From last night's gig:

Gig

Had a great time playing guitar and singing a bit in a gig tonight! Even got paid. Highlight for me was singing "Mustang Sally" and "Be Bop a Lula." Great to play for an applauding audience that danced to the music. 

Well Forget That

Remember yesterday's post about my great plan to learn the piano? Well forget that. I'll keep the health and spirituality stuff, but forget about piano.

Rightly or wrongly, I decided to give up the piano. It's not clicking and never has. Who am I kidding?!

I don't feel like putting in the work. There. I've said it. Will try to accept it. I'm sticking to guitar and will just dabble in piano. Played some Beatles songs for my daughter and myself tonight on piano and it was dreadful. Frustrating. 

Playing a rock and roll gig tomorrow night and I'm looking forward to reconnecting with my buddy, the guitar.

Inspiration

The Plan

Ok, so it's still January, so I still have time to make New Years Resolutions. Well, here is my piano learning plan:

1) Focus on using the Mark Harrison's "The Pop Piano Book." 

2) Spend a little time each day focusing on these three areas of practice: a) songs b) a section of the book that teaches technical material like scales, chord inversions, etc. c) a section of the book that focuses on a particular style of pop playing (starting with the chapter on ballads).

3) I would like to spend 15 minutes in each of these three areas daily to start.

Today I got myself organized and started to learn chord inversions again.

And here is more of a personal growth plan:

1) Exercise 30 minutes per day.

2) Restart the MINDFULNESS book

3) Pay more attention to health, including but not limited to, diet.

4) Read at least a little of something related to spirituality daily.

5) Pray daily.

Let's see where I get by January 28, 2016 in terms of musical, physical, personal, and spiritual growth.

Here we go!

Commitment!!

Yours Truly

Pop Piano Book

I think I'll try Mark Harrison's "The Pop Piano Book." I've had it for awhile but never really gave it a chance. I have the CDs that demonstrate the various examples in the book. When I tried it before, I got bogged down thinking I need to understand everything in it. There's a lot in this book in just the first couple chapters or so!!!!!! So this time I'm skimming around the book and seeing where it takes me. It really seems to be very comprehensive and detailed. But more importantly, it seems to be a valuable resource and a labor of love. I like it.

In My Life

Very interesting evening at the piano. Played the Beatles' "In My Life" and it sounded good! Utilized some ideas from the book I mentioned yesterday and I like it. Utilized an inversion in there and it was cool. Played the solo part somewhat by ear. I guess a kind of secret of learning to play piano is to actually play the piano.

Here's how it is sounding today, and although it needs work, I think it's not bad at all:

https://soundcloud.com/user-860420366/in-my-life-cover

Read some more of the Bible today. Got to get back to Mindfullness, diet, and exercise.

Interesting Reads

This book is making for some interesting reading: The Bible. 

So is this one: "How to Play From a Fakebook" by Michael Esterowitz.

Snow, piano, and grandmom

Got lots of snow. Too much! Continue to work on "All the Things You Are," really trying to implant clusters in my brain. Here's a picture of my maternal grandmother. Not sure when this picture was taken, but she was born in 1900, and she is quite young in this picture was taken. I think she died in 1986:

All the Things You Are When I'm 64

Ready for a ton of snow this weekend, I started tonite getting back to the Sudnow Method in earnest with "All the Things You Are." Trying to somehow lock some ideas of cluster shapes in my brain. My friend lent me his ukelele, and I made a version of "When I'm 64."

Here it is:

https://soundcloud.com/user-860420366/when-im-64-cover

The merging of creativity, melody, sounds, music, art, Christianity, film, painting, drawing, painted cathedral ceilings, poetry, literature, the ocean, moon, nighttime, mindfulness....violins, french horns, piano...

Rock / Pop Piano

Took another chance and ordered an internet piano course teaching rock piano. I dunno, maybe this jazz stuff isn't for me. Don't have much to lose to try out the rock stuff. 

It's a course that has a one time pay for it keep it forever plan. So I'll try to stick with the course I bought to use for a year and dabble in the rock course.

Piano vs Guitar

I think I'm going back to my internet piano course. Patience. 

There still exists the tension between learning how to make the sounds I love (piano) vs. the sounds I'm better at (guitar). Not enough time in my day to study both!

Dad Visit

Burned 793 calories on the exercise bike for an hour. Watched some of "Rocky Balboa" during my exercise. A great movie.

Drove a couple hours to see my dad today. During the car ride, I listened to some great music: Brian Wilson's "Smile," "Abbey Road" and the "White Album" by the Beatles, and Nick Drake's "Pink Moon."

I can feel my on the verge of going into possibly a Sudnow Method excursion. I've learned a lot with that Method....trying to adapt it to my individual style of learning. 

Sudnow

Burned 833 calories on exercise bike for an hour. Watched The Godfather II while exercising.

Really thinking of doing some Sudnow piano stuff.

Piano

Just fooled around on the piano a bit with the Beatles song "In My Life." Played with my computer, also, getting some recordings organized a bit. 

