Half yearly piano lesson report

So, I have been having piano lessons for half a year and I can report that I have certainly progressed and that I have every intention of continuing lessons with the right Reverend Franz Moeller.
I now have some 10 pieces in my repertoire including:
1. The first 4 Duvernoy studies
2. The first two pieces from The Children's Bach
3. A transcription of the theme from Schubert's Unfinished Symphony from John Thompson's 3rd grade book
3. A Tarantella by John Thompson also from his 3rd grade book
4. A transcription of the first motive from the Andante of Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony
5. The Purcell Minuet from Easy Classics to Moderns Volume 17
6. All 3 movements of the Clementi Sonatina also from Easy Classics to Moderns
The main change to my technique that I have had to concentrate on is playing much more lightly than I am used to in order to get a more singing tone. Apparently, this is a common problem for players who have only ever used a digital piano. So after 6 months and the assistance of an acoustic piano in the U3, which, thankfully, is finally getting tuned as I write this post, I have started to habitually do this much to Franz's relief.
I have also been playing the following 2 octave scales with two hands in contrary and similar motion.
C, G, D, A & E major scales
A, E & D minor scales
I am very keen to be as competent a sight reader on the piano as I am on the guitar because it is so advantageous in being able to play lots of repertoire. So yesterday, I was very pleased to hear from Franz how impressed he was with my sight reading of the 2nd piece in The Childrens Bach. So I am on track there also. I have also continued the study of jazz piano under my own steam. Currently, I am concentrating on learning standards focusing on being able to:
1. Play the melody over the chord progression using rootless shapes.
2. Improvising over those same rootless shapes and
3. Transferring those rootless shapes to the right hand for comping.
I have also continued to practise improvising the blues in different keys over various walking bass patterns using minor and major pentatonics and the diminished scale. I am absolutely delighted that after 2 and a half years of playing the piano I can finally improvise over the shuffle rhythm Root, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 5th pattern that one hears in the blues so often. It is still a little insecure but well on the way to where I need to get it. This new found independence has opened up the possibility of further interesting variations in the left hand.
So all in all I am happy with my progress and look forward to seeing where I have go to in another 6 months!

"It's better to do something simple that is real!"

Unreal iRealBook!

Thanks to Jazzwee, whose blog I discovered today, I have just downloaded iRealBook, an incredibly useful app for the aspiring jazz player. It is brilliant as it plays chord charts (no melody or lyrics thereby avoiding copyright issues) in a number of different styles. More charts are being added all the time but there is a core group of 1200 jazz tunes plus heaps of Latin, Brazilian and a good selection of Pop too to boot. You can also create your own charts and iRealBook will create a backing track for you. Another brilliant feature is that it copes with transposing instruments so all you trumpeters, saxophonists and clarinetists can get in on the act too.
Get it now for your Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android phone.

Dave Frank on Bill Evans

I discovered the seemingly unknown, but quite remarkably knowledgeable and talented jazz pianist and teacher Dave Frank by accident recently. It did not take me long before I ordered both of his Joy of Improv books which I really like the look of as they are set out in graded curriculum style using 26 lessons. Each lesson contains a technical exercise, hip jazz voicings, a solo pattern for transposition, an original blues tune and a jazz line based on a standard. Dave has also done a great series of video lessons and the one I have watched took apart Bill Evans playing and technique using the tune "A Time For Love". About the best explanation I have come across to date of how these great jazz players but together their real-time compositions. Here is the first in the series of 8 videos Dave has put together for this lesson alone. Enjoy!

Clavier Companion

I really like the Pianist magazine which I have posted about here. Yesterday, I did a little google search for other keyboard/piano magazines and discovered Clavier Companion which I think has only been in existence for a little while as there are only 9 issues dating back to 2010. It is perhaps aimed at the more experienced pianist being a little more erudite than Pianist with some great in depth analysis articles. Like Pianist it is published every 2 months and they also offer an iPad app. Although, their website offers a digital edition to subscribe to it appears that if you use the iPad app you can download the issues for free as I have done just that. with 8 of them. Do check it out as I think you will find it is well worth it.

While I was away, the U3 arrived, the...........

.................police and the state power company and I owe Michelle big time! The furniture removalist engaged to pick up the U3 from Perth and deliver it here to Denmark had driven up our street in his truck many times. This time unfortunately, he managed to knock down a power line 2 doors up just before he got to my place.





Despite all this, the U3 is now ensconced happily in it's new home. It will wait patiently for the piano tuner to arrive for a touch up tune, some hammer pricking and damper unsticking too I would think. It is such a privilege to have a real piano to play on and I look forward to the difference that I know it will make for me as a player.

Yamaha U3

Now I have had a term of piano lessons, it has become evident that if I am serious about learning to play, then  using a digital piano to do so is not going to do the job. My teacher Franz is constantly telling me to play more softly and I have had further confirmation recently that overplaying is a typical fault of players who have only used a digital piano. So, I have been researching the possibility of getting an acoustic piano and this had led me to the conclusion that a grey market Yamaha U3 is probably the best option providing a great combination of quality and value. I started off thinking that a U2 would do the job as any piano I might purchase, had to have a practice pedal, but quickly discovered that there was a wider availability of U3s. As I knew I would be in Perth this week, I googled for private sales of Yamaha pianos and up popped a U3 for $4300.00 which was within my price range. After a 5 hour trip to Perth and multiple txt messages, I arrived at the owner Amelia's home to view and play the piano. Her baby was asleep, but fortunately it was time for him to get up anyway, so I got stuck into this U3 which sounded very well, played nicely and I was able to confirm that the pedals did their job. It was clearly in need of a tune and a couple of the lower keys were obviously suffering from lack of use but came good with a bit of massaging. Amelia mentioned that her father had originally purchased the U3 for her from a Peter Hudson at Piano World in Bentley. After I had done a bit of playing, some further conversation about the piano revealed that Amelia was a jazz singer and pianist who had probably been appalled with what she had just heard. Coincidentally, she had studied at WAAPA also as I had back in the early 1980s. I never buy anything on the spot but told Amelia what I was likely to offer and that I would get back to her either way once I had reflected further and checked out what Piano World had to offer. That turned out to be an experience in itself eventually resulting in my confirming an offer of $4000.00 to Amelia and ultimately agreeing on $4100.00.

Peter Hudson's Piano World was a complete and utter eyeopener with not one but two showrooms absolutely chockablock with pianos and most of them were U3s!  Apart from supplying many other brands, Peter told me all about the quality Yamaha grey market pianos he specialises in importing and how they are stripped and brought up to scratch before being sold. I had the pleasure of playing about 6 U3s and all of them displayed a quite unexpected character, touch and tone of their own.  I would have loved to purchase one of them particularly, but it was going to cost me $7000.00 including freight. The fact that Amelia's U3 was purchased from Peter only 4 years earlier meant it was a no brainer that it would be worth purchasing the one she was offering for nearly $3000 less. It is going to cost me a very reasonable $350 to get the U3 to Denmark and, as soon as Amelia confirms the funds have appeared in her account, I will engage Albany furniture removalist Gary Sweetnam to do so. I can barely wait!