Picking Up the Pieces: A Piano Practice Journal

When I went to Facebook this morning, I saw that a pianist and singer named Gordon Mote will be performing at a local church tomorrow night. I'd never heard of him, so I went to YouTube to see if I might be interested in seeing his performance. Wow. I'm going. Not only is he a great pianist, but he's hilarious. And he's blind. How can I miss this? I may drag my teenage daughter with me because I don't want to go by myself. Here is just one of his videos. There are many more. I've watched about three so far, and will be listening to him as I work for the rest of the day.

Earlier this year, pianist and Scott Joplin expert Scott Kirby did a lecture/performance here in Augusta. (I wrote about it at the end of this blog post .) He played quite a few whole Joplin rags, as well as snippets of others. He played "Solace" in full, and I loved it. Here is a YouTube video of him playing "Solace" back in 2008. I seem to remember that he played it at a slightly slower tempo when I saw him, but I could be wrong. I just remember that he played it with great sensitivity, and the audience, including me, was very moved by the performance.

Here is the Music With Ben pianist (I'm guessing his name is Ben) playing the Jingle Bells ragtime piece I am learning. He does a nice job of it! I particularly like the flourish when he stomps on that low "C" in the crossed-hands part. Enjoy!

 I know I've mentioned the masterclass here a few times, but I don't think I've said much about it. It's going to be conducted by pianist Orion Weiss, who will be performing with the Augusta Symphony the night before (Sept. 27). Which reminds me, I need to get tickets.  OK. I just took a break from writing this to buy a couple of symphony tickets. $158 -- ouch! I could have gotten balcony seats for just $60, but I'm so deaf and my eyes are bad. Anyway, the deed is done. So, four area students will be participating in this masterclass. An 11-year-old, a 16-year-old, a 17-year-old, and me. I saw the pieces being played, and one is Liszt's Consolation 3, which I played back in high school. It was one of my first "two-against-three" pieces. Two of the pieces seem to be intermediate/early-advanced, and I think the Consolation and my Chopin are probably comparable, as far as level. So it should be a good little masterclass. Mr. Weiss will also perform at the...

When you're a pianist, it's good to have other pianists who can inspire you with their skills and style. For the past few months, Jonny May's video of Bare Necessities has been the one I've returned to again and again as I work on his wonderful arrangement. I want to be able to play that well, and I want to be able to play with that much enjoyment. I do enjoy playing, but I tend to adopt a "stern schoolmarm" face whenever I play, particularly if I'm having to concentrate hard on something (like Bare Necessities). I dream of one day being so laid-back with this piece that I can just look and feel happy and joyful as I play. Recently I discovered a new pianist: Matt Gerhard . He seems to be in Indiana, and I guess he plays for a church, though he's also put some music on Spotify. He's an organist and a pianist ... and oh, what a pianist! He play exactly the kind of soulful, exuberant gospel music that I want to play. I've been watching his video...

Here is a wonderful quote from Chopin from the book Chopin: Pianist and Teacher , as read by pianist and teacher Josh Wright: The passage was written by a student of Chopin's, regarding how Chopin responded when the student felt inhibited and unable to express himself (herself?) at the piano. "With what delicate nuances of behavior he adapts his own being with that of another," they write about Chopin as a teacher. "Imagine you're at the conservatoire ," Chopin said, "listening to the most beautiful performance in the world. Make yourself want to hear it, and then you'll hear yourself playing it, right here." He told the student, "I see that timidity and lack of self-confidence form a kind of armor around you, but through this armor I perceive something else that you don't always dare to express, and so you deprive us all." "Be bold and confident in your own powers and strengths." There are good reminders, from the mouth...

So, almost seven years ago exactly, I posted on my old blog about "reclaiming my musical self" ... and the similarities made me think I've been on a great, big cycle and am finally coming back around to where I was then. Of course, then I was working on guitar and voice as well as piano. But on the piano, I was working to get my ragtime less sloppy, and I mentioned wanting to finally learn "Linus and Lucy." Which are two things I've blogged about here recently! So, yes, I'm living in cycles. Last night while looking for videos of people playing "Elite Syncopations" (which is what I want to learn next, after I've de-sloppified "Maple Leaf Rag," "The Entertainer," and "Solace"), I discovered a great YouTube channel by pianist Kristen Mosca . She loves ragtime and Disney songs, and many of her videos combine the two. She also has a TikTok page, but I'm not on TikTok. Anyway, enjoy her videos on YouTube! Here ...