End of Summer and What Happened Over the Summer

Seriously! What happened to summer? It seems like 2019 just started and then suddenly summer is over. School starts up and feels like summer consisted of about a week and then we are back into downhill slide of the end of 2019. Each year it seems like summer moves faster and faster. Whatever I can do to make time feel like it is moving slower would be good for this next year because this year is flying.

The end of summer is marked by school starting, football games, and the push for teams in baseball to make the playoffs, but it is also the mark of Labor Day. I recall as a kid when Labor Day would arrive it always felt like the end of summer and the focus would turn only to school. The end of summer makes me want to remember what happened over the summer and possibly make it feel like time did not pass in an instant of a week.

I attended graduation from Washburn University for my nephew Spencer. I was proud to have him graduate from Washburn. The same month I attended the wedding of another nephew Brian. A beautiful service and a lot of fun at the reception. The same weekend that Brian was married, Carrie was in a play (her first) that ran a three day weekend. I missed opening night of her play but attended the next two performances. I could not have been more proud of Carrie. She had so much fun doing the play. I hope she is able to have the chance to do future plays as I cannot wait to see her perform again.

May also brought with it the end of my spring semester class. I am closing in on the end of the master's program. I did end up taking a class over the summer that proved to be a lot of work, as all the courses have been, but I think doing the course over the summer also helped to make the summer seem to fly. I take two more classes and then I will graduate with a master's degree. I cannot wait and while summer seems like it has been dragging, this process seems to be taking a longtime.

June started and Carrie was asked to be in a fund raiser for Topeka Civic Theater the "Art of Murder". She was excited to take part in the one night performance. I was far along in my class that had started and had a paper due, so I was unable to attend. I am hopeful that future plays that Carrie will be in I will be able to attend. June also brought another wedding with my nephew Patrick getting married. A beautiful wedding and fun reception, the whole family was able to attend and celebrate their marriage. Talking about time moving quickly, it seems crazy to think that I have two nephews that are now married.

July really flew by as I continued to work on my class. Class was due to end the middle of July, so a lot of reading, discussion boards, and papers to complete helped to make July skip by in a blink of an eye. The end of July we had scheduled a trip to Oklahoma and Texas for a vacation. Oklahoma was for a business trip for me. We had a good time stopping in Oklahoma City, OK for one night. Did some sight seeing, ate well, and left the next day to drive to Dallas. We then spent the next eight days visiting, having fun, and enjoying the company of our friends Javier and Corrie. Always fun to spend time with friends.

Our vacation ran from July 29 - August 6. After arriving back from vacation,  I found myself immediately back in the thick of trying to get prepared for classes at Washburn. No, not my class to start, but the start of the semester. Again, classes starting certainly makes the feeling of summer ending seem final and then suddenly here we are almost a month later with Labor Day on Monday and it really feels like summer is over. Sure, we might have more hots days, but summer is done. Now we prepare for football, fantasy football, end of baseball, and soon basketball will be starting.

All I want is for time to move a little slower as we finish out 2019. Making time to read for enjoyment, taking a break from the business that is life, and making sure to relax will help me to focus on slowing down the feeling of time flying by and enjoy being in the now. This is my goal as we finish out the year.

Where Did the Summer Go?

What a busy summer. Classes have already started for the fall semester. Seems like the summer just started. Seems to be what I hear everyone saying about where the summer went. It was a busy summer which made it fly by fast!

I had actually planned on posting a update over the summer and making it plans for the summer. Well, that did not happen and here we are almost to the end of August. Wow! So, to provide some updates from the summer months here we go.

The spring semester ended and I passed my class. Second class in the Communication and Leadership master program. Doing weekly postings and various papers for eight weeks kept me plenty busy.

Target Field for the Twins vs. Royals game on Friday, May 19, 2017

About two weeks after the semester was over, I went on a road trip to Minneapolis, MN for a bachelor party weekend. Erin and Greg wedding date set for June 10. We did a road trip in a van to Minneapolis on Friday, May 19 and we planning to be there for two Royals games through Sunday. As it turned out, we were only able to attend one game on Friday night. We had a blast... even though the Royals lost. Sunday we spent the day eating, drinking, and having a great time.

