Piano Meditations Podcast

Our friend Erik came over to listen! Sharon hosted a listening session on another platform, too; just having new ears added a sense of focus for me tonight. Hoping we can start to have more vaccinated people over soon. The second to last piece was quoting something, maybe Ravel's Bolero, maybe something else. Erik was talking about Chick Corea's "My Spanish Heart" so I may have been influenced! En...

Some pieces felt great tonight; two in the middle less so. It seems I have the hardest time really listening and getting into a groove when I play 'genre-ish" music; either going for a jazz sound or using very functional harmony and chord changes. Curious to hear some feedback on this idea! Can you tell when I'm not feeling inspired?

Almost forgot it was St Patrick's Day! For the last piece I improvised a little 6/8 mixolydian mode thing to sound vaguely Irish... Somehow Moon River crept in on another piece. I started one piece with an idea towards fugue, but it ended up just being something in a minor key. In any case, hope you enjoy.

Happy birthday to my wonderful wife Sharon! Throughout this pandemic she has been usually my only in-person audience, but thankfully she enjoys what I do! Tonight's music felt like it had more movement in it; I posed the idea on the Facebook Piano Meditations Livestream that people may enjoy moving to the music, so I suppose that's why it felt that way... Anyway, on one piece I was kind of already...

Just going for pretty sounds tonight. I tried to listen for multiple melodic lines and keep track of them. The only known quote was the beginning of the Star Trek theme as I started a piece. I had to, couldn't help it...

Got the high quality audio back online! Calling this episode 144 instead of 143 because the podcast app is calling it that. Maybe it's still counting the intro episode, who knows. No conscious quotes tonight, just putting the focus on allowing the music to take its own path. 

iPhone audio only; sorry! I had trouble with my studio computer in the moments before the Facebook Livestream. This audio has been extracted from the livestream recording, so the quality is not great. I'm experimenting with an audio setup which may allow me to channel the pro-quality microphones into the FB livestream, so the quality will be as good as the podcast!

I've said this before but tonight was again one of those nights where I felt like I was in a "same-old", kind of uninspired place, but by now I know better than to start editing or judging myself harshly while it's happening. I just keep going, maybe coming to the same old chord progressions I use so often, but I keep listening and allowing whatever's happening to just happen. Then, sure enough, s...

The only spontaneous melody quotes that popped up tonight were "As Long as He Needs Me" and "Desafinado". A friend asked for something Satie-like and my wife asked for deep, rich tones. I try to oblige. The piano was tuned today by the great Victor LaGamma, so naturally I was drawn to those deep, rich tones! Enjoy.

I asked Sharon (my beloved) if she wanted to hear anything in particular tonight and she suggested I take my time exploring the tones and not feel any need to "develop" or build the momentum or energy. So I did, and I didn't! It takes restraint to stay with a sound longer than usual, or even comfortable, but sure enough, it then opens up in a new way. Enjoy.

Bonus Episode! I am a pianist at the Noyes Rhythm camp in Portland, CT for over 35 years, and I offered a Piano Meditations evening as an auction item for a fundraiser. The person who was highest bidder decided to open it up to the whole community, so I livestreamed it on Facebook. At the camp, the evening activity is a "Playtime", where the dancers come down to the dance space (the Pavalon) nestl...

Happy Inauguration Day! I for one am very happy to have a new administration. It also happened to be my birthday.. Tonight's music was for dancing and feeling good! 

Ok back to (mostly) mellow. A number of tunes crept in tonight; see if you can spot them! Some are actually the tune, others are snippets. Tonight's last piece was a riff on the melodic shape of Bach's Prelude #1. 

Sometimes you have to shake it up. "Meditations" doesn't necessarily mean "mellow". I make bigger mistakes when I'm playing fast or in uncharted territory, but that's half the reason I started doing this in the first place. And as my old improv teacher Anne Farber once said, "There are no mistakes in improvisation, just new directions". So there you go.

Well, I took a break, and I sort of thought it might be time to move on to other musical projects, but I missed the process! Plus, by now there are many subscribers to this podcast, and I have to believe people are enjoying the music, so, let's keep going! 

Happy Holidays and first day after the Winter Solstice! Tonight's music had a few familiar tunes circling around, and I went for some sparkly sounds and bell chimes. I love how "Ain't Misbehavin" and "Santa Claus is Comin' to town" have the same chord progression. Enjoy.

I'm still not sure if i'm back to a new episode every week, but it actually feels like I'm missing something if it doesn't happen! I personally enjoy listening back myself, so it's almost like I buy a new CD each week... I know a lot of people enjoy listening to the podcast while cooking, doing yoga, having tea, etc, so I tend to not get too bombastic; plus, when I really start playing fast I can'...

I decided to take a break from making a new episode weekly, as you may know. At this point I may repost a previous episode, or make a new one! The piano was just tuned by the great Victor LaGamma, so naturally I wanted to share the beautiful richness that this piano has. Enjoy.

I asked my wife if there was anything she'd like to hear tonight and she said she'd like to hear the kind of brooding minor sounds from "Game of Thrones". We also talked about Cinema Paradiso tonight, so the theme was circling around. Whatever was happening in the moment I tried to let it go where it willed, but every now and then brought back a main chord or motif. I'm realizing I should change t...

Really feeling dance phrasing tonight; Four bars, chord progressions, predictable melodic contours, the whole thing. Naturally, a lot of songs suggested themselves so I explored them a bit. "Michelle", a touch of "Yesterday", a melody from Jesus Christ Superstar, I think even the theme from All Things Considered. In any case, I was imagining my dancing friends from Noyes School of Rhythm who somet...

Went a little out there tonight! Hope this isn't being listened to during a spa or actual meditation! Even so, I gotta break out a little now and then and work my fingers into some unfamiliar territory. And who knows; it happens rather often that I think I'm going crazy when I'm playing, but listening back it actually sounds like it makes sense. Go figure. There's plenty of mellow stuff in tonight...

My sonic palate seems to be centering around a set number of "archetypical" approaches; I don't feel as if I'm copying myself, and I do get into the emotional feel of the music, so I'm certainly not bothered by it, but at the same time, I'm not trying to push boundaries or stretch my technical abilities. Part of me feels like I'm being lazy or getting into a rut, but the other part is like, "I'm p...

Knowing I have a few friends who like to dance to Piano Meditations definitely influences what I play sometimes! Tonight I played around with seconds (as in notes next to each other) and triple meters. It felt more "dancey" so of course I just went with it. I tried a little bouncy two-step at the end. Those can be hard because they pull so strongly into "functional harmony" which tends to box me i...

Felt a little off tonight, but I know better than to judge it while it's happening! The humidity is making some notes stick and I have a squeak in the pedal, so I may have just been distracted. In any case, tonight music went pretty mellow for the most part. A few quotes worked their way in; "Still Crazy After All These Years", and some camp song about the Titanic going down. Go figure...

Had a few family members come for dinner and stay for the music. Opened all the windows for the best ventilation, so of course tonight's music became a duet with the sounds of nightlife outside. Enjoy!