Take three from my living room at Mustikkarinne. This time it’s about priming instead of preparing, and about melodies: living from them, starting from them, and letting them take you somewhere of your own.

I’ve included the video and the cleaned-up transcript in this post. Closed captions are also available. Read along as you watch and listen to the September 9, 2026 edition of my video blog using the player below. You can subscribe to future editions on YouTube and browse my archive of posts here.

Take 3

So this is our third recording on the way. I’m still counting, because this will take some time to get used to. I’m so glad you’re here again — and if you’re here for the first time, welcome. I’m Sanni. You’re in my living room, I’m playing the Blüthner, and I have a little friend down here underneath. His name is Drama.

I didn’t realize I’d have to set everything up again from scratch. Some things went a little faster this time, but most of it I had to adjust, and I guess that’s how it’s going to be for the next few times. I have new headphones now, a second pair. They’re louder and harsher and I’m still feeling my way in, but they’re also lighter, so in the long run I’ll have to see what works best. Different kinds of systems.

I don’t have a song picked out. I don’t have a text laid out. But I’ve been thinking about this a lot since I left you a few days ago — this is most of what I’ve been thinking about. If I wouldn’t come back for any other reason, I’d come back just to tell you how important it is that we’re here together.

I did think about preparing. I actually took out some old lesson plans in the beginning, and all kinds of other things. And then I realized: Sanni, you’re preparing. Preparing is what makes things stiff for me. For somebody else that might be exactly what they need, but for me, that’s what makes it tough.

So I’ve been priming instead. I made sure I felt fine when I opened the camera. I found my favorite scarf to wear. I switched the phone off, which I didn’t do last time. I took all the elements I could and made sure those were fine.

This is exactly the same thing we talk about so much at school, and in the lessons. Priming versus preparing. Because I hear it so often — “Oh, I’m not prepared, I can’t do this. I’m not going to sing today because I’m not prepared. I won’t talk, I’ll just listen today.” And then we talk. Okay, that’s fine, you can do that. But did you have breakfast today? Did you think about what you might want to sing, or talk about? Have you been doing this for a while already? Is it possible that you actually have this in your backbone?

Then priming is what you need. And trust — that the right words will come, even with just Stichworte… what are they in English? Keywords. Because when we prime instead of prepare, we leave space for the song.

(sings “You Don’t Know What Love Is”)

Just… a voice came to mind. When I was starting my jazz studies, I was told over and over again that if you solo based on the melody, it’s cheating. Not really soloing. And at the same time, I live from melodies. As a singer, melodies are my life, my way in — they’re the ones I hear first. And it was so many years that I spent trying to find in, from around.

Then I remembered what Sheila said. My teacher. My wise teacher, Sheila Jordan. “Oh, if you get lost, you can always sing the melody. Think about the melody.” And I looked at her and said, “But Sheila, that’s forbidden.” And she looked back at me like I probably didn’t know what I was talking about. Which was correct.

I hear the chords too. It’s not that I wouldn’t hear them. I just live from the melody. So if you ever want to try improvising without lyrics over a song, think of the melody when you start, and create your own story. Continue where the song leaves you. You might develop your own — if not only a melody, then maybe also a song.

I guess when you live in the middle of the forest, you lose some of the boundaries you’re supposed to have. Well. Here we are.

I’ve actually been working on lines like that. Check out my dear friend Dena DeRose, who has mastered playing and doing lines at the same time. It’s just unbelievably cool. It’s like you’re freeing your mind little by little — the less you think about the movement, the more you follow your inner line. The more you’re in there.Melodies. What a gift, at least for singers who hear them.

(sings “You Don’t Know What Love Is”)

That happens a lot. You pick a key — maybe an original key, like here — and you notice that, whoops, it goes too far. And then what you can do is jump down.

(sings “You Don’t Know What Love Is)

I think that’s it for today. Third take is a wrap. I’ll see you soon.

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