We had a lot of great beers and a  lot of fun that weekend. I will remember it forever. I was honored that Greg asked me to be his best man. I will admit, I was a bit nervous about giving a speech in the upcoming weeks. I had plans to have it all written before the bachelor party weekend. That did not happen though and ended up writing it the week of the wedding. More on this later though.

One of my favorite spots we went to that weekend was a Town Hall Lanes. A brewery with bowling lanes. We had  blast! I would not mind another trip to Minnesota to see a Royals game and go to that bowling alley. Fun time! We spent the afternoon at the boiling alley Saturday as it was pouring down rain. They ended up doing a double header on Sunday which of course we had to miss as we were driving back to Topeka. Still, we had a lot of fun and it was great to get to know the future in-laws and close friends of Greg. Great group!

A week later we did another road trip to Dallas, Texas and then on down to Houston, Texas for a big party. We were gone for ten days and had a blast! We were going down for a combined birthday celebration and wedding anniversary for Carrie and Tommy Galloway. A live band, dancing, and a whole lot of fun was had by all. We were in Houston for the Memorial Day weekend and spent the day at the pool. More fun before we finally drove back and spent a few more days in Dallas with my friend Javier. We hit up a lot of places to drink good beer and ate a lot of great food. Carrie and Corrie drove back to Dallas a day later and we continued to have fun going on wine tours and eating very well.

Carrie and I were back in Topeka the week of the wedding for a few days anyway. I had a conference to attend in Hays, KS for work. I was out there Wednesday and Thursday that week. It was a great conference before the rehearsal dinner scheduled for Friday, June 9, 2017. This is the week that I worked on my speech for the wedding day.

Rehearsal Dinner June 9, 2017

What a wonderful evening we had on Friday, June 9, 2017. Rehearsal dinner for Erin and Greg. The dinner was held at Arterra Event Gallery in Lawrence, KS. A beautiful location and wonderful setup for any event. The food was wonderful and the drinks were delicious too! We heard speeches from the father of the groom (Eddie), brothers of Erin (Cole and Drew), Tommy Galloway (family friend referred to as Uncle Tommy and best friend of Eddie), and Robert (Uncle to Greg). With the weather perfect that weekend, we were able to sit outside and enjoy the outdoors while people visited before dinner.

I was able to record all the speeches that evening, although I have not had a chance to export or do anything with them yet. I hope to have those available in a future post to share. It was a fantastic evening and prepared us well for the wedding day.

The day of the wedding, Greg and I went to get our first straight edge shave. Nice and close shave although we both had to admit that when the aftershave went on it burned a bit more than we expected. It was a great way to start off the day.

During the day, the guys stayed in the hotel while the ladies had their hair done and makeup in the afternoon. We had to be over at Macelis for pictures and prepare for the wedding by 3 pm that day. The guests were scheduled to start arriving about 5:30 and the wedding set for 6 pm. Beautiful wedding and everyone looked great!

The reception began at 7 and time was getting close for Carrie and I to give our speeches. Food and drinks were so good! I am not sure why I did not eat more. I think it was nerves from having to give a speech. Of course by this time both Carrie and I had our speeches written and had gone through them a few times.

For my speech, I had done research and tried to make it unique and light. I also wanted to have a lot of toasts in my speech. The one thing I forgot to do was make sure everyone had a full glass of something to drink. Other than that, I thought it went well. Carrie did a great job with her speech too.

Fun in Lawrence... Guys Table

Here is my speech in full (Best Man Speech June, 10, 2017 for Greg and Erin Wedding) which I wrote up and had on my phone. It was better that way rather than me trying to read off of notes or remember what I had planned to say. I know everyone wanted to get through what I had to say so we could get to the partying, so I did my part and kept it less than five minutes.

Fun in Lawrence... Girls Table

Following the reception, the wedding party, friends, and family went out on the Lawrence town. Great fun was had in Lawrence following the wedding. We were out late having fun and the plans were to be up early to do gifts. I think Carrie and I were a little late getting to the gift opening party the next morning. I think I was just a little hung over, but not too bad. Fun night!

