ma + ist

Programmer, stock trader, photographer, plant lover/killer 🌵💀 Mother of dogs 🐶 Working from home since 2012 🏠 Learning piano 🎹 Brazilian-Swede living in Spain 🇧🇷🇸🇪🇪🇸

Schein's "Allemande"

An allemande is a type of dance very common in baroque suites. As I keep working through Grade 1 repertoire, I'm starting to encounter more and more of those dances: allemandes, rigaudons, and many, many menuets... Johann Hermann Schein (1586 — 1630) was a German…

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"T. Rex goes for a Stroll" by Christine Donkin

"T. Rex goes for a Stroll" is another fun piece in Christine Donkin's book "Comic & Card Tricks". I really enjoy practicing everything this woman composes! On this piece I encountered ff (fortissimo) for the first time, and maybe that's why I got a bit…

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Bean ice cream

Looking through my phone's camera roll, I realize I have not shared the images of the day my mom and I ate BEAN ice-cream. Yes, that's a thing and opinions vastly differ when it comes to what it tastes like. My mom says it's quite alright. I say it's quite awful.

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Piano étude no. 116 by Gnesina

For the past two years I have really struggled to keep up with my piano studies. I feel a little disappointed in myself that after 2.5 years I'm still only a grade 1 student, but it is what it is. Work has gotten in the…

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Jumping in the Mud: 10 early elementary piano solos

"Jumping in the Mud" is the title of the first book in Christine Donkin's Piano Pieces Vol I: Elementary. This is an early elementary (preparatory grade) selection of pieces, but unlike the ultra boring and dull stuff in Alfred's and Faber's books, the selection here…

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"Taking Turns" by Christine Donkin

Discovering Christine Donkin earlier this year was a game changer for me. I love studying classical music and I love playing recognizable pop/rock tunes, but what I didn't know is that I truly LOVE fantasy/adventure/cinematic pieces by unknown (to me) contemporary composers. After listening to…

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Reinagle's Op. 1 No. 11

I recently bought the Schott edition of Reinagle's Op. 1: "24 Short and Easy Pieces" and have been going through all the charming 18th century miniatures in order. I noticed this one was also present in my edition of Essential Piano Repertoire (prep grade) by…

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Reinagle's Op. 1 No. 6

I have been working through Reinagle's "24 Short and Easy Pieces" in order, since they seem to be mostly arranged by difficulty. The pieces in Op. 1 are all early elementary level, ranging for preparatory to grade 1. This charming little piece is no. 6 in the…

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"The Tired Turtle Express" by Christine Donkin

The Tired Turtle Express is an early elementary piece from the book "Comics & Card Tricks: 12 elementary piano solos", by Christine Donkin. I had so much fun practicing this one: first time I encountered a piece with ritardando, first time practicing grace notes, and the first time playing something a bit more jazz-y!

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