Every little bit helps

Was able to only squeeze a small amount of practice time at the piano today; reviewed Moody clusters.

May 28, 2012 / Memorial Day /

Just a thank you out there if any vets out there are reading this on Memorial Day. Today has been a grueling but rewarding day at the piano. Learned and tried to ingrain in my brain four Moody clusters for each of the following notes: C, D, E, F, G, and A. Yes, I might know them, but it's difficult to implement them in the context of a song. Also, could not resist. I'm on page 12 of the Improvising Blues Piano book.

No Blues For Now

Decided, I think, not to use the Blues Book. Not yet, anyway. I'd love to be able to play that style, but my life at this point just won't allow all that practice time needed to add that in!! Will continue with my Sudnow/Moody Method, collaborating with Mick, playing in the band, and work on personal songwriting. That is more than enough, so sorry, no blues improv now! Enjoying the Moody stuff. Difficult making my hands: 1) Remember clusters 2) Move with the desired speed from cluster to cluster

May 27, 2012

Regarding work with Moody's material, finished working on notes C, D, E, F, and G; four clusters for each note. Just two more to go before moving out notes outside the key of C. Just might find myself getting into the "Improvising Blues Piano" book tonight...

May 25, 2012

Good band rehearsal tonight. Added more songs; playing a party soon, a wedding ceremony soon, and a retirement type village soon.... Must get back to songwriting!!

May 24, 2012 / Blues

I really like piano ballads. So I'll continue doing what I'm doing with the Sudnow/Moody stuff. Today I'll probably work on adding some Moody clusters related to the "F" note. Been listening to a Pandora station I made consisting of blues piano.....that "Improvising Blues Piano" book is calling.... Some of the piano blues I listened to was really cool!

May 23, 2012

Working still on the C,D, and E clusters. Gonna pull out "Improvising Blues Piano" tonight for fun.

Music Creativity

My deceased cousin had perfect pitch and could play any song wonderfully at the drop of the hat. I remember asking him if he can play, say, an Fmin7#9 chord. He said that ain't music. Elsewhere, you hear music isn't dots on a page. In other circles, you might be prone to hear that learning the classical way is the only way. Before my cousin died, he suggested that I open the top of my piano, and put a microphone in it to amplify the sound. He spoke with enthusiasm. That's what music is.

Taking it Slow and Enjoying it

The post title above says it all. Really liking the Moody System. Added clusters for the "E" note today.

Glen Campbell

Saw Glenn Campbell last night in concert. Went with my wife, my best friend, and my best friend's wife. My buddy paid for dinner and the tickets, and what a great show it was... I did not know that Glenn was such a great guitar player. Even though he has Alzymers, his voice was spot on. The fact that three of his kids played in the band with him only added even more poignancy to the show. "I am a Lineman for the county...."

Taking it S L O W

Tried learning 7 clusters for the "C" note and 7 for the "D" note. Found out that is just too many at this time!!! Asking too much of myself by going for 7. Reduced that for a more reasonable expectation.

I N T E R M I S S I O N

Here's the scoop: Went out to lunch yesterday with my son, his friend, and the friend's dad in honor of my recent birthday. Came home, walked through the door.....SURPRISE!!!! My wonderful wife planned a surprise party for me!!!! Had a jam that included me on guitar, my best friend played guitar too, my brother played bass and a little guitar, and two of my band mates were there too: one played keyboard, and the other played mandolin. An unforgettable day...

May 19, 2012

Worked today on learning the new Moody clusters for the "C" note that I picked out yesterday. To soon give a guitar lesson today to a kid in the neighborhood.

May 18, 2012

Went to the Martin Guitar Factory in Nazareth, PA today. Got my D-16RGT restrung as well as worked on a bit. Took the factory tour, played a guitar that I think lists for about $6,000, and saw some exhibits. Worked on finding appropriate chords for the "C" Melody note using the Moody system. Want to try to learn a number of clusters for Melody Notes.

May 17, 2012

Off from work today and tomorrow. Will probably focus today on reading, relaxing, piano, organizing, and composing....tomorrow, I'm off from work again, and will be visiting the Martin Guitar factory. Monday I have 1/2 day of work because I'll be seeing Glenn Campbell in concert that evening. Tuesday I have off again and will probably have the same agenda as today. Why all the time off from work?? Happy Birthday to me!

Recording: The Good and the Bad

Recording my piano playing has its positives and it's negatives. The positives include the idea that I can Really hear how I sound. The negatives include the idea that I can Really hear how I sound. Listening back can be a frustrating yet very useful practice.....it illuminates problems that were just glossed over during practicing a song. When you think something sounds ok, it can be illuminating to hear it back and say, well....remember that part of the song that you glossed over? Well it sounds it!!

