Tag Archives: piano

Like-minded souls and their passion to collect sheet music

“If Bart were still here, he would never let me go through his sheet music and take what I want,” I said to his widow after spending hours looking through the densely packed shelves downstairs and upstairs.

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The monument house: piano room

I didn’t get to say goodbye to my Steinway A, for I didn’t know when I would return to see it.

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What you’re also learning when you take a piano class

Rough draft for a future article or blog post Time management Multi-tasking Planning Listening Public speaking Presenting Overcoming stage fright Timing, rhythm Body coordination Focus Concentration Real time crisis management Problem solving Interpretation Individual self expression Accompanying Improvising Collaboration New … Continue reading

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Most commonly used chords for ʻukulele

The common chord progression assignment I gave to my beginning music theory class caused an uproar. It was the secret formula that explained the Pareto Rule of Pop Music: 80% of pop music used only 20% of the chords. “You mean, … Continue reading

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9/11 piano concert on Maui

In my quest to give concerts for every occasion and purpose, I have long wanted to pay a musical tribute to September 11, 2001. It was a day that changed my life, for I was in Manhattan for a morning … Continue reading

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Teaching from the gut

Long ago I posted a blog on Bon Journal called “Teaching from the Gut.” By the title, I meant teaching a subject you know so intimately that it feels as though it’s coming out of your gut. You’re so confident … Continue reading

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Solo piano concert: tribute to the music of James Horner

When I learned of the plane crash yesterday, I immediately searched for the film music of James Horner. Still in shock, I quickly assembled a blog post on the theme from the Titanic. In the spur of that moment, I … Continue reading

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A song for dad: diamonds and rust

My dad never hesitated to share titles of the songs he loved. In his last years, he took a liking to Youtube. One of his favorite singers was Joan Baez.

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Somewhere in time before iPhones

Before the iPhone, the video quality was not high definition. Before the iPhone, I wore a watch regularly. Sure, I always took it off whenever I practised the piano. Here is a video taken before I got my smartphone. It … Continue reading

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Celebrating 300,000 visitors to Concertblog

My first WordPress blog “The Concertblog” passed the 300,000 visitor mark some time last week. Yay! When it hit 299,000, I started to monitor the stats more closely than before. These are number of visitors, not views. A visitor can … Continue reading

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