I Need a Keyboard??? What???

I am now the proud owner of a keyboard.  Piano keys, that is, not computer keys.

For the last year and a half or more, I have had to rely on other people to get my songs fully created.  Usually that meant Kelly, my voice teacher, helping me come up with chords.  Or, rather, giving me a few chord options to choose from that went with the melody I’d sing for her.  Then, when it came to actually performing said songs, I would have to rely on other musicians to back me up.  Sometimes they would use the chords Kelly came up with, and sometimes they would come up with something that worked better for their instrument.  Regardless, never once did I come up with the backing chords on my own.

Therefore, I have a handicap.  A big one.  But I have to be honest, it’s not a handicap that I’ve worked all that hard at fixing.  Since I had someone(s) willing to help, and I really just wanted to focus on singing, it worked out OK.  Well, now that Kelly has gone off to grad school, I have a new teacher.  Brian.  Brian has backed me up in a couple performances, and is a very talented pianist.  Brian has a LOT of expertise in chord structuring, and other very basic knowledge I don’t know, or at least don’t remember.  Brian has “forced” me to get a keyboard.

Mentally, I at first resisted this.  But not wanting to seem an unwilling and dependent student (and fearing he’d drop me as a student like a sack of potatoes if I refused!), I begrudgingly set out to find one on Craigslist.  And find one I did, for a lovely $100.  Thank you, Craigslist, and thank you, Mom, for the early birthday present.  🙂  I got it just before my second lesson with Brian.

Casio WK something. 🙂 Seems to do the job!

By the end of my second lesson, I saw the wisdom in this purchase.  I will be able to rely on myself to actually complete my own songs.  Imagine!  Of course, this will take a while, and in the meantime, the various melodies and half finished songs that I have written down or voice memoed on the iPhone will simply have to wait.  And I just have to demonstrate patience in this area.  But all in all, I am excited to jump back into an instrument (mildly) that I once actually knew a bit about.  Brian is explaining things to me that at one point I knew.  At one point, meaning, 6^th grade.  But years of choir and earlier years of piano have paid off in giving me a little more knowledge than I realized I had.  So I’m hopeful that the learning curve won’t be as painful as it would be without that background.

I THINK I’m ready to get started.  Pretty sure.  Of course, to really make this work, I should probably find a keyboard stand, and get this thing off the floor!

Read Full Post »

Weddings, Music, Family (not necessarily in that order)

In the past 5 years or so, I have come to realize how very fortunate I am to have such an artistically talented family.  As I’ve mentioned before, both my mom and my sister sing.  We were raised in a household of theatre people, who also had strong musical leanings.

So my mom’s side was quite influential. While my brother and dad don’t lean so much musically, they definitely have an appreciation for it, and my dad explores other artistic avenues (photography, writing, etc.).   That said, on my dad’s side we’ve got a whole other set of talented folk!  My cousin is a wicked guitar player.  (Excuse me, but I lived in Boston for a while, and they like to say wicked.  Feel free to join in.).  As well, he has a beautiful singing voice.  Of course, as he plays in a punk band, Virgin Islands, that singing voice doesn’t really get exercised too much.  This weekend, however, at another cousin’s wedding, we were graced with the beauty of Chris’ voice.  Please enjoy (without paying any attention to the horrible video) Chris Meyer singing “She is Love” by Parachute.  You won’t regret it.  I liked the song before.  I love the song now.

Along with my “blood relatives”, through marriage we’ve been blessed with some other fantastic cousins.  One got married this past weekend, and the other got married last year.  The wedding and reception last year was practically a musical festival (which, not surprisingly, thrilled me!), with guests performing originals and covers, the groom frequently joining in, a live band, and an end of the evening filled with ipod dance tunes.  Thank the lord for great dance music at weddings!  This year, the wedding itself was filled with beautiful music, and the music at the reception included another great set of dance tunes.  Oh, how I love dancing at weddings!  Kind of makes me want to try crashing a couple…  😉  But I digress.

Well, the groom of last year also happens to be the brother of the bride this year.  As such, he also performed in the wedding.  Steve Shepro sang a lovely version of “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz (yet another fabulous song!) as the processional.  Unfortunately, I didn’t take out my phone in time, but please enjoy what I did manage to capture (including more random wedding footage).

Finally, in a slightly separate category, the bride can dance!  This is not a skill I have, though I certainly pretend.  My cousin’s wife, Summer, is also a dancer.  She performs regularly through various Seattle burlesque shows, and as her skills are crazy amazing, I try to NOT dance next to her at weddings.  My aunt also has some pretty rockin’ moves, and I love watching her tear up the dance floor.  These women have little to no inhibitions about being in the spotlight, and add to the inspiration that is my family.  

All that to say that I have been increasingly grateful to be surrounded by creative individuals in my life.  It’s only recently that I realized how much of that influence is comprised within my own family, and how blessed I am to have it on all sides.  The temptation to compare myself to them has diminished over the years, and now I just get to take it all in and let it feed my own desire to create.  Here’s to the fabulousness that is (or can be) family!

You should see the family at karaoke!  😉  But I’ll save that for another entry…

Read Full Post »