By request - Nights in White Satin by the Moody Blues. Tried to change up the sound a little bit by letting the arpeggio stand by itself as much as I could in place of vocals. It's new, so it's a little choppy in places but overall I think it does the song justice.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Day 7
Got a bit of practice time in tonight, but I haven't had a chance to learn any of the awesome suggestions you posted on Facebook. I ended up rocking out a couple songs I'd already learned with "The Way it Is" and "Let it Be". I'll be posting those shortly.
Learned "Up All Night" and "Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows. Learned an old Irish song called Skye Boat Song - it's on the album we play to get Aimee to go to sleep at night.
Also tonight, I tried experimenting with ways to get a mic working (without buying a mixing board). Not having luck thus far.
Enjoy! Keep the requests coming.
Learned "Up All Night" and "Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows. Learned an old Irish song called Skye Boat Song - it's on the album we play to get Aimee to go to sleep at night.
Also tonight, I tried experimenting with ways to get a mic working (without buying a mixing board). Not having luck thus far.
Enjoy! Keep the requests coming.
Monday, September 3, 2012
The last six days...
Some introduction to the last six days is in order to give you the proper context of where I am now. Bear with me as future posts will be far shorter.
So I got this keyboard last Saturday. My wife's grandmother died recently, and we went from Dallas, TX to the middle of Alabama to collect some things before the estate sale. I was really excited about one item in particular. My wife Lisa had been telling me for awhile that there was an electronic keyboard there; one her grandmother had purchased for her but never given her.
I dabbled a bit in piano back when I was 18. I didn't know any chords, but I could play from memory. I knew the opening riff to "The Way it Is" and actually made a little arpeggio song, but I quickly grew frustrated and I hadn't touched a keyboard since. But, still, I was pretty excited about this keyboard.
My trip to and from Alabama lasted exactly 24 hours and five minutes. I left my apartment at 8:00 on Saturday morning and few to Montgomery from DFW. I met my wife and my daughter and we drove two hours to get to her grandmother's house. I watched my one year old daughter for about 6 hours, we went to dinner and then we hit the road back to Dallas at 8:00 PM. We drove all night and arrived back at our apartment at 8:05 on Sunday morning. I unloaded everything and then slept a good portion of the day.
Monday and Tuesday were all work. I work as a programmer for FedEx Office. Had a couple of long days where I just came home and relaxed. Wednesday night, however, as my daughter got out of the bath, I pulled out the keyboard and started to play it a bit.
I've played guitar for 16 years now. I can't read music, but I do know quite a bit about chords. Major, Minor, 7th, Sus2, Sus4... I know what it means. You don't play guitar and learn songs without figuring out a whole bunch of chords. When I sat down in front of the piano on Wednesday night, something clicked.
The major root chords came first. They're pretty much common sense. Once you know C, you can pretty much interpret it to the rest of the chords. Minor is easy too, just move the middle finger down half a step. I found myself shakily rocking out Radiohead's "Creep", always one of my wife's favorite songs on guitar. G B C Cm. I was using one finger for bass.
The limitations of the keyboard became apparent quickly. I believe it's from the 90's. It had a huge bank of midi instruments and beats (100 of each). However, as they were midi, they all sounded terrible. The keyboard itself couldn't handle any more than three notes at a time. The fourth note seemed to overload it, and it would play a random note that was out of key for the bass. It required some improvisation, but I found I could make it sound decent.
I stayed up playing that keyboard for four hours that night. I bought an app for my iPad that showed me piano chords and scales. I used this to learn how easy the Sus4 and Sus2 chords were. Then 7th, then Add9. I found that I was learning piano faster than I had ever learned anything in my life. I'd always wanted to learn it but my previous experience left me sour. I didn't think it was possible. Picking it up again 14 years later, it just felt right. It felt effortless, and I fell in love fast and hard. I played for four hours that night and went to bed late.
The next day, I played for my wife. I had learned "Downeaster Alexa" by Billy Joel. I freaking love that song. I couldn't play it without mistakes, but I could do a pretty good job at it. It flowed pretty well, I had no problem changing chords mechanically or arpeggiating. She enjoyed it quite a bit and wondered how I had picked it up so quickly. I stayed up late again that night and learned some more songs. I learned "The Way it Is" again, and I re-arranged a few of my favorite guitar songs: "Cough Syrup" by Young the Giant being one.
Friday now. Learning more and more. I'm getting better at chord transitions, but the keyboard at this point was really getting in the way. With whatever I played, I could only use one finger for bass, and if it overlapped at all with the chord, I'd get a horrible sound I didn't intend.
Saturday - I started learning the bulk of Bohemian Rhapsody. Started with the chords and moved on to being able to play it pretty accurately by ear. I'm still getting tripped up a lot. My fingers and my brain aren't moving at quite the same speed. I'm having moments however, where I just let the mental part go and play by feel, and those always turn out well. I really need a new keyboard however - I've completely outgrown this one.
Sunday - I've impressed my wife enough that she lets me buy a new keyboard! Shopping for keyboards online, I find the Williams Allegro, a mid range keyboard for $299. Today happens to be my anniversary - so my wife, unbeknownst to me goes to Guitar Center and goes shopping for a keyboard for me! She doesn't have any luck finding the Williams but calls me and tells me that I'm welcome to go pick one out. I head down to Guitar Center and find the Williams, but they're having a massive Labor Day sale. There's a Casio 120 out of the box - a $700 keyboard for $359. They have the same keyboard on sale new for $299. After playing it and talking to the staff, I decide on that one and buy it, along with a sustain pedal and a stand.
