New Year's Eve

* Keeping up with healthy habits

* Practiced more Susman stuff / moving on in his "Oh Christmas Tree" lesson / sounds beautiful

* Started some drawing lessons from a book!

New Year's Eve's Eve

My wife got me a Fitbit2 for Christmas, and I've been putting it to good use. Trying yet again to practice good healthy habits.

I continue to work on the Susman material, too. 

Happy Almost 2017!

St. Patrick's Cathedral

A picture of the inside that was taken yesterday:

 

Piano

A great day at the piano. I think I may ready to move on to the next lesson. I make things complicated. Keeping music learning to what I really like (piano) and one method (Susman) is helpful. 

New York

Went on a day trip yesterday to Nrw York with my family.  Here are some pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas, 2016

A selfie taken while I was out to dinner with my dad on Christmas Eve:

 

Christmas Day, 2016

My oldest daughter (middle child):

 

Christmas Day, 2016

My Youngest Daughter:

 

Christmas Day, 2016

My mother and law and my wife:

 

Christmas, 2016

Christmas Day, Me and my son:

 

Christmas, 2016

Me and Dad, after I played with Church group for Christmas Eve Mass:

 

Christmas Morning (the "Before" picture):

 

Christmas Morning (the "During" picture):

 

Christmas Morning (the "After" picture):

Christmas Day: My dad and my father in law:

 

 

Addendum

Forgot to add that I also was the lead singer for "Blue Christmas" last night.

At the Mall on December 23, 2016

 

 

December 24, 2016

Relaxing at my dad's house at 12:42 AM.....

Played our last Christmas show of the season at our local mall, then travelled about 2 hours to my dad's. Eill travel back to home with my dad for him to celebrate Christmas with us.

Out last gig of the season went really well. We were sounding really good, and I got to sing lead vocal on  "Run Run Rudolph," "Santa Claus is Coming to Town (Springsteen style)," "Merry Christmas Baby (Springsteen style)," "Jingle Bell Rock," "Please Come Home for Christmas," "Happy Christmas (War is Over)," and "The Christmas Song."

Tomorrow we will wrap up the season by playing at Christmas Eve Mass.

Listening to some Stefan Grossman acoustic guitar stuff.

Piano Thursday

Successfully stopped myself from buying yet another guitar learning book!

Continue to work on "Oh Christmas Tree" on piano. Looking to maybe get into a fingerstyle guitar package that I've had for awhile.

Piano / Guitar

Need to keep working on "Oh Christmas Tree" until it's at a tempo that is even and satisfactory. Want to do that before moving on. That's ok. Progress with a musical instrument can be slow for me.

Tempted to get back into the guitar a bit. 

Practiced with the Church group tonight for Christmas Eve Mass.

Piano

After looking over some piano learning stuff on line, I came back to work on my piano challenge material. Glad I did. Working on "Oh Christmas Tree." Timing.

Back

Back to "Oh Christmas Tree." Sounding ok.

 

Day One

Day one of the Piano Challenge. Worked on "Oh Christmas Tree," its very nice. I like Susman's no nonsense approach. He's challenging, yet the material is do-able. Sounding good. It's taking a bit of getting used to with regards to playing the 6th in my left hand, as I'm used to playing either a 5th or b7 in my left hand. I'm liking this. 

Addendum

Addendum: Will try to NOT send samples of my piano playing until December 12, 2017.

PIANO CHALLENGE

Here's my newest challenge:

1) Use Bill Susman's piano learning material for a year. If by chance I run out of his song arrangements, use fakebooks or lead sheets.

2) Use his practice guidelines. Learn songs.

3) Turn off self-criticism and negative evaluations of my playing. Simply focus on DOING rather than thinking too much.

-------------        --------------      -----------------

Finished going through Susman's jazz chord guidelines material today.

             --------------        -------------

Gig

Really nice gig today for a children's charity. Helped a child hopefully get into music more by letting him play my guitar. 

 

Susman

Played a good Christmas  gig tonight with the band at a home for older folks. 

Ordered some Bill Susman material to help with piano learning.  From what I've learned, it won't help me unless I am patient and utilize perseverance. 

Bill Susman

Played a really nice Christmas show with the band tonight. More gigs coming up tomorrow and Sunday.

