Piano Square One More Time

Music For Millions Vol 27, MFM27, More Easy Classics To Moderns. Its got what I will be working on for awhile. I have chosen Six German Dances by Beethoven to try out. I have a CD with these being played and they sound great - in the hands of a pro. Me, not so smooth yet.  I don't know why either. The music is self-described on the title of the book as "easy" and looking at it you'd think, piece of cake.

Nothing complicated, you see F and C7, 3/4 time simple. Yet I get brain freeze from measure to measure, and playing with a metronome there is no time for brain freeze. Its a problem of breaking my hands apart, a pesky grace note (all are) and a repeating f note in the left hand. So I will play a measure over and over until I start to get it right and can transition to the next without pause. Is it rote memorization? I don't think so because I have to look at the music on the page to get it right.

To avoid getting bored I have moved on to the second of the dances which involves more scale-like play in the right hand with droning chords in the left - still, staying in time with the metronome is testing.

What it really boils down to is that my technique is badly rusted. Fortunately these German Dances have different types of melody and accompaniment that will keep breaking my hands apart further.

I am using some advice from Bill Hilton on this video as a guide for this return to the classics:

Piano - Square 1 again

Taking a cue from several different sources, I am trying to re-re-re-re-kickstart my piano efforts again by settling in with some classical music. I dug out my volumes 17, 27, and 37 of Music For Millions (MFM) and am playing through some music in it. Well, so far the first, Volume 17.(PS Don't buy new editions of these books - I found mine at Half Price Books years ago, but spent about $10 for all 3, used but in mint condition)

Its not that I stopped, only other stuff has been in the way. I also decided I didn't have a good plan before, relying on playing whatever I felt like, and not really getting anywhere. This way I can measure, so to speak, a few things. This practice will help with reading the music, not relying on ear or memory too heavily, because I am not overly familiar with this music anymore. My memories of it are returning tho.

By the way, the title, Easy Classics To Moderns, what a laugh. Some of this music is tough. Its not abridged in anyway. Lucky for me I like music from Anna Magdalena Notebook, Schumann Album for the Young, Tchaikovsky's Album for the Young, or Ivan's Adventures. And nowadays you can tune into YouTube to find some 8 year old playing the music you are having problems figuring out.

Here is Ivan Sings from MFM17:

Bill Hilton and Jamcast

I want to give some quick praise to a site authored (or co-authored) by a fellow named Bill Hilton. He has a very impressive You Tube video collection of piano mentoring. I hope he doesn't mind the mentoring tag because its where I go to get a shot of "hey, this is something you can do, relax!".  I must say he is pretty diligent about keeping fresh content moving on to the site as well uploading frequently - the video above was uploaded this week. Oddly enough, Bill is silent in this one, using annotations.

I haven't watched nearly all of the videos there, but what I've seen Bill puts good thought into his effort. He has a concept to get across, and demonstrates from a basic idea, and then moves to more pianistic ideas, giving explanations that are clean, uncluttered, and that make you think its something you can do and use. And, Bill offers a nice laugh here and there so as to keep your attention fresh and receptive.

Bill also has a book for sale, which I haven't bought yet, sorry Bill. I have a lot of other stuff to work through, but I hope to do so at some point. He will make a sales pitch near the end of some of the videos. Nothing pushy, and hey, the video was free.

Also - look at Jamcast - his blog. Not updated as frequently as his You Tube site.

I think Bill is over in Wales. Coincidentally, my favorite author currently is Jasper Fforde and is also from Wales.

Good stuff, Bill and thanks from Austin TX.

Piano and Summer Vacation

The Sad Piano awaits.

Summer has arrived and with it a vacation or so, which does not lend itself to keeping up with piano goals. Spent about two weeks away from home due in part to a death in the family and then a week off to travel. Meanwhile back at work, responsibilities there backed up so upon returning I have been pretty busy trying to move things along. That has combined with my daughter's summer volleyball league and various other activities to diminish a lot of piano time.

I have had a few nights of just 5 to 10 minutes of something, a time or two with nearly an hour, but nothing on a consistent basis. That can be discouraging. I have acquired a keyboard tho that should enable me to play, very quietly or over headphones, without disturbing everyone in the house.

