Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Wednesday

Starting on a new change of lifestyle,  trying to be more healthy. Took a half hour walk this morning, and here's a picture taken during it:


Ended up with the ability to say I walked about an hour today (when you add up the various walking times). Every Wednesday, starting today, I'll report how many pounds I need to lose in order to reach my goal. Need to lose 50.

Practiced some chords for just a little time at the piano today.

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Tuesday

Here is a pic of my youngest ready for her first day of High School today:


After a piano lull, I went back to the piano today and "The Christmas Song."  I think in order to make this work, I have to make a point of learning the chords in the tune and mastering the chords in the tune before attempting the tune. 

I am learning the song; but that's just the problem; I don't want to learn just the song, but I want to have chords ingrained  in my brain. That's where I made a mistake in the past; focusing on the song only. Now this approach may not work for everyone, but I find that although it is laborious, it may yield the best results for me over time if I focus on learning chords.

I must learn the chords, learn the chords, and learn the chords, so they can be ingrained. The more they are ingrained, the easier it gets to play songs in the future (for me, anyway).

New Practice Regimen:

So practice time should be split into threse sections to be used when applicable: 
1) Review repertoire
2) Review old chords as listed on my chord chart
3) Learning new chords as presented in a song. When the new chords are learned, and them to my chord chart and add #4 below:
4) Practice the new song. When it feels somewhat comfortable, add a new song.

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Sunday

Was thinking that the piano was not for me because it's such a struggle. Listened to some YouTube stuff comparing guitar vs piano, and again came to the conclusion that I want to play piano. 
I have gotten really good at rhythm guitar. But that does not mean that I should just play rhythm guitar.
I am not good at solo guitar. Sure, I can do it with enough practice, but it doesn't come natural. Now the same can be said for piano, so why give up piano just because it might not be natural for me?
I can play early rock and roll easily on guitar. So should I limit myself to just what comes easily? No.

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Saturday

Figured out a way to learn chords that makes sense. Working on the song "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire."
1)Wrote down the chords used.
2) Working on memorizing those chords while also using them in the context of a song too.

This is how it's sounding so far:


Of course, rhythm is an issue.

Gig with the band went well tonight. Here's us doing "Let it Be Me," the old Everly Brothers song. I sing melody and my friend sings harmony:

Friday, August 26, 2016

Friday

Looking forward to the weekend. Practiced piano chords tonight. Continue to hit walls when confronted with music to play, but I'm hanging in there. 

Playing gig tomorrow night for some older folks in an apartment community. Should be fun.

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Moving Day

6:15 AM 
Beginning the day. Today is a very big day in the history of our family. My wife and I will be taking out oldest child to college. It's about a 2.5 hour trip. I had a really nice talk with him last night as he and I went out for cheeseburgers....

8:32 PM
Got back from dropping him off. Here are some pics of him in his dorm, and my wife/him/me.

Practiced some minor chords tonight on the piano.

Trying to downsize my guitar amp to get more money to save for an acoustic guitar. So I put my amp for sale and bought this Fender Frontman 25:


Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Wednesday Morning at 5:00

I like the production of this version better than last night's recorded version:


Figured out the way to memorize piano chords is by utilizing the image of their shapes on the piano, not by using goofy  mnemonics. 

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Tuesday / He's Leaving Home / Piano Learning

Two days before we take my son to college.

Tried to practice piano today. Didn't go so great. All those chords to memorize. Experimented with Sudnow stuff and wasctempted to return to it.

Ok went back to piano and recorded a cover of me playing the Beatles' "She's Leaving Home" which is appropriate given that my son will soon go away to college. 

Here it is:


I think I just have to be more patient with the piano. This is a complicated skill for me that will take a lot of time. I'll stick with the Susman chords method. Playing a song solo style on the piano (or the guitar, for that matter) involves a lot more than just strumming chords in the background on a guitar to back up another instrument. And Each Song Takes Time. Ironically, "She's Leaving Home" was the first song that I voiced on my own using the Sudnow Method.

I think (for me, anyway) it would be helpful to strike a balance between chord memorization and playing songs. I think too much of either, or using one of them while  excluding the other isn't helpful for me. 

As I read somewhere, it's like learning a language. If I was to learn French, but only used French words (or, in my piano learning, just chords), I wouldn't communicate too well. Likewise, learning sentences and paragraphs (or measures and songs in my piano learning), wouldn't be too easy or meaningful if I struggled over how to say each word. This is I think how it works best for me, anyway, not sure about everyone else.

Monday, August 22, 2016

Monday Woodshed

Just trying to get those open piano chords in my hands. Maybe it's a good time to explain something:
I'm learning open piano chords because those inversions just were too much for me to learn. And just playing the root position chords wasn't really working.

