Learning to Play the Piano v2.0 #3

This Synthesia's great fun.  It's all about dexterity, for now, I'm thinking - just keep getting more accurate on increasingly difficult bits of music: which might take a year to get to any kind of breakthrough.

Not to lose sight of notation,  I'll investigate Noteflight when I've a bit of time.  There's also Sheet Music Editor.  Haven't looked at apps for the iPad yet.  Initially, I want to note up the simple bits that I'm practising on, and blog them if possible.

Meanwhile, as a lifelong Guardianista and keyboard student, I couldn't resist shelling out at Waterstones (Amazon?  Amazon?  Who the fuck are Amazon?) for the Alan Rusbridger book.  Be good to have a shot at Chopin's Ballade one day.  Though my personal goal is more modest, it still looks bloody difficult: Maple Leaf Rag. Two to three years, maybe?

Comments

  1. cjdTue Feb 12, 06:37:00 pm GMT

    Why don't you learn some chords and sing some songs. I found once you can play the chords to something you can then build it up, adding 7ths, sus4ths etc.... Have just about got Tom's 'Where ever I lay my hat' sorted amongst others.

    I just thought it was too late in the day for learning music and I seem to have more fun doing it like this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Garry NixonWed Feb 13, 09:49:00 am GMT

      Good idea. I will do that, but I'm going to carry on and learn how to play melodies and read sheet music, anyway. That's fun to me. I really like the idea of being able to play (in theory) anything from a sheet of paper - and there's always sheet music going cheap at car boots and charity shops.

      And listen to you, "too late in the day"! FFS! You're a bit younger than me, aren't you? And I'm only 52. My plan is, I keep saying, to be able to do this before I collect the bus-pass, and then earn free beer playing the piano in pubs.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Leech or flatworm? Ants and Swiss Chard

Image
For the 2nd time in a week or so, (1st time regarding dwarf beans ), I'm following Alys Fowler's advice, this time with regard to Swiss chard .  Long story short, after midsummer plants which often bolt if planted in spring will resist the impulse to do so, probably because of shortening days; (I say shortening, but in Glasgow, in July, we're still getting 18 hours of daylight).   I got a packet of Bright Lights , at a good price, (another reason to wait until July before sowing, lots of bargains, I've noticed). But where to sow them? Most of the 2nd bed is under a tarpaulin, but it wasn't quite big enough to cover the whole bed, so the last 5ft or so went under a sheet of plastic, (in the background of the photo in this post, here .) Transparent plastic was a foolish idea, weeds were growing underneath it, so I covered most of it with sheets of metal from the old shed. I decided to leave the tarp, but use the area beneath the plastic for the chard. Who-ah there...
Read more

"Chevy Chase. Fuck ever happen to him?"

Image
As Paulie Walnuts said in The Sopranos. It got me thinking. As it happens, he's been working steadily , but you can see what Paulie means. It's like that with film and television actors: you don't see them in anything for a year or two, and you wonder if they're dead or perhaps on a lengthy charlie and booze session. Or maybe doing proper acting on the stage? Only appearing on the telly gives them meaning to us. That video with Paul Simon was on one of the cable music channels the other day. It always makes me smile. As for Paulie and the rest of the crew, the clock's ticking. Of course, America already knows how things finish, but we don't. My mate Ian was telling me about a friend of his, visiting the States a few weeks ago, flicking through the channels in his hotel bedroom, he hit on a repeat of THE final episode, just beginning. What a quandry! He watched it, as it goes, but kept shtum when he came home.
Read more

How many pallets can you fit in the back of a Fiat 500?

Image
At least 1. Maybe I could have got 3 altogether, at a pinch. Also 200+ gorse seeds, which have begun to look in danger of damping off, so I'm thinking they'll be better off at the allotment in the fresh air. I'm worried about slugs, snails and woodpigeons, though, so I put them in a wheelbarrow, covered with a net. Also this morning, planted a row of beetroot detroit.
Read more