When I was a music major, this was the direction I was heading. Music Therapy. That and art therapy make so much sense to me. Anything that can move your spirit and express emotions can bring the psychic mind closer to finding help.
If you want to know some basics about these theories, this is the book for you. It was a fast read. Well, listen as I used Kindle Text-to-speech. It did stir up my interests again.
I picked this one up in 2015; I’m only just now getting to reading and reviewing it. Sorry. I was worth the read, though.
I started this book a while back. I loved the aspect that it was written by a musician who minored in neuroscience.
Wait! Let me start over. When I was a kid, my mom would make me play a piece ten times. I never could keep track. She gave me ten buttons. Each play moved a button to the other side of the piano. Soon it wasn’t just a song but portions of songs. Trouble spots. The yelling from the kitchen for me to play it again, ten more times. I hated it. As soon as I could, I quit lessons. But by then I was a teen busy with a teen’s life.
So the first concept Molly Gebrian suggested took that even farther. Ten times perfectly.
I’ve been back to playing piano for about a year and a half. I started back by telling myself it had to be fun, or I’d get back to fiddling around with the recorder, Uke, or violin. They didn’t hold the psychological pull over me that piano had. I’ve ‘played’ up to forty minutes, even an hour, of FUN. Then I started reading this book. Yes, I had begun to work on bits, but I wanted to.
I put the book aside. But months later I decided it was the right concept. I may hate it, but I think Mom and Molly were right. But I will have to work up to it. It will still need to be fun. I’m a retired 76-year-old. Working hard is from the past.
The rest of the book had marvelous ideas I want to start to institute in my playing. In fact, I think much of it could be applied to other habits a person might want to develop in their life.
The version I have is Audible. Ms. Gebrian does her own narration. I plan to listen to this book often. There is so much I want to put into my piano fun.
I’m pretty proud to have received this today. Whoopie!
Nearly 2/3s finished with my second dragon. This one isn’t so naturally straight as my last one. I can see so much needing the straightening tool before I finish.
For nearly two years, I have worked on just sight-reading and trying to enjoy music. My progress is slower than I’d like, but I think I am nearly caught up with my 12-year-old self. But I’m still not near my music major days of my 40s. So I have been working through the next book. By the way, I learned piano and reading at the same time, so Music is my first/second language. I think that is why I love Italian.
The last chapter I read yesterday suggested practicing the bad parts 10 times correctly before moving on. When I was a child, my mother would have 10 buttons on the left side of the piano. Each time I played a piece or section, I would move a button per attempt. I hate to admit Mom was right. And I found myself balking at the thought of going through that again. I wanted to play! Today I chose to try to stay with my energy. I will gradually move into that rhythm of practice. Today’s reading led me to see other ways to get there. Shorter practice times with breaks and naps, and always a good night’s sleep. Okay, maybe I can handle it. I’ll keep reading. Eventually, I will have to take notes. Meanwhile, my goals are not to teach or play in concerts. My goal is to enjoy it and, hopefully, get loved ones to enjoy it too.
Because of my arm/shoulder pain, I am not knitting or crocheting so much. That means lots of games on my tablets, I like the escaping blocks type games. Any suggestions while healing?
What a great book to review with. After years away from the piano, I am finally back. But where do I fit?
I had been playing around with songs I learned a long time ago. At twelve, I was a far better player than I am now. In my forties, I was far better than now. Now at 76, I am just struggling to grow and start to enjoy this torture device/toy.
In a group dedicated to piano returnies, someone mentioned this book. I decided to try to see where I fit. I started with lesson one, book one. Much from there and in the next few books, I found I could sight-read much. My glaring mistakes showed up in rhythms. I practiced the bits and moved on.
Along the way, there are many beautiful, fun pieces. Very few were boring or impossible to learn. My favorite thing was that, with the exception of the very last song, all songs were on two pages. No turning pages! What I am worst at right now is the dreaded page-turn. So I make copies of all songs and tape them together to avoid having to turn the page while playing.
Speaking of making copies, there are so many songs I still want to play from this book that I am selecting some so I can save the book for others, or future me. So much diversity, classical, Beatles, and a most beautiful song I’d never heard from Elton John, Song for Guy. I’m so far from perfecting this one, but I will try forever, if I can, to get that under my belt.
I highly recommend this book for beginners and beyond. Stick with the challenging ones until you get it, and move on through. Now I feel I’d like to find the next Omni for Books 6 and beyond.
