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That's terrific! We've had several threads over the years about family member's support (or lack thereof) for piano, and it's clear that it makes a tremendous difference. I know that I appreciate greatly my hubby's enthusiastic response to my playing.

I have never been to Milan, but two summers ago my family went to Naples and Taormina. Breathtakingly beautiful countryside.

--Monica, who is now heading off for a morning jog, seeing as she will need to lose some weight if she's going to have to wear a string bikini.

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Enjoy your morning jog, Monica!! Can’t wait to see you in that string bikini! (just kidding… no I’m not )

In the last 9 months I’ve lost almost 40 pounds! I feel better and look better (of course that’s subjective ) than I have in years! My blood pressure is better than it has ever been and my total cholesterol is below normal (thanks to diet, exercise and Crestor).

Here’s my secret… regular exercise (an hour on weekends and at least 30 minutes on week days 4 out of 5 days; I take one day off to rest). I use a stair-stepper machine, do sit-ups and lift weights. I play my piano hard every day (good exercise by the way).

Playing those oldie rock-n-roll tunes of the 50’s and 60’s on the piano is great exercise!

Take care,

Rick

Playing piano counts as good exercise? hmmmmm why am I not in better shape? lol.

I'm hoping to get out on my bike SOON and shed some of the winter pounds I've collected! No bikini in my future, but I know I could be in better shape!

My problem is that I love my bike, but I love my piano more. ...... hmmmmmm

Hi Kells, Sorry to be one of the thread highjackers here so I will try and redeem myself and get back on track as well. [Although the thought of Monica all greased up........, never mind].

Anyway, your enthusiasm comes through bright and shiny on this end. Such a nice change from the seemingly endless "no motivation to play" droop plop.

I'll give you a tip that really helped me and is "Super-cheap" five star rated.

If you go to www.musicnotes.com and download their Scorch music player, you can view virtually any song/tune being played at any time (metronome) level so you can follow along while it plays. In addition, you can even print out the first page of any piece they carry for free.

By doing this, you will be able to *sample* the piece and see if its within your abilities and liking. You can take the printed first page and follow along as the scorch music player plays it for you audibly. You can also practice this first page on your own to see if you want to learn the entire piece.

The *Super-cheap* rated secret is that many beginer level song/piecs are very, if not extremely repetitive. Many times you can actually make a large portion of the entire tune just by repeating or modufying/spicing sections of the first page. I.e, many begining level 4-5 page tunes are simply about a page and a half of repeating stuff.

What's really nice with doing this is should have an interest in playing by ear or possibly doing some simple composing, this is a great way to start because you can literally "fill in" the gaps. Doing this promotes creative thinking and trains your brain to start recognizing where certain sounds come from on the keyboard.

I have done this many times. Initially because I was simply too cheap to buy and try everything out there but later realizing that this *alternate* method really worked out well. (at least for me).

I was able to visually see the music being played, listen to it, print it out as well as sample virtually everything that is available in print.

Ultimately, when I found the ideal piece that really inspired me, I would break down and spend the $3.95 and actually buy the piece....(*Super-Hunky hint alert*) Should you purchase and print out an online score, be sure to immediatly scan the sheetmusic and save it. You will thank me for this tip the first (of many) times you end up misplacing/losing some or all of your music.

While it is nice to have a sheet music rack filled with neatly organized scores, It's even nicer to have a digital backup ready to print out a fresh copy when something happens to your original.

BTW, We have a recital coming up very soon, You have the perfect opportunity to submit whatever you can play now. Remember, this is a BEGINER forum so anything is fine. Plus, you can do what I do and use these quarterly recitals as a sort of time capsule to document your progress over time.

Welcome aboard and best of luck with your musical journey.

Did somebody say cycling? Cycling in Italy?



Sorry Kells for yet another thread hijack

hey Mr. Super-Hunky, I just downloaded scorch yesterday! lol.
I was curious about Einaudi and I did just what you suggested - listened to a sample, then downloaded

I'm going to ask my teacher if she has some of his stuff - my bet is that she will. If not... well, I might go to music heaven in Milan. There is a shop that has a few hundred square feet of sheet music - the walls are lined with drawers- each about 4 inches high and the shelves go to about 6 feet from the floor..... all organized by instrument, (in niches) and then by composer. This is for the classics. On another floor they have jazz and contemporary music. My latest purchase was an Oscar Peterson study book.

BB Player/Greg - lovely shot! If those hills in the background are any indication, you are a better cyclist than I am! We live on the Padana plain, VERY few hills - but we do have canals and rivers beside which we can cycle for kilometres and kilometres!

Loving the contributions to this thread, don't mind hijacking i enjoy everyones banter

I think i might have a nosy and see what the recitals on here are all about, it sounds like a good idea and even if i'm not ready to participate yet it would definitely be something i'd like to do when i've a bit more confidence

Also, to Mr Super-Hunky, thanks very much for the musicnotes.com tip, what a great idea! I will definitely use that site in the future