My philosophy to piano is not surprisingly much like my approach to golf. I look for successes to rally around, that provide something to focus on and try to build on. On occasion something will sound musical, and surprising, and I try to replicate that success.

I am also working on memorizing Joplin's "Palm Leaf Rag". I selected it because it has 3 sections instead of 4, so voila 25% less to cram in. Its coming along, slowly. And by the way, a very nice composition by Joplin with some quirky neat sounding passages.

Onward. Listening to my Vince Guaraldi station on Pandora. Like golf, I at least think I learn something from listening and watching the greats, whether it translates into practice, we'll see.

Piano Woes

Last week was not a good week for advancing my cause in piano playing. I know this is a building process, one brick at a time a city the size of Rome, but I would like to get some good momentum before coasting.

Two days with nothing, then one night with about 20 to 30 minutes stumbling about, three days off, then another night of 30 minutes or so of bumbling. No sense of progress.

As far as getting instruction, I found a book at our library that focuses on exactly what I am interested in. Maybe. How To Play From A Fake Book by Blake Neely (keyboard edition). So far it is the Dr. Suess of chords. Tunes include Yankee Doodle, Bear Over The Mountain, Yellow Rose Of Texas, Battle Hymn Of The Republic, etc.  But these are no gimme's. Come Back To Sorrento was no picnic. The focus is chords. Covered are majors, minors, inversions, 7ths, alterations such as diminished and augmented chords, 6ths, maj 7ths. The left hand is not given too much to do. Block chords mostly, an alternating bass sometimes, a walking bass line between chords. I will work all the way thru it, or as much as possible before I have to turn it back into the library. Altho it doesn't look like it gets checked out much, and I can probably get it any time needed.

I have found some videos by a fellow named Bill Hilton that appear to be good. I will watch a few before describing them.

But for now, the only way to learn to read music is to read a lot of it, often, on a consistent basis, and use various stuff. Keep moving and don't fall backwards.

Notes To Self

Even with total dedication to daily practice and playing to improve my piano, not much is going to happen unless some sort of instruction is involved. Much like my younger brother learning Spanish, I don't want to spend a bunch of money, or any if I don't have to, so lessons are out for now. Where do I get the info, teaching, or feedback I need to learn?

I have started watching and listening to other pianists play trying to see if I can figure out some bit of technique. For example our church has a jazz pianist playing each Sunday that I've come to know. At a recent retirement party for one of the church staff he played (in combo with a saxophonist) for about an hour. I found a chair behind and to his left to observe and learn. First off his was a remarkable feat of piano playing since during most of it a dozen or more children were playing nearby and batting balloons all around him. But he carried on unaffected and marvelously.

So what did I learn? I saw lots of left handed work that was at times simple, at times complicated, chromatic runs, fingers sliding, steady fluid tempo, and great improvisation. Through it all, melody is the most important element. In short a professional using the tool of his trade.


If this were golf, I have a few thousand practice shots to hit at the practice range.

Learning to play from "Fake Books"

One of my two big piano playing goals is to be able to play from a Fake Book. This is music with simply the melody, usually on a treble clef, chords above - the pianist has to provide his own accompanyment. There's really no other way to learn how to do this other than sitting down and doing it. I have started with a collection of Beatles songs in a paperback. I know the melodies, and they are written in the key that the song is performed in. So these are not boiled down, in the key of C, big note arrangements.

Not so easy either. I enjoyed tinkering with For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite, and there are some rather tricky chords in it. Still, I can only manage blocking the chords in the left hand now.

Sightreading the melody is not such a piece of cake either, and finding the proper finger on each note is not happening with any great ease. This needs a lot of work. I forget what fingers are on what notes, look down to find out, then look back up and can't find where on the page I am playing from.

Nothing smooth, but, a few moments musical! Its like cracking a big drive on the golf course or sinking a long putt, something that makes sense, and the whole reason for doing this exercise seems worthwhile.

