The Weekly Smile for the Fifth of April, 2021 #weeklysmile

28 Replies

This last week was strange. I was super busy and and so I pretty much did my typical stuff when I wasn’t working full out. Oh, there were plenty of nice things, like long walks and such, but I didn’t want to do another “It’s the small things” post.But one thing did stand out.

Music.

So in the last week I rediscovered some music I hadn’t listened to since I was a teen. I also listened to some other great music in many genre.

And then my brother sent me a video of him playing some music he was learning, The Clap by Steve Howe (it is on an album by the prog band, Yes). Later, a fellow blogger posted a a video of her playing a piece she was learning that was similar in style.

And then I started to learn two new pieces. Well, actually, I continued with one where I had left off many years ago, and sight read through another (it was another song by the Prog band Yes…) and learned a few of the keyboard riffs (Rick Wakeman used to be my favorite, so learning his music is good). I’m a terrible sight reader, so was happy at how easy it was to go through what is considered a relatively difficult piece of music (South Side of the Sky).

I played with my electronic instruments every day. Thinking about Rick Wakeman, a couple of times I played videos of his concerts and tried to copy all of his synthesizer solos – if you have a minimoog (I have a cheap clone, so close), it’s simple to get pretty close to his sound, and once you have the sound, it is easy to hear the notes. No, I can’t play quite like him, but it was loads of fun!

And I practiced on the piano every day to help finger strength – the piano is much better for that than a synth.

That is my smile for the week, listening to music, playing music, listening to people learn music and learning new music myself.

What made you smile?

****

Come on, I’m sure you smiled at least once last week.  Why don’t you share it?  I hope you can join in!

Here is list of “rules” and guiding ideas.  If you don’t have time to read it right now, just remember that this is an exercise to spread positivity.  Don’t smile about the misfortune of others.  Don’t smile in a way to excludes others.  Make sure a 12 year old can read it.

To join in, write a post to share your smile and then leave a comment on this post with a link to your smile.  Or, if you prefer, do a pingback to this post (pingback = have a link from your post to this one) (Note – pingbacks have been very inconsistent – please leave a comment :) ).   You can post any time until next Sunday evening (to be simple, I will say midnight GMT, which is 7 PM Sunday for me).   Next week I will compile all of the Smiles and do a separate post of them on Monday morning just before the smile.  (I will shoot for around 7 AM EST).

28 thoughts on “The Weekly Smile for the Fifth of April, 2021 #weeklysmile”

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  5. dprastka

    I LOVE your smile post this week. I just Love music and you do so much and are very inspiring. I wish I had a working piano to play as I miss it immensely. My husband plays the guitar, maybe I should learn how to play his guitar! Something to think about as I hum along with you!! :D Here is my smile post for this week!

    My Weekly Smile; April 8, 2021

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  6. Pingback: My Weekly Smile; April 8, 2021 – Mylife-and-Horsestories

  7. workinacresnothours

    Just brilliant, you really hit a chord with me, get it a chord, lol. sorry. I watched a real chick flick the other day titled, Now & Then. I found myself singing along with the scene music such fun. I was wondering how your music was going you seemed so busy. I could never read sheet music, dyslexic, always played by ear it’s fun. So glad you got in touch with your musical self have a wonderful day ahead.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      lol, yep, that response struck a chord. Music is very deeply ingrained in us, and I think even “non-musical” people (or those who think they are) find themselves humming along to catchy tunes, or tapping their toes. I am dyslexic, but am able to relate what I see with what I hear. Also, with age, I have learned to concentrate. My problem now is that my eyes aren’t what they used to be and reading music as I play isn’t always easy ;)

      Liked by 1 person

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      The name “Ufo drum”, but when I Googled it, I have seen them before. I do need some real percussion instruments like that. I also need to sing more. I like Andrea Bocelli and have a lot of opera on my iTunes, but I don’t think I have anything with him on it – I think he has become famous just doing concerts, not full operas. Anyway, I’ll be by to see your smile in a few minutes :)

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. Natasha

        You can in all possibility order it on Amazon. I got mine from there too.

        Andrea and Pavarotti are the best and operas made them famous. :)
        I like how they jive with different musicians, like Bryan Adams, Mariah Carrey etc.

        Liked by 1 person

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  11. Junie-Jesh

    Always great to conquer a new piece of music! My smile goes to my then 3 year old nephew “learning” to play the guitar:) Have a musical week, Jesh

    Liked by 1 person

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