Really thinking of doing more with the Bill Susman piano learning material. 

Sudnow

Practiced some different ways of remembering some of the Silver material.

What do I want to accomplish musically?

1) The ability to play the melody and improvise over jazz standards. To do this, I think I have to continue in the music reading book. To better learn improvisation, I think my best bet will be to continue to utilize the Negri book and Silver book. I might be taking a free course in improvisation but my heart doesn't feel in it.

2) I keep going back to wanting to play the piano. The Sudnow way.

Church Christmas Gig

Church gig went well. Worked in the Negri book today.

Guitar

Played a charity gig with two other bandmates that went well. Got tempted again to get more into acoustic guitar stuff with a Martin guitar. (I do not have one).

My inability to take leads on simple Christmas songs is frustrating. Not giving up. Went through some material in the Negri book to help. Perhaps it would help to train my ear better with the "Improvising For Real" material?

Playing a benefit for a group in our Church tomorrow morning.

The First of December

Continuing the healthy habits including reading of a book on practicing Mindfulness.

Frustrated on piano. Listened to some James Hunter's ("Carina") and got into music again. Worked a little on the Swing Guitar book; time to move forward in it.

Put my toes in the water with regards to songwriting. 

Saturday me and a couple band-mates will be playing a Christmas show for a charity, and Sunday me and the band will be playing a Christmas show for a Church event.

Wednesday Night

Today I accomplished all that I set out to do (as listed in a previous post). Getting some momentum back with regards to taking charge of my health, and it feels good. 

Looks like I'll be collaborating on a song writing project with my friend from high school.

Reminder

DO NOT MESS UP DIET

Did lose 3.6 pounds since last week!

Wednesday Addendum

AND DO NOT MESS UP DIET!!!!

Wednesday Plan

1) Walk for 1/2 hour

2) Pray the rosary

3) Read Mindfulness book

4) Swing Guitar book

5) Try some of the Piano by Ear book

Tuesday's Addendum

Was able to achieve all the goals I set for myself for today (as listed in the post below). So far, so good!

Also restarted reading my Mindfulness book. Also, received my Piano by Ear book in the mail today and it looks interesting.

Looks like I'm going to use the Piano by Ear book, but I would like to focus on using it for FUN !!!

Tuesday

TODAY'S PLAN

1) Walk for about 1/2 hour total.

2) Organize music into:

     A) Religious

     B) Jazz Duet

3) Work on the Swing Jazz Book.

4) Work on an improvisation for one Jazz Duet song.

5) Do not mess up diet.

6) Pray the rosary.

Sunday

Spent most of the day in transit driving my son backache to college. 

Interesting music day: listened to "Geogaddi" by Boards of Canada, and the first two albums by The Band.

Tried playing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" on piano using The Sudnow Method. Got through the first line or so. Sounded ok. Then I took out my chord melody guitar version, and was surprised that I was able to play through the whole song (even if I had to play it slowly and with mistakes).

The bit of trouble I have is that although I like the piano sound better, it is the guitar's language that comes easier to me. So do I put off the guitar? Put off the piano? Do I really hate the guitar? No. 

Happy Day-After-Thanksgiving

 

Arrival

Saw two great movies today: "The Last Waltz," and "Arrival." Saw "Arrival" at the theatre with my son; while we were gone, my wife set up our new Christmas tree.

 

Music

I once heard an interview with Bruce Springsteen and he said, "There's more to life than what you see around." I know that. That is what I try to capture in my music. The instant I held my son for the first time. Charlie Christian knew it in his solos as did Louis Armstrong. There is more to life than iPhones, money worries, and taking out the trash. There is more joy in life than what we see in the daily rut of routines. Vince Guarldi felt it when he played the introduction to "What Child is This." Keith Richards knows it, as did Keith Moon. I think music offers that opportunity to listeners as well as creators the reminder that indeed, "there's more to life than what you see around."

Black Friday

Went over some of the reading book. Won't concentrate on how to read rhythms as much as reading where the notes are on guitar. Looking to get back into the Swing Guitar book.

Ordered a new book: by Lucinda Mackworth-Young:

"Piano by Ear: Learn to Play by Ear, Improvise, and Accompany Songs in Simple Steps"

An Older Pic

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Listened to some Barney Kessel today.....wow.....

