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Thursday, July 7th, 2022
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I am still playing at retirement homes these days, however
since there have been more COVID-19 outbreaks, some of my
performance dates have been canceled. It makes it a little
difficult to maintain my performance practice, but if I really
wanted to get more performance opportunities I could always
play on the street again. I used to have fun doing that, and I
met a lot of interesting people busking, but I do not have the
most amount of time to take my keyboard downtown and play for
the shoppers. I still have the first tip I received from
busking which came from a young child (who was given the money
by their parents). It was sweet and I thought it would be nice
to frame the dollar instead of spending it.
Even though it does not have to do with retirement homes, I am
also experiencing some loss with students who are leaving for
the summer. It's expected, and I look forward to seeing them
again in the Fall.
Regarding my performances at retirement homes, I am still
playing my usual repertoire and still have to finish my
learning of "Elite Syncopations" by Scott Joplin so I can play
it for the residents.
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Thursday, July 14, 2022
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I went to The Grove at Valle Verde yesterday and it was a
lot of fun. I felt ready because I prepared beforehand and
I did not take a nap earlier, even though I wanted to.
Sometimes when I take a nap earlier in the day before a
performance I am a little loopy when I play, and that
leads to a lot of missed notes. I was well alert yesterday
at The Grove which meant I played with a lot of energy,
and that kept the seniors awake for the most part.
I ended the performance with "The Entertainer" and after
that we had a little question and answer time where the
seniors asked me about my piano life. I do not have too
many more performances this month due to COVID-19, but I
am still going to practice as much as I can so I will be
ready when all the retirement homes open again.
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Friday, July 22nd, 2022
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I went to Vista del Monte yesterday to play in their
Fernbrook building, but I had mixed feelings about
doing so. I was concerned I was not going to be
confident enough to play a good performance since I
have not had too much time to practice in the last
week. While it is true that I have had more time than
ever to practice in the last week, I still did not
feel prepared enough. I had a lot of butterflies in my
stomach prior to the performance but everything went
well. I went through my usual repertoire which has
turned into four classical pieces for every one
ragtime piece to break up the tone of the performance.
I would really like to finish "Elite Syncopations"
soon so I can perform it and have another piece "under
my belt" so to speak. My goal this next week is to
practice Elite Syncopations at least a little bit
every day so I can get used to the sound. I find when
I memorize how a piece of music is supposed to be
played it makes memorizing the notes a lot easier.
In the end, my performance at Vista del Monte went
well and I had a lot of returning fans in the
audience. Those fans like to speak to me after the
performance and it is always fun to talk to them about
my piano history.
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Wednesday, July 27th, 2022
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This last weekend I went to Mariposa to perform
and I had my usual audience waiting for me. I did
not do anything different for this performance and
everything went well, which I am happy with. I
felt slightly unprepared because last time I was
at Mariposa I promised to play about six different
requests such as songs from the musical "Chicago."
I have not really looked any of those up but
thinking about it now I will have to soon.