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Take a look at virtually anything by Einaudi. It looks quite uninspired as rendered on the page. Even when there are sweeping arpeggios, it just appears to be so repetitive and uninteresting. And yet... it's very sophisticated and beautiful in its simplicity.


Have you checked out Bill Hilton's videos on YouTube? He has a lot of content about improvisation there that can be applied to song-writing as well. He's my favorite for learning applied music theory online.

I have a beanie baby snail who sits on the music desk to remind me to slow down, and a rooster to remind me that the best practice time is morning.

ATallGuyNH, thanks for mentioning Bill Hilton. I have watched a couple of his videos. Most are a bit too advanced for me. I can follow what he is saying, but when I try to apply it, it usually becomes a jumble. Maybe after I get past my year two, I will have another run at the windmill.

For improvisation, or writing music, it comes back to trusting my ears. Feelings aren't facts. I might feel like my composition is simple, but for Tracks in the Snow, getting the subtle phrasing the way I want it, is not for true beginners. I've been playing music for a long time, so my ears are a bit better than the average new piano beginner, even if my technical skill is still very beginner-ish.

I did want to make the point to anyone reading about inspiration. Many want to wait for inspiration before writing music. In my case, that might come once a year. If I waited, I wouldn't write very much, and writing and then performing is the most rewarding thing for me. Being able to write without external inspiration is the craft side of songwriting and composition. For those that are rarely inspired, like me, focusing on the craft side is a huge step to competency.

Also on the plus side, there are certain elements that I use a lot, so I am developing my own style on piano. I see that as a significant achievement. For some, it takes many years of writing to find a style. Like I said, the new piece is yet another mile marker on my journey. I can see the progress as I look back at the other markers.

I'm the same way. Most of it is much too advanced for me, and I don't have the time to come up that particular learning curve at this point.

However...

I was thinking of one video in particular:
[video:youtube]zrqOaHYe70Y[/video]

I had posted about this one last year. [Editorial note: this was one of my rare AOTW posts that was an actual achievement ]

Unlike Bill's other videos where he's talking about a particular musical style, type of chord, progression, and so on -- this is down to the very most basic concepts. I found it to be extraordinarily helpful in opening up my mind (and fingers) to this world, without requiring a great deal of technical knowledge and terminology about music theory.

This inspired a thought...

I think virtually all of us -- almost certainly during the very first stages of learning a piece/song -- start from the mindset of "I need to learn this sequence of notes".

How many people are taking an approach of "I need to learn this rhythm/pulse", where the exact notes and melody are of secondary importance? That would be very different, but for comp/pop it has a certain logic to it in order to emphasize the primacy of not breaking the flow.

My achievement was to play for an audience - we had some rather special friends over for lunch- which was great fun!

and someone else played too.......

And Casinitaly played her Sonatina very nicely too! I enjoyed playing her lovely plano, and I maintained my MOYD as well. We had a great visit with Casinitaly and Mr. Casinitaly on our way back to Switzerland. They prepared a wonderful regional Italian lunch for us, which was delicious! We had great fun!

I always focus on rhythm first and if playing it is within reach ... but the rhythm or beat is generally what attracts me to a new tune anyway.

Cheryl and SwissMs - Thats great that you two could hook up for some playing time and lunch. Way to go on the Sonatina C!!!

Awesome

Wow it makes me jealous.
Cheryl, I will have to go to London at the end of March. I may just fly out there if you happened to be in town. I will let you know as soon as the date is confirmed. It's the nature of business trip. I don't know until a couple of weeks before.

We had a blast, truly!

FarmGirl it would be a pleasure to see you --- keep me posted on your dates because we may actually be in Switzerland at the end of March !

Very minor AOTW -- I found my "How To Play a Fake Book" fake book, which had been missing for several months, and was driving me crazy.

Where was it, you may (or maybe not) ask?



Also...


Ok, so there is at least one, good to hear!

I'll have to consider thinking in this way on my next pop music arrangement (current one is too close to complete) -- i.e. just starting with the chords and then slowly adding elements of the melody. To date I have always started from the full version and then simplify to what sounds sufficient and is within my grasp. As a result, it's very "melody-centric" in terms of actually learning to play it. If I build from the ground up, I expect that it will be easier to be "pulse-centric".

Brilliant looks like you had a blast.

Oh boohoo! My lesson is cancelled! My teacher has injured his shoulder and can't drive (he lives about 30 km from here and comes in for about 6-7 hours worth of lessons).


Darn.


I know we'll make up the lesson, but that's not the point...It is one of the big highlights of my week and I'm a bit bummed out.

I have to say though, this is the first time in a year and a half he 's cancelled on the day. There were 2 lessons cancelled last year but they were planned absences and made up at the end of the year. My previous teacher was much less dependable.

Hey TG, I've used Bill Hilton's vids along the way but he can be a bit hard for me to understand too.

Back to the rhythm thing, the big payoff for me was once you get a rhythm pattern down with that LH, your ears will recognize other tunes that you can use the pattern with or you can improvise your own melodies like Hilton was doing in that tape above ... and you can improvise on the pattern itself.

Here's a classic case of everyone on the planet knowing the melody, but for me it's getting over that rhythm hurdle that's the puzzle. This guy brings a few RH fingers into the pattern at about 0:30 on the tape ... at 1:17 he stumbled a bit (like I often do) then rescued it (like I often don't ) :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dhQYrHsdlU

... Hey, I don't know who invented fellowship, but I'm glad they did!

This month I'm really busy because of work deadlines. So I'm always tired and my practice time dropped dramatically.
Nevertheless, yesterday during my lesson I finally got a pass on the Bach Sarabande; wonderful piece of music, but after more than six months I was a little bit sick of it!
AND during the last week or so my husband and I booked the flights and 3 nights in hotel in Lisboa fot the European Piano Party!

My AOTW- "that was MUCH better" from my teacher on my Joplin. Sweet words indeed, after last week's struggle! I played it at slow tempo for her with virtually no errors. I still have some slurs and pedaling nuances to work out, but my slow is finally slow enough! Now I am moving to half a measure slow, half fast, then reverse. Then alternate measures fast/slow, then the whole piece at tempo. I hope to get this one recorded in the next couple of weeks. It has been a good learning experience, and I am glad I decided to participate in the Joplin themed recital! This piece had a lot to teach me and it is fun!

I had my third lesson today. My initial impression is that we're a good match and she's working me on things I need work on. However, I can tell already that 30 minutes is NOT enough time. I'm doing these lessons through a local community college, so I don't have flexibility in lesson length and I'm also committed to a semester's worth of lessons, which should be about 10 more lessons. At some later point, if things are still clicking with us, I'll ask about private lessons with her (she teaches just one afternoon at the cc).

My AOTW: As expected,* I screwed up badly today on the first piece I played for her, but then managed to calm myself and play it through reasonably well. Not as good as at home, but definitely servicable.

*