Back in the saddle with a Yamaha

At last got through to Jeddah and bought a DGX-230. It wasn't quite what I'd aspired to, but they didn't have any Rolands or Korgs in the shop. It isn't even fully weighted, but it feels comfy to play on, and it's probably just right for the stage I'm at. 

I'd gotten so fed up with the feel and limitations of the midi keyboard, that I've done little practice lately, but I'm back at it now with the new toy. Doing lots of scales, hands one or two octaves apart, across three or four octaves. Can do C major with eyes closed. I think scales in lots of keys need a lot of work. 

I've also found some words for the tune of Lilliburlero:

There was an old woman

Tossed up in a basket

Seventeen times as high as the moon.

Where was she going,

I just had to ask it,

For in her hand she carried a broom.

"Old woman, old woman,

Old woman," said I,

"Please tell me, please tell me,

Why you're up so high?"

"I'm sweeping the cobwebs

Down from the sky."

"May I come with you?"

"Yes, by-and-by!"

Which is a pleasantly trippy wee ditty. I'm starting to learn, tonight, to sing and play at the same time. 

I've got a couple of left hand bass lines now, and I plan to learn some blues licks and riffs. Werewolves of London is still a work in progress. So I've got plenty of practice to be getting on with. 

Plan to get lessons when I'm home in the summer. But for now, as Father Ted had it, "How do I get to Carnegie Hall from here...?"