December 27, 2011

Ok, so I'm going in a different direction yet again.
Sent away for a home course that teaches to play by ear using big chords.
Stay tuned.

December 10, 2011

Been all over the wilderness trying to learn the piano. Decided to use 2012 to learn Allan Swain's Methods. He has two books that teach chords; open positions.

It seems like most of this blog has been devoted to me using the Sudnow Method. For me, I want to learn how to learn songs from fakebooks that take somewhat quicker for me to learn than using the Sudnow Method. And I don't want to play songs constantly in order to remember them, and that has been my experience with the Method. For me, anyway, I just don't remember songs easily using the Sudnow Method. If I don't play them often, I lose them. Other folks might have better luck than me. That whole paragraph is just my opinion of my own frustration with the Method, and again, others may have great experiences with the Method because their goals differ from mine. My goal is to be able to play a lot of songs quicker without the constant repitition that I seem to need utilizing the Method. I have learned a lot from the Method, may go back to it, or at the very least continue to utilize things I've learned feom the Method in my play.

I'm sure you have heard tge saying, "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach a man how to fish and he eats for a lifetime." For me, in my humble opinion, the Sudnow Method gave me fish (taught me songs). But perhaps using and committing to the Swain method might teach me HOW to fish.

So while reserving my right to change my mind yet again, I'm going to try to commit 2012 to learning the Swain methods.

Santa Piano is Back

Working on "Christmas Time is Here!"

July 24, 2011

Very pleasant surprise experienced in that ATTYA wasn't really that difficult to get back to after spending so much time on Autumn Leaves. Looks like next song will be Over the Rainbow.

July 23, 2011

Finished Autumn Leaves and submitted it to the Sudnow Forum. Finally ordered the Stride book.
Goal:
Keep Working on: Autum Leaves and ATTYA until next tune.

July 22, 2011

A great morning practice. Felt good. Actually finished learning Autumn Leaves. Interesting how:
1) pretty quickly this song was learned
2) frustration during one practice session sometimes leads to smoothness the next
3) related to #1 and #2 above interesting how things get learned despite the struggle experienced learning certain parts of songs the first times

Will work more on this tune, submit it to the Forum, and then spend time focusing on polishing the two songs: ATTYA and Autumn Leaves.

Ordering the stride book today.

July 21, 2011

Was tempted recently to quit piano and focus on guitar. So easy to listen to the internal critic in all his sneaky ways!

Worked today on "Autum Leaves." Added some more measues. Will order a stride piano book tomorrow.

Slow is good. Progress isn't always linear. Ok for progess to level off for awhile (plateau).

July 17, 2012

Started work, I think it was pretty recently, on Autumn Leaves (AL). I've really been playing ATTYA a lot, and its sounding really nice. So nice, in fact, that I am concerned that I might forget it or at least play it more jumbled as I add new songs to the repertoire.

I think the answer to this dilemma, again, is found in the mantra: Slow Dow.

No race to the finish line. Whether it be an internal race to 'get the song learned quickly' or even an internal race to 'get as many songs learned as possible quickly' I think the race aspect may have caused me trouble in the past.

So I think what I have to do, which might slow me down in the short run though yield good results, is continue to perfect the songs I know as part of each practice session.

"The joy of the moment can be experienced at any stage of learning. We need only to recognize when we are guided away from ourselves by standards of performance based on comparison with others, or by the need of approval and recognition for accomplishment."
-Mildred Portney Chase, in: Just Being at the Piano

So, the lesson is to experience joy in each little part learned In The MOMENT (whether it be even one added cluster on a Sudnow song, or even one measure, or even in perfecting/remembering/going over a previously learned song) rather than in some imagined global end point.

July 11, 2011

Here's ATTYA today (may need to copy and paste):

http://www.box.net/shared/hvttceuudf1qsegid3yc

July 10, 2011

Hard working good day at the piano.

Here's how ATTYA sounded (may need to copy and paste):
http://www.box.net/shared/shiyr91jkvzov5z61hp7

Made better progress than I thought today, in that I finished it. That's good, but I sure want to stay with this song for awhile until I polish it better. The above recording quality leaves a lot to be desired in that, to make a long story short, its copied from GarageBand for Ipad.

Now what I might take from this song's practice so far:
1) Write out those fractions!
2) Don't forget to make goals before sitting at the piano.
3) Try not to pay attention to the negative internal chatter

For fun, I still want to get that book on Stride Piano Tricks.

