The Voice

I hate these TV programs. I always feel that they dumb down the profession. Anyhow, this time I had to watch it because the fact that the judges listened to the competitors with their backs toward them changed everything.  It was also interesting to get a feel as the competition went on of what they were actually looking for.
I got quite upset when in the first episodes they excluded people who were very mature vocally and had real star qualities. That is when I suddenly understood, thanks to Seal and Keith, that they are looking for potential and whom they individually capable of helping and mentoring.
Firstly, I need to say how much I liked that the program decided to hit a positive tone. The Voice easily could have gone with the usual nasty judges style and 'kill' many talented, young people who put themselves on the line in front of millions of viewers. Judge Seal comes across like a big, wise, black papa with his words weighing gold and every comment, even the tough ones coated with chocolate and kindness. The other judge whom I love and respect dearly is Keith Urban, whom I think is one of the nicest guys in the profession. Did I mention he is hot, hot hot? By the way. He is not the only one that is hot. I saw a posting on Facebook about Seal and I must agree. In a very unusual and masculine way, the ugly turned beautiful. He is sexy.
OK. Back to the competitors. The Voice. It proved what I knew through my own many decades of experience in the professional music arena. However, it is especially true for those in the performing arts. Let me use the same quote I used as the motto of my blog up on the top of this page by Stevie Wonder. “A lot of people say you need drive to realize your talent but the truth is, your talent is your drive.” Many competitors like the idea of fame and singing but will be not driven enough to make it.  Even when an incredible opportunity comes their way like The Voice. They don't have enough talent to shine through.  And many of them will shy away from the hard that that will be required to get to the top and stay in this profession. Real musicians breath music. It is like oxygen for them. They can't live without it. We can't live without it.  I definitely can't live without it! Music is not a job or work. Music is a lifestyle.

Anyone for an extra lesson?

Life is really great! Don't you just love this time of the year? Chilli morning and sunny, beautiful and warm during the day!
My music students are going well. Just yesterday I had a funny situation with one of them. I love chatting with the parents. We should have an extra 30 min just to catch up on news and chat. Anyhow, this lovely little one sat down at the piano and of course, with Mum we started to exchange the events of our days. He was sitting at the piano, waiting, waiting while we were still laughing and chatting. He told about his day as well and we started playing. He was absolutely brilliant. For a young student his sight reading is exceptional, his coordination is incredible and he even practices! in no time we made up the time we spent chatting with Mum because he learnt two pieces with such a speed that my jaw dropped. Then an idea came in my mind. I asked him and Mum if he would like to have an extra lesson on the weekend just to make up the 'chatting time'. He was quick to say yes, just a little bit earlier than Mum agreed. I could not stop smiling how keen he was to get an extra piano lesson. It is such a pleasure to work with someone like him and have such supportive parents like his Mum!

I am an IPad fan

Birthday present from my brother, Palko

A parcel arrived from Hungary for my birthday. It was from my very much loved and missed brother, Palko. A lovely card and two mysterious gifts wrapped beautifully. My brother always had a great taste and a lovely artistic handwork. When after teaching I opened the parcels, I got a real surprise. He really knows me well. He always knew what made me happy and with lovely taste was able to find the right gift to surprise me. He also understands that music is my life and that it gives me tremendous pleasure. He selected my birthday present exactly according to this principal. An art work from an ex-college of mine, Marianna Meszaros from Kecskemet, our town. Marianna is my friend on Facebook and I constantly see her works there.

Palko has posted one of her creations on the Transcendent Etudes by Franz Liszt which Marianna has made in 2011 for the 200th Anniversary of Liszt and won a second prize at a competition. I have been following her works on her blog and Facebook postings and I very much liked them. The fact that Palko decided to select this artwork for my birthday is quite amazing for many reasons. The facts that the artwork is from Kecskemet, from an artist whom I know and I am in touch with, artwork inspired by Liszt, the famous Hungarian composer and piano virtuoso whose Academy of Music I studied at seem to be almost too much connection. I was deeply touched by his insight and thoughtfulness. I also love these pictures because I just read that Liszt was such a powerful pianist that not many pianos could withstand his force and energetic performances. The famous Bosendorfer was Liszt's preference due to it's strength and beautiful sound quality. That is the brand we had at our school and I grew up with. This picture for me wears Liszt's touch, leaving a piano almost in ruins after a performance. I wanted to share with picture with my readers.
If you want to check out other members of Marianna's series on Liszt, visit her blog to see her pictures. Visit Art Brigad and enjoy the pictures!

