Tag Archives: portland

Video Of The World’s Smallest Miniature Grand Piano, Tokyo Japan

September 13, 2010postlessons, piano, piano lessons, portland, videoN. Zarr

This is the word’s smallest grand piano. This miniature piano is 9.8 inches wide x 7 inches high and is fully playable. It’s difficult to play though, since each key is only .16 inches high. That’s one-twentieth the size a full size grand piano. It can be played manually or by computer.

The piano was designed by Japanese games manufacturer Sega, and costs $400. That’s considerably less than a new Steinway. It’s called the Grand Pianist and comes preloaded with either 50 or 100 songs, depending on the model you buy. Taking piano lessons would be a challenge, but it’s perfect for a really small concert, by a really small person. There is also a Hello Kitty model, of course.

Jay Chou Video – Battle Of Two Piano Players From The Movie ‘Secret’

September 6, 2010postimprovisation, music, piano, pianos, portland, school, students, teach, teacherN. Zarr

Piano video from the movie ‘Secret’ (不能說的秘密), starring and directed by Jay Chou. Two very talented pianists battle it out on the piano. Yuhao Zhan’s improvisation skill is absolutely amazing. A brilliant showdown of dueling pianos in competition.

Cast

周杰倫 (周杰伦) Jay Chou as 葉湘倫 (Ye Xianglun): Music student majoring in piano and lives with his father.
桂綸鎂 (桂纶镁) Kwai Lun-mei as 路小雨 (Lu Xiaoyu): Music student who lives with her mother.
黄秋生 (黄秋生) Anthony Wong Chau-sang as 小倫爸爸 (Xianglun’s father): The discipline teacher of Xianglun’s school and his father.
曾愷玹 (曾恺玹) Alice Tzeng as 晴依 (Qing Yi): The girl Ye Xianglun met when he joined Dangjian. She always admired Ye Xianglun.
宋健彰 Devon Song as 阿宝/阿寶 (Abao): Not a well-behaved student. Member of a rugby team.
黃俊郎 (黄俊郎) Huang Junlang as 阿郎 (Alang): Abao’s good friend, captain of the rugby team. Organised a dance party where he performs.
詹宇豪 Yuhao Zhan as 雨豪 (Yu Hao): “Prince of the piano”, a talented piano player, had a “piano battle” with Ye Xianglun.

Plot

Ye Xianglun, a music student majoring in piano, transfers to Tamkang (Danjiang)Secondary School. It is a school famous for musically talented students, especially for those who play piano. On the first day of school, as he wanders through the piano building, he hears a mysterious melody being played that leads him to Lu Xiaoyu, another piano major. When he asks her about the song she was playing, she tells him that it is a secret that cannot be told. The two develop a relationship that is clouded in mystery. When Xianglun tells Xiaoyu of the demolition of the piano building on graduation day, she teaches him the song that he heard on the first day of school.

However, when a mis-passed note leads to Xianglun’s accidental kissing of Qing Yi, Xiaoyu disappears for five months, only to return on graduation day and mysteriously disappear again. Xianglun asks around and discovers through Xiaoyu’s mother and his own father that Xiaoyu was actually a student from the class of 1979, who graduated 20 years ago. His father tells him claimed she time traveled to the present via a piece called “Secret” that she played on an old piano in the piano building. She had fallen in love with Xianglun, but the only barrier is that, in the present, the first person she sees on each trip is the only person that can see her.

When Xiaoyu was misled that Xianglun liked Qing Yi, she returned back twenty years to her normal time. During her absence, her story spread and everyone believed that she was crazy. Remembering that the piano room would be destroyed on graduation day of 1999, she tried time traveling to see Xianglun one last time, but was misled once again that he liked Qing Yi as she saw Xianglun was wearing Qing Yi’s bracelet, loaned to him for good luck for playing at the graduation ceremony. Xiaoyu retreats back to her own time and faints due to an asthma attack, while writing on her desk, to which Xianglun desperately tries to write back by writing on a desk with white out.