Listened to some bits of old jazz guitar and was tempted to do some more of that. But I'm not. It's time to work hard on learning piano, and not give up.

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Sunday

Bootcamp = Getting those chords memorized. I think I got the min7ths. Working on those 7th. 

Friday, August 19, 2016

August Christmas Tree Circle

Just a bit of a disoriented piano day. Spent a little time on "OhTannenbaum" by Vince Guaraldi. Not too terrible for a short effort. But maybe I'm spending a little too much time focusing on memorizing chords and should spend more time on playing and perfecting songs? 

Listening to the Tom Rush album: The Circle Game. Nice. The song "The Circle  Game"......wow.

Circling back to piano; in thinking about it a bit, I think it's best to still try to memorize chords as well as play songs. This chord memorization stuff can be taxing! However, it can also be extremely useful later on. Utilizing Susman's methodology more so than Swain's, but I like Swain's emphasis on chord memorization. Starting to dig into the world of memorizing 7th chords. 

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Thursday

Almost completely done memorizing the minor chords on the piano. Hard work!

Listened to a John Renbourn vinyl album, "The Lady and the Unicorn," and really liked it.

Tried my hand at recording a version of Wichita Lineman. Here it is, chock full of mistakes all around, but hey, I'm learning!

The link:  


Almost forgot. On YouTube, I found an extremely moving segment from the movie Rocky V:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC6sMFbL288&sns=em


Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Minor Seventh Wednesday

Worked on memorizing 10 out of the 12 minor seventh chords. More work needed. I like the Swain emphasis on really having chords memorized. I'm getting there slowly. More work needs to be done.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

New Practice Regimine

I got some new practice ideas that I think have potential:

1) Use both Alan Swain and Bill Susman methods of learning chords.
2) Use Alan Swain's method mostly for learning how to practice, and for forming 6th, Major, Maj7, Minor, 7th, and Diminished chords.
3) Memorize the following Swain chords:
Major, Minor, Maj7, and 7th chords.
4) Utilize Susman's guidance in forming the more complex chords like 13th, b5, b9, etc., but will not memorize these chords.
5) Review chords learned by making a list and playing them as much as possible during practice.
6) Learn songs.

Monday, August 15, 2016

Monday

Just trying to figure out a practice regimine that would work for me. 

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Sunday

Up to page 40 in the first Swain book and I'm up for the challenge. Here's a battle plan:
mindset. 

Practice Time:
1) page 40. in all keys.
2) continue to review, add to, and keep note of, chords memorized
3) start learning songs

Today I started p. 40 in key of C. May learn a Christmas song.

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Saturday

Band practice this morning; doing a cool medley of a couple of songs done by Fats Domino.

Up to page 40 in the Swain book, and I just might be hanging out on this page for awhile. It's an important learning page that I gather is to be used mostly to memorize chords for each key. 

Some important concepts learned today include diminished chords and Blocked (George Shearing) chords.

Here are some pictures taken on a boat ride today:






Friday, August 12, 2016

Friday

I am writing this at 2:07 AM. Heard of the meteor shower that was going to happen; went outside, and saw two!

Feeling like I caught a cold. Yuck. But practiced page 33 of the Swain book. Doing fairly well. Those Dbmaj7 /  Abmaj7 / and F#7 chords are stubbornly not easily staying in my brain! But I think I am getting a handle on them (finally).

I really don't intend on stopping the Swain material and I continue to like the challenge.

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Thursday

Here is what I sent my piano buddy today in terms of my weekly progress:

FOUR THINGS:

1) Well I remember hearing that in piano learning, sometimes the learning kind of goes slow. Well that's ok. I continue to practice daily with varying amount of minutes put in. But that's key: some quality practice daily, even if very little. I'm progressing, but slowly at this point. And that's ok! The piano is a long term thing, and it'll be worth it to hang in there. I'm up to page 33 in the first Swain book, and I continue to try to get those open chords in my hands memorized. He has some pieces to play in which the new chords are used with melody notes and instead of memorizing the pieces, I think I have a fairly good idea when it's time to move on. Here's the chords I know now (some better than others!): 
Ab7, F#7, Cmaj7, Dm7, Em7, G7, C6, Fmaj7, Cm7, C7, C, Am, Ebmaj7, Gm7, Fm7, F7, Ab, Bbmaj7, Bb7.
Just trying to implant them in my hands and fingers.

2) This week I played around with the saxophone. Was toying with maybe buying a sax and taking it more seriously but decided to just let it go. Can't really do sax AND piano with my limited time, and the piano wins. I can always borrow (a friend's) sax if the urge strikes again.