Looked at some of a YouTube video of him giving a guitar lesson; it seems excellent.

Up to chapter 2 of the guitar reading book. Actually tried to play along with some Charlie Christian stuff. I remember when I was younger playing along with a Muddy Waters album.

12:00

12:01 AM.

Happy Thanksgiving to All.

Strawberry Fields Forever

My favorite song...

 

 

 

Teddy Boys

 

 

Thanksgiving Eve

Reading an interesting book: "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig. Not too far into it, but interesting how he seems to bemoan how technology interferes with living; the book was written in 1974, but I wonder what he would think of all the technology available in 2016! Continue to work on the guitar reading book and the Silver ideas.

Thanksgiving's Eve's Eve

Wasn't quite in the mood to practice, but glad that I did. Continue to practice the Silver ideas. Also continue to learn how to read music (on the fifth position on the guitar). Feels like when I was a kid and was making mistakes practicing the first position!

Sunday

A good guitar practice day. Went over some Silver ideas, spent a half hour on the reading book, and worked on the Howard book. Looking forward to my son coming home from college tomorrow for Thanksgiving. Really have to get better at organizing my life. Want to spend 1/2 daily on exercising in some way. Would also like to spend an hour of guitar practice including the topics of reading and improvisation. Really need to change my diet.

Christmas Time is Here

Well, ok, I might be rushing things, but it sure feels like Christmas time is here. Practiced with the band this morning for a number of Christmas shows that are sneaking up. Then one of my friends came over to my place and we played some jazz tunes. He played either sax or bass, I played guitar, and we used an "app" that played accompaniment. Went really well. I mostly used the ideas of Marc Silver in my improvisations, and I think that is the way to continue to improvise (for me). I think I still should learn how to read music. Lastly, I still remain intrigued by the Swing Guitar book by Paul Howard. I must continue to try to ingrain Silver's material in my brain while exploring the Howard book and music reading. Continue to use the Gibson Les Paul Studio in my jazzier stuff, and it's just sounding really nice. I really love the ebony fretboard.

Friday

My son's playlist from his radio broadcast tonight: 1) "Zebra" by Beachhouse 2) Antlers: "Crest" 3) Radiohead: "Everything in its Right Place" 4) Aphex Twin "Xtal" 5) Nicolas Jaar : space is only noise 6) Boards of Canada: rogbiv 7) Timber Timbre: "Curtains" 8) The Books / "Classy Penguin" 9) The Books / "Tokyo" 10) Brian Wilson (Smile version): "Our Prayer" 11) Beach Boys version of "Surf's Up" 11) Beatles "Mother Nature's Son" 12) Leonard Cohen "Last Year's Man"

Aebersold

Back to the basics. To learn a musical instrument takes some hard work. Going back to perhaps learning how to read music for guitar (I can read ok in the first position, but let's face it, that's not going to cut it. Also learning improv using the Aebersold/Christiansen book.

Music Day

Played my Gibson Les Paul Studio for the first time for a prolonged time at a church Christmas sale with the band. Liking the sound. Also played with the band at Mass tonight and we received a number of compliments.

Musical Direction / Radio / Fewell Book

My son was the DJ for an hour last night on his college radio station. Here's what he played: 1) Bill Evans: "My Foolish Heart" 2) Vince Guarldi: "Skating" 3) Sufjan Stevens: "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland Illinois" 4) Penguin Cafe: "Cherzo And Trio" 5) Fleet Foxes: "Lorelai" 6) Velvet Underground: "Candy Says" 7) Nick Drake: "Road" 8) A dad request: Rolling Stones: "Moonlight Mile" 9) George Harrison: "While My Guitar Gently Weeps (acoustic George Martin 'Love' version)" 10) Bob Dylan "Desolation Row" Pretty Cool. Practiced some Christmas stuff with the band, but also stretched myself a little musically by playing a couple of jazz standards with our sax player and a background music app. I think it's time to dig in deeper in guitar and get back into the book "Jazz Improvisation for Guitar: A Melodic Approach," by the late Garrison Fewell. We had some cool email interaction in the past, and he autographed a copy of his book: "Outside Music, Inside Voices; Dialogues on Improvisation and the Spirit of Creative Music."

Sunday

Continue to work on "Willow Weep for Me" on piano as well as some material on guitar improvisation from the Negri book. Dabbled with the Reed material.

