Stolen Moments

Hmm... I wonder where the name of this song came from. I wasn't able to figure it out by looking at the lyrics this time. However, regardless of the title, this piece still made it to the top of the jazz charts.

Maybe the name of this song came from outer space. That's why Stolen Moments was able to reach for the stars and become popular. By the way, the 50th anniversary of the Moon Landing was about a week ago. Image by Pezibear from Pixabay

In fact, according to AllMusic.com, "Oliver Nelson's composition "Stolen Moments" would likely have assured him a place in jazz history even if he had never composed or performed another song. Although Nelson was a gifted writer, none of his other works ever came close to matching the appeal of Stolen Moments."


 

This song could be placed in the same category as the famous jazz saxophonist John Coltrane's compositions. One of these is the ubiquitous "Giant Steps," known as one of the hardest jazz songs of all time due to its crazy chord changes.

Stolen Moments was nowhere near as difficult to learn as Giant Steps, partially because of its much slower tempo, and partially because it's based on a simple chord progression most jazz musicians are already familiar with.

While this song is incredibly famous, it often isn't played in small ensembles because there are a lot of harmonies going on underneath the melody. (This is especially easy to hear in the original recording.) But, as a piano player, I can play up to 10 notes at the same time.

Here's a picture of my hands. I know that when you listen to piano performances, it sounds like there's more than 10 notes being played at the same time, but here's some solid evidence that these are all the fingers we have. 

What can you do with the moments you have today? You might be spending these ones listening to this song, and unless you have wireless headphones or something, you won't be able to do much else away from your computer.

But, all the time after that is sitting in front of you. Surfing the web can be dangerous - wasting many hours you could spend on the list of tasks that a magnet is tired of holding on your fridge. You can steal back those moments and put them to good use.

“Our greatest currency is our time and we cannot save it [i.e. keep it in a jar for a rainy day]. Spend it wisely and never waste another's or your own.” 
― Kyle Barger

"Being rich is having money; being wealthy is having time." 

“You get to decide where your time goes. You can either spend it moving forward, or you can spend it putting out fires. You decide. And if you don’t decide, others will decide for you.” – Tony Morgan

Wasting your time is wasting your life. Everyone has 24 hours in a day; the question is what you will do with them.

Life isn't a chance. It isn't a flip of the coin where heads mean you will be rich and famous, and tails mean you'll be living on the line. You can't become a famous singer unless you learn to sing. You can't become a CEO unless you learn to run a business - and, of course, put in the work.

Right now, you are deciding your future. You get to decide what kind of life you want. And once again, if you don't decide, others will decide for you. You only have one opportunity to live, so be thankful for what you have and use it to make other people's lives better.

Don't let those stolen moments go to waste!

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By the way, for some reason this song seems ... blue. Maybe it's because it uses that blues chord progression. But I think it has something to do with the way I see colors along with numbers and musical scales. Maybe it happens to you, too.

Although we all perceive things differently, no matter what color it is, keep filling your teacup with music.

~Liya