Thursday, July 18, 2013

The Truth about Genius - Quotes from Great Composers

Johann Sebastian Bach - "There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself."

Franz Joseph Haydn - "Young people can learn from my example that something can come from nothing. What I have become is the result of my hard efforts."

 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - "Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius."

 Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky - "I sit down to the piano regularly at nine-o'clock in the morning and Mesdames les Muses have learned to be on time for that rendezvous."

Johannes Brahms - "Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind."



Ludwig van Beethoven - "To play without passion is inexcusable!"

 Frederic Chopin - "Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art."

 George Frideric Handel - "Whether I was in my body or out of my body as I wrote it I know not. God knows."

Ludwig van Beethoven - "To play without passion is inexcusable!"


 Frederic Chopin - "Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art."

 Felix Mendelssohn - "Even if, in one or other of them, I had a particular word or words in mind, I would not tell anyone, because the same word means different things to different people. Only the songs say the same thing, arouse the same feeling, in everyone - a feeling that can't be expressed in words."


 Franz Schubert - "Some people come into our lives, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never the same."

Friday, July 12, 2013

ALL Music symbols Source Document



Here you go, if you are in a pinch, and have no way other than drawing and taking a picture, you can snip and paste an obscure symbol off of this chart.   Since I like using noteflight.com for typing up music, or at least get a start on there, I have not used this "music symbols source document" yet.

I've played from a lot of sheet music, folks, and I can tell you, about 3/4 of these symbols you'll never encounter! Unless your specialty is modern atonal and avant garde instrumental compositions from obscure academic composers. 

Monday, June 24, 2013

Dealing with Broken Pianos

 
Here are two sites to help: 
http://www.amadeuspianos.com/faq.htm#faq12
 http://www.balaams-ass.com/piano/chap-4.htm


It was neat to read some of the information from these sites.  For example, I never would have guessed that the best pianos were manufactured from 1920 to 1960.  Now, in the last couple of decades, the quality has mounted significantly.  

A peak in the life of a tuner:

Cut out the noise:
I tuned recently in a nice home. The folks there were not noisy because of rebellious teen agers, nor because of fighting New Joisey oldly weds (for noise, they is the woist). This home had a cockatoo that screamed a flat E all the way through the tuning, the lady of the house tried to vacuum the house in C# while I tuned, and the daughter turned on musical cartoons while I was trying to do the treble.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

World's Largest Piano

Twice the size of a modern concert grand.
19 feet long.
85% built from recycled materials.

I'm impressed.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Dvorak's Largo - Again

I went to the Piano Guys channel to find out what they've put out lately.... and guess what?
 I can't get enough of the Piano Guys.  Maybe someday I'll buy their stuff...?




Sunday, May 19, 2013

Oh yes! Dvorak's Largo with Hymn Lyrics

It was meant to be: sweet words for this sweet classical melody.  So many hymns are thus set, and how amazing they are!



Dvorak's Largo -  Goin' Home
This has been added to dear daughter's lullaby playlist!  
And by this I discovered Sissel... how lovely she sings!

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

I'm BACK!

It's been an intense few months, so it took two very special inspirations to restart my blogging.  First, a former student (moved to another teacher when I  moved to VA) performed and I wanted to share it:


Friday, March 15, 2013

On the Chopin Block

My darling husband is always sending me sweet messages through any and all media.  And he sends funny ones to make me smile, too! :)

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Listening...

The exquisite Tampa Oratorio Society is performing this choral work by Faure in March, so I decided to go listen.  Quite amazing!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Hymn Conceptions by Daniel Joiner

Daniel Joiner | Hymn ConceptionsBy a friend from USF School of Music



"Hymn Conceptions" presents the timeless hymns of the Christian tradition in a variety of new musical settings for solo piano, including Jazz, Blues, Gospel, Irish, Bossa Nova, and Classical.
Genre: Spiritual: Instrumental Gospel