Dear Reader -
What do you do when you’re on the other side of the country and lose your car keys on a beach?!
The Big Thing
Our two new workbooks go to print this week. I wrote this passage last night for any of our more advanced students who will be starting out on our last Level - Level 8…
“Level 8 is the last level on this particular course.
By this stage you should be almost independent of your teacher, able to work out melodies and accompany those melodies with a variety of right-hand harmony notes and left-hand chordal-based patterns. Your songs should sound full and interesting.
You should know your 12 scales and be able to play them over 2 octaves.
You should also know your 12 major, minor, diminished and augmented triads.
What you will learn in this level is how to make and play major 7, dominant 7 and minor 7 chords. You will have the option of branching out from learning popular and contemporary songs to jazz standards, blues and boogie tunes and even some traditional Irish reels and hornpipes. Plus some guidance on how to improve your dexterity by playing your scales faster.
Oh and the bad (and good) news is that this level can never be completed.
I’m still on Level 8 – as are Billy Joel and Sangah Noona. That’s the beauty of music – you will never know it all – there will always be something new to learn, a different way to interpret a song, a new chord or melody to express what you are feeling.
I hope you have enjoyed learning to play the piano by ear. It is a gift that will never leave you. Enjoy it!”
*Disclaimer - not all of our students get to Level 8, but if you would like to try, we are currently enrolling for lessons in Strandhill, Rathcormac, Boyle and Dublin. Email pianowithkieran@gmail.com if you’re interested…
Where else but Sligo?
A friend of mine came down from Dublin last weekend. He had promised his children a camping trip but the campsite in Strandhill was fully booked so I offered him a premium spot (!) to pitch a tent in our back garden.
They went to the beach in Streedagh for the day and had a great time until the car keys disappeared. Probably buried under sand somewhere. At one stage he reckoned he had 50 people walking the beach looking for them, but no luck.
So there they are on Streedagh beach, more than 100 miles from home, in wetsuits, with clothes, wallet, phone and tent all locked in the car.
After over an hour of looking, he sheepishly called me to pick them up and by the time we got to Ransboro he had sorted a lift back home to get the spare key!
A (non) camping trip they will always remember probably - but the twist came the next day when he arrived fresh off the train to pick up the car. There were the keys - on the windscreen - left there by some kind local who had found them and decided not to loot the many valuable items inside. He couldn’t get over it.
Honest folk in North Sligo!
What’s New?
THEME NIGHT ACADEMY: We have been working hard all summer on this and are so excited to tell you all. Coming next week…
STEPHEN O’DOWD NEW MUSIC: Great new song called The Galleass Girona from Stephen…
GROOVELINE AT ELECTRIC PICNIC: These Teenage Theme Night graduates absolutely rocked the Trailer Park Stage last Saturday night.
Finally…
Great singers, great song, great video - here’s what that looks like…
Till next time - Kieran.
