Stories and Articles
Playground Sessions, the Piano Learning software company, recently provided a nearly month long “course” on the song “You Raise Me Up” that we students learned at the three different levels (Rookie, Intermediate, and Advanced) and submitted our sections via video to Playground Sessions to form a global piano recital. I participated at the Rookie Level.
To see the results visit YouTube at this LINK.
It really turned out amazing.
Just a quick update to say today I learned the Playground Sessions Rookie Arrangement for “Happy Birthday.” I was inspired to do so.
I’ve been busy working on Scott Joplin‘s “The Entertainer” full Rookie Song. But I did take a brief detour to do the Playground Sessions Facebook Social Media Challenge #QuincyChallenge to celebrate Quincy Jones‘ 87th Birthday. Just a snippet of “My Way.” Since these WordPress pages aren’t really suited to video media, I decided not to post it here.
I do want to put up a small montage of shots in response to a ‘Creative Sauce‘ YouTube video where he reviewed a BenQ LED lamp. I have an LED lamp on my DAW workstation by LE Power, so I took some shots and expanded the grouping to get the Yamaha P-515 digital piano too.
I did add a Yamaha FC-3A pedal to the Yamaha P-515W to allow pitch bends as necessary, which is more useful for Guitar and Synth voices than piano, but worth having.
I have completed the 30 Day Challenge for the Facebook group Playground Sessions Community (closed group, you have to request membership). The full song for Scott Joplin’s “The Entertainer.” The version we learned is a simplified arrangement at a slower tempo. It is designed for very early – even Day 1 – beginners.
I will probably buy the song from the Playground Sessions Song Store to get a fuller arrangement and a faster tempo. Even with the simple arrangement from the Challenge done, the full song will be a real challenge.
This last week marks the halfway point of the Playground Sessions Social Media 30 Day Challenge. We are learning the Rookie arrangement of “The Entertainer” by Scott Joplin. We are just past the halfway point.
https://sandlinsplace.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/2020-01-29-30-Day-Challenge-Day-15-Low-Res.mp4
In September 2016 I started the Playground Sessions computer based piano lessons. Over time they’ve added content, new lessons and courses, and other tools to improve our piano skills. Their Social Media presence (Facebook at: Playground Sessions) has improved too. Late in 2018 they began “Challenges” to make learning more interesting and fun. They offered simple prizes awarded randomly among the participants. I won the Game of Thrones Vinyl LP (and a little LP turntable) in one of the challenges.
The first challenge of 2020 is the 30 Day Challenge. The idea is to develop a habit of playing every day. I just completed Day 5. A new lesson is loaded to the application every day, so you can’t work ahead, but if you’re behind, you can try to catch up. I started late on the first day, so I’m all good. Below is a capture of the screen showing the final exercise of the Day 5 Lesson. I’m not sure if they will offer a prize for this challenge, but the reward really is getting a daily practice habit.
The song, because you may or may not recognize it from the screen shot, is “The Entertainer” by Scott Joplin. At the end of the challenge we will be able to play a very simplified version of the song. For the very early, or raw, beginners, this will be a great introduction to the Playground Sessions system and help build learning skills. It will be good for those of us that have gotten some bad habits, too.