Two weeks after the wedding, we had Tap That Topeka to attend which is a beer tasting event in Topeka. This was the forth annual event and again, we had a wonderful time. We went with the newly married bride and groom and many of our friends. Another great evening! There was dancing and more drinking that evening following the beer festival.

July 4 feel on a Tuesday this year, so it was very low key for Carrie and I. We did not fire off or watch any fireworks this year. It was kind of nice and we were able to comfort Oliver who was a little freaked out over the loud booms in our neighborhood. We stayed indoors and watched movies most of the day into the evening.

A few more weeks pass and suddenly we are into the middle of August. About a week ago I purchased a Big Green Egg. So excited to finally have a grill that can really cook and more import smoke meat. I have only cooked twice on it so far, but plan to do a lot more and try a lot of different cooking techniques. More on this in the upcoming months as I plan to post updates on what is cooked along with pictures.

Note, I only made it to one Royals game this year and it was up in Minnesota. With classes having started this past week and my assignments all due on Friday (including papers), I am not sure I will make it to a game at Kauffman Stadium this season. I hope so, but it will depend on how disciplined I am in reading and writing for class. The Royals have struggled a few times this season and also had some good winning streaks. We are still a few games out of first where we have been most of the season. Still within striking distance and just barely out of the wild card hunt.

I hope you have had a wonderful summer. Watch for more posts regarding cooking and my experiences with the Big Green Egg.

Thank you!

John

Final Piece of Minuet in G by JS Bach for Beginning Piano Class Final

The last day of my class is tomorrow afternoon at four. I have done well on all the tests, got an A on the paper, and also did some of the extra credit. Now it comes down to our being able to play a piece in class for the final. I made my selection a few weeks ago (see Piece Selected for Final in Piano Class and Now Practice Practice) and although I had planned on practicing it a lot, the practicing really did not start until about Wednesday of this week. I started focusing on playing left and right hand separately and then putting them together. Working on sections of the piece with this process.

Good luck everyone on your finals! Have a great summer!

The time is here for you to be able to hear what I have put together. It is still a little rough. Bare with me as I struggle through the piece. I know I am going to be told that I play too fast. I try to slow it down, but then I really lose track of the notes. So, here we are with my current ability to play.

Minuet in G by Bach.


I am hoping to be able to get through the whole piece with repeats without any problem in class tomorrow. I will practice a few more times tonight before I head to bed, possibly practice again over the noon hour tomorrow, and then be ready to perform for the class. A little nervous as I do not want to not play well in front of the class.

I have a plan to continue playing and practicing after this class ends. That was the point of this class, right? Yes, to be a able to read and play music for the piano. I want to continue learning new songs and add to my knowledge. Carrie has grand ideas of me playing the piano around Christmas while everyone is around signing the songs. I will try, but no promises.

Post your comments or questions about my playing in the comments section. Let me know what you think. Any pointers before I play tomorrow would be appreciated.

Paper on Johannes Brahms Done and Preparing for Final

It has been a while since I posted. It has been a busy two weeks since my last post. Truthfully, I did not feel like posting while I was writing my paper for class. That is finished, so now I am back to posting again.

My Beginning Piano class is coming to an end. We are done with all the tests in the class. I finished my paper on Johannes Brahms. I finished the paper well in advance of when it was due. We also had to give a short speech on the composer too. Both went fine. I had to remember how to write in MLA style, but I think I got it and wrote a descent paper. The full paper on Johannes Brahms can be read by visiting http://www.haverty.net/documents/Johannes-Brahms.pdf.

The last part of the class is playing the final piece. As you may recall, I selected Minuet in G by Bach. I have not spent much time on practicing the piece at this point, but will be practicing today and hopefully everyday between now and Monday, May 9. We have to perform our piece for the class on May 9. I still plan to record it to post here on my site. However, I need to practice a bit more before posting anything.

Read through my paper on Johannes Brahms and let me know what you think. Carrie read through it and thought it sounded OK with a few minor changes. Hoping we get it back tomorrow or Wednesday in class so we can see what we got on it. It is a test grade, so see how I do.