After finally learning of Xiaoyu’s story, Xianglun realizes that the piece that she taught him was “Secret”, which had the power to take the pianist forward or backward in time depending on the tempo at which it is played. He rushes off to the piano room, which is about to be torn down. Xianglun’s father retrieves the manuscript of Secret that Xiaoyu had given to him for safekeeping, then realizes that Xiaoyu had written a secret message to which he finds out was for Xianglun. Meanwhile, Xianglun enters the piano building where the old piano is. As the demolition begins, Xianglun begins “Secret” from memory, recalling something Xiaoyu told him while teaching him the piece: “I always play it that fast when I go back”. Just before the piano room is completely destroyed, Xianglun travels back to 1979. He sees Xiaoyu, and she sees him and smiles, but doesn’t seem to know him. The last scene is when the 1979 Tamkang (Danjiang) Secondary School graduation picture is taken, in which Xianglun and Xiaoyu are present. As the old piano and the piano building have been destroyed, Xianglun stays forever in the past living a normal life with his love Xiaoyu.

from wikipedia

Blog

Uncategorizedadults, beginners, children, keyboard lessons, norm zarr, oregon, piano lessons, portland, reading music, studio

Blog for Norm Zarr piano lessons studio, Portland, Oregon.

503-253-8021

Piano lessons, keyboard lessons, relaxed lessons.

Children and adults, beginners welcome

Reading music, playing by ear, blues improvisation

Popular, classical, blues, jazz, new age

Recording Music

Uncategorizedcomposing, keyboard, keyboard lessons, kids, music, online, piano lessons, play, portland, recording, remote, students, studio, teach, teacher, virtual

Recording music is something that students love to do (especially my younger students). See how a recording studio works. Complete all the stages in recording a song; composing, recording, editing, mixing, mastering, burning a CD or making a video.

We collaborate in composing music or scoring a soundtrack to a video. Using a keyboard, computer, and software, we can create amazing sounding music, just like it’s done in recording studios. Songs can be original or sheet music that we are working on. Students can focus on the creative process while the teacher runs the software. As students play, note instantly appear as sheet music on the computer screen.

The song is built one track at a time. We first choose the kind of instruments we want for a song. Then each track is played one at a time, building an arrangement. We might use piano, bass, guitar, strings, synthesizer, wind instruments, brass, drums, sound effects to complete a song. Then we edit the tracks for better timing and uniformity.

Mixing involves overall spacing of the instruments and volume settings. Once the piece sounds almost complete, we ad the final mastering technique of adding EQ, reverb, compression, etc. This smoothes out the sound. Finally, we transfer the song from a multitrack recording, to a two track stereo version.

Lastly, we ‘normalize’ the recording, making sure the volume is set high enough. The final steps is burning a CD. Recording music is a fabulous way to get students completely engaged in learning to play piano. It provides the missing link by demonstrating why we might want to learn to play piano and keyboards. The instantaneous visual and sound display is invaluable in making music and rhythm concepts easy to understand.

Students quickly feel confident in their new abilities. The whole process is just so much fun, and the results are impressive. Kids who have completed the entire process and have a finished CD, video, or recording, to show their family and friends, really feel a sense of accomplishment.

Live Remote, Online, Virtual
Piano Lessons & Keyboard Lessons
Call for Details

Piano Lessons & Keyboard Lessons
Portland, Oregon

503-253-8021

Reviews

Uncategorizedbest, children, keyboard lessons, online, piano lessons, piano teacher, play piano, portland, remote, teacher, virtual

“Wonderful, fun lessons for my child. Patient, experienced teacher.‎ Fun lessons. My daughter has been studying piano here for over two years. She loves the lessons and is fascinated with music. She learns to read music, and does theory, chords, melodies, composing music. Her teacher gives her lots of encouragement. She takes pride in what she has accomplished.

