Monthly Livestream #51!
Thanks for tuning in to yesterday's livestream - we covered a lot! Here's the recording.
We started off with some news - first I was excited to share that I got a new piano last week! It's a Mason and Hamlin A from 1924, and I was excited to talk about it and play it. One thing is that it hadn't been tuned yet since it was moved (actually it hasn't been tuned in 3.5 years!), and I hadn't tweaked the audio at all with the new piano yet, but overall it's a much better piano and will sound even better next month!
Then some more news - for those of you that might in Japan next month, I'll be playing two shows there with my wife, Tomoko Omura, on July 5th in Shizuoka, and July 13th in Tokyo - just in case wanted to let you know!
And the last big news - I'm finally ready to announce that I'll have a new trio album coming out on August 23rd! The record is called "Star Dreams", features Dezron Douglas on bass and Willie Jones III on drums, and is standards and originals. Also happy to say that in addition to streaming and CDs, there is a limited pressing of vinyl LPs for this album! They're actually already done, and I showed them off at the beginning of the stream. I'll post again about it here on Patreon, but if anyone is interested in buying one please message me and I'd be happy to sell you one before it's officially releBarrased.
Then finally into some playing and Q&A! I started off with a few requests: "Pannonica" by Monk, and "Jordu" by Duke Jordan. In Jordu, I was excited to try out the middle pedal on my new piano, and went into a little middle pedal demonstration. This powerful tool is pretty underused in piano playing, in my opinion, and now that I have one (my old piano didn't have one), I'm excited to experiment with it.
Then into questions!
First was a question about internal time - how to keep time when playing solo. For this I demonstrated my all-time favorite rhythm exercise, which I learned from Ari Hoenig, and I demonstrated on the tune "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise". I made a video about this on Patreon, so for more info you can check that out here: Rhythm Exercise from Ari Hoenig
Then had a question about how to use "diminished chords a la Barry Harris" in playing lines. For that, we talked about the similarity between playing lines and playing chords, and how we can use chord shapes to craft lines. I have another video on Patreon about that, so for more info, check it out here: Playing Lines
Then a question about keeping a "tune list", and whether that's a good idea. (Yes it is!) And I elaborate a bit.
And one more quick question about how to decide if you really know a tune yet. Of course we're always learning, growing and improving, but how do you know if you really know a tune? An interesting and important question.
And that was it! Was a fun session, and hope you enjoy checking it out. Thank you again for all of your great questions and requests, and see you next month!
-Glenn