Piece Selected for Final in Piano Class and Now Practice Practice

The piece I will be playing for my final has been selected. I plan on playing a piece called "Minuet in G" by Johann Sebastian Bach. There were a lot of options provided by our instructor and we were free to select anything. I had some piano books that came with the piano and then some that my Mom had sent home with me one evening. I actually played this same piece when I was young, but it was a long time ago.

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period.

The piece was selected because I enjoy the piece and I think it will be challenging for me to site read and play for the final. The plan now is to begin learning the piece focusing on left and right hand reading the music. As I mentioned last week, we do not have to have the piece memorized, but it is fine if we do have it memorized. If I can get to the point, I would prefer to do so instead of having to rely on reading the music.

Piano at Home with Lights ... Need Music Light Instead

Below is a recording of my warm up and then first few bars of the piece. Not a very good recording, but you get the idea. You can hear a vibration sound which is actually coming from the two lamps on the piano. I already told Carrie we are going to have to replace this with something else as I need something where it provides light on the music and then also does not vibrate. The ones she picked out look great, but need more light and no vibration sound.



I am excited to begin practicing this piece and be able to provide a recording in a few weeks with the final product. I have really enjoyed my piano class. We get a third test back in class tomorrow and will begin chapter four. I came out of the last test feeling happy, so we will see how that turns out with the return of the test tomorrow night.

A lot of practice for me and I also need to start working on the paper that is due in a few weeks. I need to get over to the library to do research and write up that paper. I keep telling myself not to procrastinate and yet the days keep going by and I have not started the paper yet. The plan is to start the paper next week and it should not take more than a night or two to write it up and proof.

For now, I will continue working on "Minuet in G" and plan to post a update in a week or two with my progress.

Test Three Done and Moving on to Chapter Four

Test three is done. Glad to be done with this test. I was not looking forward to the test being on a Wednesday. Not sure why, possibly because the previous two tests I enjoyed being able to prepare for them over the weekend. Granted, I could have prepared over the weekend for this one, but instead, I spent the weekend procrastinating and then on Monday decided I needed to study for the test. Tuesday night was the real cram session though trying to figure everything out.

I left the class and the exam feeling good about how I performed. In the first part of playing the piano for the instructor, that did not go great. She had me play one piece showing cords three or four times. She told me I was rushing or making the second and forth the same. We left it with we will work on that in the future. Other than that little part of the test, I felt good about the exam.

Following class, I spoke to the instructor and believe I have selected the piece to play for the final. Possibly this weekend, I will record a sample of where I am at currently with learning the right hand which has only consisted of playing out a few lines checking to see if I like it. This piece is by JS Bach. More on this later this weekend and hopefully I will finalize it this weekend with it being the piece.

The next step for this class is to write a 5 - 8 page paper on Johannes Brahms. This is due at the end of April, so I have some time. Originally, I thought that the piece we were to play for the final had to be tied to who I selected to write about in our paper, but I was told that was not the case. Looking forward to writing a paper on Johannes Brahms. It has been a long time since I have written in MLA style for a paper. I might need to go to the library to research that process.

The struggle continues with remembering the treble clef and reading notes for my left hand. I came across a cool app last night for the iPhone that is free called NoteTutor. I used it some last night following studying for the test and then during the lunch time today. Easy to use and it makes it a game to recognize notes on either treble or bass clef. I think it is going to help a lot with being able to recognize notes on the staff.

That is all for tonight. Have a  great rest of the week and I plan to record something this weekend to post by Sunday with the piece I selected for the final.

Progress Update in Piano Class with Test Three Wednesday

Preparing for test three in piano class. As the weeks have gone along in piano, I feel more and more lost. So, that is my fault as I have not been practicing the way I should. Doing nothing for the class during spring break did not help matters and then this next Wednesday we have our third exam of the semester.

We are also supposed to be selecting our piece to play for the final. We started reviewing pieces in class this past Wednesday and the teacher would like for us to have what we will be playing selected by the start of April. There are some suggested pieces and some I have heard, but still trying to figure out what would work best for me to play for the class.