Piano Redux, Again

Looming in a room next to our kitchen is my upright piano. I bought it shortly after my 33rd birthday, nearly 19 years ago. I still have the urge to learn to play it. Unfortunately, other things tend to take up my time, and the piano sits largely unused. So now once again, for some reason I can't explain, I find that I want to improve my playing.

There are two simple goals I have set out for myself this time. 1) learn/memorize some short pieces that I like, maybe some I have played before and need to rework, plus new stuff; and 2) learn to play songs from "lead sheets". Its this second goal that I am most interested in.

I am going to plan, analyze, or otherwise think about my methods, successes, and failures here to keep me motivated. I want to stay with it, make progress, and improve. Even tho I am 51, soon to be 52 years of age, this is a skill I have long wanted to attain, and think I can do.

Not another New Year Resolution post!

Not exactly. Philo recommends taking up something you once loved to do but have quit doing for some reason.

I’m struck, too, that one can still take up paths long neglected, and that doing so is surprisingly rewarding. I took up playing the bass again after thirty years; in fact, my main Christmas present was a Crate BX100 bass amp. I’ve started composing music, something I hadn’t done since college. Dymphna has taken up ice skating. If you’re in search of a New Year’s resolution, I recommend thinking back and taking up again something you used to love but gave up along the way.

I've given up so many things in the past that picking one is going to be difficult. I think I'll look over a few.

In the not too distant past I was serious about learning to play the piano. At my 33rd birthday I showed up at my first lesson with a book of Scott Joplin's rags under my arm and told my teacher that was what I wanted to play. She kindly took the book away from me a gave me the basic Piano 101 books that every beginner must start from. Before beginning lessons I drafted 10 goals I wanted to accomplish. After receiving much encouragement from an AOL online group of teachers I dove in. Five years later I stopped taking lessons. I estimate I made about 2 years worth of progress, and probably met only about 2 to 3 of my stated goals. Sounds disappointing, but not really. Having elementary and preschool age children made practice time difficult. Plus I am not a natural - everything learned was through hard work. I still can play bits of the music I did learn, and at the time listened to much music I wouldn't have otherwise heard or cared about. I went to the Scott Joplin Music Festivals in Missouri, met performers there, became a distant friend to one of them. I could go on. Piano was good to me.

Before starting high school I was bitten by the chess bug. Bobby Fischer was playing for the world championship against the hated Russians, and I followed that match closely. I received a chess set and clock for Christmas 1973, of which I still have the pieces, lots of books and began playing competitively. I actually would get into trouble for staying out too late at night going to chess meeting held at the local university. I got better through study and practice, to a point, and then hit a snag. At some point I realized that chess is a really difficult game that would take some major studying in order to get beyond the average competitive levels. I wasn't ready to give up my golf game for chess.

For some odd reason hockey is a family favorite. My two boys played quite a bit of roller blade hockey growing up. It always looked like fun. A few years back I tried it playing in an adult league in Round Rock Texas. It was a blast. I can't remember a team sport being that much fun. Hockey was fun, frustrating, physically demanding, and exciting - and that's from the adult slow motion league. In my final season I scored the 2 goals in the championship game.

Of the 3 listed, hockey ain't gonna happen. My skates have been cannibalized by Evan and Tory for wheels and bearing and the hardware is missing. Plus I am so badly out of shape I wouldn't last 30 seconds on a shift, and I haven't skated since that last game.

Piano - I like it. Still play occasionally. I am all for playing more but I won't be taking lessons anymore. I will play simpler music and practice reading music as much as possible, and try to enjoy the music. At times when I was learning, I tended to get angry and frustrated at my progress or lack thereof and wouldn't be able to hear what I was doing as a whole. Playing for my own enjoyment sounds like a worthy goal.

Chess is the likely winner here. Tory has shown great interest in learning the game in the past few months, going as far as helping start a club and ladder group at his school. He has managed to beat me once so far, but other than that I have had the upper hand. The bad news for Tory, as I have told him, is that I am not very good meaning he has a long way to go. Looking at chess books and playing through instructional games does not seem so onerous anymore. I think I am more patient and able to take in the intended information, maybe even pass it on to Tory in a way he will absorb it as well.