Monthly Archives: June 2009

Summer Wind, Swingin’ Sixties Sinatra Standard

The year was 1966 and by then I was thoroughly into jazz. Although my mother had been encouraging me to focus on playing the standards long before this major stylistic shift, I simply had to find my own timetable. Fortunately … Continue reading

Posted in inspiration, keyboard, motivation, music theory, piano lessons, piano playing, summer | 3 Comments

Summer in Central Park Brings Memories of Great Music

Many of us have people in our lives who have given us a special gift that keeps on giving. When I was about 16 and had just become an avid jazz fan, a friend of my parents took note of … Continue reading

Posted in inspiration, keyboard, motivation, music theory, piano lessons, piano playing, summer | 2 Comments

Someday My Prince Will Come

If you are a baby-boomer like me, you grew up at the time when watching many of the Walt Disney feature films was part of your life experience. When we took my first grandson to his first movie in the … Continue reading

Posted in inspiration, jazz waltz, keyboard, motivation, music theory, piano lessons, piano playing | 7 Comments

Emily

One of my adult students has often said to me, “I really like songs with lyrics by Johnny Mercer”. Being someone who has always focused more on the music than on the words, I didn’t realize why her comment is … Continue reading

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I’ll Take Romance

Whether my student is 6 or 66, she seems to have trouble playing in 3/4 time. You may be wondering why counting “1-2-3-1-2-3, etc” is so difficult for her. I’ve asked myself that question for more than three decades. Yet, … Continue reading

Posted in inspiration, keyboard, motivation, music theory, piano lessons, piano playing | 1 Comment