Bagatelle

During lessons today, I was quizzing a student on her flashcards when we came to Bagatelle. She defined it as a short, uninvolved bag! It was supposed to be a short, uninvolved instrumental piece. It was a laugh-out-loud moment during the lesson. I love these kids!!

APT Recital at Loyalton

Twelve of my students played at Loyalton Assisted Living in Lakewood on Saturday, October 25th. They all played well. My video camera battery died right when I had to play with Morgan, so I missed her and part of Luke's pieces.

The students who played: Rachel, Kendall, Kendra, Sydney, Makala, Luke, Isac, Alice, Taylor, Mike and Olivia, and Morgan. For six of them it was their first time. I'm proud of all of them.

You can see their performances at http://www.cindyspianostudio.com/studentperformances.php if you have a user name and password from one of the students.

Georgia Guitar Quartet

Makala and I attended the Georgia Guitar Quartet concert last night sponsored by the Jamestown Concert Association. It was at 8 p.m. at St. Luke's Church in Jamestown. We sat towards the back with Makala on the aisle so she could see better. The program was great!

They played with awesome dynamics and fun sound affects. They were always looking at each other for direction so the group interaction was fun to watch. We liked Scarlatti's, The Cat's Fugue. He wrote it after his cat jumped on his harpsicord and walked on the keys. Scarlatti wrote down the keys he played and transposed, turned upside down, and stretched out the simple theme.

They played two pieces that they commissioned, both were unusual. Wheels was full of circular themes. Just about the time my eyes glazed over, the music changed. We thought it would be good music for a suspense movie. I even heard a fist fight and gun shots. They said that each of the four parts were like spokes in a wheel; if one part got off, the wheel becomes an oval. Makala's eyes lit up when they played the Suite for Four Guitars. Her feet were dancing. It was like something you've heard and yet like nothing you've heard.

Their rendition of Linus and Lucy was interesting. That's all I'll say about that. Two Repaired Movements had a lot of tribal sounds and was percussive. Fun to listen to and watch. The last piece, The Road to Lisdoonvarna, an Irish Traditional song, made me think of leprocans dancing on a road. After the program, we went downstairs for refreshments and Makala got her program signed by all four guitarists. It was a fun evening.

You can see their website at http://www.georgiaguitarquartet.com/

APT Recital

Students are preparing for the Association of Piano Teachers recital at Loyalton on October 25th. I have 12 students playing. This is Rachel, Isac, Taylor, Morgan, Mike, and Olivia's first recital. Kendall, Kendra, Sydney, Makala, Luke, and Alice have all played in recitals before. Seven of the students are playing duets. Alice is playing with her mom. This should be a fun time for them and the residents. The piano is a keyboard, Yamaha I think. The music rack is low so I hope I remember to bring something to hold the back of the music upright. There are only three of my students not playing at this recital. I had thought of having another recital for those who weren't playing; I may still do that. The next blog post should have pictures of the recital and maybe video if I can figure out how to do that!

Man, I'm Good!

At Taylor and Morgan's lesson on Thursday, we had just been learning Carmen's Tune and Morgan blurted out "Man, I'm good!" after a successful playing. She was right, but it sure made me laugh out loud! What a joy these two are.