Sight Reading Tips

While cleaning up some archived entries on my teaching blog, I found this one on sight reading tips, called (predictably) Sight Reading Tips. Here are some other articles and vblogs that I've come across that also address how to practice sight reading.

• Five Steps to Mastering Sight Reading

• Sight Reading A to Z

• The Sight Reading Box

This is a pretty good tutorial. I like the driving analogy.

Jazz Music and Improvisation Guide Books

As I mentioned earlier, I recently presented to the Piano Pedagogy Group. The piano teachers in this group are currently working on their Grade 10 or their Piano Pedagogy certification through Royal Conservatory of Music, Conservatory Canada or London College of Music . They are all classically trained (translation: improvisation, lead sheets and chord charts are scary). This is a list of the "How To" books that I use whenever I teach and play contemporary music (e.g. pop, rock, Latin, jazz, ragtime) that I shared with them:

Conservatory Canada Contemporary Idioms Syllabus

look inside

How To Play From A Fake Book

By Blake Neely. For Guitar, Piano/Keyboard. Piano. Instructional. Instructional book. Standard notation and instructional text. 88 pages. Published by Hal Leonard (HL.220019)

look inside

Lead Lines and Chord Changes

By Ann Collins. For Piano. Piano Collection; Piano Supplemental. Early Advanced; Late Intermediate. Book. 80 pages. Published by Alfred Music Publishing (AP.199)

...more info

look inside

Volume 1 - How To Play Jazz & Improvise

By Jamey Aebersold. For any C, Eb, Bb, bass instrument or voice. Play-Along series with accompaniment CD. Jamey Aebersold Play-A-Long series. Beginner, intermediate. Book & CD. 104 pages. Published by Jamey Aebersold Jazz (JA.V01DS)

look inside

Volume 3 - The II/V7/I Progression

By Jamey Aebersold. For any C, Eb, Bb, bass instrument or voice. Play-Along series with accompaniment CD. Jamey Aebersold Play-A-Long series. Beginner, intermediate. Book & CD. 100 pages. Published by Jamey Aebersold Jazz (JA.V03DS)

(6)

...more info

look inside

Boogie Woogie for Beginners

Arranged by Frank Paparelli. For Piano/Keyboard. Keyboard Instruction. 48 pages. Published by Hal Leonard (HL.120517)

(2)

...more info

There are a few more in my "To Check Out" pile. I'll add them once I've had a chance to go through them a bit.

Johnny Summers "Piano Sessions Vol. 1" CD Release Party March 2013

If you love jazz and you live in Calgary, come out to Johnny Summers' upcoming CD release party. Deets as follows: Date: March 16th 2013

Calgary CD release concert for Johnny's new recording "The Piano Sessions Volume 1"

featuring Chris Andrew, piano

Special guests Al Muirhead, Shane Statz, and The Polyjesters Jason and Sheldon Valleau!

Tickets will be on sale soon.

Johnny Summers is the director of the Calgary Jazz Orchestra.

Here's my CD review.

Here's a video of Johnny in performance:

Japanese Pastries - Oishii desu ne?

せんせんしゅう、ともだち と セレーゾ へ いきた。

Two weeks ago, I went to Cerezo Cafe and Bar for the first time with friends. One friend said that the strawberry soft cake was out of this world. That's the truth.

Here's another language learning tip: visit stores and restaurants where you can practice speaking the language you are studying. Although I stumbled a bit, I did order this in Japanese. やっだ!

Sherry Kennedy "Little Secret" CD Release Party February 2013

If you're looking for something musical to enjoy next month, come on out to my vocal coach Sherry Kennedy's CD release party. Deets as follows:

Sherry is a Calgary-based singer, recording artist and vocal coach. Album review to come - stay tuned!

Here's a video of Sherry Kennedy in performance: