The Creative Pianist membership area

RuthPower

alexx88 I know the perfectionism thing well! Sometimes it works in your favour when it helps you play somethings obsessively for hours to get it right - and sometimes it gets in the way of moving on. Use of a timer might help you get through a broader range of material if that's what you want to do. Glad you're enjoying the Blues coaching!

RuthPower

ANNOUNCEMENT: The layout of the Creative Pianist area and also the Riffing Pro course have been updated to a new layout design - hopefully this makes things a bit more sleek and easier to find your bundled courses within the Creative Pianist area - and browse the curriculum. Have a look around and let me know what you think!

celiajoy

@RuthPower taking a tiny break from the riffing pro course (I think all I have left is the riff bank module) to watch the coaching about arranging for solo piano...hoping to get inspired/motivated to do an arrangement of one of the songs I’ve been tinkering with.
anyone interested in sharing recordings of what they are working on in the forum? Or Ruth, is it ok if I keep sending you recordings? 😁

RuthPower

celiajoy Yes please do!!! Definitely share them in the forum, you should be able to link to them if you are saving somewhere with public access (or if on google drive, make sure you set it to 'anyone who has the link' can open). Unfortunately we can't upload audio files directly to this forum just yet.

RuthPower

CREATIVE PIANISTS! We've got the coaching to make you an Advanced Chord Champion at the end of this week! Who's excited to learn about crunchy chords?! I'd love to know what you are hoping this coaching will cover?! 🤔

alexx88

@RuthPower I LOVE the new look! Not just the new format/layout, but how it actually "looks" too! Really like that that uncompleted blocks are right there on top, too!

alexx88

@RuthPower @celiajoy @vkisamore Hi everyone! I'm still here! I've been working on my Riff Challenges, & some other side song stuff. Been super busy with life too, & I wanted to spend whatever time I had working on my stuff.

I've been working on my Riff Challenges, trying to go back over past played songs, work on an arrangement for a song I did by ear. I record bits pieces of things on my phone. Nothing professional sounding in terms of audio quality or technique. Just trying to work through things. I don't put them in Google Drive or on YouTube. If I can get some of that done, I'll share. A lot of my stuff lately has vocals though, because that's what I've been working on.

alexx88

@RuthPower Really looking forward to this! I need to catch the replay though. I've been working with someone for my singing & playing skills, & it's at the same time.

alexx88

@RuthPower I can't seem to find where I saved the link to to send you a voice message. I also can't remember where in Piano Picnic it's posted. 🙄 Thanks!

RuthPower

Hi @alexx88 it's in the first section under 'NEW: Want feedback on your performance?' here: https://school.pianopicnic.com/courses/the-creative-pianist-offer/lectures/24163909 🏆

RuthPower

As we gear up for the release of the new course 'Yoga for Pianists' - the course after that is already being produced (announcement to come soon after 'Yoga...' is released!) but I want to know from you know --- WHAT COURSE DO YOU WANT TO SEE COMING UP FOR NEXT YEAR????? 🤪 🎹🎼
I'm up for any suggestions you have because this is where YOU get tell ME what you want!!!! (And I always listen to the Creative Pianist members!)

noellah-jeannica

RuthPower I’d love a more formal version of “Peaceful Piano Improv at Home” or a course where we master the circle of fifths to maximize its technical and creative use in piano playing!!

alexx88

RuthPower I've been think about this question, & the thing that keeps coming back to me is stuff we've touched on before, but maybe it could be expanded on a little more? Making songs our own, & playing freely.

Maybe there's a way to expand & tie in Peaceful Improv, Riffing, Chords, Lead Sheets, Patterns, etc., in a way to help become super familiar, comfortable & confident, but basically free & more creative in a natural way.

And then there's the playing by ear. I'm always interested in figuring things out more quickly & easily.

Thanks for asking our input! I'm sure you'll come up with some fantastic stuff for us!

RuthPower

Thank you @noellah-jeannica and @alexx88 - what's fabulous is that you seem to be on the similar page - not surprising I guess! This is great and definitely how I've been thinking with future courses - working toward expanding the skills we've already begun, rather than new skills. Watch this space!

MikeClarke

Hi Ruth, everyone,
Just realised it's one month to the day that I joined Creative Pianist, and wow, it's flown by.
Completed the Super Basics and Play By Ear courses and just started the Club Mix program for beginners.
Really enjoying everything, Ruth's enthusiasm and fun lessons have made it so easy for me to get started.

I'm having a reflection today & just checking in: I've have attended a couple of Live FB sessions (one this morning) along with the Club Mix zoom, all of it is great, however I'm the sort of person that 'dives' into a new interest 110% and i think i'm in danger of spreading myself across the Whole Picnic Table in one sitting 😆 and filling up my plate too much.

So, as much as I want to attend the live FB sessions, etc, I think i need to focus on practicing and reinforcing the skills presented in Play By Ear (be able to play some of the example songs etc), along with completing the Club Mix beginners program.

Then, maybe in the New Year see how i'm going after a couple of months consistent practice.

I wonder if anyone else had that at the beginning of their Piano journey?

Ruth, I think that makes sense to me, any tips appreciated.

All the best, Mike

RuthPower

MikeClarke Hi Mike! Wonderful to hear! And yes, absolutely be careful of diving into everything at once. Certainly there are the basics to cover (as you have with Super Basics and the Club Mix induction program) and you'll need to spend a bit of time letting that all sink in, (P.S love the picnic table setting/plate reference!).
Good idea to take a step back from all the live sessions - but continue with the Club Mix. The live sessions on FB, are designed to serve those who are still looking at PP from the outside and I'm tempting them to come in for more of the proper good stuff! 😁 But since you're already in, you can certainly focus on the awesome content inside the members area and don't have to worry so much about the social media stuff if it's too much.
At the beginning it's important to have some pieces that you can play to feel good about your progress - rather than just knowing a whole lot of stuff, actually been able to play something is important. So you've got those Songs by Ear pieces to learn, but after that you'll start thinking about which favourite songs you have that you REALLY would love to learn - and then set those as goals for learning by ear later. Very exciting!

MikeClarke

Thanks Ruth, that sounds good, and yes; I was thinking working on those 'Songs By Ear' pieces would be good. I'll probably still come to the live FB sessions when i can, as it can be a bit of motivation and also it's interesting. Thanks again, i'll be aiming to work on those exercise songs and post a recording for you when i feel i've got it in my memory to play. Many thanks, Mike

alexx88

I everyone, I thought I'd share my Meditative Composition. Deciding on which sounds to use took up way more time than it probably should have lol. I really enjoyed coming up with this.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MLo58fUMr65cM6l7EsTf1B5JY8vUMVxa/view?usp=sharing

RuthPower

alexx88 AMAZING! You have captured the style of composition perfectly! I agree with @MikeClarke that second section provides a really nice lift - I like the ABA structure - and the instrumentation is perfect = totally worth spending the time you did on choosing it! I think that's the funnest part to be honest. 😄 And was there rain in the background too? Cos that's just a bit perfect.

MikeClarke

Hi Alex, just listened a couple of times, really nice (not just saying that because we're fellow Picnic'rs 😄). I liked the way the middle section lifted me just a little higher before bringing me back down to the resolved ending. I used to go with my wife to meditation classes, can see a lot of work went into composing this. Thanks for sharing, look forward to more creations. All the best, Mike

alexx88

@"MikeClarke Hi Mike! Thank you so much for your positive feedback! I really appreciate it. Glad to hear my I accomplished my intent.