Picking Up the Pieces: A Piano Practice Journal

Y'all! Picture this: It's 90+ degrees, and the Georgia sun has been blazing down on me since noon, and now Chuck Leavell, the legendary Rolling Stones pianist, is hammering out a soul-stirring "Honky Tonk Women" solo right at the piano just feet away. And, readers, I GOT TO MEET HIM! This weekend at the Blind Willie McTell Music Festival in Thomson, GA, was unreal. Lots of great performances, and then there was Chuck—his show was phenomenal, and he was so kind when Dan and I randomly wandered to the artists' area to say hi! Goodness, I am a sight with that sunburn. I couldn't stop smiling all day after this pic! Chuck has been around for much longer than I've been even listening to rock & roll, so I guess I'm a bit of a latecomer. But I got to make up for some lost time this weekend! Here he is playing a bit of "Honky Tonk Women." The solo starts at about 1:04. [Ugh, ugh, ugh. The video won't upload. Copyright issues, probably. Will t...

If you were reading my blog back in January/February, you might remember that those were heady days of trying to figure out what learning resources I wanted to use. Here's an update on that. Option 1: Private Classical Teacher This was the obvious first choice because ... well, it's always the obvious first choice. Every time I "get back into piano," I immediately look for a good teacher. And I've found some great ones: Deborah  worked some serious magic with my technique for a few years starting in 2004, and Carol was the stickler I needed to bring even more precision and musicality to my playing in 2019-2020. But this time around, I wasn't sure I wanted to spend the time or money for an hour a week of lessons, along with the hour or more a day for practicing. Sure, I wanted to play classical music, but I also wanted to (finally) learn other styles, primarily jazz, blues, ragtime, and gospel. Option 2: Private Jazz Teacher So, I wondered, should I find a jaz...