July 10, 2010 - Some More Goals

With the piano, I'd like to just sit down and play songs "on the fly" with as little prep time as possible, utilizing fake books. I'd like to play background music at retaurants, and take "requests" as long as the songs are to be found in the fakebooks I'd have with me.
The Sundow Method has been helpful to me, and a look through this blog will reveal my ideas and reactions to the Sudnow Method. My issue with it at this point is that for me anyway, it takes a lot of repitition of songs learned inorder to maintain the songs "in my fingers." But I've learned some great stuff with the Method that I will retain in my play.
I'm now using the Mark Harrison Pop Piano Book, and I'm trying to go through it but in a time limited way, breaking up its contents into deadlines by which I should be at a particular place. At the current time, I'm in kind of the foundational part, where I'm to learn scales, chords, etc.
So I'm hoping that learning this stuff will help to achieve my goal. I'd also like to compose more stuff on piano!
As far as the learning process itself, what's helpful is the book "Effortless Mastery" by Kenny Werner. It really streeses getting rid of the ego/self-criticisms that hamper the learning process.