I was looking for a keyboard that was full length (88 full-size keys, same as a piano), and sounded great. I didn't care about anything else - sampling, accompaniment, none of that mattered. I got a great keyboard for $299. Hooked up to my Logitech THX sound system, it sounds amazing. The possibilities are now limitless.
Monday - Learned "Let it be", "Where the Streets Have No Name" by U2, "Up all Night" and "Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows, came up with a better version of "Cough Syrup" and started reading music. That pretty much brings you up to speed.
This blog is about my journey on something I seem to have a knack for. Maybe even something I was meant to do. I'm looking suggestions from you for good piano songs, or even songs you'd like to hear on the piano. If I like the song, I'll upload my first take on it.
So I got this keyboard last Saturday. My wife's grandmother died recently, and we went from Dallas, TX to the middle of Alabama to collect some things before the estate sale. I was really excited about one item in particular. My wife Lisa had been telling me for awhile that there was an electronic keyboard there; one her grandmother had purchased for her but never given her.
I dabbled a bit in piano back when I was 18. I didn't know any chords, but I could play from memory. I knew the opening riff to "The Way it Is" and actually made a little arpeggio song, but I quickly grew frustrated and I hadn't touched a keyboard since. But, still, I was pretty excited about this keyboard.
My trip to and from Alabama lasted exactly 24 hours and five minutes. I left my apartment at 8:00 on Saturday morning and few to Montgomery from DFW. I met my wife and my daughter and we drove two hours to get to her grandmother's house. I watched my one year old daughter for about 6 hours, we went to dinner and then we hit the road back to Dallas at 8:00 PM. We drove all night and arrived back at our apartment at 8:05 on Sunday morning. I unloaded everything and then slept a good portion of the day.
Monday and Tuesday were all work. I work as a programmer for FedEx Office. Had a couple of long days where I just came home and relaxed. Wednesday night, however, as my daughter got out of the bath, I pulled out the keyboard and started to play it a bit.
I've played guitar for 16 years now. I can't read music, but I do know quite a bit about chords. Major, Minor, 7th, Sus2, Sus4... I know what it means. You don't play guitar and learn songs without figuring out a whole bunch of chords. When I sat down in front of the piano on Wednesday night, something clicked.
The major root chords came first. They're pretty much common sense. Once you know C, you can pretty much interpret it to the rest of the chords. Minor is easy too, just move the middle finger down half a step. I found myself shakily rocking out Radiohead's "Creep", always one of my wife's favorite songs on guitar. G B C Cm. I was using one finger for bass.
The limitations of the keyboard became apparent quickly. I believe it's from the 90's. It had a huge bank of midi instruments and beats (100 of each). However, as they were midi, they all sounded terrible. The keyboard itself couldn't handle any more than three notes at a time. The fourth note seemed to overload it, and it would play a random note that was out of key for the bass. It required some improvisation, but I found I could make it sound decent.
I stayed up playing that keyboard for four hours that night. I bought an app for my iPad that showed me piano chords and scales. I used this to learn how easy the Sus4 and Sus2 chords were. Then 7th, then Add9. I found that I was learning piano faster than I had ever learned anything in my life. I'd always wanted to learn it but my previous experience left me sour. I didn't think it was possible. Picking it up again 14 years later, it just felt right. It felt effortless, and I fell in love fast and hard. I played for four hours that night and went to bed late.
The next day, I played for my wife. I had learned "Downeaster Alexa" by Billy Joel. I freaking love that song. I couldn't play it without mistakes, but I could do a pretty good job at it. It flowed pretty well, I had no problem changing chords mechanically or arpeggiating. She enjoyed it quite a bit and wondered how I had picked it up so quickly. I stayed up late again that night and learned some more songs. I learned "The Way it Is" again, and I re-arranged a few of my favorite guitar songs: "Cough Syrup" by Young the Giant being one.
Friday now. Learning more and more. I'm getting better at chord transitions, but the keyboard at this point was really getting in the way. With whatever I played, I could only use one finger for bass, and if it overlapped at all with the chord, I'd get a horrible sound I didn't intend.
Saturday - I started learning the bulk of Bohemian Rhapsody. Started with the chords and moved on to being able to play it pretty accurately by ear. I'm still getting tripped up a lot. My fingers and my brain aren't moving at quite the same speed. I'm having moments however, where I just let the mental part go and play by feel, and those always turn out well. I really need a new keyboard however - I've completely outgrown this one.
Sunday - I've impressed my wife enough that she lets me buy a new keyboard! Shopping for keyboards online, I find the Williams Allegro, a mid range keyboard for $299. Today happens to be my anniversary - so my wife, unbeknownst to me goes to Guitar Center and goes shopping for a keyboard for me! She doesn't have any luck finding the Williams but calls me and tells me that I'm welcome to go pick one out. I head down to Guitar Center and find the Williams, but they're having a massive Labor Day sale. There's a Casio 120 out of the box - a $700 keyboard for $359. They have the same keyboard on sale new for $299. After playing it and talking to the staff, I decide on that one and buy it, along with a sustain pedal and a stand.
I was looking for a keyboard that was full length (88 full-size keys, same as a piano), and sounded great. I didn't care about anything else - sampling, accompaniment, none of that mattered. I got a great keyboard for $299. Hooked up to my Logitech THX sound system, it sounds amazing. The possibilities are now limitless.
Monday - Learned "Let it be", "Where the Streets Have No Name" by U2, "Up all Night" and "Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows, came up with a better version of "Cough Syrup" and started reading music. That pretty much brings you up to speed.
This blog is about my journey on something I seem to have a knack for. Maybe even something I was meant to do. I'm looking suggestions from you for good piano songs, or even songs you'd like to hear on the piano. If I like the song, I'll upload my first take on it.
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