Playing the Rests

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

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.

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

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