share music activities. You can do the same with your communities, too, and please do not underestimate the power of local fans. You need to come home to where you will be embraced by people who support you. And, please introduce them to our club so they can mingle among all like-minded music lovers. The more members we have, the better it will be for what we stand for.

Coffeeni - While offering our arts, we cannot forget that we have to build and prepare our future artists, musicians, the next coaches, teachers, conductors and directors. At La CoffeeMelodie Suite we provide education through CoffeePrograms and Core Melody. Piano accompanist apprentice award and Outreach Program are also given
through Coffee Programs. Gafaae and Ralph hope to build a Coffeeni Center for our up-coming musicians and provide musical activities and a comfort zone for our young musicians.

Please join us at

La CoffeeMelodie Suite

With Apologies to Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility is one of the many best books I've read in my life. If you've never had the opportunity to read Jane Austen I cannot recommend her too highly.

The title, though- and what it represents- is what I want to discuss, for it represents one of the many essential dichotomies that we struggle with as human beings. How much in our lives do we rely upon our rationality, and how much our emotion and instinct?

A safe answer, as far as it goes, is that we must rely on both, balancing these opposites in everything we do. To be sure, there are those who do so effortlessly, but many who say this are really just avoiding having to deal with considering it in their own lives. I certainly don't believe that it is a valid justification for anyone's words or deeds after the fact: it must be a conscious decision beforehand.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that people should be more mindful of the decisions facing them every day so that they can do the best for themselves and those around them. It's far too easy for us simply to coast along and do what we think is expected of us, and if asked afterward proffer a lame excuse. It's simply a question of responsibility.

This is certainly true as we learn a skill such as singing, in which we are constantly trying to better ourselves. As we ask “why not?” or “why?” we do certain things, we engage that rational part of ourselves in order to look for answers.

Yet we (should) also base those questions upon far more subjective grounds: “Why does it hurt when I sing high?” or “Why doesn't it feel right when I sing that passage?”

Good students always ask “why?” for a reason specific to them, not just because they don't understand in an academic sense. If I know how to do something it's because I've managed to incorporate some knowledge to fit me and my unique needs and abilities.

But far too often, students take a teacher's word as gospel and apply it in a “one size fits all” manner. They don't stop to think how they can take some knowledge and make it their own; rather, they attempt to do something they believe is what the teacher expects. They subjugate their own feelings in order to follow a (misunderstood) directive, and then wonder why it doesn't work out.

Now, of course we must first have a structure in place before we can be aware of it, and in most things we do begin by learning “the basics;” and while it is true there is little subjective analysis at this point in the learning process, it is simply because the basics are what we all share as humans. They are true for everyone.

I have always said that there are four stages of learning a skill: unconscious incompetence (you're bad and don't know why), conscious incompetence (as you learn more you know why you're bad), conscious competence (you've learned enough that you're good, but you still have to think about what you're doing), and unconscious competence (you're good without thinking about it). Notice that the pinnacle of this involves no thought!

Be aware of yourself and your feelings and, if you're learning anything other than “the basics,” never rely exclusively on an external authority. Each of us is unique, with unique abilities. The great ones are those who have the talent and have discovered for themselves how to access it. Find these in yourself, and tap into greatness.

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About the author: Ralph Schatzki has been a lawyer and a teacher but always remains an opera singer, husband and father. He tries to sing whenever he can and to promote great music and singing throughout our world.

http://www.ralphschatzki.com
http://www.la-coffee-melodie-suite.com