Erik Satie "Vexation" Musical Piece and John Cage

"To play this motif 840 times in succession, it would be advisable to prepare oneself beforehand, in the deepest silence, by serious immobilities.". Erik Satie - 1893

One composition that proves to be a genius and yet perplexed one was Satie's work entitled "Vexations". It  is a short musical piece with only 3 lines to be played  840times in successions. The piece was became popular and published until only after his death .  It was written by Satie same time of his intense affair with the painter and model Suzanne Valadon, from January to June 1893.

John Cage discovered the score through Satie’s friend  in 1949 and have it printed immediately.  In September 9, 1963 (the performance lasted 18 hours and 40 minutes from 6:00p.m of September 9 to 12.40 p.m the next day)  at Pocket Theatre, New York, Cage organized and gathered a team of pianists  who played  the full performance for the first time of "Vexations".  The team included himself,   David Tudor, Christian Wolff, Philip Corner, Viola Farber, Robert Wood, MacRae Cook, David Del Tredici, James Tenney, Howard Klein, Joshua Rifkin, and John Cale.  

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Each pianists made an alternate performance for 15minutes with this short piece of only 3 lines repeated 840 times, the performance lasted for 18hours .  After that performance, many pianists have tried   to play the challenging piece  and been the subject of musicologists and Satie researchers. 

As for John Cage music, Satie  had been probably an influence of his later works.  His interest to the older composer begun since 1945 when he composed two-piano arrangement  of the first movement of Satie’s "Socrate" for Merce Cunningham’s ballet, he  later organized a concert with Satie’s music, his writings, and some other projects  related to Satie.

References :

Serious Immobilities: On the centenary of Erik Satie’s Vexations, StephenWhittington,  1999
Nicolas Fogwall Research Erik Satie Site

Various Christmas Carols for the Holidays

Only days are counting and we will already in the “ber” months. It means the Christmas season is fast approaching. During this season, many are busy with various Christmas activities whether in the business or in family gatherings.

There are lots of events for reunions, family gatherings, company christmas party events and many more. With these celebrations, popular Christmas songs or carols will always be present. They will be heard again in the airwaves, here are some of the songs to expect every Christmas season:

Deck the Halls
Joy to the World
Silent Night
Jingle Bells
Hark the Herald Sing
12 Days of Christmas
Good King Wenceslas
The First Noel
O Come, All ye Faithful
We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Canvassing for a Digital Piano Keyboard

My piano digital keyboard is already with me for years and I am trying to canvass for a replacement. Hopefully I could buy soon if I will be able to find a good one which fits to my requirement. I am looking for a 76-key keyboard but weight should be manageable. A weighted keyboard is really good but this is quite heavy so I am trashing out that idea. For keyboard instruments, mobility is important. The sound of the grand piano voice also means a lot since this is mostly used among the sounds available in digital keyboards. There are digital keyboards which sounds too electronic when it comes to the grand piano sound. 

I hope to have a Korg or Yamaha, but as of now I am not definite which brand or model will I get. It will also depend on the price if its within the budget. I hope to have a new one by next year, that would be an exciting moment for me.

Piano Music Sheets from my Collection

For a long time, I have not visited my music sheets collection.  There is a long list, but here are some of the songs in the collection:

Classical

Canon in D

Lullaby by Brahms

Fur Elise by Beethoven

Claire de Lune by Debussy

Nocturne by Chopin

Waltz in A minor

Christmas Songs

Carol  of the Bells

Christmas Songs

Deck the Halls

Joy to the World

Do they know its Christmas

Feliz Navidad

Silent Night

Jim brickman Songs

Valentine

Destiny

By Heart

The Gift

Pop and Ballad Songs

A Thousand Miles

Angel

Diary

It Might Be You

You Raise me Up

and a lot more..

Having a Grand Piano in your Living Room

Having a grand piano in your living room. Whenever I see home with grand piano, I can only sigh and wish for my own. Although a grand piano is a music instrument, it is also a piece of furniture at home where the family and visitors can enjoy.

Having a digital keyboard or any music instrument gives more delight especially if there are occasions. More of a grand piano, we all know that the beauty of the piano sound is very soothing to the soul.

Good brands are Ymaha, Steinway, Baldwin, and Kawai. When buying a grand piano, take time in canvassing that suits your needs since you will be cashing out a large amount of money for one unit. When you  finally have one, maintenance is important so that you will get your money's worth.  And most of all, play and enjoy it!

Inspirations in Song Writing Lyrics

Just like poetry, writing lyrics is one of the hobbies I like to do when the mood strikes. There are thousand of songs which are beautifully written, music is one of the most effective medium of expression. 

Where can you find inspiration to write? There can be many topics that you can write about. In every situation you can find inspiration like you are telling a story, in every things you see around you, in every emotion that you feel, experiences of your friend, and many more inspirations in life. But for a lyricist or songwriter, not all the songs came from personal experiences. Just like a writer or an actor, a lyricist can play a different role and create a masterpiece. While many great songs are also written during the ebb of a songwriter’s life where personal emotions and experiences are the source of inspirations.