How to chose a music teacher?

Finding a music teacher that is suitable to teach your child is not an easy task. Teacher and student need to 'click'. They need to like each other and get on well. It will be, hopefully, a long term relationship. The learning style of the student and the teaching style of the teacher need to match each other for a successful learning experience. You need to make clear about a few things. With private teachers, you get what you pay for. It is a very different type of experience to learn keyboard at school in lunch time in a group lesson or learn the piano in an individual lesson where the teacher teaches the student to read music as well. One will cost maybe $20 the other can cost $90 but the results will be miles away from each other. Unfortunately, many times the school group lessons turn the students away from music for a life time.
A good quality lesson with an expert teacher will engage the student for the length of the lesson and there will clear achievement and outcome at the end of the lesson. The student's concentration will be fully engaged and because of that in the long term, the attention span extended. Playing an instrument without reading is a little bit of a waste of time. Playing by heart only mostly means that there will be a very limited repertoire the student can play. While the procedure of becoming musically literate is hard and takes time, the outcome is that the student can learn a new piece and go ahead in the book even without the presence of the teacher. This is when real learning and fun takes place! In a few years' time the student becomes independent and a life-long engagement with music is established. This means that well after schooling, university, starting family and establishing a successful career, the love of music making and the ability to play and read music in most cases can continue and adults return to having fun and playing music again at mature age.

Sensual tea experience

My latest favourite place is called Malt. It is at the Beaumaris Concord, a little shopping village. This café is right on the corner and it has a warm atmosphere, not like many of the modern cafes, cold and unfriendly. The café has great staff, friendly and helpful, the owner is always on board and likes chatting with his customers. I think he might be Greek? He just walked up to me and now I know, he is Italian! The interior colours are brown and maroon, the furniture is mixed, the place has many different seating arrangement. One day I work on my laptop at the table, the next I sit in the armchair to read the paper. What I really like is the few little unique things they have. My very favourite is the rougelagh, which is a snail like folded pastry with lots of nuts. The other day I wanted a pot of tea as I am cutting out coffee, only have coffee and cake once a week max and one of the girls recommended to try the white Ambrosia tea by TeaForte.com. I must say, this cup of tea was a visual, aromatic and taste experience, engaged many of my senses! It came in a cute, beautifully design paper cone on a ceramic square plate designed for the tea with the F for Forte design and the cone had a little green leaf hanging out so when you open the paper cone to hand the tea in the hot water, you have something to grab. The tea bag is beautifully designed and the leaf stands out from the pot when you close the lid. How very cute! The moment you put the tea in the hot water, the aroma of the tea lingers around. The real enjoyment culminates in the taste of the ambrosia tea. It comes to my tongue in different stages. It has honey like richness and flower like lightness. It is the most delicious, sensual experience I had with tea! Today, I came back to do some work on my laptop so I ordered the white ambrosia tea with a small piece of almond biscuit. The tea was again as beautiful experience as tea can go and the almond biscuit was perfection in every way. Again, the owner had a few kind words to me and made me taste a Ginger shot Rochester Ginger that was extremely envigorating and it is healthy as well! Now I have a few things that are worth coming for and are unique! I love places like Malt!

I am in love with my guitar. It's mutual.

I got so inspired during the classes at my new music course I am doing at MWT Institute on Songwriting, Composition and Production that went and bought a guitar. I decided to learn to play it! I got a great deal at the 21st birthday at my local music shop, Pat's Music. The guy was very helpful and looked after me and put together everything I needed. Finding a good book was more of a problem. Some of them such rubbish music or too much music info I did not need. I only needed info on how to play the guitar and some nice music! After long searching I found one I was happy with so that night I got started! My first hour was not pleasant, I found the guitar strange to play, and I was not making a nice, resonant sound. Compared to the piano, I struggled with the asymmetric aspect of the instrument. I realized, what a huge advantage is the fact that I already play two other instruments and read music. My good ear also guided me on the strings and getting things right. I was progressing really well within two hours. My challenge was that sometimes my left hand was on a different string from my right. Two many strings! The last pieces included chords. Now that was a real challenge! To make all the notes sound and resonate properly! Diligently I am practicing every day and I am loving it. I am revising my pieces and the quality of my sound is much better. I ma really happy with my playing and my progress. Although getting started with my studies and buying a guitar happened almost accidently and suddenly, I have a feeling that I will get out many years of pleasure from it.