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Recent Posts
- Daily Music Writing Project January 20, 2025
- Body Surfing for easy ukulele January 19, 2025
- 3 Chord Thursday 2025 Ukulele + January 15, 2025
- World Ukulele Day Workshops January 15, 2025
- Happy Birthday for high G ukulele January 13, 2025
- Happy Birthday for ukulele January 13, 2025
- Friday I’m in Love for ukulele January 10, 2025
- Can’t Help Falling in Love with ukulele January 8, 2025
- We Shall Overcome on ukulele January 8, 2025
- Puff the Magic Dragon Travis Picking Variations January 8, 2025
- Travis Picking exercises for ukulele January 8, 2025
- Oh Susanna for ukulele January 8, 2025
- Exercise for waltz accompaniment January 7, 2025
- Strum & Fingerpick Exercise in 3/4 Time January 7, 2025
- Accompaniment exercises in 3/4 time for low G ukulele January 7, 2025
- Accompaniment in 3/4 time for high G ukulele January 7, 2025
- Feed the Birds with ukulele January 6, 2025
- Auld Lang Syne in F for low G ukulele January 4, 2025
- On Top of Spaghetti in C for high G ukulele January 3, 2025
- Left Hand Techniques for ukulele January 3, 2025
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Recent Posts: Concert Blog
REVIEW: Discovering Fingerstyle Ukulele Songbook by Colin Tribe
Colin Tribe’s new book offers new possibilities for ukulele players who aspire to fingerpick their way through thirty of the most popular songs of all time. These chord melody arrangements show a variety of ways the high G ukulele can be used for instrumental solo or duet (such as chord accompaniment and melodic fingerpicking) . […]
REVIEW: Piano Animals (duet) by Heleen Verleur
This 31-page book of four hand piano music is sheer FUN with a capital F. The composer Heleen Verleur knows just what pianists love playing: music that is easy to read, sounds hard to play, but is so much fun that you don’t want to stop until it ends.
REVIEW: Ukulele Picking Tunes Classical Gems by Paul Mansell
This 40-page book is the latest contribution to the ukulele repertoire by the UK-based ukulele and guitar composer Paul Mansell. Guitarists who play the ukulele are few and far between, for many adult learners pick up the ukulele without knowing the guitar. Yet it takes a guitarist who understands the possibilities of the re-entrant tuned […]
REVIEW: Modern Pieces for Ukulele by Paul Mansell
Review of first three pieces from the new book Modern Pieces for Ukulele by Paul Mansell
Group piano class in Zoom
Introducing my group piano class online: Group Piano Class in Zoom. The first series of seven weekly one-hour class started in June 2021. The second (continuation of the first) started in October 2021 at alternating weeks, until end of December (seven sessions). The third series of 16 consecutive weeks started at the beginning of 2022. […]
Tag Archives: sightreading
Read Rotate Repeat
Playing in an ensemble is a sonic jigsaw puzzle. Until you play with other members of the ensemble, you’re never quite sure what it sounds like. Even better, rotate and play other parts. Repeat. It’s that simple and fun!
Piano Accompaniment & Other Skills
By popular demand, the next 8-week PIANO COURSE is focussed on accompaniment. As with previous offerings, we will continue to build the important skills of sight reading, harmonization (formation and inversion of block and broken chords), and technique. This course … Continue reading
Sightreading, the art of reading music
Sightreading, also known as prima vista playing, refers to playing the correct notes on a musical instrument while reading the notation at first sight or glance (at the tempo written). It is a skill that can be learned but requires … Continue reading
TAB & PLUCK
Do you already play the ukulele but don’t know how to fingerpick or read from tablature? Alternatively, you want to be able to read the tabs a little faster and know which fingers to properly create the sound you want?
I Left My Heart in San Francisco for solo piano
One of my oldest friends requested me to play “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” Not that he and I have ever travelled together to this city of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and the cable trolley. I did, however, … Continue reading
Like-minded souls and their passion to collect sheet music
“If Bart were still here, he would never let me go through his sheet music and take what I want,” I said to his widow after spending hours looking through the densely packed shelves downstairs and upstairs.
More than teaching piano
I specialize in teaching adults how to play piano. More and more adults are learning to play the piano as a way to relax, exercise their mind and body coordination, and play songs they like. Adults learn quickly, but they are … Continue reading
How to write music people want to play
Times have changed. Perhaps it’s the instant gratification of search engines and the availability of free online videos. To write sheet music that people want to play, it has to be readable, printable, and playable.