We spent time interviewing potential teachers here in Portland. This teacher had the experience, patience, and relaxed teaching method that was a perfect match for us. Our daughter looks forward to piano lessons every week, and that is just what we wanted.” – W. Houser‎‎

“Fabulous teacher. The lessons are excellent and so much fun. I learned really quickly. His method of teaching made me feel at ease, and he is very patient. It’s clear that he loves teaching piano. I am learning a wide variety of music and I feel a sense of accomplishment after each lessons. I am learning to read music and play by ear; something I’ve always wanted to do. I am totally happy with my piano teacher.” – George Greve

“My kids really enjoy these piano lessons here. Their instructor is a very talented educator.The lessons are wonderful and my children are learning so many great things on piano. My 8 year old girl loves the classical and new age pieces. My son, 9 loves to play ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Lion Sleeps’ and is composing music and make recordings of what he is done. The lessons are much more than just piano lessons. They are a complete music education.

They learn about the history of the piano, music in the current world, all about recording studios, how to play music with other kids. This is the one activity outside of school that they truly enjoy, and I want to take advantage of that interest.” ‎ – J. Kern‎

 “Our children love playing the piano. They are rapidly acquiring new skill. I am proud of them. My children are 5 and 7, and are learning quickly. They are quite enthusiastic about playing piano and we are very satisfied with our piano teacher. He is very good at inspiring and praising and them. He’s so patient with them. They often get fresh, new, interesting music, and this keeps them moving forward. My piano teacher makes learning easy and fun, and keeps me inspired.

He encourages them and supportive when they get stuck. It’s particularly rewarding to watch them develop a sense of accomplishment with their progress. They read music, play by ear, and do lots of recording projects that they love. Coming over to lessons each week is a family outing and something we love doing together.” – A. Manew‎

“He’s great with my kids. We are so thrilled at finding this teacher. Our kids really like going to their lessons, and always leave happy and inspired about music. The love playing both the piano and the keyboard. They are quickly gaining skills and confidence. Their progress is excellent. The other day, some of my friends remarked how nicely they play piano.

Both my son and daughter like the music they get, and especially like to record what they have learned. We have recordings and videos of them playing at the studio, and it’s a great thing to email their grandparents who live far away. I looked around for just the right teacher for them, and I’m pleased with my choice.” – P. Stevens‎ 

 “My son’s piano teacher is the best. My son is making excellent, rapid progress. And my son loves taking lessons and playing his songs. He gets to learn to do all kinds of things, in addition to reading music. The lessons are just plain terrific for him.

I wish Public school could be like this! He is learning to read music and compose his own songs from scratch. In addition to piano, he is getting a complete music education. This is important to me because I think it’s essential to his future. I am completely happy with the piano lessons and am so pleased we found this teacher.”
– J. E. Wheeler

“Super piano lessons. Very patient & supportive teacher.‎ I am very happy with our teacher. My 9 year old son really enjoys his lessons. His teacher is extremely competent and the results we see are excellent. He makes the lessons fun, has a great sense of humor, and gets my son to move forward by challenging him in a supportive way, always making sure he feels supported.

Here, my son gets to learn to read all kinds of fun music, learns how to play by ear, and gets to record music at the studio. He loves making soundtracks with piano, bass, drums, flute, and all sorts of other instruments. He just completed making a CD, which he is so proud of. I am very happy with the piano lessons. He is the best piano teacher.” – Charles Bradley‎

 “My kids really love taking piano and keyboard lessons. Their teacher is just great! My kids, 7 and 9, have lots of fun playing piano at home. We’ve been doing lessons here for almost 3 years. It is so pleasing for the children to have such a positive thing to do. They play duets together, and get to try music from all around the world.

They also are creating their own CS’s and writing their own pieces. Their teacher does a great job encouraging them. I like the new skills that my children are learning, especially being challenged, working hard at something, and not quitting. They are learning skills that will help them with other challenges in life. The piano lessons really inspire them.” – Bette Parker‎

 “We’re very happy with their teacher. My kids are excited about piano lessons. They really love playing. He makes the lessons interesting and fun at the same time. They are learning to read music, play by ear, compose music, make CD recordings. They are having a great time. They do lots of fun stuff to keep them engaged. I’m totally pleased with their progress.

Music education is important to a child’s development. Many studies show that playing piano improves children’s overall performance in school. We can readily see this. I want my kids to have the best education they can.” ‎
– K. Tannes‎