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Recent Posts
- Leap Year Special 2024 March 1, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday 4th Anniversary February 13, 2024
- Workshop: Happy Birthday February 13, 2024
- Arrangements for easy piano February 8, 2024
- Guitar orchestra concert in Boston – free February 5, 2024
- Chinese tea dyed eggs or marbled tea eggs January 23, 2024
- Ukulele Accompaniment Course in Zoom January 18, 2024
- Workshop: Ode to Joy January 13, 2024
- Workshop: the Hawaiian vamp January 13, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday Poems & Parodies January 12, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday Irish January 12, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday Island Tunes January 12, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday: World Ukulele Day January 12, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday Thesaurus January 11, 2024
- 3 Chord Thursday: Pop Music Charts January 9, 2024
- Sightreading, the art of reading music January 9, 2024
- Workshop: Auld Lang Syne January 2, 2024
- White Christmas for easy piano December 16, 2023
- Holiday Songs for Everyone November 30, 2023
- Simple Gifts of Granola November 30, 2023
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March 2024 M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Recent Posts: Concert Blog
REVIEW: Discovering Fingerstyle Ukulele Songbook by Colin Tribe
Colin Tribe’s new book offers new possibilities for ukulele players who aspire to fingerpick their way through thirty of the most popular songs of all time. These chord melody arrangements show a variety of ways the high G ukulele can be used for instrumental solo or duet (such as chord accompaniment and melodic fingerpicking) . […]
REVIEW: Piano Animals (duet) by Heleen Verleur
This 31-page book of four hand piano music is sheer FUN with a capital F. The composer Heleen Verleur knows just what pianists love playing: music that is easy to read, sounds hard to play, but is so much fun that you don’t want to stop until it ends.
REVIEW: Ukulele Picking Tunes Classical Gems by Paul Mansell
This 40-page book is the latest contribution to the ukulele repertoire by the UK-based ukulele and guitar composer Paul Mansell. Guitarists who play the ukulele are few and far between, for many adult learners pick up the ukulele without knowing the guitar. Yet it takes a guitarist who understands the possibilities of the re-entrant tuned […]
REVIEW: Modern Pieces for Ukulele by Paul Mansell
Review of first three pieces from the new book Modern Pieces for Ukulele by Paul Mansell
Group piano class in Zoom
Introducing my group piano class online: Group Piano Class in Zoom. The first series of seven weekly one-hour class started in June 2021. The second (continuation of the first) started in October 2021 at alternating weeks, until end of December (seven sessions). The third series of 16 consecutive weeks started at the beginning of 2022. […]
Tag Archives: Maui
Leap Year Special 2024
Do something unusual and extraordinary on Thursday 29th February 2024. Leap year occurs once every four years, even less frequently than a blue moon. Tune into my YouTube Channel to see livestream videos of the sunset on Maui and jam … Continue reading
Game of Thrones
I was living on Maui when “Game of Thrones” premiered on American cable TV HBO in Spring of 2011. I must have watched one episode of it on someone else’s television and concluded that the main theme was an ear … Continue reading
3 Chord Thursday Hawaiian Love Songs
On Thursday 16th February 2023, we will be jamming on the island of Maui sharing love songs of Hawaii in Zoom, as it’s just past Valentine’s Day. For inspiration, check out the songs we did last year and videos from … Continue reading
Playing music for church on piano and organ
One handwritten lead sheet triggered memories of playing the piano and organ for church services on Maui and Okinawa Continue reading
Kanikapila in Hawai’i (part 4)
There’s something different and special about jamming with other ladies (in contrast with an all male or a mixed gender group). It feels like going to an all-female luxury spa, such as the Korean body scrub spa in Seattle some … Continue reading
Kanikapila in Hawai’i (part 2)
At the beginning of the pandemic, I watched Facebook livestreams of “Unko George” Kahumoku, Jr making music on his farm on Maui. It looked like such fun. He had introduced me to Daniel Ho who then introduced me to the … Continue reading
Kanikapila in Hawai’i (part 1)
Upon my return to Maui, I got introduced to “kanikapila” — a Hawaiian term describing a spontaneous, impromptu music making with others, usually outdoors. The pandemic made us cautious about indoor activity. Portable instruments such as the ukulele and guitar … Continue reading
The gift of a music education for yourself or Mother’s Day present
I am forever grateful to my parents for the gift of a music education. I remember my mother tirelessly driving a great distance to my piano teacher’s home off-base on Okinawa. In the hot and humid afternoon, she took a … Continue reading
Ukulele: ticket to ride
Little did I know that buying my first ukulele and learning to play it would change the direction of my life.
Nontraditional students and their struggles: the pursuit of degrees
In the UK, older students are called “mature students.” In the US, anyone over 25 studying for their first degree falls into the category of “nontraditional students”. In the Netherlands, it is uncommon to see a mature, nontraditional student at … Continue reading