Yesterday I spent the hour improvising on the Blues in G and A, starting out on some of my favorite songs, like "House of the Rising Sun," "Summertime," and "Feelin' Good." I really need to branch out on Blues scales -- I have "learned" more scales but I don't have them down well enough to improvise on them. It's time to take the songs I've learned by heart and transpose them in all the keys. (Goal!)
Today I picked a piece by Bach I've been eying for some time, the second movement of Beethoven's Sonata No. 8 in C minor (Pathetique) to start working on. The second movement seems firmly within my skill level, and I want to use the piece to focus on my technique.
(Listen to someone really good play the second movement.)
After practicing the first few stanzas I practiced sight reading with some good 'ol Lutheran hymns.
Tomorrow I'm going to sign up for more lessons from a teacher I studied with last summer. He's fairly light on technique but really great when it comes to teaching accompaniment to jazz, blues, and rock. Woot!
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Saturday, February 15, 2014
One Thousand Days of Keys
The other day a radio program about confidence. To build real confidence, the interviewed expert said, a person has to accomplish a task -- the more challenging the better. Compliments from others or white lies don't help build true confidence. Putting your mind to something and succeeding does.
I also remember hearing about Paleo, aka David Strackany, a musician who wrote a song a day for a year. Strackany at one point stated that before starting the project he was in a low, depressed, place, while after he completed it, he was "on a cloud."
I also recently went through a pretty hard times, partly due to lack of confidence in myself and my talents, and lack of dedication. I know I am talented, that I have potential as an artist -- I like my ideas, in writing, art, and music, and I am proud of them. My greatest desire is to express the ideas that move me, that are wonderful to me -- to cogently and beautifully present them to the world in a way I can be proud of. I also know, however, that lack of confidence and the inability to finish projects is a crippling disability (for me, and any artist), and it threatens to kill my art.
Part of my lack of confidence comes from a real lack of skill. When I write music I find myself limited by how fast and rhythmically my fingers can travel across the keys, by how many mistakes I make while painfully getting the ideas from my head to consistently travel through to my hands. It's a frustrating and demoralizing lack of skill.
When the getting-of-the-ideas in my head out into the real world is hampered by that lack of skill, I get discouraged, and then I'm more likely to put my music aside for some other project, or for some other person. (And that's never a great step towards for artistic goals OR towards maintaining healthy relationships).
Another thing is, art has little room for those who lack confidence. One of the first times I got on stage (playing cover songs on my guitar) I was terrified and didn't hide it too well. The bartender and owner told me later that I was "good" but that I didn't seem very confident. When I responded with a chagrined, "yeah, I know I lack confidence" he then asked me why I would get in front of people if I didn't think I was great.
(You can hear one of the songs I cover here.)
It struck me then that if you get on stage without confidence, you run the risk of alienating the audience. They might think you're insincere, that this is false modesty that you're displaying to win them over. Or they may think you're no good -- and if you clearly don't believe you have something worth sharing, why the hell would you waste their time? Either of those things will put people off.
The next time I ever play a single note for an audience, I want it to be with enough confidence and preparation that I can quit even thinking about myself, and just think about playing fantastic music and entertaining others. I want to help people enjoy themselves without worrying about me.
That's why I'm starting a new project. I've already been taking a hiatus from performing, but like I said, I don't ever want to get on stage again unless I am truly confident I have something great to share and am fully capable of sharing it exactly in the way I want to.
For the next three years, until February 15th, 2017 I will play piano for one hour every day, until I have played 1,000 hours. There are no other parameters to my goal -- I can spend the time playing Bach, Thelonius Monk, or my own stuff -- I can improvise, practice scales, or study theory -- but I must to play at least one hour.
I can take breaks. There are 1096 days from today until February 15th three years from now, and the extra 96 days represent days that I can rest on (approximately every 11th day could be a "rest" day). If I play more than one hour in a day that's okay, too, and those hours can be counted towards the final "one thousand." Since I'm not a professional musician, allowing breaks will allow me to keep, you know, making money for the beans, crackers, bread, cookies, noodles, tacos, curry, egg rolls, and other foods I have a compelling desire to consume everyday. Still, basic needs and other pesky distractions aside, in three years I should be a little bit better and a little more confident playing the piano.
