Archive for the ‘Lessons and Tutoring’ Category

Ann Marie Kurrasch strikes again!!!

Monday, March 30th, 2015

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Ann Marie Kurrasch

Many of you were my readers when I did my Interview With Ann Marie Kurrasch.  Well, as fate would have it Ann Marie has done it again.

Her reissue of her last work is entitled “Let’s Play”.  It features the same songs as her last book but is now available on Amazon under the name Let’s play.  This book is a must have for the enthusiast who is looking for fun yet challenging songs to play.  The CD that can accompany it will make it easy for the student to learn to play.  It helps assist the student in learning how the music is written and makes it easier to follow along.

Ann Marie is one of the nicest and congenial ladies I have met.  Her gentile style along with her demeanor makes her an absolute jewel among teachers.  Her no-nonsense approach in writing makes her music a delight to play and this is a collection you should not be without.

To learn more about “Let’s Play!” feel free to click here to go to her website or click here to go to her Amazon offering.

Ric Overton in Beautiful Downtown Burbank, CA

Amazing Performance by Kids

Friday, June 22nd, 2012

This was among the most deligthful videos I have seen lately.  When I saw this I wondered how well these kids had been taught and how many hours went into teaching each one of them their parts.  These guys are really something and worth watching.

Now you have to imagine that each of these kids has been with a teacher who taught them individually each single note, how long the note has to be held, proper timing and then put it all together in one grand performance.

I am used to writing about pianos but, I felt like this was one I couldn’t avoid.

When you have a chance, stop by the T-Shirt shop and find something fun.

Ric Overton

http://PianoSD.com

 

Interview with Ann Marie Kurrasch

Sunday, June 17th, 2012

NEW INTERVIEW

I had the nicest interview with Ann Marie Kurrasch this week that I wanted to share with you.  Ann Marie is such a nice lady and also quite talented.  The interview only tells you a small portion of her talents and what she has accomplished.

Ann Marie Kurrasch

I took a look at some of her             (more…)

So You Want To Be A Concert Artist ?

Friday, March 30th, 2012

This documentary is one of the best I have ever seen.  I learned of it today from http://PianoStreet.com and was very impressed with our insight into the mind and heart of the concert musician.  I have experienced a small part of what you see in this documentary and believe me – it doesn’t come easy.  Perfect practice and a drive for perfection is what these people all have in common.  Amazing video I hope you enjoy.

http://youtu.be/Sl3Mtq99fio

Incredible are the only words I have to describe.

Ric Overton

http://PianoSD.com

Powerful Influences – Teachers

Tuesday, February 21st, 2012

Today’s podcast is about influential people in our musical journey.  I also covered the passing of Whitney Houston and my own personal experiences as a student when I was first learning to play.

I hope you enjoy.

Ric Overton / http://PianoSD.com

Beverly Aiken, Central Coast Music Teachers Association, Piano Outlet of Nipomo, Ca. and Ric Overt

Sunday, October 16th, 2011

As many of you are already aware,  I manage a small store for the Piano Outlet of Oxnard, Ca.  www.thepianooutletco.com in Nipomo, Ca.  I have long been an advocate of music and piano teachers since I was with Baldwin Piano Mfg.  I believe that they are the key to the success of the piano/music business because the teachers are teaching people to play what we have to sell so, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand the correlations.

Ric Overton

Yesterday, the Central Coast Music Teachers Association held a conference in the store here in Nipomo and I was delighted to host them.  I sat while one of the leading technicians of our area gave an hour lecture on the history of the piano “A comparison of pianos through the ages”.  It was very intriguing.  Those of you who follow my blog on a regular basis know that I write a lot about the history of pianos and their origin.  It was a very captivating hour.  She brought out points that I had not thought of and refreshed my memory on other points that I had simply forgotten.

It was a pleasure to listen to a knowledgeable person bring such an enlighting path of our history.  It brings me to a new point that I will be discussing in some upcoming blogs and articles about our business.

This bring me to the point that I wanted to discuss today.  Max Morgan of www.MaxMorganDesign.com has been working with me for several years now helping to (in most cases) read my mind about the direction that I have been wanting to take the PianoSD website. Through a series of trial and error and much discussion (MUCH DISCUSSION) I have finally decided to launch a new website in the next few days www.ricoverton.com where I will be able to discuss business strategies as well as personal muse in two new blogs.

In the new site I will have the opportunity to challenge the current thought process of the piano industry and the current mood of the industry and keep it more personal than non-commital than I would attempt to do on PianoSD.  PianoSD is becoming a “go to” resource on everything piano related and RicOverton.com will be my personal opinions about business and then some personal things I would like to be able to discuss.

I look forward to the challenge of keeping up with three blogs as well as what I am

Piano Outlet, Nipomo, Ca

Piano Outlet, Nipomo, Ca

doing with the companies in the U.K. that I am currently writing for as well as the one I am developing for France and Austria.  Additionally, I write for two other companies as well as a couple of artists too.  So, I will be busy.

See you soon.

Ric Overton

for www.PianoSD.com via www.MaxMorganDesign.com

Maxwell Steer

Sunday, July 10th, 2011

Some of you may remember Maxwell Steer who visited us at PianoSD last year for a teacher workshop and played for us and spoke to us about teaching in the U.K.

I have kept in contact with Maxwell and was delighted to find out that he had put on YouTube a performance with Richard Black.  I felt you would be thrilled to hear this wonderful performance and decided to post this for you to see.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I have

Our friend Maxwell Steer

I will be reporting more information about Maxwell and s

Piano Teachers

Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

Of all of the things in the piano industry, I love piano teachers.  I know, I know, I love the manufacturers, piano builders, tuners, technicians, artists, etc.  but, teachers are the key to our industry.