Willow

Really started digging into learning "Willow Weep For Me" on piano using the Sudnow Method.

Sudnow / Negri

Began piano work on "Willow Weep For Me" using the Sudnow Method. Worked on major and minor triads in the Joe Negri book, "A Common Sense Approach to Guitar Improvisation."

Ear

• Listened to my son DJing on the radio tonight. Cool! • Tried piano. Got nowhere! • Made a little recording of me experimenting a bit with adding little melody lines in the chord melody guitar version of "Over the Rainbow." • Was a little tempted to go back to a more traditional method guitar improvisation method, but went on instead to more of Reed's material and it's a good thing. Up to page 67 in his book, but need to get all previous material ingrained better.

Thursday

Continuing work with the Reed book. The major scale...

Tuesday

Continuing my journey with the Improvise For Real book.

Monday

Worked on "Improvise for Real" stuff and started the solo guitar section again of the Paul Howard book: "Guitar Roots: Swing."

Sunday

Continue to work with the "Improvise for Real" material. Up to page 49 in the book, and at the similar place in the video series.

Gibson Les Paul Studio

A new guitar day for me! Here is my Gibson Les Paul Studio with a great ebony fretboard: Had a great practice today too with three members of the band, going over mostly Christmas songs

You Were in a Car Crash and You Lost Your Hair

Was in a minor car accident on the way home from work today. I'm not really injured enough to seek medical care, but I think my body might be feeling it. Was stopped to make a left turn, and was rammed from behind. There was a witness who was very kind as well as a very professional and kind policeman (among others) who helped. Glad no one was seriously hurt.

Christmas, 1976

I'll never ever forget that Christmas. Was taking guitar lessons and I happened to offhandedly tell mom that the teacher was selling the kind of guitar that I wanted. Never had any idea that she would get it! She told me later that as soon as I told her that, she called up the teacher and ordered it, and he said he would like to see my face when I saw it. Was the Christmas of 1976. My brother, his girlfriend, and I slept on the floor Christmas Eve in front of the Christmas tree. On Christmas morning, my brother left the house and came in carrying the guitar. I remember that the guitar came wrapped in plastic inside it's hard shell case. It was a black Ibanez Les Paul copy that may have been about $350. (The same guitar is now on EBay for about double that price). That morning, my brother said (mimicking me), "look at the black next to the white on the frets." Was sad that night when he left to sleep at his girlfriend's. I remember he came to my room Christmas night before leaving and asked if I was happy (about the guitar). It was a sad feeling because the wonder of the day was over, and my brother and his girlfriend were leaving. I banged that guitar up pretty good (not sure how, but I managed to lose the white switch piece attached to the switch that changed the pickups) and ended up selling it for $50. A wonderful Christmas!

Thursday

A good guitar practice today; up to page 32 in the Reed book, but not quite ready to move on yet.

Wednesday

Still working on "Improvising For Real." Getting ready to practice Christmas music with the band. Reading Bruce Springsteen's autobiography, "Born to Run."

Improvise For Real

Will be working tonight more on David Reed's "Improvise for Real" material. May soon get a really nice Gibson Les Paul Studio. Watched part of the second Presidential debate last night between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. If it wasn't for Clinton's views on abortion, she might get my vote for sure. Trump's attitude is a disaster.

Old Pictures!

Friday

• Listened to my son's first broadcast as a DJ on his college radio station!

• Continued to work on David Reed's improv material.

• Continue to work on memorizing open piano chords.

• Worked on writing lyrics to a friend's blues song.

Thursday

• Working on my David Reed material.

• Got back to practicing piano (memorizing chords). 

Wednesday

Going to use David Reed's book: "Improvise for Real."

Tuesday

1) To practice piano again

2) To play songs on guitar (melody and improvisation).

3) To work out of the Swing Guitar book.

Saturday

My son is home for the weekend, and that is cool. Been back on guitar, wondering about improv., wondering about piano.

Thursday

https://www.dropbox.com/s/z4o7di69qv20b3s/Lit.m4a?dl=0

Getting back to the guitar. Would like to continue to arrange songs as above and play then with our upright bass player with improvs.

Lull

Just a bit of a lull. Stay tuned.

