Rajesh

Modified Solfeggio Format for Guitar – "Passion Chorale"

October 7, 2011

Using a solfeggio format for guitar makes learning the pitches of the melody of a song easier. I have come up with a modified solfeggio format for playing guitar melodies on one string.

Letting the string played open be “Do,” the rest of the solfeggio notes are played on the following frets:

Re – 2
Mi – 4
Fa – 5
So – 7
La – 9
Ti – 11
DO – 12 (All caps indicates one octave above the starting pitch, “Do”)

This modified solfeggio format works great for learning both the melody of a song and how to play and sing it at the same time!

Here is Passion Chorale in my modified solfeggio format.

In Guitar Music

Better Vision through Progressive Relaxation

October 5, 2011

For several years now, I have been working on learning progressively how to relax muscles throughout my body. I have especially targeted all my eye muscles, both intrinsic and extrinsic.

In the last year or so, I have seen noticeable improvement in my nearsightedness. While it is still far from perfect much of the time, I have been having an increasing number of brief periods when my vision is almost as good without my glasses as it is with them. A few times, it has been even better than what it is with my glasses on.

For quite a few months now, I have consistently been doing without my glasses for long periods of time on Sundays and on Wednesday nights. Even though my vision has not been normal during many of those times, I am encouraged that it has been increasingly getting better for longer periods of time on these days.

Even with all my efforts to relax my eye muscles on various occasions, I am amazed at how much tension I still find in my eye muscles on a regular basis. As God allows, I hope to learn to be able to relieve all tension in my eyes readily.

My expectation is that when I am able to do so, my vision will be consistently near normal. Lord willing, I hope that one day soon it will be so and that He will see fit to answer my many prayers for my eyes to be healed fully.

In Health

Excel Sheet for Learning Multiplication Facts

October 4, 2011

This year, I have been tutoring two young home school students in Math and Science. Because they need help learning their math facts, I made a worksheet with macros in it in Excel that randomly gives them 100 multiplication problems at varying speeds.

The program first puts two numbers in the first two boxes and then shows the answer after a specified amount of time.

Here is a picture of the sheet:

The student can choose from four options:

Slower – gives them 3 seconds before showing the answer

Medium – two seconds before giving the answer

Harder – excludes the numbers 10 and 11

Instant – gives the answer at the same time as it puts the numbers up

Using this program, my goal is to get them to where they know well all their multiplication facts for 1 through 12 times 1 through 12.

Praise God for providing such useful features in Excel!

In Computers

Mnemonic Aids for Learning Hebrew Vocabulary

October 3, 2011

This semester, I have been tutoring a student who is taking first-semester Hebrew. Today, he needed to learn ten function words and nine words for numbers (for his quiz tomorrow).

When he told me that he had not studied these words much at all so far, I told him that I thought he was in trouble. As we began to work on the words, however, mnemonic aids came to me that made the task much easier for him.

Here are the ten sentences/phrases that we came up with to help him learn these words. These provide the Hebrew vocabulary words in a part-transliteration, part-pronunciation scheme that I use.

Numbers)

Ri Aleph-Shon – “first”; Sheni – “second”

Echad – 1 [Masculine]; Achath – 1 [Feminine]; ShƏnayim – 2 [Masculine]; ShƏttayim – 2 [Feminine]

Meah – 100; Ma Aleph-Thayim – 200; Eleph – 1000

In the race, Ri Aleph-Shon finished first, and Sheni was second.

Number 1, Echad, married Achath.

Number 2, ShƏnayim married ShƏttayim.

A meah is 1/10 of an eleph.

A meah is ½ of ma aleph-thayim.

Function Words)

Lifney – “before”; AchƏrey – “after”; Min – “from”; Nyad – “as far as”

El – “toward”; Nyal – “on”; Nyim – “with”; ¯Eth – “with”; Koh – “thus”; Beyn – “between”

Before Lifney and after AchƏrey; from Min as far as Nyad

Toward El on Nyal; Nyim with Eth Maqqeph

Thus Koh is between Beyn

In Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Languages

1000+ Sheet Music PDFs for a $2 Donation!

October 2, 2011

I received an e-mail request the other day from a website asking me to donate $2 to help keep the site going. Because I had downloaded a fair amount of free sheet music PDFs from the site in the past, I decided to help out.

When I made my donation, I was thrilled to learn that they were giving to everyone who donates a free zip file of more than 1000 PDFs of public domain sheet music. Looking through the music that I received, it is clear to me that I will be able to make great use of this free additional music.

Praise God for this unexpected blessing!

In Music, Testimony

The Best Resource on Research Writing That I Have Ever Read

October 1, 2011

During my dissertation process, I struggled greatly in writing the proposal, the prospectus, and many of my chapters. In addition to interpretational and theological difficulties, a lack of full understanding about a number of key elements concerning writing a dissertation made my task very challenging.

