Accordion Update

I’ve been playing the accordion for almost a year now and I’m enjoying it very much. In August I bought a professional accordion -- Sano Model 50c -- and it has made a world of difference in my playing.

My lessons are on Saturday and I try to get at least three hours of practice time during the week.

Here’s a weeks worth of practice:

Exercises

Chromatic Scale
Octave Scale
1234 Scale
Hanon Speed Drills (staccato and legato)
Major Scales (including 2 octave G, C, and F)
Chords (major, minor, seventh, diminished) (slide and arpeggio)
Bass (left-hand) C Major scale
Left-hand strengthening exercises

Lesson songs

I’m usually working on one song from my Palmer-Hughes course, one exercise from my bass (left-hand) book, and one or two pieces of sheet music from my teacher.

Repertoire songs

Once my teacher “passes” me on a song, I usually don’t continue to play it. The lesson songs in Palmer Hughes are generally short versions of songs designed to teach one technique or concept.

I do keep playing some of my lesson songs as well as many of my sheet music songs to build my repertoire. With these songs I work on tempo (sometimes with a metronome), dynamics, and expression.

The New Accordion Has Arrived!

Sano Model 50C

The Update

Too many weeks without a blog entry!

Kristi's due date is July 16th and she is now at the point in her pregnancy where she is uncomfortable nearly all the time. The baby's room is shaping up. I painted it last weekend, installed a new, cute ceiling fan, and put up some very pink curtains. The curtains need a bit more adjusting and that will involve some wall patching and re-painting (yuck). We have a nice crib and dresser we bought on Craigslist, but still have to find a rocker and other decor.

Matilda is leading at this point with Lara a distant second!

Bodie doesn't know what to make of it all!

I have a trip to Florida next week for a conference and then I'll be at home with car keys at hand.

The Yosemite Summit

If you’ve been to my family website lately (link on the right), you know we went to Yosemite in January. The pictures make it look like it was all fun and games, but there were also serious discussions and many serious decisions and agreements resulted.

We now refer to it as The Yosemite Summit.

Here are a few of the biggies:

ISSUE 1:

It took a total of 14 hours and a Ranger finally had to mediate, but we have reached consensus on baseball. Bodie is officially an Angels fan! Kristi, who is from San Diego, has consistently taken the position that Bodie cannot be a Dodger’s fan. Last year this was not too big a deal: we ordered MLB Season Pass and got to see all the teams play, but mostly watched and cheered for the Minnesota Twins.

This year, we don’t plan on getting MLB Season Pass. But we will, of course, still watch baseball. Only two teams are regularly broadcast in Oxnard -- Dodgers and Angels.

Ranger John, who mediated the dispute in its later stages, had us each rank all MLB teams. Bodie’s list was illegible (although I still dispute whether it was entirely illegible) so it wasn’t considered. Although this exercise proved interesting (especially rankings 13-18), it could not solve the issue -- everyone knew this was a Dodgers-Angels dispute. RJ then had us hit each other with Nerf Bats while voicing what we disliked about the other’s preferred team. Bodie was excluded from this exercise and sat watching, but unable to hear (fortunately) due to earmuffs. But, the Nerf exercise did not resolve the dispute.

When it was all said and done, RJ had to make the decision. His first thought was to let the teams decide -- whoever won the Freeway Series would be Bodie’s team. We told him we needed to know now because jerseys had to be bought and spring training had to be followed. So, he allowed us each to make our case, conducted some internet research, spoke with three other rangers and two hospitality workers, and finally said, “Bodie is an Angels fan until he makes a conscious, intelligent decision otherwise. Bodie is also a Padres fan and a Twins fan, but when the Twins play the Angels, he is an Angels fan.”

Thanks, Ranger John!

ISSUE 4:

Bodie will be allowed to play soccer until his 12th birthday. Soccer will no longer be mocked in front of Bodie. I will be allowed to coach soccer, if asked (a big if), but must do three shots of Jack Daniels in the car before each practice or game so I don’t take it too seriously. We will never have a plAYSOccer bumper sticker on any vehicle.

ISSUE 9:

If Bodie surfs, he will do so goofy-foot.

ISSUE 15:

My morning Coke will continue to not be judged.

ISSUE 23:

If I start an accordion band specializing in Norteno music, it will be called Menudo Shots.

If Bodie and I have an accordion band, it will be called Hoop-Dee-Duo