The Blindfolded Pianist

After fighting with my drum kit over the best arrangement to use with I Got Rhythm, I thought I better take a practice break before I give in to the urge to hit it.Martin Leung, AKA The Video Game Pianist burst onto the youtube stage with this "Blindfolded Pianist" videos. He is currently working on his Masters' Degree in Music and touring around the world with Video Games Live.

A pretty sweet gig if I say so myself.

I recently heard him perform with Video Games Live when they came to Calgary.

Here he is in his blindfolded glory:

(c) 2009 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

Oliver Jones Trio Performs Tribute to Oscar Peterson in Calgary

Things are slowly starting to "click" with the jazz pieces I'm working on this term. Playing around with the Spanish scale has been fun but my improvising goes much more smoothly when I just use my ear and my gut. Comping is starting to get better (it helps to play along with a recording or to sing along).I'll be getting lots of inspiration Thursday night when the Oliver Jones Trio performs at the Jack Singer Concert Hall in Calgary. Oliver is a contemporary of the late Oscar Peterson, and they grew up just doors from each other. Oliver's Trio is performing a tribute to Oscar.

I just listened to this video clip of them playing. Insane technique!

Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.

(c) 2009 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

St Francis de la Sissies Unique Version of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus

Somedays, you just need to have a good laugh in between practices. The St. Francis de la Sissies achieve just that with their rendition of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus:

Enjoy!

Test Your Musical IQ

Now for something completely different... Musician and doctor Jake Mandell has developed four online tests that you can try:

1. Do you think you're tone deaf? Take the Tonedeaf Test

2. How well can you "hear" shapes? Test your Musical-Visual Symbolic Intelligence

3. Are you rhythm deaf?

4. How good are you at distinguishing subtle pitch differences?

They're trickier than going through the old Four Star books.

(c) 2008 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB Canada. All rights reserved.

May 2008 Music Celebrity of the Month

May's Music Celebrity of the Month is Max Steiner. Steiner was an Austrian-American film composer who scored the soundtracks to Gone With the Wind and King Kong:

He was an Academy Award winner who lived from May 10, 1888 - December 28, 1971.

(c) 2008 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

If you'd like to learn more about Max Steiner, check out this book: