What have I been focusing on this week?
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?
Tag Archive: Music
The Complete Piano Player: Books 1,2,3,4, and 5 by Kenneth Baker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
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.
Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!: My Memoir – The instant #1 Sunday Times Bestselling Memoir by Liza Minnelli
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
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.
Libby supplied this audiobook. Enjoy.
This is a part of Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday and Just Jot it January
***
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 house (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.
Wish me luck!
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?)
Okay, I’m down to the trickle so time to dance!
January 2 – “Magnify” from Barbara https://teleportingweena.wordpress.com/
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
Yell!
When we need to be heard we need to
MAGNIFY
January 1st, the JJJ prompt is “Mindfulness” from Emily https://zombieflamingoes.com/. Thank you, Emily!
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.
What it’s like to live with me:
My bit for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday.
Five sock projects going on six.
Does anyone else get like this? I want to try so many things?
I loved my week with loved ones and traveling. But I’m finding my equilibrium and energy levels blown to pieces. Bike and treadmill shame me this week. The weather is getting colder, less stable. I’m so glad my family members are safe and we can face the bad stuff from our homes.
Not to mention NaNo prep and character development is far from my focus right now
I’ll find my way back while teaching myself new passion.
Darswords 
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