Can you list down songs beautifully written?

Guitar Fingerstyle Prodigy Sungha Jung

Sungha Jung is a Korean acoustic fingerstyle guitar prodigy, a self taught player (mostly learn from video clips) who started uploading his YouTube videos at a young age. Now, as a teenager, he continues to upload more videos and perform guitar as solo or collaborated with other guitar players and singers. This boy have played with some of the great guitar players of our generation. His own style influenced other young and old guitar players. His videos ranges from classical, pop, ballad songs. You can watch him play Payphone (Maroon 5), Story of my Life (One Direction), Canon Rock, Bruno Mars songs, Jason Mraz, and more.

Sungha Jung is a native of Chung-Ju city South Korea.

Poor Man’s Copyright for my Song

Being interested in music, I have been writing lyrics since my highschool days. Until now, when my mood strikes I write some lyrics. When I was out of the country years back, I was able to write a lyrics inside the four corners of my room. Maybe the cold weather outside took me to write one, the song is supposedly a sad song, but later on I finally decided to give it a twist with a humor on it. 

This song is one of my favorites I wrote so I decided to have a poor man’s copyright by writing it on a sheet of paper, put it in an envelope, and brought it to the post office addressed to my home address for whatever purpose it may serve in the future. I do not know much about copyright, this is the only way I know. When I arrived from my travel, the mail already arrived ahead of me. Until now, the mail that contains the song is still with me..unopened. I wonder when will it be opened.

David Sides: YouTube Piano Player Sensation

David Sides is a piano player in YouTube which became popular because of his piano covers of pop songs. He does his own arrangements but still able to capture the sound of the original song. For piano enthusiasts, He is one to worth watching in your free time.

Check out his YouTube video covers: 

Apologize – (One Republic) – with 16 Million views to date, this is one of his popular cover. Good cover rendition of the song.



Man in the Mirror (Michael Jackson) - www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg-5xZfReCQ

See more of David Sides from these links:
iTunes - www.itunes.com/davidsides
Website - www.davidsidesworld.com
Playground Sessions - www.playgroundsessions.com

TuneIn Radio is simply the Best!

I am an Android phone user and as I browse the various apps available in Google Play market place I saw TuneIn Radio. With so many other music apps, this one I really enjoyed. It lets me enjoy streaming radio music from local and international radio stations. Aside from music on various genres, You can also listen to news, sports, podcasts on various topics.

Use the favorite button (heart icon) to bookmark the station, if you want to search for a certain artist or particular topic just use the search button. Since my senior citizen mom is also an Android user but not really a techie person, I tried to teach her about TuneIn to enjoy more music, to listen on her favorite topics such as gardening, herbs, and paintings. She can listen while doing other things at home.

There are more to explore from this application, you can also visit tunein.com to enjoy more of it from your desktop.

Heartbroken Songs

Music is our friend especially when you are down and depress. Just like any masterpiece, many beautiful songs are written when the songwriter is at the lowest point of his/her life. Music has been the solace and the medium of expression of songwriters as well as listeners. Either they express it through writing, singing, or just listening. When they are alone, every word of the lyrics goes through the heart and speaks for their feeling.

Here are some breakup songs for people who are going through the situation:

Skycraper (Demi Lovato)
SPicture to Burn (Taylor Swift) Separate Lives (Phil Collins) Irreplaceable (Beyonce) I will Survive (Gloria Gaynor)

Play Drums Online – 100% Cool!

I have an interest in playing the drums although I know very basic drumming, I still miss playing. I hope I can buy atleast a digital drumset someday. With limited funds and limited space in the house, I cannot afford to get one right now. Two years back, I found a website where I can play drums online and it was very cool. I am happy that the website is still running. The virtualdrumming.com is graphically satisfying and has a great real drum sounds. You can also choose for various drum set-ups patterned from popular drummers.

You will be happy about the many other features available for free . Kids who are interested in drumming will surely enjoy playing from this website.

Image credit: virtualdrumming.com

What's on your Music Playlist?

Recently, I do not have the time to listen to the music. I have the sounds of the television where my mom used to watch programs before she sleeps. From time to time, if I feel just chilling’ while writing, I listen to music. Here are three songs on my playlist, there are lots of them but I seldom keep pop songs as I easily lose interest on them.

On the other hand, If I want something new and more I would open tunein.com from the web or from my mobile app to check out songs from various countries or genres:

This Never Happened before by Sir Paul McCartney – this song is a movie soundtrack from the movie “Lake House” starring Sandra Bullock. Although the movie was great, I did not like the song because of it. 

80’s songs – I grew up with the sounds of the 80’s songs that is why it is great to have and listen to them from time to time. Remember Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, A-ha, New Order, and more.

Other songs from Jason Mraz, Sting (Police), instrumental, some classical music, religious, and many others. I listen to different genres except for heavy metal.

Bruno Mars our Modern Day Michael Jackson?

Bruno Mars (Peter gene Hernandez in real life) a Grammy award winning artist (singer, songwriter, musician) who became popular in . This guy is so talented and he deserved the opportunity to perform worldwide with record breaking albums. Lately, he received A Grammy award for Best Pop Vocal Album of the year.

