Welcome to the tonebase Piano Community!

Dominic Cheli said:
Where are you from and what's your favorite food from there? ;) 
What are you currently working on? 
What are you hoping to get out of this community? 

Hi.

I am Denise.

I currently and have laid permanent roots in Chula Vista, CA, but am originally from Buffalo, NY. My favorite food from Buffalo? Well, umm... You might think it is wings -- and you might be right, but it is such a Mecca of great food. My favorite (at the moment) would have to be roast beef sandwiches on kimmelweck rolls AKA -"beef on weck" (German Kaiser rolls with rock salt and caraway seeds) - Truly a Buffalo delight. 

I am currently working on Beethoven Sonata 25 Opus 79 all three movements, Bach Invention #3 D major - Just finished learning #14, also learning Schubert's Valses Sentimentales D779 Op 50 #12 and 13. Nothing too difficult - as I am not a concert pianist.

What do I hope to receive from this community? I have been playing piano since I was 5, with a break from 18-33 while in the Navy. When I was in HS, I played in honors recitals and loved the process of preparing for a performance. My teacher from HS wanted me to attend the summer programming at the Chautauqua Institute every summer, but my mother could not afford to send me. I wanted to major in music in college, but my family was very much against that. So I rebelled and joined the Navy! I transferred to SDSU and achieved my dream of a music degree in my late 30s, but I also realized then that my hiatus gave me terrible performance anxiety! No longer could I stomach playing in front of crowds, not to mention the difficulty I had with memorizing repertoire. I would have "white outs" when I had juries! (Not remembering what happened in the recital hall!) I hate bananas - not that they helped! (If you can relate.) I still have anxiety as I feel terrible inferiority to my significant other who is classically trained, attended USC and a professional pianist on the traditional Jazz circuit worldwide and also a regular at Disneyland (pre-covid). SO, my hopes are to grow comfortable in my own skin again. Over the years as a high school teacher (not music - math/special education) I have not spent as much time practicing as I should, and have 2 gorgeous pianos (Baldwin L Grand and Schulze-Pollmann 126 Professional Upright)! However, with the pandemic putting, I have utilized zoom to once again take lessons with my community college professor from Virginia from almost 20 years ago, not only to hone my "chops" and deal with my anxiety at the piano, but also improve my teaching skills with pedagogy tips. I have a small studio of 12 students and have budding late intermediate students that I want to continue to challenge. In a nutshell, I want to become a better musician not only for my own selfish reasons, but also so that I can continue to teach my students as the grow musically.  I also LOVE hearing from concert pianists and can relate on my own level to just about every livestream I have watched.  I love being reminded of theory and the academic side of music  (thanks Ben for the crash course on theory) - as while I graduated cum laude with distinction, experience and time has allowed the knowledge to digest - making it more real and important. I share it with my students, something my early teachers NEVER really took the time to teach, sadly.  I could go on and on... I belong to PianoWorld and PianoStreet, but there is something about ToneBase... I hope for continued success, as I am a lifetime member.

Oh, another hope - that I can use the tips and practice hints for counterpoint. I never FULLY "mastered" a Bach Fugue. Lame, huh? Hoping my refresher with a few "new" Inventions will get me ready.  At 50 you're never too old to fire up those dormant brain cells!

Sorry for the novel... But I am glad to have found ToneBase!

Music is life.

Thanks Ben! So kind of you to reply! I had a 2 hour 40 minute practice session today, of which 1 hour was spent on Bach's C minor Fugue - I broke it down into 8 bar sections and backward practiced. Perhaps my dream of playing a fugue may come to fruition... I definitely enjoyed the lesson on Tonebase by Evan Shinners. Jason, my partner, said I could always play a fugue... I just lacked confidence. I am more a vertical player, rather than horizontal... or so I'd like to believe. 