Instrumental

https://www.dropbox.com/s/yqvlpxvcnhkpvw0/Instrum.m4a?dl=0

Wednesday

Now need to lose 36.8 pounds instead of the 50 I started with.

Charlie, Neil, and Joni

Bought a book to learn guitar improvisation in the style of Charlie Christian and started to use it.

Listened to Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush," and Joni Mitchell's "Court and Spark."

Sunday

Tried to play piano today but couldn't do so for more than about a couple seconds. Time to do more.

Thought it might be time to get into gypsy or some kind of swing jazz stuff on the guitar. Looked and listened to some of my learning materials, and found myself much more drawn to old swing guitar than gypsy guitar. Going to get into again a book I used before: "Guitar Roots: Swing," by Paul Howard. Will skip the rhythm material, though, and get to the material on improvisation.

Not giving up the piano, but just doing more.

Saturday Swing

Practiced with band this morning.

Played some piano and was fristrated.

Listened to some really cool old jazz guitar on YouTube and I'm liking it. I like the old jazz a lot more than the stuff from the 1940's on. The old stuff swings. The old stuff has melody.

That old guitar sound is something I am tempted to get into. Eddie Lang.

Friday

Music is not just "notes." Music is not having a knowledge of how to voice major, minor 7s, and major 7 chords. Music is not having a knowledge of thirds. All those things are important, but they are not "music."

Music is also rhythm. And I've been missing that consistently in my piano playing. I think it'd be beneficial to continue to work on "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" until I got the rhythm (playing on time). Still, since playing on the fly from fakebooks is a goal, I can continue to do that. However, I think it'd be a good idea to always have a song that I'm working to perfect in terms of rhythm and timing. 

Not perfect timing but better than the previous recorded version:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9jy5m42not29dww/Hark.m4a?dl=0

Thursday

Getting bored. But not giving up. Working on getting the minor 7 chords and the major chords memorized / need to work more on them as well as the major 7 chords. Anyway, here's how "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" is sounding today with mistakes:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gxr9e31zt5a2k0q/My%20Song%206.m4a?dl=0

Looking forward to getting into a couple books I have on guitar fingerpicking.

Wednesday

Now need to lose 41 pounds instead of 50.

Learning the thirds on the piano (away from the piano). 

Listened to a nice album: Graham Nash's "Songs for Beginners."

Tuesday

Listened to an Eric Andersen album: 'Bout Changes and Things and enjoyed it. Some of it was beautiful.

Had a return to piano day, and it was ok, I guess. Mostly reviewed some chords already memorized and tried to put them in practice by playing Christmas songs, most notably "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." Frustrating not being able to move around quickly. Tempted to walk away from the piano. 

Sunday

Interesting musical day. Worked mor in memorizing piano chords. 

Listened to Leo Kottke's "Greenhouse" album on vinyl, and some things are getting clearer to me about the kind of acoustic guitar stuff I like. I'm not really a fan of the acoustic blues guitar. Came as an insight today (though I knew it all along) that I really like the sound of new age type of acoustic guitar. Not a fan of showey fast players. I like sounds! I like melody. Looked up my Mark Hanson instructional books.  I also have a book of alternative tunings that may be helpful. I'm a fan (not enormously) of Travis picking, but it might be interesting to learn. Still saving for a high quality acoustic guitar.

Saturday

Cool to have my son home for the Labor Day Holiday.

Band practice went well; rehearsing for a charity gig for which we'll play in two weeks.

Back at the piano, trying to memorize chords.

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

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

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

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:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4ebnqoruhqd4ofo/Meas.m4a?dl=0

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:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tcnkwrqvh6j2ct0/Libm.m4a?dl=0

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.

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 Morning at 5:00

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

https://www.dropbox.com/s/twymrocvupv3k6c/LeavingHome.m4a?dl=0

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 / 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:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5uicfblxoqbme68/Leaving.m4a?dl=0

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 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

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

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

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:  

https://www.dropbox.com/s/p6q68k7w4sx1676/WL2016.m4a?dl=0

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sunday

Won't concentrate on Danny Boy anymore. Time to move on! Recorded it, and sent it to just my piano buddy and one band member who likes Irish music. Listened to a Crosby, Stills, and Nash album on vinyl and it was, well, ok. Up to page 26 of the first Swain book. Will add Danny Boy to my new piano repertoire.