No, I have not forgotten about the paper we have to write too. That is due at the end of April, so I need to start working on it too.

Overall, the class is going well. Some of the items that I missed when I was a kid are starting to sink in and I understand them. Reading music with my left hand is still a struggle. I do intend to ask the instructor what next steps are following the class. If she gives lessons, I might do that with her too. Or try working on what we have learned during the course of the class for six months and then do a lesson. I am not sure yet.

The goal for taking this class was to be able to sit down and site read a piece. By no means can I sit down and play a piece even well at this point. Possibly with the right hand, but even then it will be slow. Possibly as I continue to work on this art, I will get to the point.

With our review for the test on Monday, I will be spending Monday and Tuesday evenings studying and reviewing for the test. Wish me well!

To close, I share a piece my mom shared with me with her being excited I am taking lessons. She sees me playing this piece one day. Enjoy! Ok, it is going to take me a while!

Spring Break Already... Enjoying Piano Class and Practicing During the Break

At the mid-point for piano class with break in classes next week. I remember years ago when I was a student it seemed like Spring Break took forever to arrive. It would never get here and then it was over before I knew it. Being older, the semester seems to have flown to this point. That's right! We are on Spring Break next week. No class! No, that does not mean that I should not touch the piano at all. Exactly the opposite, I should use the week to focus on what we have learned. 

When we get back to class on Monday, March 21, we will review for our mid-term which we will have on March 28. We will also begin selecting a piece which we will play for our final. For the final, we can take in our own piece that we want to play and the instructor will read through them to see if it would work for us to play. Or, she will provide suggestions in the class which we can play. The final in the class will be playing the piece that we practice and work on from this point to the end of the semester.

Tonight in class, we just started the chapter on starting to play cords. Yes, we just started it and it all seems Greek so far after the first night of discussion. We will focus more on cords and how to read those on the staff after we return from the break. Here I am still struggling with reading the treble clef and we are going to add in playing cords with the left hand. Things are about to get interesting!

Although I still feel lost for some of the discussions such as sharps and flats, I do feel like I am learning how to read notes. Some of it makes sense, but so much still seems fussy and like I will never figure it out.

Last night I practiced the piano playing songs that we had to play in class for tonight. Carrie told me that it sounded good when I was playing. I will make a goal to record some of my playing of the final piece to post for you to hear. That is obviously a few weeks out before that will be posted though.

Do you have a piece you would suggest I play for my final? If so, please post in the comments to share your suggestions.

Test Two is Done in Beginning Piano and Still Feeling Test Anxiety... Have a good feeling though

Going into the test tonight, I did not feel good about how I was going to do. For once, though, coming out of a test, I feel like I did really good. Not sure if that is good or bad. We get the results back on Wednesday night.

This was a test in my beginning music class over chapter two. Starting to get deep into reading notes and then also needing to be able to know where the notes are on the staff. The test tonight was a combination of needing to be able to recognize whole, half, and quarter notes. But it was also again doing a test with the instructor and having to know where the note on the second line of bass clef is located on the keyboard.

The weekend was spent trying to memorize and prepare for test two. However, it was really spent procrastinating by working on updating the web site, watching basketball, and basically doing anything but trying to study. Thus, I went into the test tonight not thinking I was going to do very well. That "good feeling" was not there and did not have high hopes for doing well in the test.

Instead, I came out of the test feeling good and looking forward to Wednesday when we get the results. Now, it could be a different story once I get the score back on Wednesday and find out how I did. Wondering what I forgot or did not notate correctly on the staff. Oh, so many things that could have gone wrong, but I feel so good about the test.

After I finished the test and headed to the parking lot to meet Carrie, I realized I was sweating like a pig. My shirt was actually damp from where I had been sweating... for a test in piano. Memories of how anxious I would get when taking tests all comes back each time we do a test in the class.

Still having a lot of fun in the class and looking forward to see the results Wednesday.

Have a great week!

Another Test Coming and Trying to Remember Bass Clef

Not a bad week of class this past week.  We are deep into the second chapter and really focusing on reading music on the pages.  This is where it starts getting a bit confusing as we focus on the notes.  The right hand is not bad for me as at least I can find my way through figuring out the notes.  The left hand though still needs a lot of work!

