My 2018 Music Goal, Part II

In Part I, I revealed my
goal of playing at an open mic
or jam session this year.

You can read about it here. I explained that I wasn't starting from scratch; I have been working on this for awhile and my piano teacher has been encouraging me to get out there. My friends have been bugging me to play too. I'm the one dragging my feet!

And then opportunity knocked
unexpectedly....

Our regular Friday haunt is closed this week so a small group is getting together to jam in a beautiful log home in the country. A small group. Perfect! The regular fans are included and I'm in that group, but I'm going to surprise them and bring my piano! And don't be concerned that I'm crashing a band or anything. It's more casual than that and everyone is really supportive. Last time, I even had impromptu bass lessons!

Note to self: Learning a blues scale might be helpful.

The music will be mostly blues and pop/rock. I will figure out what to do and if I end up not keeping up in a song, I can sit out. So knowing I was going to put myself out there, I have asked the few keyboard players I know for advice and they all said the same thing. I have been told to listen and see if I can add to the song. If the music is really busy, maybe the piano isn't even needed. And of course I googled how to play with others, what to watch out for, and such, so I won't be that piano player who takes over and dominates the song. Just like a conversation with 4 other people, in a group of 4 musicians, I'm only responsible for 1/4 of it. The whole idea is still a little daunting, but there's nothing like putting yourself on the spot.

_{Piano and Sherpa}

So my piano is sitting in its bag at the front door, just waiting, and my sherpa(?) has volunteered to drive and help me carry it, if I can't do it myself. If you read last week's post, you know I'm not exactly Herculean in stature, but with luck, it's going to rain this week and melt the snow, so I can use the wheels on that bag rather than lugging it. Why don't they come with snow tires?

Meanwhile, a June piano
recital date was announced.

My piano teacher announced it [hint] at my lesson last week and he is [hint] seeking participants. So I volunteered, and then I went looking for a Latin song that will require a lot of effort. I learned a lot that way last time.

I chose this one! I found this video on Youtube of Jonny May playing Despacito. What a cool arrangement, and he has a tutorial to explain it. It seems there are many people on Youtube playing it now, and you can see why, but I think I'll slow it down a bit!

He can really play. Jonny May gives lessons and I'll plug his website here too: Piano With Jonny.

That's my recital piece. I sure hope I can do it justice, and as I said last week, if you play the piano or keyboard, I would be grateful for any tips!

Image sources: Photo 1 & 3 are from pixabay.com, photo 2 is mine, Video is from Youtube.