Saturday

Good piano day. Finished (well, almost) with Danny Boy; sounds choppy and has mistakes, but after about working on it for only a week, it's ok. Will continue to work on it. Made good on my goal of not sending it out a recording of it for people to listen. 

My vinyl listen today was "Born in the USA" by Mister Bruce Springsteen. A great album!

Friday

Somewhat interesting musical day in that I was tempted to buy a saxophone! I tried it in the past (alto, tenor, and soprano). Realized that trying saxophone again isn't the best idea. 

Practiced some of Danny Boy on piano.

Listened to a great album on vinyl that I used to play so much of when I was a kid (Elton John's "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player"), and it was a great listen. During listening to it, I was convinced to stay with the piano and not move to saxophone! 

Thursday

Well I decided not to memorize. However, before I move on to another other piece of music, I want to have whatever I am working on played smoothly and at a good tempo. 

Practiced Danny Boy. Want to have practice time devoted to more than just song practice, though. Want to include:

A) Song practice

B) Building chord repertoire

C) Practice on chord construction

Listened to Elton John's "Madman Across the Water" album and really enjoyed it.

Wednesday

Facing a little dilemma. Not sure if I should memorize piano pieces or just go by reading them. 

Practiced Danny Boy, almost half through or so (not sounding too outstanding) but getting frustrated trying to memorize it.

Danny Boy

Still working on Danny Boy. Will celebrate my son's 19th birthday tomorrow! I actually bought a couple of albums tonight: "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player" and "Madman Across the Water," both by Elton John.

Sunday / Thank you, Alan Swain

Feeling more Catholic these days.

Anyway, I had a really good piano day today. Not because I practiced for hours. Actually I practiced just a little. But my attitude towards the piano has perhaps changed. It's getting more internalized, perhaps, that it's best if I take my time and see this as a long term thing. Started "Danny Boy" and it's coming along nicely, as is my chord learning. 

Looked up the Alan Swain piano learning books on the internet, and sadly, it looks like his internet site is down. That's not cool, because I think his book is a wonderful resource. I guess too many people are on their phones and doing other things rather than learn music. 

Anyway, if Alan Swain happens to read this, I want to say "Thank you" for your learning material.

Saturday

Band practice today - went well. Came home and spent just about the whole day  putting a bed together for one of my kids. 

Tomorrow will go back to the piano and start learning Danny Boy. 

Thursday

Saw a decent movie with my son: "Lights Out." Came home and did some good piano practice. Working on memorizing a short Alan Swain tune from his first book per his instructions. Added another chord to my knowledge bank.

Wednesday

Continue to work on the Swain piano material. Ted Cruz just recently got some attention with his speech at the GOP Convention. 

July 19, 2016 / MUSIC GOALS

Rode exercise bike for about 33 minutes. Eating habits today were pretty bad but I got back ok for dinner. Back to the piano:

I've been everywhere with this method and that method, combining methods and everything this past week or so. Changed my mind again. Going to work with Alan Swain's two books. Here are my goals for this year:

1) Using Alan Swain's material (and lead sheets) devote at least a half hour a day to piano practice. The key will be to use the half hour productively in a way that involves one or both of: memorizing chords, and playing them in songs. Take my time. Don't make mistakes. Be patient. Use the half hour wisely.

2) Don't share solo piano recordings with others (except perhaps my piano buddy) for a year. I think that by sharing my practice I am getting sidetracked. My goal at this point needs to be to learn the piano, rather than have an audience. Don't put the cart before the horse.

-----------------------------------------

Up to page 24 of the first Swain book.  Just questioning if I will eventually gain the ability to play chords automatically

while playing from a lead sheet...

A good day at the piano.

The July 18 Challenge

Rode exercise bike for 1/2 hour.

Well I've been changing plans all over the place lately. But this is a challenge I want to keep. Been working on a way to sound great on piano with, let's be honest, the least effort. So with the help of my piano buddy I figured out a way to memorize just 36 chords that just fulfill my needs. So here is the July 18, 2016 challenge:

1) Give my 36 chord program material a solid year of practicing at least a half hour a day. The key will be to use the half hour productively in a way that involves one or both of: memorizing chords, and playing them in songs. Take my time. Don't make mistakes. Be patient. Use the half hour wisely.