We have our second test coming up a week from Monday.  I will miss class Monday as I will be out of town, but I worked it out with our teacher.  We are reviewing on Wednesday night when I am back at class for our test the following Monday.  I imagine we will have to play something again for our test and then of course memorization and demonstrating that on the test will be required.  

Before now and the test, I need to focus on memory skills for the left hand or bass clef. I have not problem remembering treble clef with "Every Good Boy Does Fine" and FACE. For some reason, the bass clef is not coming as easy with "Good Boys Do Fine Always" or "All Cars Eat Gas".  Again, I know it is time that I need and simply memorization of those sayings and as we continue to work on the treble and bass clef I will start to recognize the lines and spaces as notes.  I have started to do so on the treble and will continue to work on the bass clef.

Overall, I am happy with how the class is progressing.  I am learning  lot and simply need to put more time into the memorization process.  It is crazy to think that in a few short weeks it will be spring break and we will have a week off of class.

Happy music playing and have a great week!

Follow up Following First Test in Piano Class

First test in the books and wait to see how I did on Wednesday.  Felt pretty good after we were done.   The first three questions on the test were playing the piano, identifying notes, and describing how we sit at the piano.  We also had to play our little tune we made up ourselves.  This all went well!

The written portion of the test was not bad either.  I feel like I aced the test.  The extra credit portion which was a timeline with names of periods, dates, and composers for the last four categories, well, I think I mixed up composers for the different periods.

After the written test, we were free to leave.  As I turned in my test I stopped to talk to our instructor to let her know that tomorrow I will finally have a tuned piano here at home.  That will be nice to have it tuned up and ready to play.

Before leaving, I did also practice scales a few times that we will need to use in class on Wednesday.  Overall, I feel satisfied with how I did on the test.  We will see on Wednesday how it turns out and how I did on the extra credit.

Another Week Down of Piano and a Test Monday

We have our first test in piano on Monday.  Wednesday, we spent the class period reviewing for the test.  The test will consist of demonstrating that we can play various notes that are called out, knowing the finger pattern for both hands, and being able to play a melody.  For extra credit, we will need to be able to give the history of the piano along with instruments created during various periods of time.  We should also be able to list composers for the different periods too.  Thus, I need to spend time today and tomorrow studying to make sure I can get those extra credit points.

Wednesday we did also spend time learning the major chords.  I do not have a problem with them at this point except for G major which is difficult to key.  I am trying to practice the chromatic scale daily and then also include practicing the major chords each day too.

We did schedule to have our piano tuned which will happen this week.  It will be easier to practice on our piano here at home with it actually in tune.  Not all keys are out of tune, but it does hurt the ears on those that are badly out of tune.  We are using the same person that tunes the pianos at Washburn and was recommended by my teacher.  Looking forward to having the tuning complete and be able to play with the right tune here at home.  I would not say having it out of tune has stopped me from playing here, but not sounding right has me wondering at times whether I am playing the chords correctly.

More updates after class Monday on how the test goes.

Three Classes and One Full Week Done of Piano Class

I have finished the first full week of piano class.  Three classes and I certainly would not say that I can read music.  However, I am making headway in the art of reading music.  The book starts off easily getting us familiar with the keyboard and how we will eventually be reading music.  The digits of our left and right hand to use when reading the music.  Sure, it all makes sense now as we are only doing basic things on the piano.

Still, there are times when I am practicing at home, maybe making up my own tune on the piano (as encouraged by the book to learn the keyboard) where I forget for just a moment that I have no idea what I am doing on the piano.  I start to get into the rhythm of the piano and the tune I am pouring out from my fingers takes over... if only for a few seconds... but it feels and hears to my mind that I am playing a real tune.

I still have not tuned our piano at home though, so for it to be a tune, you know it has to be a badly out of tune.  There are some keys that make you cringe, but overall, it does not sound too bad.  Carrie and I were guessing the piano has not been tuned in over fifteen years through various moves before we received the piano and not played, it is in desperate need of tuning.

