montunoman

yes, that's the case here too, but maybe since this is at a funeral home and not a church it's different?

Thanks Dave. I've told been told that there will be very small group of people will be there. Maybe it seems overkill to have live Latin music for such a small gathering, but Ruben loved music.... We're playing after the mass outside of the funeral home.

Not performing for the last few months has been hard for me . I started to accept that playing out would just not be an option for the foreseeable future. With that being said I am very sad about the circumstances of my first performance of this horrible season. My wife and I will be performing at the funeral of our very best client. His name was Ruben and he died of this dreadful virus on Friday. We meet Ruben at a Dia de los Muertos (All Souls Day) carnival. He came up to us after our show, and told how much he loved our sound, versatility, our daughter"s violin playing, matching uniforms, and so on. He introduced us to his partner, Marco, and told us that they were getting married and asked us if we could perform at their wedding party. Well, this type of wedding would be a first for us but we were happy to do it. Their wedding party was the most elegant I have ever seen. I assumed that most of the guests would be male, but I was wrong! You see, Ruben was a very in demand, hair/makeup artist and style consultant to some of the most beautiful Latina women in the area. He formed very strong bonds with many of his clients, and lucky for us, he would recommend us to every bride and quinceañera that came to him for his services. Every year he would hold big parties for his clients and we would always perform at these extravagant events. He held many theme parties where everyone would dress in costume. If it wasn"t a costume party, everybody would dress to impress with all the ladies in long evening gowns and the men in tuxes. Ruben would do up to 3 wardrobe change a night! This was such a nice change of pace from the usual ripped jeans and t-shirts you see everywhere now. So here"s to you Ruben, the most elegant and kindest man I"ve ever known. We"ll be sure to play your favorite boleros, and cumbias for you, brother. You will be missed by so many. May you rest in peace.

I just don"t no what to even say...,, this is so sad.

Also think about this: The goal of each practice session should be total relaxation and to practice small things very well.

Hi Paul, yes, that's great that your recording yourself, and I really should be doing that too, thanks for the reminder! I'm not sure I have the balls to share it with the world though, but it's a very good thing that you do! You've been given really good advice, let add my 2 cents (as a non piano teacher) I think these would be some good resources for you: 1. Improvising Blues Piano by Tim Richards 2. The Ana Magdalina Notebook, Bach Maybe a method book series for adults, I've heard good things about Faber and Faber, and the Alfred series. Or better yet, get with a teacher that has lots experience with adults that you can help prepare you for what you want to do. BTW, what is your goal? Play in cover band? Play popular solo piano? classical piano? Jazz piano? These's some many directions you can go with this amazing instrument., but whatever area you are interested in, a good foundation in the basic fundamentals will serve you very well!

Hello, where can I hear the Ellen Reid interview?

I do practice scales, arpeggios, Hanon, chords, chord progression and licks in all keys. I need to do that with the tunes I play too. I mean I could figure out any standard tune in any key, but I couldn"t do that without a little prep time. I"m amazed by guys that can play literally anything in any key in real time.

To make their parents proud???

I"m so happy paying someone to do my most of my yard work. Totally worth it!

Mike, that's a very beautiful thing that you are so supportive of your son. Yes, a "Pan B," in theory is practical, but does it really have to forced on the kid? If their dream doesn't work as they imagined it, maybe a "Plan B" will just naturally evolve. I can't help but wonder how our lives (artistic types in general) would have turned out if our parents and society would not have forced us to have a back up plan, something to fall back on..... Would we all be homeless? Would we be happier?

Here"s an article from Forbes called ' Ten Reasons to Let Your Kid Major in Music' https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2017/06/04/ten-reasons-to-let-your-kid-major-in-music/#612506001062 I talked with a musician colleague of mine who got a jazz performance degree from Univ of North Texas. He toured awhile in the Tejano circuit and when It came time to settle down and start a family, he was able to get an alternative education certificate to teach K-12 music in several capacities: elementary general music, mariachi, modern band ( rock) and music technology. He seems pretty happy and financially stable, stills plays out too. Sure, he"d probably rather be a full time jazzer but how many can do that for a living?

Hey, thanks people, really great advice, and each post rings true, and are things we've discussed with her, especially the" plan B" She doesn't take suggestions from us too well, never has... Luckily she has some excellent mentors from the Dallas Symphony where she 's studies with a full scholarship, which is much appreciated as violin lessons aren't cheap! She also gone to summer musical festivals under scholarship too. Most of teachers from the symphony and her performing arts high school have recommended she checks out the big name conservatoires and universities, which we are doing. but also I tell she needs to seriously consider the way more affordable state schools. We have some trial lesson at some of the state schools here in Texas set up, and in March her school orchestra will be performing at Carnegie Hall ( I'll try to stop barging) So we'll be checking out the big names institutions in NYC. But we hope she stays in Texas.... I guess I'm getting the pre- empty nest syndrome, where did the time go?!?

