I took the plunge... now I either sink or swim!

Having finally worked through the Corelli Sarabanda (which was rather challenging) I decided to take the plunge and get the Grade Two piano book yesterday.

After working through my scales and arpeggios this morning I selected my first piece - Allegro Grazioso - Second Movement from Sonatina in C, op. 57 No. 1 by Albert Biehl. I love the long titles and catalogue numbers, it makes me feel like I'm playing real music for a change! If this were a drum book the piece would be called 'A Stick in Time' or another similarly bad pun. Because the drum set and drum education are still fairly recent musical developments, the pieces that beginners learn are often written specifically for the method books and grades. It is a refreshing change to play real music by real composers who probably even wore those big white wigs and everything.

I pleasantly surprised myself by covering the first page (half of the piece) in a fairly short session this morning. The piece is definitely more involved than the Grade One material but I find that my reading is improving, which is speeding up the learning process. I'm playing the music a lot slower than the intended tempo but I feel I have made a really strong start into the piece.

I recorded The Abbey Road Sessions last night on TV as I had heard that Herbie Hancock's band would be on (featuring Vinnie Colaiuta on drums.) The tunes were taken from the River album which is a bit more relaxed and low-key than my usual listening material. The programme makers included a short excerpt of the band playing some really exciting music for a few seconds (which sounded amazing and ended with Vinnie jumping up from the drum kit in delight) and then went on to include two far more pedestrian tunes - snooze. I would have liked to have seen one tune including burning, virtuosic, edge of the seat improvisation to contrast with the tasteful, sympathetic, musical stuff. In all seriousness though I liked the fact that they actually put Rascal Flatts, Kate Nash and Herbie Hancock on the same bill. I consider this a positive step forward though UK broadcasters seem to be far far behind the rest of Europe in the diversity of their music programming.

Late nights, early mornings and piano

This morning the sun woke me up fairly early and I headed straight to the keyboard. I'm still running through the scales and arpeggios in rotation and starting to gradually work them up the metronome.

Once I was fully awake I played through the Corelli Sarabanda. As soon as I could play the tricky second half of the piece I tried the whole thing through at crotchet = 40. I managed to get through the piece without major problems so I spent a while working it up through the traditional metronome markings. So far today I covered 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60 and then stumbled at 63.

Yesterday's listening was Hank Mobley's Roll Call... a lot. Another really good album. Oddly enough I prefer the rest of the album to the title track (which we play in Alter Ego.) Maybe I'm listening to that one with drummer's ears too much instead of just enjoying the music.

I may have to go for a long walk in the country today. It is fairly decent weather outside and I need to work off last nights steak, chips and salad!

Two weeks on...

It is two weeks since I bought my NP-30 and started down the piano path - an ideal time for reflection.

I am really pleased with my progress so far. In the past I knew what the notes on a piano were and I knew what notes were in which scale or chord. I knew how chord progressions 'work' and so on but in terms of actually playing a piece... well simply put - I couldn't!

I have now worked through most of the pieces in the 2009/2010 Grade One Book, a couple from the ABRSM jazz book and a couple in the 2007/2008 book. I'm getting through the material quicker now and starting to play the pieces much more musically (I think.)

I've found that whilst I'm off work for the Summer I go straight to the keyboard when I get up and end up doing about an hour. I do the scales/arpeggios for the day while I wake up. Today mas D major and A Harmonic Minor scales and F major arpeggios. By the time my hands and brain are working I move into the newest piece I am working on at a very slow, meditative tempo. By the time I look at the clock an hour has usually gone by. Its then on to breakfast and coffee, usually a game of tennis/walk at the beach and then back to the keyboard (and drum pad) for a few shorter sessions where I run through material I have already covered rather than learning new things. Its all working out very well so far. Not sure how things will go when I return to work though...

Last night I tried to recreate a dish I ate in a restaurant last week. I really liked how it turned out. Oyster Mushroom and Pancetta rissotto cooked with white wine and served with salad. Now that's some good eating!

Stockton Festival/Alter Ego/More Piano

Stockton

Yesterday I performed with Alter Ego as part of the Stockton International Riverside Fringe Festival. I felt that we played really well, especially given that there were three deps in the band! Once the first tune was out of the way I started to feel at ease and enjoy things more - the band is definitely relaxing into the material and there was some nice interaction and good soloing all round. Luckily the performance was recorded by several camcorders so I had the chance to watch a little footage last night. I was pleased to get this kind of feedback. It was especially interesting hearing back some of my own soloing which at the time I thought was terrible. It turns out it sounds fine.

More than one person said that they enjoyed my Art Blakey-isms... which is curious because although people say it quite a bit I've never consciously tried to 'cop' any of Blakey's stuff. I do however have a huge number of CDs with Art Blakey on so I guess it happens by some kind of musical osmosis. Either way I'm absolutely more than happy to take the compliment. If I can get a few more comparisons to Philly Joe Jones, Tony Williams and Vinnie Colaiuta I'll be even happier!

Hopefully some clips will make it onto youtube or www.myspace.com/alterego septet sometime soon. It also looks as though we have picked up a couple more gigs in the next few months - all good, positive stuff.

Piano

I bought myself the 2007/2008 Grade One Piano Pieces on Friday and started off by working through the Mozart Allegro in F (K. 1c)
I was pleased with the fact that I got through the piece fairly quickly. It isn't quite up to allegro speed yet but my reading/technique seems to be improving. This morning I started working through Corelli's Sarabanda which is a little trickier but is coming together nicely.
I've started to practise scales/arpeggios in rotation. Each day I do one scale and one arpeggio - lots of repetitions. Next day, next scale and so on. I'm also increasing the tempo slightly each time I come back round to C major.

I'm currently listening to a lot of Steps Ahead - Smokin' in the Pit and Hank Mobley's Soul Station.
Smokin in the Pit has fantastic tunes and great playing all round whereas I think Soul Station is one of those rare 'perfect' CDs - an essential lesson in how to play small group jazz. Its incredible how Art Blakey seems to play hardly anything most of the time and still sound fantastic. He takes a very relaxed approach when compared with his Jazz Messengers playing. Inspirational stuff!

I'm also reading The Art of Practicing by Madeline Bruser. Its well worth a read.
Other good texts I've gone through recently include Victor Wooten's The Music Lesson. It is a little new-age here and there but there is some great food for thought in there. I also read through Daniel Levitin's This is Your Brain on Music - another fascinating book. Check them all out!