Spring Guitar, Bass & Ukulele Recital

Spring Guitar, Bass & Ukulele Recital


Our instructor (and owner) Joey Archer had a great recital with his guitar, bass and ukulele students. As a studio we strive to teach music that challenges AND interests the students. Many of the songs that were performed were chosen by the student and the instructor together. We covered the whole range from Pop to Metal.

We had performances by students who have been playing less than a year, all the way up to students who have been taking lessons for 6-7 years. We also had three Skype performances by students who moved away but still wanted to study with Joey (see photos below).

We are lucky to be friends with a fantastic photographer, Joel Sorrell @ Sorrell Design and Photography. He took photos of the performances and we even did a fun photo booth.

Some highlights were…

  • Tom Sawyer by Rush – Performed by Abbey. Abbey has had only been studying bass with Joey for less than a year! Truly remarkable progress in such a short time. There is a part in the middle where she nailed a solo that she had been working hard on for quite some time. We are very proud of you Abbey!

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  • Shamane performed three very advanced pieces – Cherry Blossom Ending by Paul Yoon, Distance by Gogo Satoshi, and Friday by Paul Yoon. All very challenging and executed very well.

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  • Shofukan by Snarky Puppy – Performed by Jaden. Another talented bass student who made a lot of progress in a short time. Jaden is a big fan of Snarky Puppy so Shofukan was a great choice. It has some challenging parts. Give it a listen.

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  • Grady performed an original Jam in C and Cm. He shredded and wow’d the crowd with his melodies and solos.

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For several students, this was their first performance

Isaac at 8 years old performed Banana Pancakes on his Ukulele

Natalie sang and performed Best Day by Taylor Swift on her guitar

Gabby performed Sparks by Coldplay

Jacob performed Love Yourself by Justin Bieber

 

There were many more memorable moments and photos. See below. Again a big shout out and thanks to our friends at Sorrell Design.

Get Inspired By This Beginning/Intermediate Piano Piece

Get Inspired By This Beginning/Intermediate Piano Piece

Nine out of ten times, kids and adults alike are inspired to take piano lessons because they heard a song that moved them in an inspiring and creative way and they just have to be able to recreate that for themselves. Unfortunately, that epic flowing masterpiece requires quite a bit of preliminary groundwork – which can be frustrating to aspiring maestros who just want to SHRED ALREADY! If you or your student identify with that sentiment, here’s a song for you!

He’s A Pirate, the theme from Pirates of the Caribbean. If you want to play the piano as hard and as fast as you can, this may be a good fit. It’s written in a lead sheet format, so the only note reading that needs to be done is for the right hand. The left hand will play octaves or fifths (depending on the size of the students hand) for the blue chords written just above the staff. We like teaching this song because it lights a fire in the eyes of our students, is excellent for sight reading, and provides great exercise for fast finger work. We’ve attached the sheet music below. Let the shredding begin!

–> He’s a Pirate <—

 

Here’s some YouTube inspiration for later on down the road.

 

 

Summer Outdoor Piano Recital

Summer Outdoor Piano Recital

ParkAre you missing the sun yet? Here’s a throwback to an outdoor piano recital we had over the summer. Our instructor Alex and 50 students overtook West Bay Park by the water in Downtown Olympia and had a picnic while listening to students perform songs from Frozen, Yiruma, Kyle Landry, How to Train Your Dragon, Beethoven, Star Trek: Into Darkness, and Taylor Swift – to name a few. In an effort to overcome nerves, Alex let her students go up and perform when they felt ready, giving the recital a more “live music in the park” feel.

“I remember too many of my own recitals where I felt like every student before me on the list was just one more countdown until my doom and my terror just increased as each kid finished performing. I wanted my students to be able to conquer their nerves, and then decide that they wanted to play. It worked really well, I noticed a marked difference in my students faces when they described it afterwards. They were able to have fun before and while performing, instead of just being glad it was over or happy they did it after the fact.”