STEP

Last Piano Lesson!

It seems like my summer experiences are coming to a close. Today I had my last piano lesson with Connie. She has been nothing short of a wonderful teacher. Our lesson ran a little over, but she gave me the next book in line to continue my practice at school (regarding this, I will try to update when I can, but no promises).

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We talked about a lot of stuff I will see in the future books like the sustain pedal, triplets, and many other things. It felt like I was preparing for a journey! All and all it has been a great experience thus far, and I hope to continue to improve as my STEP project draws to a close.

Week 10 ( Lesson 8/2/16)

This week things are really picking up. I am working on two songs that I could not get to last week due to my return to Ohio. They are “Careless Love” and “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.” If I have time over the next week I will try to get a video up! Now the songs become fewer but are definitely getting more involved, especially in the right hand. The repetitive cords in the right make it a little easier to time out when to play, but at the same time this sheet music introduces a couple progressions I haven’t seen before. Also! This week we concentrated a little bit on piano theory. My teacher introduced the circle of fifths, which basically explains a lot of the inter-relationships between the cords. I’ve attached a picture below!

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Wisdom Teeth Removed!

Hey all! Just wanted to let you know there won’t be any video of piano practice this past week. I went home from my Aunt and Uncles Thursday night to get my Wisdom Teeth removed on Friday. Needless to say the operation went really well, but I spent the weekend recuperating in Ohio… sans digital piano. Keep a lookout for next week though!

Week 8 ( Lesson 7/19/16)

This week I learned the C major scale! The songs are starting to get more and more complex (in a good way). During the first few lessons it felt like I was crushing it, but to be honest it is really easy when you don’t have to move your hands at all! I learned a couple of lines from “The First Noel,” “Joy to the World,” and “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear.” Also, last week the song “Little bit of Rock” continued to give me some trouble so I double downed on it this week!

Camera Recorder

IMG_3636 copyIn case anyone is wondering why jeans may appear in the videos, check out my camera stand! I wedge my phone between two pairs of jeans to record weekly, so pardon that. I guess I should have thought about buying a camera stand for my phone or something. Oh well!

I am editing the videos from weeks 5 and 6, they should be up tomorrow!

Week 6 ( Lesson 7/5/16)

This week there was not all that much new introduced. Most of the songs I am practicing are in F major. The two new major concepts are dotted quarter notes and staccato touch. The first explains itself, and Staccato touch is where you rapidly remove your fingers from the keyboard after hitting a note to get the explosive sharp sound from it. It looks like next week I will start getting into more hand shifts!

During the last three songs this week you can tell I was getting a little impatient haha. The written sheet music for jingle bells isn’t exactly like the tune. They wanted the player to practice staccato touch in both the left and right hands, making the bass (at least in my opinion) fall a little flat. I think it sounds explosive to be honest.. Obviously I want to get a pretty good version uploaded, but especially in the last 3 songs I’d get to the end and mess up. It really lowered my patience. Boy I can’t image when I start recording longer pieces. I don’t mind live audiences, I just hate the camera because I know whatever performance it’s here to stay.

Week 5 ( Lesson 6/28/16)

Back to lessons, finally! On Tuesday my teacher introduced a new key, F major. I worked through some songs in this key–they are also starting to get a little more challenging! While I still don’t have to shift hands a lot, the rhythm of the notes is starting to become more complex (well… for a beginner).  I am also trying to continue to improve on hitting chords more evenly with my left hand. One of the things my teacher noticed was that between cords that played the same note with my pinky, I wasn’t coming of the key and pressing it again. That is definitely something I will work on this week. Otherwise, a bit more of the same!

This week was July 4th weekend. Since I went home Friday right after work and came back Monday  night, I will be honest! I did not get too much practice in on these pieces so excuse the choppiness!

Week 4 ( No Lesson 6/21/16)

This week since my teacher was out of town, I went ahead and continued to practice what I’ve done so far. Most of the pieces will be an improvement from last week. I did mess around with converting one of the latter songs from the key of G to C major though! It’s surprisingly easy to down when you have the cord notation, and your hands don’t have to shift during the song…

Week 3 (Lesson 6/14/16)

This week “accidentals” were introduced aka sharps and flats! Even though my teacher hasn’t really gotten into the theory yet, I know that means a couple easy blues songs are coming my way to practice this week. Since my teacher is on vacation next week, we also covered a new major, G. During the lesson it felt like a lot of songs were being flung my way but after practicing they don’t seem bad at all.