Summertime & the living is easy?

Well, it may not be EASY exactly but summer officially begins tomorrow. There’s the scent of roses in the air and freshly cut lawns and all other blooming flowers are competing for one’s attention. How’s a girl going to get any music work done? Ah, occasional insomnia and evening hours are for that it seems.

This week I have two concerts to perform in what horn player Tom Keenlyside is calling our “road trip”. Yes, indeed one concert this Thursday will take place in West Vancouver by the ocean at the Silk Purse Art Centre while the following evening we kick off Vancouver’s 2011 Jazz Festival at O’Doul’s in downtown Vancouver. The two performances are with the aforementioned Tom Keenlyside and pianist Michael Creber in our trio “SONG AMUSEMENT PARK”. The three of us always have a lot of fun making music together and there are typically some surprises along the way; surprises even for the three of us. It’s laughter and the sharing of some quirky songs and some other material that seems to suit us as well as several of my own originals.

One of the “amusements” as of late is the inclusion of my ukulele in our shows. My beloved ukulele is still a relatively new instrument in my hands and my tuning techniques remain questionable but I have been told that I am improving. I have written four songs using the uke so far and I have learned at least five standards. I have discovered it is good brain work for me as well. I am used to putting my hands on the piano keyboard and understanding which keys I need for a particular chord or progression. With the ukulele I am still a greenhorn when it comes to awareness of chords knowing exactly which notes I am playing. Where is D again? OK, got it. Now how do you play F#dim? Keep trying…

These past two weeks many of my piano and voice students participated in recital performances and I was indeed a proud teacher. It felt very gratifying to hear students sing freely; with ease and flexibility and, to hear my piano students play with finesse and with dynamics and accuracy. Yes!! Everyone stepped up to the plate so to speak and really shone and that really can be difficult when nerves or a flawed memory present a challenge on the day of a performance.

In a few recent days of insomnia I got up and composed some pieces for some of my younger piano students and a couple of songs with lyrics as well for a few students who play and sing. One of my favorite new pieces is dedicated to one of my boy students who is hooked on any kind of game he can get his hands on. “Game Boy” is the name of the little piece that I thought he might enjoy and that was inspired by his passion. I wrote “Time To Spare” for one of my girl students and had fun including silences in the form of rests in a piece that is otherwise very rhythmic and playful. Hopefully my students will enjoy their teacher’s new pieces and not just think that she is giving them more work for the summer months!

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