The Nursing Home Question??

The question is will I play there before I end up there? I have been talking about playing at the Senior Home near my house for at least eight months. I even made flyer. I just have to go and do it!

It is a tribute to Johnny Mercer and Jimmy Van Huesen. It so happens that most of the songs I have learned are by these two. Why not make it a tribute then?

Gone With Wind: One More TIme!

I want to impress my teacher tommorow at my lesson and play this song flawlessly! This involves playing it with the metronome for an hour straight!

And this brings up an obvious point: I am finally realizing how important it is to practice with the metronome. As a beginner it is very difficult, but to develop really good rythymn, this has to be done. Luckily I can use the drum patterns to avoid the click monotony. So now I have decided to make playing with drums the rule rather than the exception. I know this is obvious, but most things in life seem obvious once you realize them!

Two Songs Never Completed or Completed for Now?

OK. I can play the two songs, but I only play them at my level. When my teacher plays them there is 20 years of experience that make such a subtle difference. He plays less notes and it sounds better and cleaner. His rhythm and dynamics are better! I accept that.

I have set a goal to be more methodical in my practicing. I need to practice chords and voices so that I can expand my piano "tool kit".

I had my acoustic piano's keys "aerated" and I couldn't believe the difference! This is the process of basically poking a small pin into the ends of the hammer's felt so it isn't so hard. This decreased the "tinny" sound of the piano. I was so amazed at the difference that now I am playing my acoustic again.

Two Songs

I have been working on two songs for the last month. I want to sit down at my piano lesson and really play them. I am not sure why, but I have been very focused to prove that I can play these songs for my teacher. The first is "Loving You is the Right Thing": a very old Carly Simon song that I think revives some nostalgia from my youth. The second is "My Cherie Amour": I am playing this because my teacher turned me on to some great chords in the song!

I play them over and over again, but I will be ready to play them both at my next lesson!

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

I have a new teacher. It has been about a month, so I wanted to make sure I would continue with my new teacher.

After all the time I spent with my first teacher Isabella Catania, it is strange to go to someone new. My new teacher is Bobby Cressey. Nothing against Isabella my older teacher, but it was time to try something new.

Bobby is more of a jazz player and has a totally different perspective on piano. I played a song for him and he said: "Well, that is one way to play it. It was very vanilla." He is helping me explore more jazz extensions.

25 Songs

I set a goal to learn 25 songs so that I could play at a party I was hosting on November 24th. I ended up only playing four songs, but it was a good goal. I have most of them memorized, but I feel safer with the music. All things considered, I have made definite progress, but it sure takes a long time.

Here is the song llist:
· My Romance
· Autumn Leaves
· Killing Me Softly
· The Song Is You
· Polkadots And Moonbeams
· Here's That Rainy Day
· The Midnight Sun
· Misty*
· Someday My Prince Will Come
· The Way You Look Tonight
· My Shining Hour
· The Hill Street Blues Theme
· I'll Take Romance
· The Midnight Sun Will Never Set
· Like Someone In Love
· Tenderly
· This Masquerade
· But Beautiful
· Where Is Love?
· Long Ago And Far Away
· Stairway to Heaven
· I Should Care
· I'm Old Fashioned
· The Party Is Over
· Imagination
· Moonlight In Vermont
· Every Breath You Take

Show Business - Learn 50 Songs!!

I have a list of 50 songs that I want to play. I keep reviewing them over and over again, but it never seems practical to be playing more than 10 songs at a time before I forget the others. Maybe it comes with your level of musicianship?

I think "I Should Care" is my best achievement so far. I feel relaxed when I play it and I have incorporated a number of new techniques in playing it.

Learning 50 songs is one thing, but actually being able to play any one of them in a night is more difficult. Maybe I should keep practicing?