July 9, 2011

Working on ATTYA and.....wow......
Sounding really, really nice, if I say so myself. Reading a cool book "The Inner Game of Music" that seems to focus on helping turn off the negative inner chatter that gets in the way of enjoying music.

Frustration yesterday

Things weren't quite clicking yesterday. Fingers not cooperating.

July 6, 2011

Continued work on ATTYA. Goal was to add one more cluster, but added two.

Some goals

Here's what I posted recently on the Sudnow Forum:

NEW LONG TERM GOAL:
Have a number of songs that I can play that could last a few hours in a performance, say, in a restaurant gig!

SHORT TERM GOALS THAT CAN ULTIMATELY LEAD TO ACCOMPLISHING THE LONG TERM GOAL:
Well, my old goal was learning to play on the fly from fakebooks. But I'm changing the goal. Success now would be defined NOT in terms of how many songs I have MEMORIZED (always frustrating to me), nor will it be defined as the ability of playing requests ON THE FLY from fakebooks...
Rather.....if I can bring a binder of prelearned leadsheets of songs to a gig, and can play them while peeking at the sheets, and they sound reasonably on time and perfect, well, thats success for me.

So my short term (more managable) goal is to simply amass a number of lead sheets (including fractions) of well voiced songs that I can play well.

STRATEGIES:
1) Learn one song at a time REALLY WELL. Will allow myself to peek at lead sheet.
2) Using my own voicings, but...
3) ...also using Suds's voicings in his Dot Books. I'm currently working on his arrangement of "All the Things You Are," and figuring out his fractions that I'm copying to a lead sheet. Listening to him talk about his working of the songs is also cool.
4) Continuing to get those scales pounded in my brain and fingers. I got them down mostly OK, but I continue to struggle with seeing scales degrees quickly.
5) Keep reviewing songs that I'm adding to my binder.
Recently added today:
6) Minimize the use of arpeggios that in the past I utilized to cover up my shortcomings
An important one:
7) Approach each practice session with a goal for that particular session.

July 5, 2011

Continue to work on ATTYA.
What might continue to be helpful is approaching each practice session with a goal for that particular session.

July 4, 2011

Making good progress with ATTYA. Taking it all slowly is key. Go over difficult parts. Not doing arpeggios as much. Hitting bass with melody note and then internal right hand cluster at one point sounds cool. At the point of adding thirds to three melody notes played singularly. Sounding really nice. Can't move on too quickly. Small amount of practice daily rather than marathon sessions. Interesting how what was difficult yesterday gets easier today by going over difficult section.

Learning

Working on "All the Things You Are" (ATTYA).

Some notes/observations/concerns, etc.

1) For this to work, I really need to slow things down big time, and in more ways than one.
a) follow Sudnow's dictates for practice
b) slow down my tempo
c) work on a piece of the song at a time and not move on until its learned

2) Concerned that in order to play it right, it will need to be memorized....not good news.

3) Tempted to experiment with not using full clusters for each note.

The Sudnow Method

Back again to the Sudnow Method.

Doing it a little different this time around....

1) Will work on one song at a time, but will stay at the song for much longer than I did previously, to get it to sound RIGHT.

2) I'm using Sudnow's Dot Book, for now, anyway. Maybe the next song I'll voice, but I want a little different direction at this point, so I'll use his wonderful arrangements. For now, I'm working on "All the Things You Are." What I'm doing is writing down his fractions on a lead sheet so that I'm not just using dots. He has what seems to be some cool ideas as he talks about the arrangement verbally as well as on the written page.

3) Thinking of continuing to pound those major scales in my brain. I got the paths down pretty darn good, but its still a challenge to QUICKLY get to some scale degrees.

4) As I'm typing this, I realize I may not work on memorization as that seemed to lead to frustrationville. Will just work on getting a lot of songs down that I can do with the lead sheet as a cheatsheet. It seems to me that perhaps a lot of memorization might come as a result of doing it this way, because the focus will be on not moving on until a song sounds really good. Really good.

POP PIANO / Memorial Day / New Direction

Ok, so I've been all over the place with learning methods, and even tempted to sell the ole 88 keys.... But I think I'll make another effort. Started to read a book about Billy Joel, and got psyched again. Been thinking I'm a bit too old for the rock and roll guitar thing, but will stay in the band and play blues and some other stuff.