Greetings, My 16 year old daughter who is a junior in high school has been saying she wants to be a violin performance major. She is doing doing real well with her music, playing in the top regional high school honors orchestra, she gigs playing as a soloist for weddings and other events, plays in a pro mariachi, has a very good ear, can sing well , plays a bit of piano and guitar, and is good with music theory. I think she could do well as music performance major but as we all know, getting a job in music performance after graduating is pretty tough! I am being supportive and my wife is being "reluctantly " supportive (telling her to minor or double major in an area outside of music.) As for now she says she has absolutely no interest in being a K-12 teacher of any kind. She says she'd like to teach privately any age group or at the college level, so I suppose a doctorate degree is in her future. But her dream is to play in a major orchestra and chamber group. Anyways, my daughter and my wife and I have been getting an ear full from the rest of the family, My brother in law, who considers himself the family patriarch tells me that I'm crazy to even let my daughter consider studying music after high school. He didn't let his son study music even though he's a talented classical guitarist and differently has the passion. He was forced to study medicine, ended up dropping out of college, and now he gigs, gives guitar lessons, and works a retail job. Yeah, maybe he'd be dong the same thing now if he had studied music, but at least he'd have a degree. At least that's the way I see it. Besides her musical talent, my girl is a good student, likes science, writing, good with technology, and is fully bilingual. Here's to hoping she can find her path and we can finance her studies loan free! .

Theres plenty of young people with this level and even higher levels of musicianship nowadays, but most of them aren"t on the ' top ten' . Everything is automated now. I wonder how many current charted pop songs have a live rhythm section, horns , strings ..., ?

Glad to hear that you liked it. I"m using mine today for Christmas party at a home and tonight my daughter will doing a gig at a mall with her violin and backing tracks. Perfect for that sort of thing.

Yes, Bill 12"s seem to be the standard around here too.

Unfortunately It"s a year out of warranty. I bought it to a repairman here in Dallas, He thought he could fix it but it didn"t seem cost-effective, almost the same price to repair it as buy a new one. ð Besides the EV ZLX is their entry level speaker. My budget could get me a up to a middle of line or maybe top of the line speaker, right? Wouldn"t a hire line of speaker sound better? But yes, thanks for watching out for my money. My wife would appreciate that very much!

Thank you Dave. Also i was going to ask if it"s is OK to use a different brand for the mains and sub?

Hi, I am using a pair of Electro Voice 12" ZLX and EKL 18" subs. One of the 12" seems to have blown out, and it does not seem cost effective to have it repaired. So I'm figuring I should upgrade to something better anyways. The subs are fine, I'm just looking to replace the 12" ZLX. I thought maybe 10" speakers would be more versatile. For the weddings and quinceanera I could use 10" paired with the 18'" subs and for smaller house parties and restaurants maybe 10" would be enough? Also 10" would be more practical when I play with bands and need to bring my own amplification. I mostly do Latin (cumbia, salsa, merengue, reggaeton, ) which is pretty bass heavy. All keyboard driven (drums and bass tracks) with a live percussionist,, sax player, and vocals. Recorded Hip -Hop line dancing stuff is usually played on the breaks. Crowds of 100-300. Mostly in door venues but a few outdoor events too. Could 10" mains with the 18" subs cut it for my bigger/louder gigs? I don't want to spend more than 2K. Any recommendations?

The Bose store in the Grapevine, TX had a sale on them and I picked up two. Love that they are battery powered and the Bluetooth too. Very practical and sound great too! But try to compare it to the new JBL compact. Many folks are saying the JBL are more powerful ( but bigger) if that matters to you.

Want a Steinway ? Check Want a Yamaha ? Check Want a Fazioli ? Check Want a Bosey ? Check And I see and hear numerous pianists using Kronos A/P's I didn"t say they don"t sound good. Maybe a Kronos has too many bells and whistles for your average pianist.

I seldom see pianists that play digital pianos in public using Korg.

I"ve been working out of the book ' The Blues Scale Essential Tools For Jazz Improvisation ' by Dan Greenblatt. It contains very nice examples and exudes demonstrating when to use the ' minor blues' scale and 'major'blues scale. In a nutshell use the major blues scale over the I, iii, and vi chords and the minor blues scale on all the other chords. This approach has really helped me creat more interesting solos not only in jazz blues but also in the basic three chord blues as well. https://www.amazon.com/Blues-Scales-Essential-Improvisation-Version/dp/1883217393/ref=asc_df_1883217393/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312050264297&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15624745216619903117&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9026819&hvtargid=pla-301489342750&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=61316180559&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312050264297&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15624745216619903117&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9026819&hvtargid=pla-301489342750