Piano Tuner: Epiloge
My fiance posted this story about his experience with our piano tuner, Rick Pearson, today. He left out the part where he forgot he scheduled it, didn’t recognize Rick approaching our building and feared a little for his life when he said his name, and also was in his pajamas for this whole experience, haha. Rick is a great person & an excellent tuner! My fiance is a little silly and also great. :)
The man works on our 1940’s piano for an hour. It sounds a lot better. When he is done, he calls me in to play it. I play it and ask a few questions. It’s old and makes some weird sounds that would require some extensive repair. Nothing major though.
After he asks me about my life. He eyes my saxophones and says, “Would you mind playing for me?”
So I get one out and play a few bars of Georgia on My Mind. I’m a classical musician mostly, but I can get around the changes for Georgia. He smiles.
After that we walk about my life and my fiancée. He packs up his gear and prepares to leave. I ask him for the total. He says, “I have been very blessed in my life. I am now in the business of giving back to people who are just starting. Your playing was a payment in return for my service.” Then, through my protests, he put on his shoes and left.
I wish I played better.
What's a record?
Student: “What are those in the black cases?”
Me: “They’re records. Have you seen a record player before?”
Another student: “No, those are something they used in the olden days.”
All of my students were born in the current millenium, so I wonder how many of them have seen cassette tapes before. I’ve mostly used my iPod, which is an amazing tool for elementary general music classes! But now they’re begging me to hear what a record sounds like…
October highlights
Halloween provided ample opportunities for vocal exploration, including lots of ghost sounds, and expanding the movement vocabulary - a student added “waddle” last week during the pumpkin patch chant, hehe.
One first grade class created a game for our cat/mouse song, which lent itself to assessing tonal patterns. I used it with all of the first grades and it was so successful that they were asking me on Halloween parade day to play it.
We started Learning Sequence Activities, which I was nervous about, but the students are doing well as long as they know exactly how long they need to sit for. I am also starting to see how much more help they need exploring their singing voices.
My record keeping expanded to the point where one day, various clipboards and binders covered half of the table at the front of the room, and I ended up knocking three things in the garbage by mistake in one class. I have since organized it better, and I am getting more insight to my students’ various needs.
November will bring first grade informances, or informal performances, and much more vocal exploration! We are taking pretend “walks in the woods” starting next week, I can’t wait to see what animals and sounds they discover!
Honeysuckle Rose performed by Sarah Vaughan (1964)
I came across this while doing a female jazz vocalist listening project for my voice lessons. YouTube has been a great resource for this project, though I’d love to know where this video is from. Anybody know what “SWE 1964” is?
According to this PBS biography of Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald called her “the world’s greatest singing talent.” Her parents were amateur musicians and she was an organist and vocal soloist at her church when she was a preteen. After winning first prize for an amateur night at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, she went on to sing with jazz greats Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and many more. Her winning performance at the Apollo Theater was less than 10 years after Ella Fitzgerald came onto the scene in the same venue - sounds kind of like the American Idol of the 30s & 40s, doesn’t it?
Stimulus aided teachers, laborers - msnbc.com
In Michigan, where officials said 19,500 jobs have been saved or created, three out of four were in education.
Will these jobs still be around next year? Schools are still facing major deficits and cuts…
“Motherless Child” from John Scofield’s album “Piety Street” (2009).
This album of gospel music reimagined by a great jazz guitarist is a perfect way to unwind from a long day of work! John Cleary on vocals, George Porter, Jr. on bass, and Ricky Fataar on drums.
An honest Kindergarten opinion
This week, a particularly inquisitive Kindergarten student told me he thought that the activity I was leading was boring! The class was echoing 4-beat patterns following a silly rhythm chant. We talked about how that could be rephrased in a kind way, then I said that it might be more interesting to do individual patterns. When I went to give the “this is boring” student an individual pattern, I was prepared for an eye roll, but instead he created his own pattern! It was not perfect by any means, but I was taken aback by this unprompted response and I am excited by the windows into my students’ individual musicianship that pattern instruction will allow.
In other Kindergarten news, one student asked me where my bed was this week. She was shocked to learn that I did not in fact live in the school building, but at an apartment out of town. :P
Alicia de Larrocha performs “Andaluza” from “Danzas Españolas”
I was inspired to play a few of these pieces after listening to de Larrocha’s performances of them a few years ago. She passed away yesterday evening at the age of 86. According to a New York Times article, this great interpreter had a dramatic start to her piano playing endeavors:
Ms. de Larrocha began to demand piano lessons when she was 3, after visiting her aunt as she taught students. At the keyboard on her own, Ms. de Larrocha imitated what she had seen her aunt’s students do, and impressed her aunt sufficiently that she took Ms. de Larrocha to Marshall. He was less encouraging. He said it was too early to start lessons, and suggested that Ms. de Larrocha be kept away from the piano. Ms. de Larrocha said that once her aunt locked the instrument, she banged her head on the floor until Marshall relented and began to teach her.
Annoying Music: Beatles Cover Songs (NPR)
Speaking of popular tunes…
The Annoying Music Show is hosted by Jim Nayder on Chicago Public Radio. Click here to view annoying holiday, patriotic, campaign, Elvis, and Eurotrash (?) music.
Popular tunes
I’ve been reworking these at the piano a little bit:
- “What a Feeling” from Flashdance, performed by Irene Cara and written by Giorgio Miroder with lyrics by Keith Forsey and Irene Cara
- “Crazy” as performed by Gnarls Barkley, written by Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo.
- “Halo” as performed by Beyonce Knowles, written by Ryan Tedder, Evan Bogart, and Beyonce.
I like to add some color to the harmony and change some voicings. Maybe some day I’ll have the guts to share it…