Been all over the place with ehat I should do musically....
Get a new guitar? Learn my scales on guitar? Concentrate on the blues on guitar?

Was losing enthusiasm for music after what I felt was a less than stellar performance by me yesterday at practice.

Would like to get back to the piano, but less than enthused with the prospect of memorizing tunes.

Decided to get back into Mark Harrison's "The Pop Piano Book" in a pretty serious way. Made a packet of stuff to go through, focusing on material like scales and diatonic scale triads. Will try to go through a key a week, at least, using some of David Sudnow's ideas on practicing. Hey, that Sudnow stuff will also come in handy later... Would really like to play on the fly from fakebooks, but not sound elementary. Maybe if I keep at it, using the Harrison book, I can learn some stuff to sound pretty good. Want to play more popular oriented sounds. I have a friend who can play what I'm after....

Perhaps if I focus more on learning outside of the context of songs for awhile I can come closer to the sounds I'm after....

Stay tuned.

May 24, 2011

Enthusiasm is lower. But working on"Satin Doll." And some ear training.

May 15, 2011

Working hard on this tune, and this is how its sounding today. May need to copy and paste:
http://www.box.net/shared/uog116qhv0

More practice....

.....of the Elvis tune.

Patient Practice

Patient practice is key for me. Worked on the Elvis tune. Would be soooo great to have 15 songs memorized.....but quite a challenge.

Back at it.

Cannot stay away too long. My continuing struggle has to do with utilizing PATIENCE. So here's a tentative thinking out loud kind of learning plan:
1) Go over my songs again. But slowly. Learn them using good Sudnow voicings. Just don't move to a different song until the first song can be played perfectly and at a perfect tempo.
2) Dot rush the learning.
3) Play songs I want to play.
4) Do not rush the learning.
5) Do not expect instant greatness.
6) Utilize voicings with the dissonance that I like.
7) Do not rush the learning.
8) do not neglect stride. Try to incorporate it into songs or learn outside the context of songs....maybe one per week.
9) Concentrated daily practice in a short period of time is OK.
10) Do not rush the learning.
11) Write out fractions


Worked on "Can't Help Falling in Love With You."

Piano + Guitar

These two don't have to be mutually exclusive in regards to learning. On the chord tone book, the author has a good discussion on how to practice. In timed little bits. No rushing. I can do this for both instruments, but it will take patience and commitment.

Trying more of the Sudnow Method. I have a bunch of songs I once kind of learned, and thinking about going back, learning them slowly, with no pressure.
And no shortcuts like mentioned in recent posts.

Worked on "Can't Help Falling in Love" today.

The Minors

I think I got most of the Minors learned now too. Wondering how I should go for learning those dominants, since there's so many color options.... Maybe minimize choices...

Listened to some George Shearing ... He played some ballads in such a great, dramatic way...

Reading "Just Being at the Piano" by Mildred Portney with an introduction by Lee (Hyman Roth in the Godfather II [!]) Strasberg.

The Majors

I think I got all the mostly used Major Chord patterns learned. I think it will help continuing this method if the goal is voicing songs relatively quickly. However, it will still take some work to learn how to play songs with a minimum of hesitations.

Where I'm At

Piano-wise, I'm going to try something.
Yes, its unorthodox, but at this point I don't care about being unorthodox. I'm using as a role models people like Thelonious Monk, Louis Armstrong, and anyone else who just had the guts to go where their spirit is taking them musically.

I love the piano ballad, but played in the Sudnow, Bill Evans, George Shearing kind of way. Kind of blending dissonant notes with beautiful melodies. I'd like to keep doibg my learning how to do that, and I am learning not to care about folks not really caring for either me focusing on ballads or the dissonance I like. And I also want to lrarn it my way. Blending the Sudnow Methhod with learning put of context (memorizing shapes of chords out of context). I know I've kind of tried this before, but I'd lime to try it again, but with more confidence.

In that vein, I've been focusing on memorizing the mosy widely used major chords.

The March 14th Rant

Isn't there a better way to learn the Bill Evans / David Sudnow open voicings? There has just gotta be another way. My way of doing it was just so agonizing...you can just hear the struggle as you listen to the songs I posted . . . But I just love the sounds of those voicings as applied to ballads. But there has just got to be another way rather than struggling song by song, and then forgetting them if not played regularly... So frustrating to be so close to those sounds, but so far from masterfully executing them...

