The Concert

The Concert
When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin,

the mother returned to her seat and discovered that the child was missing Suddenly,

the curtains parted and spotlights
focused on the impressive Steinway on stage.
In horror, the mother saw her littleboy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out
"Twinkle,Twinkle Little Star."
At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance,

quickly moved to the piano, and
whispered in the boy's ear,
"Don't quit.""Keep playing."
Then, leaning over, Paderewski reached
down with his left hand and began filling
in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached
around to the other side of the child,
and he added a running obbligato.
Together, the old master and the young novice
transformed what could have been a frightening situation

into a wonderfully creative experience.
The audience was so mesmerized that they couldn't recall

what else the great master played.
Only the classic,
" Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."
Perhaps that's the way it is with God.
What we can accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy.
We try our best, but the results aren't always
graceful flowing music. However, with the
hand of the Master, our life's
work can truly be beautiful.

The next time you set out to accomplish great feats,
listen carefully. You may hear the voice of the
Master, whispering in your ear, "Don't quit." "Keep playing."
May you feel His arms around you and
know that His hands are there, helping you
turn your feeble attempts into true masterpieces.
Remember, God doesn't seem to
call the equipped, rather, He equips the 'called.'

Life is more accurately measured by the lives you touch than by the things you acquire.

So touch someone by passing this little message along.

May God bless you and be with you always!
and remember ,
"Don't quit."
"Keep playing."

Christmas offer

Hi Fellow Musician,

The Christmas season, my favorite season of the entire year, is ALMOST here. AND... Courtesy of Jermaine and HearandPlay.com, I have the PERFECT gift idea that YOU or one of your relatives would LOVE to see under the tree (...or better yet, on top of their piano).
My good friend Jermaine left me a message just last night to let me know that his revolutionary 3 H-O-U-R Christmas instructional course, Christmas Keys Vol.1 is now available at a special reduced price. And for the price he quoted me, I simply had to fill you guys in!
Let me tell you, his one of a kind learning method has already taught thousands to play many of their favorite Christmas
songs by ear. And the best part is... it's so simple to do!

Once you pop the first disc inside your DVD player, he literally takes you by the hand and shows you step-by-step how to conquer virtually ANY Christmas song that you've ever heard...from the classics we all listened to while growing up to some of todays more popular renditions.

"Christmas Keys vol.1" is LOADED with tons of powerful tips, easy-to-do tricks, and techniques that will have you playing like a pro by this Christmas season - GUARANTEED!

In this course, you'll...

...*Learn several variations of each song so you can play these Christmas classics a different way every time!
*Discover the power of "inversions" and how changing one note in your chord can totally alter the way a progression sounds!
*Uncover the secrets to playing an entire song with only three-fingered major chords (...also known as "major triads").
*How to add fuel to your bass by understanding how "power"
chords work in holiday music...
*How to play "Go Tell It On The Mountain" in a churchy praise style! I'm talking about bass lines, runs, fill-ins, and more (...similar to GospelKeysTM 300 and GospelKeysTM 500)!
*From beginning to end: How to play every song, step-by-step, with no guessing (whatsoever) or any information left out!
By the end of this course, you'll have what it takes to fully play all of these Christmas songs by ear - That's a PROMISE!
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Due to the high demand and moderate supply, this incredible offer for Christmas Keys will only be around for a short time.
So...
...Don't waste time!
Start Playing Your Christmas Favorites TODAY!

All the best,
rachel neil
P.S. - You might find more interesting information, techniques, or resources just by clicking around on their website...
Again, visit
http://www.hearandplay.com/at.cgi/437773/ck.html

sample gospel music

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Frederic Chopin

Chopin was one of the greatest composers of music for the piano. He was also a fine pianist, performing concerts and demonstrating to audiences the full range and power of the piano, which in his day was a new and modern instrument.Chopin was born in Poland and he spent most of his life in France.
But he never forgot his native country and he often used rhythms and melodies from Polish folk music in his works.Frederic Chopin was born near Warsaw, Poland, on february 22 1810.
His father was a Frenchman who had settled in Poland; his mother was Polish.
Chopin, like Mozart, first showed his musical genius when as a young child he began to imitate his older sister as she practised on the piano. He was composing musical pieces before he understood how to write them down. By the time he was 8 he gave his first public concert.
He was only 15 when one of his compositions was published.In 1829, when chopin was 19, he went on a concert tour.
He was so well received in Paris that he decided to live there, and he never returned to Poland. However, the folk music of his native land had a great influence on his musical style; rhythms and melodies of two Polish dances, the mazurka and polonaise, can be heard in many of his compositions.

Tchaikovsky

Tchaikovsky was born in Votkinsk, Russia, in 1840. His parents had no particular ambitions for their son to become a musician, but young Peter showed an early love for music. He was given piano lessons at the age of five and within a year he could play better than his teacher.
His mother died when he was fourteen years old and he was greatly saddened by her death.
He began to compose music which, he said, helped to soothe his troubled mind.
By the end of his life, in the late nineteenth century, Peter Illich Tchaikovsky was acknowledged as the greatest living composer.
However, at the beginning of his career, his compositions were not always appreciated. Tchaikovsky's music, which is so popular and familiar today, was at the time considered to be very modern and different.
Some people thought it was too sentimental and emotional. But audiences everywhere soon came to appreciate Tchaikovsky's distinctive musical style, which was full of passion and feeling.

beginner's theory lesson

First thing and easiest thing to learn is that each one of your fingers has it's own number: The thumb is always number 1, the index finger on either hand is 2, your third finger is 3, your ring fingers are 4 and the pinky is 5.

