Fingering is Important

One of my students is learning the Piano Guys' arrangement of "All of Me". We thought this warning was pretty hilarious, not to mention true.

Here's the piece. See you if can find the "fingering or die" part:

Want to hear more? Click on the Piano Guys CD to check out their CD's:

What a Difference Time Makes

It's amazing how much of a difference time makes.Pieces get stronger and diction improves like magic. Well, magic in the form of practice, that is. I first performed つばさ を ください ("Tsubasa wo kudasai" - "Please Give Me Wings") in the Spring of 2011 before I enrolled in Japanese language classes. Considering that my おとうと and I had approximately a week to throw this charity performance together, it didn't go too badly. Musically, I should have sang it in a lower key to fully utilize my chest voice, but whatever.

Here's the performance from the 2011 Calgary Hana matsuri:

We performed it last week at my music studio's winter showcase. Let me tell you, I worked hard on my pronunciation! My hand was forever moving to shape the phrase just as sensei does in class with our sentences. I grilled myself on "tsu" and "hatamekase" ad nauseum. For an additional challenge, I "misplaced" my romaji and typed out the lyrics and chords in Hiragana.

During rehearsals, we experimented with a couple of things. For instance, we knew we still wanted to pay homage to Megumi Hayashibara's version from Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance [Blu-ray]. We also wanted to direct a nod to K-On! from their FUWAFUWA TIME mini-album.

The fun thing about music is that it's organic. We can personalize it and make it our own. The ending was one of those on-the-spot ideas that popped up mid-rehearsal - and it stuck.

Here's the performance. Sure, I repeated a line twice since I blanked out on "とんで ゆきたい よ", but who cares? It didn't lead to a train wreck and still worked out. People enjoyed it and that's all that matters when all's said and done. Oh and I think I can pat myself on the back for improving upon my pronunciation. やった!