Grand Piano Passions

If you have a love for grand piano (mine would be to have an Estonia grand piano someday) and have a hearing loss here's an online magazine called "Grand Piano Passion" created by the founding editor Nancy M. Williams who herself has a (genetic) hearing loss.  She can hear across a wide range of frequencies, from the lowest note in the bass to the highest note in the treble. There's a "Hearing and Music" section that covers piano and hearing loss, and how pianists deal with their hearing loss or their hearing aids.  It's a good site to go to for good reading. Although I'm a ragtime/novelty rag pianist at heart I have practiced and played classical piano growing up until I discovered ragtime as a young teen.

Deaf Pianist Donates $2 Million Dollars

A deaf person who also plays the piano donates $2 milllion dollars to California State University, Fresno.

Retired architect, vineyard owner and piano player Robert Duncan Nicol, who has been deaf since birth, says he is living proof "that deaf people, indeed, can do many things." That includes being a generous benefactor. Nicol on Friday gave $2 million for The Silent Garden program in the Communicative Disorders and Deaf Studies department at California State University, Fresno. The donation will help deaf and hearing-impaired children, their parents and teachers, as well as adults with hearing loss.

Deaf pianist regains hearing again

Here's a subtitled video of a Dutch pianist who lost his hearing due to ear infection. He was able to push through his deafness and continue to play and compose music while the sound of piano notes remained in his head. But in the end he never took for granted the ability to hear once he regained all of his hearing back.

Making Music with a Hearing Loss: Strategies and Stories

That book is now available in Amazon. I'll be getting a free copy of it since I'm one of the several deaf/hh musicians who were interviewed for that book. My narrative can be found in the final chapter of that book.

There are many texts on music and hearing loss, but what makes this volume unique is that it does not require the reader to have any previous background in hearing science. It is written in non-technical language for the layman, and begins by explaining how the human ear hears sound. It covers the interplay between music, speech and hearing devices and discusses hearing conservation for musicians. The final chapter contains inspiring narratives from eleven deaf or hard of hearing musicians belonging to the Association of Adult Musicians with Hearing Loss. These eleven stories describe using a variety of strategies to integrate hearing loss and music making. Musicians new to hearing loss, hearing-impaired adults wanting to learn a musical instrument, audiologists, music educators, and music researchers will also find this book a valuable addition to their library collection.

I'll be waiting with great anticipation for my free copy. If you are deaf or hard of hearing and enjoy music, this will be a great book to have. If you have a hearing loss and is considering on wanting to play a musical instrument, don't let your hearing loss stop you. And if you do play a musical instrument....don't stop! Keep practicing and find other like minded people who enjoy playing music with their musical instruments.

A Ragtime Update

A little update here for ya’ll.

There are many ragtime and novelty rag piano pieces I am playing/working on right now but I plan to video-tape myself over the next several months or so while I continue to practice and get up to speed on a few pieces. Some pieces I’m in the memorization process already.

It’s been a long time since I played on the piano on a regular basis practicing/playing 3 to 4 hours a day. Ever since I bought a new piano last month, I can now practice 3 to 4 hours a day without worrying keys getting stuck or hit an out of tune note.

So, in no particular order here are some of the piano pieces I plan to record:

Maple Leaf Rag
The Entertainer
The Ragtime Dance
The Easy Winners
Cascades
Original Rags
The Rose-bud March
The Chrysanthemum
Black and White Rag
K.K. Ragtime
Kitten on the Keys
Dizzy Fingers
Wildfire Rag
A Breeze from Alabama
Country Club
Elite Syncopations
Magnetic Rag
Pine Apple Rag
The Strenuous Life
Sunflower Slow Rag
Swipesey
Peacherine Rag
Solace
Stoptime Rag

You can hear all of the Scott Joplin pieces here. Those pieces are NOT my recordings. Just something for you to listen to and see what those Joplin pieces sound like.