Whenever I see Bruno Mars, I cannot deny that he has a resemblance with the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson. His voice can also sound like Michael, there are performances that covers the king of Pop for some songs. He moves like Michael Jackson and does previous impersonation of his idol. 

The success of Michael Jackson is uncomparable and historic, but Bruno Mars is slowly making his way to mark the music industry. 

Here are two videos of Bruno Mars from YouTube:
Bruno Mars Love & Respect for Michael Jackson

“When I was your Man” music video

Official Website 

Browsing my Old Music Sheets and Chords

Since I bought my new keyboard I did not had the chance of playing since I am more focused right now in writing and earning online. I am browsing my collection of music sheets and chords today which I hope to practice and play well soon. I would like to take more lessons again but my time,funds, and some reasons hinders me to go. My time is mostly at work so I am just squeezing my practice time in a week. 

Here are some of the pop songs and tv theme I have on file:

Overjoyed – Stevie Wonder
Heaven – Bryan Adams
My Immortal - Evanescence
The Long and Winding Road – Beatles
Way Back into Love – Adam Schesinger
This Never Happened Before – Sir Paul McCartney
Mcgyver – T.V theme

Learning the Guitar

Thousands of people who wants to learn the guitar. It is one of the common music instrument that young people gets easily interested with. Parents hopefully support children who shows interest in learning new instrument.

There are many ways to learn the guitar. Either students enroll on guitar short lessons, study in a traditional school, or learn their own by reading a lot about guitar or watching videos online. This generation is luckier since Internet gave more free tutorial video lessons such us in YouTube or free guitar lessons from various websites. It is still best to learn from actual teacher who can actually demonstrate, but still many are able to learn from just watching videos online.

There are a lot of videos out there, goodluck to those who want to learn the guitar.

British Singer Sting List of Songs

I am a big fan of Gordon Mathew Sumner or better known as Sting. He is known as the lead member of the british band, The Police. Sting is not just a good singer but plays a lot of instruments and most especially an excellent songwriter. Here is a short list of his songs:

Every Breath you Take
King of Pain
Roxanne
Shape of my Heart
Desert Rose
Brand New Day
Fragile
Message in a Bottle
When We Dance
Englishman in New York
If I ever Lose my Faith in You

Among the songs above, my favorite are Every Breath You Take, When We Dance, and Fields of Gold. These are my old time favorite, I wish I can see him in concert in the future.

Best Songs of the 80’s Music

I grew up in the music of the 80’s and I am happy that this generation of music are still being played up to now. I still hear 80’s music in most parties where younger generation able to know and love them too. The music of the 80’s is considered the best decade. 

Artist / Song
Cyndi Lauper (True Colors) – this ballad is meaningful and one of my personal favorites.

Michael Jackson (Billy Jean) - released January 3, 1983 and one of the best song of the late MJ.

U2 (With or Without You) – Whenever I hear this song, I can really feel the music of the 80’s.

AHA (Take on Me) – I like this songs specifically for the melodic part played in the keyboard.

Bryan Adams (Heaven) - Great ballad that brought Bryan into stardom. 

Irene Cara (Flashdance) – One of the hit songs in the 80’s and also used in dance contest. 

There are many great 80’s songs like of Spandau Ballet and Tears for Fears. There are too many to mention. How about you, what 80’s songs do you like? 

Explore SoundCloud Music on Desktop , iPhone or Android Apps

Are you using SoundCloud? I just installed soundcloud chrome app on my computer and I am trying to explore it a little bit more. I have heard about it several times but I have not fully explored it. Soundcloud is a place where unsigned music artists and audio creators or any other users to upload, record, and share their music through social media. SoundCloud is a good opportunity to amateur bands and artists to promote themselves and get noticed.

As a listener, you can browse various genres such as alternative rock, acoustic,classical, country, hip-hop,metal,piano,pop, as well as about learning,sports,technology, and many more. Discover new artists and sounds from different cultures. It is exciting to listen since you can always hear new music. A cup of coffee and a chillin’ music from SoundCloud is a relaxing moment.

Soundcloud was founded 2007 by Alexander Ljung based in Berlin, Germany.

The Menudo Group 80's Singing Sensation

Remember the group “Menudo”?, the Puerto Rican boy band which was formed in the 1970’s, but became popular in the 80’s capturing the heart of many teenage girls and women. The Menudo members that time were Ricky Martin, Robi Rosa, Charlie Masso, Roy Rosello, and Raymond Acebedo.

I was on my elementary days with my friends swooning on the boys. Sometimes we go to one of our friend’s house and watch their videos. Each of us will have a favorite Menudo member, for me I like Ricky Martin who was the youngest and the cutest that time. Robby Rosa was the heartthrob and the popular member, but I liked Charlie Masso over him. I guess I always go for not the popular one same as I like Matt Damon more than Brad Pitt. 

Menudo songs are easy to sing, the first song I memorized on my early years is “If 
You’re not Here”. I would always go back to these times which was part of my childhood years.