Perfecting the Rainbow

Spent some time today working on and perfecting "Over the Rainbow." Sounding nice.

Hesitant

A friend listened to my "When You Wish..." and gave what I thought was cool feedback. It's not that it was too slow...not even that it was too dissonant....but rather it was hesitant. Excellent! That's it! Using Sudnow's teaching may help.

Tempo

I think I may take some time to possibly just work on my existing three songs. It'd be nice to get them to a place where there is more of a smoother and faster tempo and with less mistakes.

"When You Wish Upon a Star"

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! This song has some sentimental value for me: I think my mom took me to see this movie many years ago. My mom now has Alzymers. So Happy Mother's Day, mom! Here's "When You Wish Upon a Star" using mostly a combination of Moody's and some of Sudnow's ideas. You may need to copy and paste the following link: https://www.box.com/shared/54ba36d1ab468a5efa3a

Individuality vs Tradition vs Easy vs Difficult

Reading a couple of good books: "The Perfect Wrong Note" and "Free Play." Also played my three repertoire songs today. So where are we? Let's see. Looks like playing for me may be an attempt to resolve some tensions including: to what extent do I keep it easy as possible, but does this sacrifice technical skills that may in the short run be boring and tedious but ultimately rewarding? To what extent is focusing on my own way of playing using my present strategies a great way for me to express myself creatively and in my individual way, or to what extent is that a cop out? Let's see. I'm almost 50 years old. I think I'm going to keep the status quo. I want to have fun and express myself without the pressure of pressure. If I dabble in other methods or programs, cool. But let's continue to focus on what keeps me at the piano.

Feedback

Some constructive feedback from me about my last recording (see posting I made earlier today). Need to work on tempo; more consistent as well as faster speed.

All The Things You Are, 2012

Ok, here's how "All the Things You Are" is sounding today....used my combination of Sudnow and Moody systems and I think some regular chords.... May need to copy and paste the following link. http://www.box.com/shared/4f20f5b9ed95c2b12588

M U S I C

Here's the rundown where I'm at and want to be: 1) PIANO - I keep getting drawn back to although it is obvious that I play guitar better than I play piano. Trying to learn ballad type of music on piano using the ideas of Gregory Moody and David Sudnow. 2) BAND - In a four piece band currently. Some of us also play at our Catholic Church. We can't think of a name, we play mostly for free, but would really like to get paying jobs even if the pay is minimal. I play guitar and sing a little. 3) SONGWRITING I: Collaborating with an old friend. Trying to create something marketable. 4) SONGWRITING II: Would like to write more songs on my own that are not necessarily commercial. 5) MISCELLANEOUS: Learn fingerpicking, stride guitar, improv., etc....

Star Wishing

Decided against having "Somewhere" as the next song. Will work on "When You Wish Upon a Star" since it is already in C. Played a little of it today 100% Moody, and it sounds nice.

F O C U S

Regarding piano....be best to keep focus on my goal: learn how to play MANY songs with good voicings. AND not be too frustrated in the process. I think focusing on the Moody system might help more in that. Next song, I'll be doing the West Side Story song: Somewhere. I'm going to try to convert the melody into numbers to play with the Moody voicings I know now. This might help with lessening frustration while using sophisticated sounds...

May 5, 2012

Working on All the Things You Are; not as much fun as Over the Rainbow...

May 4, 2012

Hmmmm. What should be the music plan for the upcoming weekend? I know our band will be practicing tonight. That's a given. But I need to spend some learning time at the piano as well as work on the song collaboration stuff.

May 1, 2012

Happy May, everyone! Some complications are coming up that ultimately might be helpful in my piano learning, but they will be helpful, I think, only to the extent I keep my ultimate goal(s) in mind which include: amassing a large repertoire of songs that are not easily forgotten, as well as having them sound sophisticated with some dissonance, with possibly playing songs on the fly from Fakebooks an ultimate goal. Herein lies the complication: I think in order to sound a bit less dissonant (which might be a desirable thing at times), I might use some Sudnow ideas for some dominant chords, whereas my original plan was to use Moody clusters for dominants. I realized that dominants are simply majors with a b7. So for some dominants, I just might add a 9th along with the regular chord. It's all going to depend in the sound I want as well as ease of play. Trying it today with "All the Things You Are," and it's not really as easy as it sounds. I might find myself using mostly Sudnow ideas, but using Moody's when I want an extra dash of sweet dissonance [or when I can't utilize a Sudnowish cluster quick enough :)]. What might be helpful is making notations on lead sheets when I am to use what as reminders.