Other goal is to work on early Jazz pieces such as The Finger Breaker, Perfect Rag, Seattle Hunch, King Porter Stomp and Grandpa's Spells all written by Jelly Roll Morton. But first I will focus on the rags listed here plus I will be looking into more rags not by Joplin plus more novelty rags to play on. There is one novelty rag, Black and White Rag, that I pretty much got it down pat and memorized already. As for the rest of them the whole process may take me one to two years to complete depending on how much practicing I can get done and which pieces I’m aiming to master. This is especially true if I’m going to play those early jazz pieces which may take a while longer to do since they are usually everal pages long and not the typical 3 to 4 pages long for ragtime pieces. Just need to get my brain-to-fingers coordination all fired up while I sight read those piano pieces.

So, what are your plans?

Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour and Ragtime

My earliest recollection on my exposure to ragtime music was at the Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour in Tacoma, Washington during the early to mid 1970's. It was a festive place, even for a deaf boy with a hearing aid who delighted in the sounds of loud drumbeats, bells and sirens over birthday announcements and such. And at near the entrance of Farrell's was an upright player piano that constantly played these unique and mesmerizing ragtime songs only that I didn't know it was called ragtime back then. it was simply cool to listen. I'd stand there in awe as I watched the keyboard move while invisible hands played ragtime scores.





It'd be nice if Farrell's throw in a bit of authenticity by having a ragtime pianist at the piano rather than use a piano player or somehow have them help sponsor those ragtime festivals. But sadly there are only two stores right now and Farrell's just recently in Novemember 2008 got over a 5 year lawsuit that prevented them from moving forward. They are now making plans to open more stores and recapture those novelty days when going to Farrell's means having a truly good time. Hearing the words "Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour" brings back good childhood memories of a good time. Farrell's and ragtime are synomous with each other. It brings back the feeling of good times.

Maybe it's time to make a special dedication to Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour at one of the ragtime festivals in honor of Bob Farrell and Ken McCarthy, the founders of Farrell's, for helping keep nostalgia alive and making it fun?

You can go here and review the history of Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour from the past to the present.

ADDENDUM: If you're a fan of Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour and Restaurant you can join one in Facebook where there are currently some 24,000+ fans of Farrell's.

A Deaf Ragtime Pianist

Often I wonder how many deaf or hard of hearing pianists in the United States who enjoy playing the piano, especially in the arena of Ragtime. I simply refuse to believe that I am the only deaf/hh pianist who play Ragtime actively. There has to be a few people out there who enjoy playing the piano who happens to be deaf or hard of hearing and like playing Ragtime. Although if you go to Google and type in "deaf," "ragtime" and "piano" you'll see that my blogsite is mentioned first in a Google's search result. Not much help there but I'm sure someday something will pop up.

Meanwhile, I am currently looking for a better piano to replace my clunky spinet piano which currently does not have any really good sound to begin with along with the odd key and hammer movements where a key or two will get stuck from time to time. Very aggravating at that! Even though with the right Ragtime music piece my washed out white piano would exhibit that bit of clinky (or clacky in this case), out of tune sound noise that'd make Ragtime playing sound a bit more, well, "authentic." But that's pushing it if you listen to my Maple Leaf Rag rendition on YouTube. So far, Craigslist.com is the best bet and I have seen pianos for sale that looked good but the price is bit out of my range. At least I can scan the music instrument section for the El Paso, Texas area, and the Las Cruces to Roswell area in New Mexico as well.

The choices I'm looking for are studio and upright pianos. The differences?

Studio - This is the kind of piano you see in music schools and music studios. It is 45 to 48 inches in height and has a width of approxmately 58 inches. Because of its larger soundboard and longer strings, it produces good tone quality and is very durable.

Upright - This is the tallest among the vertical pianos, with a height ranging from 50 to 60 inches and an approximate width of 58 inches. This is the type of piano your great grandparents or grandparents used to play. When cared for properly, it stands the test of time and maintains its rich tone.

If the price is right and the condition of the piano is right (i.e. no missing strings, stuck keys or parts that need replacing) then I will surely get it. It's better to get the right one than not at all. Meanwhile, be sure to watch out for my upcoming videos of me playing a few pieces of Scott Joplin's. I just need to get around to video taping my pieces soon.