I Have Bretrayed My One True Love

-but he just doesn't turn on like he use to.

it's my piano.
when i moved on new year's i lost my adapter plug.
it's been nearly two months since he's turned on.
51 days since I've played piano.
1,224 hours since I've written any music.
73,440 minutes of keeping all emotion cooped up.

not okay.

so the other dylan said, "you should learn guitar."
-which he's been saying for like, what? um ever, now, and i never do.
this time however, i said "ok," and meant it.

for multiple reasons
1) i like guitar
2) i need to play SOMETHING
3) it will be a nice hobby to keep me focused, yet distracted throughout my oh so recent breakup.

so, for the price of buying nick a beer at the fox & goose (which i didn't do) i took his guitar home with me and have actually been "practicing." At first I loved it, which made me feel extrememly guilty everytime I looked at my neglected keyboard. It's much easier to learn-having already understood music theory. It's like I already know which notes make which chords-i just have to figure out which of those notes are where on the guitar. It's a love-hate relationship with myself little miss guitar. i'm sure i would have left her long ago, had i not been stuck with her due to lack of accessible pianos.

So lately i've been comparing piano and guitar


1) piano has such a huge range on it- there is much more "master" than on a guitar, which only has six strings

2) you can practice piano for as long as you want without physical reprocussions whereas the stupidass guitar likes to rip apart your fingers. i seriously can't do sessions longer than 30-minutes. will this get better? please, tell me it does.


3) guitar is easier to sing to (or fuck up to, rather) because so many notes are contasntly blending together. i realize anyone's voice sounds nice to guitar (correction: most people's voices) and you can sing however you want
-when you play piano i feel like you can't get away with being "off" slightly
AND you could never get away with quiet, indie, whisper voice because you have to sing loud enough to be heard over the giant piano

4) guitar is portable. it's everywhere you want it to be. -incredibly convenient.


5) guitar is a much more affordable instrument to play

6) everyone thinks they can play guitar, AND HAS TO SHOW YOU??? hey man, can i show you something? can i play it? can i try something? OR they don't say shit and just pick it up and play.
and it doesn't matter if you've taken it somewhere with you or if you invite people to your home and the guitar is sitting in the corner minding its own business.
do you know how many conversations in my bedroom have been ruined by interrupting the discussion just to listen to someone slowly play the same 4 chords over and over


anyways, i haven't given up yet and i'm not going to be able to afford to buy a new piano anytime soon so i'm venturing forth on my selg-guitar-lessions.
if anyone has any advice (i know most of you are more musical than myself) let me know!

for the record: the piano is still my one

Utter Jealousy

Never before, have I thought I'd ever be jealous of a seven year old girl. There is indeed a first time for everything. As if I didn't have enough reasons to abandon my musical ambitions! As if there weren't enough amazing bands out there that were SO amazing it made me ashamed to try and claim that I play piano. Here comes along little Emily Bear.
That name alone is preciously heartbreaking.

Emily Bear is incredibly talented, more so than anyone I know.
(that's right! misery enough company! so I'm going to beat down the arrogance of my fellow musical pals)
Emily Bear can play piano better than you!
That said, let's take a closer look:

• Emily Bear began her piano studies with Emilio delRosario of the Music Institute of Chicago (MIC).


• She currently studies piano with Mary Sauer on The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and jazz improvisation with Alan Swain.


• Additional mentors include Veda Kaplinski of Juliard and composer / arranger Donald Fraiser.

• Her first solo debut was a solo concert; including a 40 minute nonstop solo program. (most likely without any mistakes)
  at the time she was only five years old!
  (this took place at the Ravinia Music festival-for which she is the youngest performer in their entire over 100 year history)

• On March 24th, 2008, Emily was invited to perform at The White House for The Easter Egg Roll breakfast for President and Mrs. Bush.


• She performed a 30 minute solo concert mixing jazz and original compositions, followed by 2 songs played especially for President and The First Lady.


• Emily was a recipient of a 2008 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Competition award for her original song, “Northern Lights”.


• Emily opened for Ramsey Lewis and his Trio on October 17th, 2007, playing a 30 minute solo piano concert.


• Emily made her orchestral debut in front of a capacity audience of 2500 people performing her original song, “The Love in Us” with members of The Orlando Symphony Orchestra at a private corporate event in April, 2008.


• Emily also performed at the 2007 MIC Gala where she played a jazz set at the Celebrity Piano Bar along with renowned musicians Ramsey Lewis, Corky Segal and Wez Kaufman.


• Emily loves to perform with the Jodi Beach Jazz Trio and was the opening performer for The KIDSTOCK Music Festival at the Wilmette Theater.


• Upcoming concerts include performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto, no.23, k488 in March, 2009 with The Rockford Symphony Orchestra and in April, 2009 with The Champagne-Urbana Symphony. Emily will perform a concert in February, 2009 at the Music in the Loft Concert Series.

-Ehem. I want my own CD!

• Emily recorded her first CD, Five Years Wise, in July of 2007. The CD is a mixture of jazz standards and original songs.


• A second CD, The Love In Us, featuring 10 original songs (including the 3 that she debuted on The Ellen Degeneres Show), was released in April 2008. She is a member of ASCAP and AFTRA.

She actually has several CDs.
I just think she's amazing enough for everyone to take a second to notice. sigh.

i have a new seven year old role model.

link to her webiste:
http://www.emilybear.com/galleries.html

you tube her on the ellen D. show. Seriously.