My piano teacher provided the name of a person in town who can tune our piano.  About two weeks have gone by since I got the name of the tuner from the teacher and I still have not called to schedule them to come out.  It is on my to do list to call and schedule them to be out to tune our piano.  Then, look out as I will finally be in tune here at home.  Another week or two and I believe we will be full in deep to reading music then too.  At least that's what I observe looking through the book to see what is coming up in future classes.

I am still working on remembering treble and bas clefs (see Studying, Piano Lessons, and Remembering Childhood Piano Practicing).  It takes me a while, but I can eventually get it.  Of course with practice I know that I will get faster at being able to read music.  Still, we have not started really reading notes in the class.  We are only looking at pages with numbers and notes, but the notes are not on a clef.  Again, I know eventually we will get there and eventually be reading music.  We have to get through this basic stuff first before we can start being able to play.

The class provides extra credit if we go to events in or around Topeka.  Friday night, Carrie and I had the opportunity to go to a recital for a friend.  She sang soprano accompanied by a piano, flute, and other soloists all at first times.  Primarily it was our friend (singing) and piano accompaniment.  It was a wonderful performance.  We were able to heard another friend of ours who sings opera and they sang a piece where he joined in too.  Wonderful evening of music!  To think I get to use that for extra credit now in my class too.  Works out nicely!

Carrie and I talked afterwards that we need to try and go to a local musical event a few times a year.  I would like to attend operas or orchestra once or twice a year.  I remember when I was little, I would go to events throughout the year with my mom.  Of course when I was little, I did not really want to be at some of those events and rather be out playing.  Now that I am older, I want to expand on my musical knowledge or experiences.  So, Carrie and I are both going to watch for events we can attend and make it to a few throughout the year.  No, not only for extra credit in this class, but because we enjoy the music.

Still not any pictures, video, or sounds of my practicing at this point as no one wants to hear that now.  Our class is interesting as it is a full class and we all play aloud in the class.  The instructor has us turn our piano down to half volume, but still, it sounds like a train wreck when we all play wrong keys to start a scale.  Gradually though, we get better as we learn the process or notes.

I have slacked off since our Wednesday class on practicing, so I need to play a lot Sunday to make up for it.  In class on Monday, we will each play our own piece for the class.  It should be interesting as we make it up as we go, but are restricted to a certain set of keys.  We will simply make up the chords and the melody with the right hand.  We can take notes so we can duplicate our play on Monday in class.  I am thinking I will just wing it and act as though it is planned.

As we are about to begin our second full week of class, it still amazes me that I use to play the piano when I was little.  I remember bits and pieces as I read and while I find it exciting to play and for a brief few seconds feel as though I know what I am doing, I still feel as though I am only making noise.

I know it will all come together at some point.  At some point it will all make sense and I will be able to read music and make a sound that others want to hear.  That is my dream from taking this class and the ability to be able to sit down and read from sight a new piece of music so that it is recognizable to those listening.  With practice, I intend to be able to play a song, but I want to be able to sight read anything too.

Are you playing a new instrument or learning a new tool?  Share it with me in the comments sections.

Studying, Piano Lessons, and Remembering Childhood Piano Practicing

Text Book for Piano Class

I have enrolled in a piano class this semester.  We recently received the piano from Carries' parents.  It is very similar to the piano I used when I was young.

The book we are using in the class is the "PianoLab: An Introduction to Class Piano".  I almost forgot I had to order the book as I had checked on the class before the semester started, but did not see the book listed.  I checked again this past weekend and realized I could find the book listed under "Find My Books" of our campus portal.  Sure enough, there was the book listed for the class.  A few short Amazon searches and we had a book in-route to our house for class that started Wednesday night.

When I was young, I took piano for many years.  I took the Suzuki method of piano.  I started in grade school and from what I remember I took it all the way through junior high.  In fact, when Carrie asked me how long I took lessons, I think I told her it was for 12 years.  That might have been an exaggeration... it just felt like it went on forever.  With the Suzuki style of piano, I did not learn to read any music.  It was all memorization.  Well, at least through the first couple of years of lessons.  I think at some point, the lessons did try and teach us to read music, but being a kid, it was not something I was too interested in learning.