I'll talk about how I'm coming along on this blog, link to new music I'm working on, and talk about whatever else catches my fancy and is remotely related to music. My mind can wonder, but I'll try to stay on task here -- sharing my project will help me be more successful.
For off-task ramblings, you can view my other blog, Serpentine Road, where you may find rants, movie reviews, poetry, and other miscellany.
One hour down, nine hundred and ninety-nine to go!
I also remember hearing about Paleo, aka David Strackany, a musician who wrote a song a day for a year. Strackany at one point stated that before starting the project he was in a low, depressed, place, while after he completed it, he was "on a cloud."
I also recently went through a pretty hard times, partly due to lack of confidence in myself and my talents, and lack of dedication. I know I am talented, that I have potential as an artist -- I like my ideas, in writing, art, and music, and I am proud of them. My greatest desire is to express the ideas that move me, that are wonderful to me -- to cogently and beautifully present them to the world in a way I can be proud of. I also know, however, that lack of confidence and the inability to finish projects is a crippling disability (for me, and any artist), and it threatens to kill my art.
Part of my lack of confidence comes from a real lack of skill. When I write music I find myself limited by how fast and rhythmically my fingers can travel across the keys, by how many mistakes I make while painfully getting the ideas from my head to consistently travel through to my hands. It's a frustrating and demoralizing lack of skill.
When the getting-of-the-ideas in my head out into the real world is hampered by that lack of skill, I get discouraged, and then I'm more likely to put my music aside for some other project, or for some other person. (And that's never a great step towards for artistic goals OR towards maintaining healthy relationships).
Another thing is, art has little room for those who lack confidence. One of the first times I got on stage (playing cover songs on my guitar) I was terrified and didn't hide it too well. The bartender and owner told me later that I was "good" but that I didn't seem very confident. When I responded with a chagrined, "yeah, I know I lack confidence" he then asked me why I would get in front of people if I didn't think I was great.
(You can hear one of the songs I cover here.)
It struck me then that if you get on stage without confidence, you run the risk of alienating the audience. They might think you're insincere, that this is false modesty that you're displaying to win them over. Or they may think you're no good -- and if you clearly don't believe you have something worth sharing, why the hell would you waste their time? Either of those things will put people off.
The next time I ever play a single note for an audience, I want it to be with enough confidence and preparation that I can quit even thinking about myself, and just think about playing fantastic music and entertaining others. I want to help people enjoy themselves without worrying about me.
That's why I'm starting a new project. I've already been taking a hiatus from performing, but like I said, I don't ever want to get on stage again unless I am truly confident I have something great to share and am fully capable of sharing it exactly in the way I want to.
For the next three years, until February 15th, 2017 I will play piano for one hour every day, until I have played 1,000 hours. There are no other parameters to my goal -- I can spend the time playing Bach, Thelonius Monk, or my own stuff -- I can improvise, practice scales, or study theory -- but I must to play at least one hour.
I can take breaks. There are 1096 days from today until February 15th three years from now, and the extra 96 days represent days that I can rest on (approximately every 11th day could be a "rest" day). If I play more than one hour in a day that's okay, too, and those hours can be counted towards the final "one thousand." Since I'm not a professional musician, allowing breaks will allow me to keep, you know, making money for the beans, crackers, bread, cookies, noodles, tacos, curry, egg rolls, and other foods I have a compelling desire to consume everyday. Still, basic needs and other pesky distractions aside, in three years I should be a little bit better and a little more confident playing the piano.
I'll talk about how I'm coming along on this blog, link to new music I'm working on, and talk about whatever else catches my fancy and is remotely related to music. My mind can wonder, but I'll try to stay on task here -- sharing my project will help me be more successful.
For off-task ramblings, you can view my other blog, Serpentine Road, where you may find rants, movie reviews, poetry, and other miscellany.
One hour down, nine hundred and ninety-nine to go!
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