Hobbies

When the piano was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori in Italy in the early 1700s, it was a revelation! The instrument that preceded it, the harpsichord, was much less expressive. No matter how forcefully one pressed a key, the volume remained the same…

You’re a Boomer, so what? So you’re retired, or at least retirement is on your radar. Studies have shown that the average retired person has 7.5 hours of leisure time every day. It’s a beautiful thing if you’re a golfer or live in a climate where you can putter…

It’s Lesson 8 and today we’re debuting a new note Bass F in the song Goodnight Ladies. Remember the song Goodnight Ladies from the musical The Music Man? I loved the original film starring Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett…

Beethoven advised his students to work hard at learning how to play music, but also to notice the profound beauty of the music, and to connect to it emotionally. He believed that music could elevate humans to the level of gods!

In music there are stronger beats and weaker beats. In 4/4 time (4 beats per measure), beat 1 is generally the strongest beat and beat 3 is the second strongest. This point is well illustrated in this video. When conductor Gustavo Dudamel turns around…

The focus for Lesson 5 is reading Bass G. I showed you how to play Left Hand ‘G’s in Lesson 4 and in today’s lessons you will be reading that G note in the Bass Staff! You will play Bass G in The Irish Washerwoman, a fun and popular traditional Irish jig…

I love the idea of learning something then expanding and building upon what we have learned. This lesson we are working on p.20 in Upper Hands Piano, BOOK 1. After learning the song, we’re going to add some elements to make it more fun and creative…

I was recently talking with a friend in her 60s who told me that she was considering auditioning to join a choir. She explained to me, “My voice is getting weak. I just don’t have the power I used to have. Do you think that singing in a choir…

This week I wanted to talk a little about 3 health issues that might be affecting your piano playing: Issues with Vision, Hearing and Arthritis. Watch the video below for a discussion about what to do if you experience impairments or arthritic pain that range…

Hello Sixty and Me Piano Learners! I hope you are enjoying taking your first musical steps in learning how to play the piano with me. Today I introduce some more basic piano concepts, and we will also learn to read and play your first five notes!