Mom and I had a lot of "fun" learning new pieces.  Of course, she struggled to get me to practice and then we struggled through my memorization of the piece.  I remember my dad being in the family room watching TV while mom and I struggled through lessons for the night.  I am sure dad enjoyed hearing the piano played while he was trying to watch TV.  My mom recalls at a summer workshop that I was attending that the teachers finally realized after years of my taking lessons that I could not read music.  I think I blocked that out as I do not remember it at all... or the ability to read music!

So, I have started this new class.  We had our first class, as I mentioned, on Wednesday night.  We are starting with the basics.  Posture, hands, keys, how the peddles work, and much more.  This was all on our first night of class.  We have homework to do for our next class Monday night.  It did bring back memories of some of the Saturday morning workshops with my piano teacher when I was little. Memories of going through treble and bass and trying to memorize the lines and spaces.  Memories of the "Every Good Boy Does Fine" or Good Boys Do Fine Always" to help you remember those lines and spaces on the treble and bass clef.  Ah, the memories when I was young and not caring whether I learned it or not.  Not, the goal is to learn how to read music and then be able to sit down and play at a piano from any book that I pick up.  Now, I am not saying I want to be able to sit down and play perfectly as I recognize that it takes practice to be able to play a song; I would like to be able to simply sit down and play a song with both hands from start to finish.

When asked in class about treble or bass clef, yeah, I could not remember the notes each represented. I could though recall where Middle C was located. So that was good to know I at least remembered that much from my young years taking piano.  Everything else from those early years, while it  sounded familiar, were no more clicking in class Wednesday night then they did when I was in lessons years ago.

The intent this weekend is to spend about two hours studying for class Monday night.  Learn the treble and bass clef well enough to be able to look at the staff and recognize the individual notes.  I think I can handle that without too much trouble. After all, I do not want to embarrass myself in class on Monday when we are asked to go to the board and mark the notes.  I did leave my notes from class at the office, so I will need to stop by the office to pick those up and make sure I cover everything.  I also plan to sit down at the piano in our house and try out a few of the items we did in class Wednesday.

Wish me luck in my class and maybe in a future update there will be a sample of what I am playing.  I am excited to be taking lessons and I want to make the most of this class.

Enjoying My First MOOC from Duke University

A MOOC was recommended to me by a fellow Washburn Leadership alum and since I had not taken a MOOC, I decided to try it out.  After all, the class was free, and it was about higher education.  The name of the class is "History and Future of (Mostly) Higher Education".  We are more than halfway done with the course, but I am finding it very interesting.  We only have two weeks left of the class.

So far, I have done fairly well on the quizzes.  Along with quizzes we also are to watch videos from the instructor Cathy N. Davidson and I have enjoyed watching the videos.  The videos are split up into smaller videos so you can watch at your leisure, on your mobile device, etc when you have time. The course is put on by Duke University and they have done a very nice job with the delivery and class content.

The other interesting piece of the class is peer assessments.  For this assignment, which so far we have had two, we are assigned the task of writing 500 words about a topic.  We write up our comments or views on that topic and then we evaluate up to five other authors from the class.  Essentially, we are giving a grade based on our review of their writing.  This is done by at least five people for every essay that is written.  The average of the peer assessments is then used to assign the grade.  A interesting process to review the 1,000's of students taking the class where it would be impossible for a instructor to review all of the assignments.

The other important piece of this class is of course the discussions in the forums.  It took me a little bit to get into the forum posting on the site, but I have the hang of it now and I have been participating in the discussions.  The other area of interest is discussion outside of the course.  Using the #FutureEd Twitter hash tag, I have been discussing with others in the class about topics from the class.  For me, discussing using Twitter instead of the forums is easier as I am almost always on Twitter or have it close by most of the time.  I created a saved search for #FutureEd so I can jump into any discussion.

This course while being done through Duke University is presented on Coursera web site.  I have already started reviewing the Coursera site to find additional classes that I can take after this one is finished.

If you are interested in taking this class, watch their web site (https://www.coursera.org/course/highered) for future classes.