Heres some facts.  Piano teachers generally speaking have the love and compassion needed to take kids into the next level.  They have to deal with young men and young women as they come into and out of the most important parts of thier lives on a much more personal basis than the average teacher.

As a child is going through the loss of a loved one, divorce of their parents, not to mention puberty and growing into young men and young women.  Then theres school, school functions girlfriends, boyfriends, best freinds, soccer, football, cheerleaders and such.  All the while they are doing their very best to work with the children through the situations.

Piano teachers are teaching our kids to play the piano but also are adding to thier imaginations.  Most people dont realize that learning to play a musical instrument helps kids increase their ability to learn.

I have had a lot of pleasure teaching adults.  Like teachers that teach kids I have listened to stories about everything from marriage problems to kid problems and financial problems and every possible topic in between and loved every minute of it.

Teaching adults to play has been very rewarding because they are learning to do something they have wanted to do all of their lives and never had a chance.  Take for example one student that I had who was in his early 70’s and had never played before.  When he played the first  bars of When the
Saints Go Marchin In, you would have thought he had just won a lottery.  Yet, he had it in him all along and simply needed an avenue and permission to get it out.

At the Piano Outlet in Nipomo, Ca.  I have begun classes that are for adults and another teacher is teaching the children.  If you are interested in joining one of our classes or are interested in learning on line, please contact me and I will get you into one of our classes.

Hope to see you soon.

Ric

posted by Ric Overton of www.PianoSD.com  via www.MaxMorganDesign.com

Real or Fake ?

Monday, May 24th, 2010

I hear more than my share of talk about real or fake pianos.  Some people have actually commented that they don’t like fake pianos.  They were talking of course about digital pianos. 

Although there are certainly some arguments about accoustic vs. digital pianos, there are still people who would prefer accoustic pianos over digital pianos.  I recently had a discussion with a gentleman from Carlsbad who told me that he was convinced that the digital piano was a terrible thing to learn on – that is until he actually sat down and played one.  He was so overjoyed with the digital piano that he purchased one on the spot.

We have many piano teachers who are turning to digital now too.  Teachers are finding many ways to use digital that was never possible before.  You can record, use computer functions to help you compose, always in perfect pitch, automatic transpose, easily transportable, heat and humidity dont effect it at all, several voices to choose from which give you the capabilities to play and entire orchestra score with recording and really the list goes on.

 httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpnsZKmuO0Q

Of course, the accoustic piano will never disappear but, we are finding that more and more people are turning to digital pianos as an alternative for use with more demanding music that is being performed today.

The touch is very realistic and the sound is incredible.  I know when I was first introduced to the idea of digital piano I was not completely sold, however, once I understood the basics of how digitals operated I was just absolutley thrilled with the possibilities that the digital world opened to me. 

We have customers from many parts of  San Diego such as Rancho Santa Fe, La Jolla and San Marcos that have become real fans of the Roland digital pianos because of thier realism in touch, tone and clarity of sound.  More information can be found at www.RolandUS.com

If you have any questions or comments feel free to let me know and I will try to help you.  Feel free to stop by our store located in the heart of Mission Valley in San Diego, California.

Stop by and see us we would love to meet you.

Ric Overton

How do you enjoy music, right or wrong ?

Sunday, May 16th, 2010

For many years I have been a fan of gospel music.  I love four part harmony and really enjoy the sounds of 4 professional voices that sing on pitch in harmony correctly.

Picture from the Four Part Harmony.

As most of you know, I am from the South.  Of course, gospel music was part of our culture and church on Sunday morning, but, for me it was much more than that.  I still remember the day that it all finally made sense to me.  I was about 6 or 7 (not telling you the year) and my mom put an album (yes the round black record thing that played on a stereo system called an LP) of a group that I have loved for many years called The Happy Goodman Family.  I was forever lost to the sound.

I lived, drank and ate the Goodman Family.  I loved the music they sang and  I loved the songs.  I soon began to learn to play the piano and threw myself into this style of playing.  By the time I was 15 or 16 I was traveling with a gospel group that traveled from Florida to Michigan and most of the spots in between.  I was in heaven.

Goodmans 1962

Goodmans 1962

This afternoon one of our associates at PianoSD.com in Mission Valley in San Diego, California was by the store and we were talking about different things and I very seriously said, ” I have never understood, nor does it make sense how anybody could listen to The Goodmans and not be totally blown away at the talent and enjoy the sound”  to which he laughingly responded, “Do you enjoy all types of music as much as you do gospel?” of course I quickly responded “NO”.

We had a discussion about the rights and wrongs of peoples opinions and why and how they enjoy what they enjoy.  It dawned on me that enjoying music from bluegrass music, gospel music, country music, rock music, jazz music, classical music and even perhaps rap music  is a matter of personal taste and not right or wrong.

I guess that most of us think of classical music as the most proper way to play and opera as the proper way to sing but, if we really get to the heart of the matter the right music to enjoy is the music that you like the best and the one that makes you the happiest when you listen to it.

Music shapes our lives, feelings, emotions and can change your attitude quicker than  any other influence.  Music is a joy on every level.  Yes, some may enjoy one type of music over the other while the next would prefer a different genre of music.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCfVpf961EI

I hope you enjoy “My Music” and send me yours at Ric@PianoSD.com and I will try and include it in upcoming features.

We opened PianoSD to be a place where people could come together and make music and have fun making music.  PianoSD School of Music tries to educate people to have fun making music but at the same time do it in such a way that they learn the proper way to make music and have fun doing it.

Drop by and see us sometime we would love to meet you.

Ric Overton

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