Here is a memoir worth listening to. Liza Minnelli tells her story of over 80 years on this earth. In her own voice. It was fascinating.
I’ve never been her greatest fan, but since the book, my respect has deepened to the point I want to go find everything she ever did and enjoy it with new eyes and ears.
Maybe if I put away all the Christmas songs, winter will give us, in Christmas Valley, snow.
***
We had a snow a couple of weeks ago. It’s been cold enough that the snow on the north side of our houseย (teens) is still there. I’m tired of useless cold.
By the way, I’m still working on some of the harder songs and putting notes on the disabled as to when to pull them out (Halloween or later)
One book may stay out. It is a violin/piano duet book. So I’m getting out the violin again. Don’t know how to fit the time and frustration within my every day.
Yesterday I shared one of the reasons I prefer acoustic piano, or voice, as we can control volume according to emotional intensity within the artist and directed by composition.
Rhythm and how fast or slow a piece of a portion of it can affect or reflect our emotions.
A piece can hold many speeds from grave to presto. Like conversations. We don’t speak one or the other. Well, except certain chemistry teachers in my past during the first period. Hence a C… But that’s another stream.
Music reflects life which is both fast (is it already the third of January?) and slow (why does Christmas take so long when we’re kids?)
First of all, I want to lead you to Barbara’s take on ‘Magnify’ as it reflects my own journey with screens and reading and tools that can help those issues. Click here.
The reason I love the acoustic piano more than my electronic keyboard is that you can express emotions on it. With signs, you can guess how hard or soft a touch you need to bring out the depth of a song.
See the less-than sign?
It means to gradually
minimize your
touch.
The greater-than sign <
<
It means
You play quietly and
Magnify your touch
I have not found the ability to do that on my electric keyboard with feeling. Nor can I do that on my recorder. I know you can with a violin. But it is most satisfying when singing with a choir, and the director and music ask you to unify as you and your fellow singers magnify the sound.
The voice magnifies so well. Sometimes you need to whisper. But there are times for an actual
Today is the day I reflect on possibilities. I don’t resolve. I have never found change in pure willfulness. Instead, I think globally, universally, and down to cellular possibilities. The things I want to delve into with thought, prayer, and desire. Some say cellular is universal. Reflecting on how the atom looks like a solar system keeps my thoughts meandering. When we think of the word ‘enthusiasm,’ we learn that it breaks down to ‘God in you.’ And that is when I draw the conclusion that if I feel excited, and if I spend the time being mindful about it, I can breathe a spark into a flame. Writing about the ideas helps me to decide if it’s worth it for me. We can’t be everything; we can’t be perfect. But we can grow in areas we feel drawn to.
Last year, in October 2024, on the advice of a friend (thanks, Yve), I found an old financial journal and turned I into a piano journal. In a few days, I will have filled all the pages. I started by sitting at the piano just long enough to enjoy the feeling. Sometimes that was to play a scale or diddy, as long as I could feel the joy. The minute it felt like work, or was in any way painful, I got up and walked away to do something else I might enjoy. But I wrote the bits I did, how long, feelings about the piece, and a bit of a grade of how well I did. Not to judge myself, but to watch for improvement and have a recording of what worked for me.
I have gained confidence and skill, going from five-minute gigs to over an hour. I even did a couple two-hours stints. I loved being deeply into the music, filling my heart with beauty. Not of my skill, but how it all works. I will be looking for a new music journal. It doesn’t need to be much, and I am sure I have an empty something with lines around here.
What I won’t use is my everything journal. My husband gave it to me for Christmas. Isn’t it gorgeous? It came with its own pen (I may replace it with an erasable, as a perfect journal will hurt me if I have a bunch of scratch-outs).
Now I need to write my first entry. Shh! No peeking! Possibilities are popping. And I must meet them with mindfulness to cultivate enthusiasm. New habits await.
Working on my series: Haven.
Doodler (zendoodle.com)
Music major: voice and piano
Mom of four great adults
Reiki II practitioner
I have been on disability/retired for 10 years now from depression, anxiety and fibromyalgia.
Hi! my name is Sebastian (You can call me Seb!) ...welcome to my Blog. I'm a photographer from Worcester, Worcestershire, England. Thanks for dropping by! I hope you enjoy my work.
Books, games, music, and life โ filtered through the mind of a writer, drummer, and philosopher who thinks too deeply about all of it. If it moves something in your chest, I'm interested.
Art Therapy and Music Therapy Bundle: by Paul Catalani
Darswords 
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