2) Don't share solo piano recordings with others (except perhaps my piano buddy) for a year. I think that by sharing my practice I am getting sidetracked. My goal at this point needs to be to learn the piano, rather than have an audience. Don't put the cart before the horse.

Today learned: C7 closed voicing, Bb major and Am open voicings, and C major open voicing.

Crunch Time

Rode exercise bike for 1/2 hour. 

Crunch time with health. Honeymoon is over and now my healthy habits have to remain a priority as the routine has set in.

At the piano, it's crunch time. The honeymoon is over. It's time to do the sweating and the work. Memorizing chords is hard work. Then quickly shifting them in a song is hard work. 

Patience

Ok well I just had a brilliant idea with regards to piano learning. I got what I think is a great idea regarding how to memorize chords. The answer rests in elegant simplification. I think I can memorize all major, minor, and dominant chords by combining what David Sudnow, Alan Swain, and perhaps Bill Susman teach. Now this will not cover chords such as 6th, 9ths, 13s, b5, so for those chords I'll have to study a little differently. 

But I think by combining methods, I can facilitate the learning of all the major chords, all the major 7 chords, all the minor chord, all the minor 7 chords, and all the dominant (7th) chords. Now that wouldn't be too big of a feat, taking only 36 chords to do all that! Yep, only 36 chords!

Saturday

Rode exercise bike for 1/2 hour.

R5Q.     3Q

If not maj min or o then dom

Up to page 21 in the Swain book, and learned a third boogie woogie left hand bass pattern. 

Thinking that the key to playing songs on the piano, for me anyway, is twofold: a) memorizing open chords as utilized by Alan Swain, and b) playing tons of songs.

A cool method for me might be to pick out a song, first memorize its chords, then play the song utilizing the melody note.

Friday / Four Days

Rode exercise bike for 1/2 hour. 

Continue to work on the Swain book. Added Fmaj7 to my list: chords known now are: Cmaj7, Dmin7, Emin7, Fmaj7, C6, and G7.

The piano is difficult. 

Sure I might know these chords, but playing them in the context of Swain's melodies (using a melody note and staying in time) is challenging. Finding myself getting ahead of myself thinking I should be better at it, how am I going to play it when it gets more complex, etc. BUT I'M ONLY FOUR DAYS INTO THE BOOK! WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT MY PATIENCE?? Hahahahahahahaha!

I think it will help to remember to not expect to be a master song player after just a little practice. This kind of thing takes time. And I am enjoying it as long as I don't try to get ahead of myself.

Went back to the piano after writing the stuff above and it was good! Working up to p. 8 in the Swain book and actually added another boogie woogie (from the boggie woogie book) left hand pattern to my left hand. Started to actually get a little bit in time slamming down right handed chord stuff as I jammed on those left hand patterns.

I thought earlier today that perhaps I should just work on the Swain material since I probably don't have the time to work on the Swain material AND the boogie wiggle book. But I want to try both, with an emphasis on the Swain method. That boogie woogie stuff is just too much fun to resist! 

Read about a boogie woogie piano player who only played in the keys of C an G. Inspirational!!  Man, play music your OWN way!

Thursday

Rode exercise bike for 1/2 hour. Have been doing great with regards to healthy habits including not eating in the middle of the night.

Worked more on page 5 of the Swain book; time to move to page 6. Practiced the first left hand pattern in the boogie-woogie book, too! That right hand / left hand coordination will be a bear!

Wednesday

Rode exercise bike for 1/2 hour. Lost 7.2 pounds in a week.

Almost done with page 5 of the Swain book. Fine line between trying to get the music known with no errors and knowing when good enough is enough. 

Toying with learning boogie-woogie piano. Listened to some old time boogie-woogie on CD. Toying with using the book "Boogie-Woogie Piano" by Todd Lowry. Started reading it.

Tuesday

Rode exercise bike for 1/2 hour.

Practicing Swain's Book One, and up to page 5. Learning some new chords, and p. 5 had a little melody that might take me some time to really learn. Liking this. Learning open chords and their application. I guess I just wasn't ready in the past to just take my time with this methodology. Alan Swain gives some useful practice ideas also in Book 1.

CHORDS LEARNED:

Cmaj7

Dmin7

Emin7

C6

G7