In answer to my prayers and the prayers of many others, God greatly helped me to progress by directing me to the best book that I have ever read concerning research writing: A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers, 7th Edition, by Kate L. Turabian. Had this book been available to me before I ever began writing my dissertation, I would have had far less difficulty with the process than I did. Moreover, the quality of my entire dissertation would have been much better.

Reading Part I of the book, Research and Writing: From Planning to Production, helped me immensely in understanding better what I needed to do to write a dissertation properly. I read it thoroughly at least once and skimmed it at least two other times.

I wish that I had had this work before I ever began college. It would have saved me so much grief over the years.

Anyone who wants to do any kind of research writing well should consider reading Part I of this book several times. I also recommend that anyone who wants to do well in high school and college in any academic subject should make good use of this superb resource.

In Dissertation

The Necessity of Interpreting Gentecost in Relation to Amos 9

September 30, 2011

At the Jerusalem Council, Peter and James both cited what took place at Gentecost (Acts 10) as the conclusive evidence that Gentiles did not need to be circumcised and keep the Law in order to be saved. The account in Acts 15 presents James as the chief leader who presided over what took place at the Council.

In his decisive remarks, James declared, “Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name” (15:13-14). He added, “And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,

AFTER THIS I WILL RETURN, AND WILL BUILD AGAIN THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID, WHICH IS FALLEN DOWN; AND I WILL BUILD AGAIN THE RUINS THEREOF, AND I WILL SET IT UP: THAT THE RESIDUE OF MEN MIGHT SEEK AFTER THE LORD, AND ALL THE GENTILES UPON WHOM MY NAME IS CALLED, SAITH THE LORD, WHO DOETH ALL THESE THINGS (15:15-17).”

Here James used Amos 9:11-12. Because he did so, we must maintain that he expected that his hearers would be familiar with the passage and would also readily understand how to interpret Gentecost in relation to it.

For us, establishing the full significance of his use of this passage involves many complexities, and interpreters differ widely on what he communicated through it.[1] Nonetheless, if we are to profit fully from what God has revealed to us about both the Jerusalem Council and Gentecost, we must interpret Gentecost in relation to Amos 9.

I look forward to this study and to sharing what God gives to me through it in future posts. As God brings it to mind, please pray for Spirit-filled insight for me as I undertake this important project.

[1]For a thorough discussion see Beale and Carson, Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, 589-93.

In Interpretation

Praying for My Favorite Sports Teams

September 29, 2011

This has not been a good year for my favorite teams in professional sports.

In football, the New England Patriots lost to the New York Jets in the playoffs. In hockey, the Chicago Black Hawks, after winning the Stanley Cup in 2010, lost their opening round playoff series to the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7 in sudden death overtime.

In basketball, the Boston Celtics lost to the Miami Heat in a series that I believe the Celtics were cheated by the officials in at least one game. In baseball, the Boston Red Sox missed the playoffs on the last day of the season by losing to the Baltimore Orioles in their final game.

In spite of all my teams have disappointing endings to their seasons, I remain a loyal fan of each team.

This morning, after learning of the Red Sox loss, God gave me a perspective about supporting them that I do not think that I have had before. I found myself hoping that God would use their loss to turn each Red Sox player to Himself.

I plan to pray to that end.

May God use these losses to work mightily in the heart of each player on my favorite teams to save those who are not saved and sanctify further those who are saved.

In Prayer

Learning the Hebrew Alphabet through Greek

September 28, 2011

Like many other seminary students, I learned NT Greek before I learned Hebrew. When I was given the Hebrew alphabet, I was taught to pronounce it by hearing it spoken and by reading English renderings of the names of the Hebrew letters.

Recently, I read through Lamentations in the LXX and noticed that the verses in the first four chapters began with the letters in the Hebrew alphabet rendered in Greek. Most of these are exactly what I was taught when I learned Hebrew, but a few vary somewhat.

I think that I would have learned the Hebrew alphabet faster had I been given these Greek renderings along with the English.

This table has the Hebrew alphabet in Hebrew, English, and Greek. It may be of help to some future students who try to learn it.

In Biblical Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Languages

Answered Prayer! – September 25, 2011

September 27, 2011

This Sunday, God answered a prayer request that I have been making for some time now. Having taught adult, non-credit guitar classes for several semesters a number of years ago, I have been praying for some time now for another opportunity to teach a guitar class. Although I have made considerable efforts to arrange for such an opportunity, I have not had nearly as much success as I would like to have had.

After I came home from church on Sunday evening, I received a phone call from a pastor of a local Spanish church. He had gotten my number from someone else and called me to ask if I would be interested in meeting with him to consider the possibility of teaching a guitar class for some people in his church.

I met with him yesterday to discuss his burden. It seems that he wants someone to do for his church what I have wanted to do in a ministry context for quite some time now—teach a guitar class for people wanting to use the guitar for ministry!

Praise God that there is a good chance that I will soon get to teach another class to people who want to learn to use the guitar for ministry!

In Testimony

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