3) Was briefly toying around with getting into fingerstyle guitar (again). But as with the sax, piano wins again.

4) This one should take a LONG TIME: Trying to save money for a really quality acoustic guitar. I know how to play guitar ok, and this will be more for just enjoyment, and who knows what else?!

Addendum: For a long time, I've wanted to make an album of just me and an acoustic guitar. Think Nick Drake's "Pink Moon" album and Bruce Springsteen's "Nebraska" album. 

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Wednesday

Very very very little piano practice time put in today but did manage to review some chords. I think I may retain more than I give myself credit even though repetition is important.

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Tuesday

Working on page 33 of the first Swain book. Learning the F#7 and Db7 chords. 
Have been thinking a little about using some supplemental material like maybe my boogie piano book, a jazz method, or a pop method. But I think that will just muddy things up, and that doing what I'm doing with the Swain material is challenging enough. I'm getting some good traction with this method, and I want to keep it up. Everything else (like left hand bass note playing) might probably be learned in due time; no need to cram everything. Song playing from fakebooks on the fly is my ultimate goal.

"....psychology is a secular science, while care of the soul is a sacred art." - Thomas Moore (in "The Care of the Soul).

Monday, August 8, 2016

Monday

Trying to be healthier. Walked in segments today for a total of an hour. 

Practiced piano; up to page 33 in the first Swain book. Can get frustrating if I go and try to play a piece that I'm unfamiliar with and I expect too much too soon. The moral is to go at my own pace! I am definitely making progress!

Sunday, August 7, 2016

Sunday

Looks I'll spend most of my musical time today in the shed trying to burn chords into my memory. F#7 and Ab7 are currently getting on my nerves, but I'll get there.

Learning the piano will take a long term commitment from me.

Using Swain's ideas, I worked on those two chords throughout the day. Used them in the context of a melody in his book. Also played Danny Boy. 

Yes learning the piano will take a long term commitment from me, and some days there will be little to show for my efforts. However, I see my knowledge of just those two chords today as a pretty cool accomplishment. 

Saturday, August 6, 2016

Saturday

1) Had band practice today that went well. Our next gig is coming up soon. I play guitar and sing. Songs we did today that I sung whole or parts of were: "Heard it Through the Grapevine (CCR version)," "Let it Be Me," Bye Bye Love," "Country Roads." Also sang some background to "Love Letters in the Sand."

2) Borrowed my friend's alto sax. Recorded this version of "Summertime:"

https://soundcloud.com/user-860420366/summertime-cover

It's a cool alto sax with the finish all messed up, but I like it. Here's a picture of it:


3) Worked on piano some too. Moving on in the Swain book. Also tried to play "Oh Cristmas Tree" from "A Charlie Brown Christmas," using sheet music. Interesting how I was actually able to play some if it but how easily I got frustrated. Not really being fair with myself there! 
Up to page 31 of the first Swain book. 

Friday, August 5, 2016

Friday

Up to page 30 in the first Swain book. Looks like it's time to memorize more chords. Let's see....here's a list of the ones I know now: Cmaj7, Cmin7, C6, C, Dm7, Emaj7, Emin7, Fmaj7, Fmin7, F7, Gmin7, Amaj7, Bbmaj7, Bb7, and maybe A. 
Looking around on the Internet for saxophones.

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Thursday

Interesting music day. Continue to be moved towards the saxophone. Here's a recording of me playing my friend's tenor sax along with a backing track to the Beatles' "All My Loving." :

https://soundcloud.com/user-860420366/all-my-loving-cover

It sounds better than the version I recorded yesterday because I changed the key of the backing track so I can play the sax in the key of "C." I thought I was playing in the key of C yesterday, but because the saxophone is in Bb, the chords were in C, but I wasn't playing in C. Still wondering if I should get a sax.

Here's my friend's tenor saxophone:



Went back on piano and continued with my Swain material. Definitely time to move on to page 27 in his first book.

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Wednesday

Marathon piano day. Time to move on (soon) in the first Swain book. This is where the honeymoon is over and it's time to buckle down and learn.

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Tuesday

Well I had an interesting musical diversion tonight. My friend let me borrow his tenor sax, and I had some fun playing along to a backing track of the Beatles' "All My Loving." Of course I made a ton of mistakes, but it was fun! I had the backing track set to the key of "C" to make things easier.
Then back to the piano. Continue learning chords and my new tune from the first Swain book. Added Bbmaj7 and F7 to my chord knowledge.

Monday, August 1, 2016

Monday

Started page 26 of the first Swain book. Trying to add Ebmaj7, Fm7, and Cm7 to my chord bank knowledge.