Please PLEASE address polyrhythms in the workshop! I hope I can attend live, but I am in the classroom most days. Polyrhythms catch the death of me. One of my audition pieces for SDSU was Grieg's Nottorno, and although I nailed the polyrhythms, Beethoven's 79 ( 17 years later) is really pushing it. I also have a student who has encountered his first piece with polyrhythms, and he did a great job digesting. :-) Just need to stay ahead of him... a bit... ;-) 

Again, thanks!! Looking forward to more Tonebase!

Well, now I'm in - happy to be here and introduce myself:

• My name is Santiago. I'm from Cali, Colombia, but have been living in Germany for almost 6 years. Therefore, my culinary preferences are quite different. I really like Colombian "pandebonos" - a cheese bread made with yuca flour - but I definitively love German  sausages. 
• I'm actually re-starting playing piano after an almost 10 years break. I had the pleasure to join a great music education as I was a child - I played clarinet, piano and had a lot of theory lessons. Afterwards, as it sometimes happens in life, I decided to go another way (competitive sport) and didn't find the time to keep playing music. Now, at the beginning of this year and due to the pandemic and reduced social life, I experienced a renaissance of love for music and piano. One day, I spontaneously decided to look for a digital piano and the day after that, I already had one in my living room. I directly started working on relatively easy pieces (Bach Praeludium No. 1 in C major; Burgmüller Ballade op. 100/15; Händel Sarabande in D minor) and on technique (Czerny first tutor Op. 599). Now, I already studied my first Chopin (Prélude in E minor op. 28/4 - what a gorgeous piece) with the help of the tonebase lessons and I keep improving/searching for my own interpretation of the piece. I'm currently working on Chopin Waltz in A minor and Beethoven's moonlight sonata (first movement). And after yesterdays live session with Dominic (very inspiring), I'm very looking forward to my first contemporary piece - I have already ordered some scores :D 
• I didn't know that I would find such a (now) little but great community at tonebase. I'm very happy that I took the decision to join the platform and really enjoy being part of the great community that is being built. I look forward to exchanging with you and think, that we could maybe create a space where we (hobby pianists) could present our work - for example in form of short live concerts from our living room - and get feedback from similar enthusiasts. 

I wish you all the best! 

Santiago

Hi Sindre! I have to just say I LOVE Norway! Greig's Concerto in A Minor is what woke me up in my piano journey when I was 10 or 11 years old! I love the Lyric Pieces... I spent a month near Hell, Norway in February when I was in the US Navy... during a Cold Weather Joint Forces operation. Up near Trondheim. LOVED it! The Northern Lights were PHENOMENAL! Flying over the Fjords during the stark of winter was breathtaking. I would love to go back during gate summer months... I went to Norway in 2002. Glad to meet you! :-)  I teach piano to 12 young students in my neighborhood, and my partner is a professional jazz pianist who travels world wide playing traditional 'prohibition' jazz. He studied at USC, but finished his degree elsewhere because of cost. I love listening to him practice. :-) ~Denise

Hi Celine!

I have been to Singapore!! Beautiful and HOT! I enjoyed about a month and a half there in fall of 1997 while I was doing US Naval reserve time. I believe Malaysia had some terrible devastating fires, so the air quality was not so good. Two words... CHILI CRAB! OHHHHHHH MY!  I keep telling Jason I have to take him there. The island nation is simply MAGICAL! I also remember the giant prawns at the hawker stands - the food was even more magical. My three adult children have an appreciation for seafood and anything Asian cuisine. My step-mom is from the Philippines and my father actually passed away while spending the winter in Asia a few years back.  I always wanted to visit where his wife is from, but never have.

Which Beethoven Sonata are you working on? I am working on Opus 79, the full sonata. I have played single movements here and there. I am getting a good feel for the first movement, the second is quite simple, but the third movement is a struggle as I have never been adept at fast movements. But it’s been years. Back in the “swing” of developing my skills. Thank you Covid-19!

I too teach. I teach Math and Study Skills at a private high school and then at home I have a private piano studio with 13 students ranging in age from 6-15. 

Nice to meet you!