Looking to maybe just dabble in that stuff for now, but dive a little deeper into other stuff like piano blues, stride piano, or possibly just throwing the piano out a window.

Its Been Awhile

Its been awhile since I've posted here! I've been really more into the guitar lately. But I think I might be coming back to more piano work in addition to the guitar. I just might get into more bluesy piano, so stay tuned....

January 17, 2010

Trying to work something into this stuff that would help with the frustration of memorization, I put Rainbow and Crush on one sheet of paper each, with the lyrics, chords, and some hints with regards to some melody notes. For me, the memorization can suck fun out at times! The jury is still out with reagrds to how helpful this new process of mine might be. It will still take memorization of clusters and melody notes, but that seems reasonable. Perhaps memorizing a dozen or so tunes would be most desirable, but with the little time I get at the piano, this new process might be helpful. As of this writing, i tried it with Crush, and a
although it takes a little getting used to, it seems OK. Its helpful to have the sheet as an aid, though its highlighting my difficulty with some melody notes (that I just wrote in).

January 15, 2010

In a piano rut. But that's Ok. Worked on Crush today, and its frustrating and a pain to relearn parts that were forgotten due to lack of play. Played a grand piano today as well as some other pianos in a store, and wasn't really impressed with them. To buy a new guitar next weekend. Still looking at another piano learning method. The memorizing is such a pain... Interesting yesterday how I was actually able to "fake" part of a song kind of on the fly yesterday from a fakebook in the key of Eb of course, since it serms to be the most familiar key to me. Just a frustrating time.
Addendum: Had a break for awhile and went back to it....went better...more relaxed.

January 11, 2011

Interesting. A little bit of a lot, today. Played the new tune, played Rainbow, worked on a jazzy arrangement of "Michelle" from a jazz Beatles book, and worked on perfecting "Crush on You."Cool. The jazzy "Michelle" is an interesting arrangement with a dissonant jazzy feel, and enough chord changes to make it challenging. I know, I know, yet another Beatles song.... But this is music that I'm drawn to, and guess what? Even more Beatles to be added later!

Feels good to slow down by working on the repertoire. Interesting how by going through the repertoire and the lead sheet I can work on struggled parts, figure out a better voicing, and become aware that I even forgot a couple of measures. Interesting how I'm not reacting with frustration but with a sense of feeling good about working on it. In the groove! Feeling the pull to do the Blues book, but what I'm doing now is more fun.

January 10. 2011

Here's how "Can't Help Falling in Love" sounded today...
Copy and paste:

http://www.box.net/shared/ci4hcu43lj

January 9, 2011

A good, slow but sure piano day. Worked on new song and on perfecting Rainbow with writing down the tricky parts.

January 8, 2011

Most piano time today was spent on the new tune. To make repertoire more acceptable sounding, will go through each song again s l o w l y, and make written notes on problematic areas.

January 7, 2011

Tried to play repertoire....needs work!
Worked on new tune.

January 6, 2010

Looking around the Internet has yielded some interesting piano learning stuff out there. But I'm not sure yet what, of anything new I might get. I always seem to come back to the Sudnow stuff.

Worked on repertoire today, got my new Frank Mantooth fakebook recently, and started work yesterday on my new tune, "Can't Help Falling in Love."

The Blues book is still there, but little time for it.

When it comes to listening as well as playing piano music, I'm just hopelessly drawn to the ballad style, with those dissonant and beautiful Bill Evans/Sudnow voicings.

January 3, 2010

Worked on repertoire, a little Lady Madonna, and p.12 of the Blues book. My youngest daughter is auditioning tomorrow for roles in The Sound of Music and The Wizard of Oz, and today we practiced her singing "Edelweiss" with me on piano! Tempted with yet another method...big surprise there. Waiting to get a couple of new books in the mail (one a Mantooth fakebook, and one a book of jazz versions of Beatles songs) to do a new voicing.

January 2, 2011

Played repertoire, worked on Lady Madonna, and on Page 12 of the Blues book. Tentative decision is to continue to do Sudnow Method as well as the Tim Richards "Improvising Blues Piano" book. Will have to get the stride piano book for fun. Working on playing some stuff with bass player.

New Year's Day, 2011

Looking around at other learning materials, and researching them... Stride looks interesting to pursue, as does a blues piano book, and an Internet course...

At the piano, worked on "Lady Madonna" (!), a different style for me! Picked it up from YouTube.