Just aching to play songs sounding like David Sudnow on the piano. But my guitar sounds so much better, and I'm just not clicking on the piano. 

Feels like I'm too old to put in the time required on the piano.

Here are some recordings:

A) Here's an experimental one called "32":

https://soundcloud.com/user-860420366/32a

B) And here's an even more experimental one called "Boppy": 

https://soundcloud.com/user-860420366/boppy-1

My Cherie Amour

Had a guitar project I wanted to work on today, and here's the result. It's the Stevie Wonder song, "My Cherie Amour," and although it's not perfect, I'd say its pretty good for figuring it out and recording it in one evening. I used the principles of Robert Conti's "The Assembly Line" book and the sheet music to the song. Here it is:

 https://soundcloud.com/user-860420366/my-cherie-amour-cover

Did some yoga (13 minutes) for the first time.

Mindfulness Week 2; Day 5

Burned about 408 calories in about 30.03 minutes on the exercise bike.

Played some chord melody stuff on the guitar and it feels good to play guitar again. 

Continuing my mindfulness meditation work.  

Mindfulness Week 2; Day 4

Woke up and did some mindfulness work; in the future I should probably do it after waking since it put me to sleep. Burned 406.2 calories on exercise bike for 30.6 minutes. Played no music today.

Bowie

Rest in Peace, David Bowie. 

Mindfulness Week 2; Day 3

Rode exercise bike for 1/2 hour, burning 400 calories. Continue to work on my mindfulness program. Took down Christmas decorations today, which is always a drag. Good to get it over with, though. Actually picked up the guitar today and I must say that it felt good. Must do more with it. No piano practice today. Getting tempted to read the Bible. I have already read the New Testament once, but never got through the Old Testament. Might have a couple of paying gigs coming up with the band, and I'm thinking of getting a Martin guitar.

Mindfulness Week 2; Day 2

Rode exercise bike for 1/2 hour. Went to a fun birthday party for my best friend, too. Did my mindfulness work.

Practiced the piano and it's getting on my nerves. Am tempted to get a ukulele! Tomorrow I might do something that has been overdue: play guitar. Goodnight.

Mindfulness Week 2; Day 1

Meditated 2X today and I like it.

On piano, practiced some essentials, and my song. Would still like to make an album focusing on using the acoustic guitar.

Piano / Mindfulness

Practiced some of my piano plan. What may be complicated to remember is fingerings. 

Began to use the second mindfulness mediation it will try in earnest to get back to the full program tomorrow.

Piano Plan

Following a great coaching plan received from my on-line teacher, for now I will focus each day's practice on (in order of importance): 1) Practicing at least 30 minutes daily. 2) Working on Piano Essentials in key of C. 3) Practice "Let it Snow" using left hand shells and single melody notes in right hand / memorizing 2 measures at a time. 4) Learning major scales on both hands

Mindfulness Week 1; Day 7

Nice relaxing day. Last day of my week 1 Mindfulness program; starting week two tomorrow. Made a recording of "Let it Snow," and sent it off to my teacher for recommendations for how to reach my goal: play from fakebooks. I have a lot of work to do, but that's ok. 

Rode exercise bike for 1/2 hour.

Mindfulness Week 1; Day 6

Rode exercise bike for 1/2 hour. Surprising myself with progress in making on the piano song.

Mindfulness Week 1; Day 5

Rode exercise bike for 1/2 hour. Practiced my piano song; almost done with learning the notes, but my rhythm is in need of much work. 

Completed watching the documentary about Keith Richards: "Under the Influence." He makes me want to rock and roll. He's also a great role model about growing older as a rock and roller. He said he'd like to be an anonymous rock and roller, and I guess I can be just that.

Mindfulness Week 1; Day 4

Rode the exercise bike for an hour.

Continued to practice piano; going ok. Looking forward to getting some answers when I communicate to the teacher. 

Continued to work on mindfulness meditation even though I was interrupted during it. I do believe that I am feeling some benefits of increased calmness. Worked a little on habit change.

Watched the movie "Living in the Material World" about George Harrison. I don't ever think I'll think of George the same. Wasn't aware that he was somewhat eccentric (or is it that he was just more unafraid of being himself, or more spiritual than what we consider "normal" people?). I always thought that Lennon was the most eccentric Beatle, but George had some of that eccentric genius in him too.

Some interesting quotes by Ravi Shanker. In one, he talked about music being the closest thing to peace and love, but our lives come short to achieving those things.

I loved the film. But I wonder if anyone's life can be made to seem dramatic if it was made into a movie. Nonetheless, I loved the film.

George also said something that hit close to home for me regarding the sitar. He realized he'd never excel on the instrument, and that he interpreted Ravi Shanker's suggestion to go back to his roots to mean go back to the guitar. Well I doubt if I'll ever excel on the piano as I am much more at ease either guitar. 

However, of course I am not George, so I think I'll continue to keep working on being who I am, and right now that means to me to keep working on the piano.

Goodnight, "From Me to You," on this New Year's Day, 2016.