It is hard to believe that today is my three-year anniversary with PianoGroove. It has been and will continue to be something that has given me tremendous joy!
This time last year, I mentioned that I had memorized 39 standards. I got up to 45 this year but took a break for a few short weeks. Once I started back, I decided to concentrate on a smaller number and am currently working on 25. They are well under my hand, so my focus is to see what else I can do with some of them. I am learning so much from the live seminars. Additionally, I just started listening to recordings for the purpose of transcribing small sections that I find interesting. I continue daily practice on rootless voicings and progressions. Lastly, I am picking up a fake book two or three times a week and flipping to a page to see how well I can readily play it using the chord symbol and melody as you might do for a sing along.
I do not regret memorizing so many standards during my first two years. Learning many standards in different keys really provided me with a solid foundation. Therefore, I am comfortable with chord progressions and chord shapes. The hardest thing was choosing which standards to concentrate on! I am sure I will want to add more as time passes, but for now I am enjoying playing around with these great standards, most of which Hayden so beautifully arranged.
This is such a warm supporting forum. I appreciate all my fellow “Groovers”. I sincerely hope you are enjoying your journey as much as I am mine! So much to learn and skills to hone….
It’s great to know that your motivation and reward continues, an inspiration for youngsters like me. My approach has been a little different, concentrating on a small number of standards to work out my own arrangements and practice improv, participating in the classrooms, and using the recorded lessons and arrangements as a resource. Hayden has done a wonderful job developing an array of learning opportunities and paths, and I’m always impressed by his innovation, attention to detail, and dedication to the community.
Look forward to following your progress in year four!
congrats !! you have been a valuable co-groover! I am joining you in some tune goals. I’m scaling back my set list to 10 tunes so I can focus on expanding on each going deeper into the scales/chords and improv vocabulary, and really have an insane level of comfort with each tune
I wish I could say I will play them in different keys, but at this age I gotta pick my battles; LOL; keep at it Celia! lets hear a tune on Share your stuff forum
You already sound like a professional!!! I absolutely loved your rendition of Manhattan and can’t wait to hear more of your playing.
You are right. We all have different goals and aspirations relating to the music we want to play. For me, that is just to play beautiful ballads that I can get lost in. Hayden has provided a platform with roadmaps that allow each of us to accomplish our goals. It is truly an outstanding learning environment!
Celia; I was never able to record myself even home alone without having serious performance anxiety (which is crazy considering I can DELETE it);
(then this lovely professional bass player became part of my life; I am so blessed;). his recommendation is that we record the good, the bad, and the ugly. ironically I have been able to quickly fix issues I HEARD in my bad recordings that I would never have heard while playing. so the bad recordings were quite valuable – eventually we kept playing I finally got a decent performance that I could share with ya’ll (and even those included mistakes, and that is just fine!). be brave and play in front of the people who love you. they are not critics. even if there is a train wreck, just laugh and get back in it.
and the MOST IMPORTANT THING >>>>. HAVE FUN !!!
As I believe I told you last year, I’m a year behind you–now approaching my two-year anniversary. I salute your memorization of tunes. I don’t think I could do that now. As others have mentioned, I’ve chosen to limit myself to fewer tunes explored more in depth. And I’ve branched out to add a Latin Jazz focus to the beautiful standards we enjoy working with here at PianoGroove.
Congratulations! Hope to see you here for many years to come.
Wow! Happy 3rd Anniversary Celia!
It is very inspiring to hear how much you have accomplished and how you continue to improve and have fun with these standards.
PianoGroove plays a huge part in our Jazz Piano journey as well as this amazing community. Take care and so very happy for you!
