My Favorite Things!

This is not a piano performance, but rather a vocal duet with my little niece!  This was so fun to perform with my lovely niece!  My Favorite Things from the Sound of Music Musical performed at Armstrong Auditorium in January 2020.  My niece is one of my very favorite things too!  :-)

Piano Lessons - January 22, 2020

I missed the first two lessons of this Spring semester due to sickness...AKA the flu....possibly the worst case of the flu I've ever experienced.  Anyway, so I was two weeks behind, and still not feeling 100% three weeks later, but knew I had to make it to piano since I was already two weeks behind.  Anyway, so I have a lot to catch up on this semester, and it's going to mean a lot more practicing now to catch up, but I was such a ditz in lessons today.  It was hard to get back into the swing of things, and I was feeling tired in my body still being in recovery mode.  Anyway, so my teacher told me to fix something five lines in my music, and I kept asking her "where, where do you mean?"....She would promptly say 5 lines down, and then I was all confused and couldn't find where she was at, and then she took the music and counted very sarcastically the staff lines....1, 2, 3, 4, 5!....5 lines down!  LOL....I cracked up laughing and realized how ditzy I was.  My response was "oh, I can count, I guess the flu burnt a few of my brain cells that have to regenerate."  I think I was so tired I was half asleep.

Piano Lessons - December 18th

My piano teacher told me in piano lessons yesterday that my piano brain functions like a robot running on autopilot.  Not quite sure if that was a compliment or correction.  :-)!

Something New

What do you do when sheet music calls for 6 fingers in one hand, but you only have 5 fingers in one hand because you are human?  Your teacher has to show you an advanced method of using one finger to hit two keys at the same time.  Wow, totally new to me.  I had no idea advanced pianist did this.  It is a bit difficult to do this, but I'm finally starting to catch on.  Learning new things every day!  Taking piano lessons really is character building; and growing and building on the foundation that I received as a child now as an adult on into advanced lessons is super character building.  Just when I think I've reached a goal, there is something else to learn.  It's pretty neat!

Name That Tune :-)

Above is a two line excerpt of one of the 3 pieces that my teacher assigned me this fall semester since lessons cranked back up last week.  All of my assignments are super challenging!  On the one shown above, my teacher has already given me correction on playing eighth notes too slow.  What, how did I do that, that's like a 6th grade mistake!  Anyway, I'm thinking about how I am going to learn and play all 3 pieces by the end of the semester!  I think she's trying to kill me.  LOL!  No, really she is a great teacher who pushes me to achieve to the highest level that I can.  Anyway, above is my favorite of my assignments.  I'll leave it a surprise, but it is a popular classical piece that most have heard in their lives either in movies, or when they are out and about just living life.  If you play piano, you may be able to pick it out and figure it out.  I'm excited about this one.  The other two, well, I'll grow from them!  :-)  It's kind of like I don't say that I have bad days anymore, rather I say I had "character building days."  :-)!  Anyway, I'll share the actual performance of this piece once I've mastered it, and performed it before an audience for whoever would like to hear/see it.

Summer Break!

This past Summer, for the first time in YEARS!...I took a 3 month break from taking piano lessons.  My teacher wasn't stoked about it, but she understood I needed a break, and it felt good!  Piano takes up a lot of time!  Piano lessons started up again for me last week, so back to the grind!  Anyway, I got a lot of time in with some of my favorite gals of all ages this summer!  It was great!  Here are some pics!

 ABOVE:  Fun times with my niece and her friends this summer!  Being an Aunt is so fun!

ABOVE:  FLASHBACK from the PAST at my place!

BELOW:  Present fun times in my home this summer w/the same gals!  It was like a reunion.  They are now all in their early 20's.  (Notice how the decor behind them hasn't changed.  LOL  I don't know if I should be embarrassed about that or not.  I guess I like it.) 

VIDEO: Rhapsody in Blue Piano Duet Performance!

I finally played Rhapsody in Blue as a piano duet on stage a few nights ago with my teacher at the Dwight Armstrong Performing Arts Conservatory.  Here is a video of that performance.  If you want to view it full sized in you tube just click on the square in the lower right corner once you hit play.  (My brother also shot another video from another angle that I may post on my public main blog; maybe.  I'm always thankful for the opportunities that God gives, and try my best to be careful in not coming across as in your face and all about me focused.  It's all about giving back to others.  I saw this quote online a few weeks back and committed it to memory.  I think it makes a lot of sense; especially if you're a woman trying to obey God with the meek and quiet spirit.  "Always have a unique character like salt; it's presence is not always felt, but it's absence makes everything tasteless."  Not that my absence would make things tasteless...LOL, but I like the spirit behind the quote.)  Thanks to Mr. Malone for opening the door for this opportunity.  It was big and I was appreciative.  Wow!  I made it to the end.  After the recital when someone came over to tell me I did great, my teacher piped in and told them, that wasn't my greatest performance but that I did okay and that it was an acceptable performance, but that she is about perfection, and I'd played it better in practice.  LOL  Piano teachers also keep you humble, very humble!  :-)  Thanks to my piano teacher for all that she does to help me become a better pianist!  She really is great!  I purposely wore a loose dress with the color blue in it.  Rhapsody in Blue was composed in the 1920's, and the fashion back then was no waist line and loose fitting dresses.  It was a fun dress though now I'll sew the seams in it to actually fit my size coming back to 2019 making it a fun summer dress!

The definition of piano lessons should be read as follows:  The act of paying a skilled pianist to constantly give you correction and hammer you (and the piano) for the length of your lesson and keeping you humble when "fans" come over to congratulate you after an actual performance. :-)!  This is so true....without a teacher you'd never know what you're doing wrong.  Anyway, by the time we ended, my brain was about shot.  In fact, I was so exhausted that when I went home I didn't even eat dinner I was so tired.  I went straight to bed with a super migraine headache.  I think that comes from stress and low blood sugar since I can't ever eat before I perform.  The fine print of advanced piano lessons! If someone had told me even three years ago I'd be doing all of the things in piano that have turned into a big chunk of my world, I would have laughed at them.  Piano in my life these days is proof to me that God wanted that for me, and made that a big part of my life.  Of course I have to work hard in doing my part in practice, but I have to say, the doors have just swung wide open for me over the past few years with service opportunities and performances that I haven't even asked for....they just fell in my lap.  I practice, and God does the rest.  It's character building too.  Sometimes I don't feel like practicing, but I know I have to in order to be of use and service.  It is really amazing what big doors God can open for you when you allow Him to use you in doing His will for you.  Wow, it's mind blowing amazing!!!  Yes, I love piano so much now, but it's more than just playing; it's because I know God is the reason behind it with all of the blessings that have come from it.