Musical notes are written on a set of five horizontal lines called a staff. In piano music there is 2 staff, they are then called staves. Notes can be written on the lines and in the spaces between the lines. Each note name has a different position on the staff and these note names are actually letters of the alphabet from a-g and starting again at a and so on...

With piano music, the top staff is for the right hand and the bottom staff is for the left hand. The 2 staves are joined with a bracket so you know you're supposed to play both hands at the same time.
When you see numbers above or under notes, they are usually the number finger you're supposed to play that note with.

Music also tells you how long to make each note last. The beats are figured out from a fraction point of view. Imagine a whole pizza being the whole note, you cut it in 4 pieces hence it's 4 beats. If you'd cut the whole note in half, hence the half note counting 2 beats, how about using a quarter of the whole note, hence the quarter note lasting one beat. Music is math!
It can take some time to relate written notes to the keys on your piano but the more you look at music sheet and try to play it, the easier it will get over times.

You'll eventually learn about silences, these signs tells you there are no notes to be played for a certain amount of time, for example the quarter rest is quiet for the time of a quarter note, the half rest is quiet for the time of a half note and so forth....it's pretty straight forward really.
If you have the choices of a few piano teachers around town, I'd probably go for one that you feel easy going and comfortable with. If a teacher has a difficult schedule that doesnt meet yours but has great credentials; I'd say keep on looking because it's actually not important to choose one with great credentials when you need to start with the basics, any teacher will know the basics so pick one that fits your schedule and you get along fine with. If you pursue your studies to the point where you need someone that can teach higher grades, then of course you'll have to shop some more for a more qualified teacher but you'll also pay more... The higher a teacher has gotten in terms of degrees and grades the more she or he is apt to charge.

Good luck and have fun!

funny incident in class

Chandler and I went to the primary school for 11 O'clock this morning to play piano with the primary choir.
The funniest and most unexpected incident happened:
Chandler decided that his diaper was full enough of pee and he took his shoes, socks, pants and then his diaper off!!!
I was in the middle of accompanying the grade 1 choir on the piano and did not notice at first.
Good thing Mrs Steeves excused us so we could go fetch a diaper in the truck.
Go figure... one time I forget the diaper bag in the truck instead of bringint it in the school with us!
I bet my daughter will have heard from this friend or that friend about the details of the incidents, she's actually going to walk into the house any minute now..

volunteering

I've accepted to volunteer for the primary choir of my daughter's school.
It's now been a couple of months I believe and I'm still having a hard time.
I'm now almost 34 years old and have been playing piano since I was 9.
Believe it or not, I find myself getting nervous playing piano in front of a classroom of grade 1 kids!
I don't think the nervousness ever goes away, I just have to be as prepared as I can be and concentrate on my music sheet instead of the stares of those little people!
Speaking of which I should be practicing instead of writting here on my blog!
Somebody needs to kick my lazy butt off my comfortable computer chair!

I have volunteering to do tomorrow, each wednesday actually, and I bring my little Chandler along with me because...well, I'm not about to leave my 3 year old son at home alone. LOL
He's usually good in the classroom, he watches what's happening, and sometimes he crawls under my piano bench to mess with the pedals that I need to press down with my feet!
Other times he like to slap my back as I'm struggling to keep the tune and turn the pages.
It's all been quite a challenge but frankly I'm glad for it because it's making me try harder, is giving me more experience, and I definately need to play in the public since I'm nervous over the slightest thing!
I feel better having confided in you, thanks for listening to my silly worries!
Rachel Neil

Fellow piano players

Dear Fellow Musician,
Have you always wanted to learn to play jazz on the piano but
never had the time or the money...
...Or worst of all spent endless amounts money that you really
didn't have on lessons that were "supposed" to teach you but
left you even further back than where you started?
Well, if this sounds like you, then you should definitely keep
reading. Now listen, you don't have to go to jazz concerts
anymore saying "I wish I could do that." If you want to start
playing jazz by ear right away, I've definitely found that
someone (...and that something) that's going to help you do it.
The guy who I'm talking about is none other than James Wrubel,
one of the front-runners in today's modern jazz era. This man
has been there and back as a professional jazz musician and has
played with some of the top names on the charts today.
With his crazy schedule, I'm still surprised that Hear and Play
Music was able to capture him for literally more than 8 days
and extract so much content to create this new and innovative
Jazz DVD Learning Machine.
This system is completely loaded! In two DVDs and over 2 hours
of step-by-step instruction, he takes you by the hand and shows
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techniques as well as signature soloing secrets that'll have
you playing hundreds of jazz pieces by ear in no time.

Once you have this system in your hands you're going to...

Discover:
- How to quickly and easily form tons of jazz chord patterns
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- How to ensure that no matter what voicings and blues licks you
play, they'll turn heads each and every time!
- The 7 secrets to playing signature solos like a pro from a pro!
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All the best,
rachel neil
P.S. - You might find more interesting information, techniques,
or resources just by clicking around on their website at
http://www.HearandPlay.com/437773