Ron's blog on piano improv and the role of music in our lives
Wouldn’t it be great to become a fluent sightreader on piano? You’d be able to look at sheet music of your favorite songs and instantly play them, easily and without effort. Do you want to spend a nice hour playing classical music? No problem. Just get some Bach, Mozart or Beethoven and let’s go! It’s … Read More
What are you doing this summer? If you’re looking for something to do musically, join me at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival from July 12-26, 2015. I’ll be teaching piano improv as well as classes in cabaret vocal performance. We cover many different musical styles in both the piano and singing classes. It’s a wonderful … Read More
There’s no denying that guitarist Keith Richards has the “rock legend” thing down! His onstage swaggering has “rock star” written all over it and his body language accents his legendary guitar riffs perfectly. But have you ever really listened to him play? I mean the way Richards, as a rhythm guitarist, plays chords. The thing … Read More
A few days after I moved into my present apartment building (almost 10 years ago), I heard the faint sounds of a piano coming from upstairs. Not from the apartment directly above mine but maybe down the hallway from that or possibly even 2 floors up. The sound wasn’t intrusive; just the soft sounds of … Read More
Two dancers; a pas de duex. One takes the lead, now the other. Graceful, flowing, an interplay of energies. At once abstract but entirely clear. Melodies ascending and descending, greeting each other as they intersect. Intended as a model of composition, it gives pianistic delight to thousands. A whole universe in miniature. To hear what … Read More
Don’t get me wrong; I love recordings. I absolutely enjoy having access to just about any recording I want to hear, anywhere, whenever I want. But at the same time, something gets lost in translation, as it were. There’s very little cultural context for the music as we experience it. While it’s true that music … Read More
Here’s something I do occasionally: choose a piece of music you know very well, and then play it while pretending you’ve never heard it before. When I do this, I sometimes play the piece at the usual tempo while at other times I go very slowly, savoring each delicious sound as the music unfolds. I’m … Read More
Drum roll please… I’ve just finished arranging the famous Pachelbel’s Canon in the ragtime style of Scott Joplin. I had fun creating this version and you can get your copy as a free download HERE. So far I’ve played it for a few neighbors and piano students and everyone thinks it will make a good … Read More
You might not think a folk/rocker like Bob Dylan would be recommending jazz chords, but you can read it for yourself here in this wonderful interview he gave about songwriting. About halfway through, he asks the interviewer: “Do you play jazz? It never hurts to learn as many chords as you can. All kinds. Sometime … Read More
One of the best feelings in the world for me is when I see a “classical” pianist begin to experience the joy of improvisation for the first time. It’s no exaggeration to say that my heart leaps for joy when someone gets off the written page for the first time and starts making up their … Read More