Sound system, new Arranger, Pacemaker, Hip Replacement, divorce? All nice gifts and for our little group, age-appropriate. I'm giving myself a "Learn to play piano in 10 minutes" instruction booklet; I ordered a couple of extra copies for some of my forum friends here .

Here is a limerick I learned on my father's knee.

Mary had a little sheep
She took with her to sleep
The sheep turned out to be a Ram
Mary had a little lamb

As they say here in Georgia, Merry Xmas, ya'll.

chas

PS: I hear Gary is pining away for a spanking new Roli Seaboard.

Greetings!

I was hoping for a new roof by Christmas. Ain't gonna happen! Probably another few weeks. That blue roof better last a little longer!

All that aside I am extremely grateful for the year I have had. Me and my Genos have stayed safe and dry. The house will be filled with the sounds of Christmas!!! -charley

Looks really good for a Ketron Event to arrive after the new year..

Stay Safe everyone and Happy Holidays

I'm getting a 1958 Baldwin that has had significant restoration work. Super excited!!!!

Here’s a little demo at the shop. Sorry for the very poor video- audio quality…. Anyways, I think I’ll need a copy of that instruction book, Chas


[video:youtube]https://youtu.be/1gmBzgfa09I[/video]

WOW!!! rphillipchuk and montunoman, what a great way to start the new year. So much better than an AR-15 or Glock (the preferred self-gift here in Georgia ). Let's hope more people decide that music and art is SOOooo much better than the craziness that has plagued this current year. Enjoy your great new purchases.

Oh, and Paul, I know you're way past this stuff but sometimes it's fun to go back and run through the basics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZbfn0tpVI4&ab_channel=OpenStudio

chas

santa might bring me a guitar . im going back to my roots. havent played since my producer put me on keyboards in 1966. We will see how this works out.

Chas, the only board I'm getting is a large slab of Mappa Burl, from which I hope to make a beautiful coffee table and a solid, guitar body for my son. It will likely keep me busy for the entire winter, and I'm really looking forward to it.



Merry Christmas, everyone,

Gary

Gary, with this artic weather we're having, you may have to use that slab of Mappa Burl for firewood . You're always complaining about the 'frozen tundra' that is Maryland in the winter, well, now we too can claim some of that title; it was 15f, windchill below zero (very high winds) when I woke up this morning. This may not be much for you but I'M SUPPOSED TO BE IN WARM, SUNNY GEORGIA. WHAT HAPPENED? BTW, I'm sending you climate deniers my heating bill this month .

Stay warm,

chas

Santa got me an early Xmas present with a 50 mile range electric bike. Nice to be able to get around a lot more (health issues have made regular bicycling challenging), although it’s sitting unused while we go through this cold snap (temps in the 20’s here in sunny Florida!🥶😱).

I made use of the Black Friday sales to load my iPad up with the SWAM saxes and strings, which are absolutely amazing, and I’m currently researching using CME’s wireless Bluetooth MIDI options so I can wander around the venue with my old KX5 keytar (which has a breath controller input) and do the roving sax player bit!

I have the SWAM stuff working well with the BK9, using expression instead of breath controller, and it’s an amazing way to while away the hours going through my jazz fakebooks and Christmas books, playing the chords the first go round on piano while the chord sequencer records the changes, then blowing as many choruses as I can on the sax. Did that a couple of days ago, suddenly realized I had been at it for 5 hours without even realizing it! 😍

Santa knows what I like..!

I wish all of you the joy of the Christmas and holiday season, and hope Santa brings you something to enhance your love of music! 🎅🏻🎹🎄🎷🎻🎼

It was just 6 degrees f. this morning and now we're up to 12 degrees at 3 p.m. The heating oil truck arrived yesterday, dumped $1,000 into my oil tank (243 gallons). If the planet has a fever, I sure wish it was taking place in my part of the globe. I would love to see some coconut palms springing up in my front yard. The wind chill index is just 8 degrees. Brrrrrrrrrrr!

I'm really looking forward to starting to work on that slab of Mappa Burl in the next few days. I'll be posting some photos of my progress on this project. I know it has nothing to do with music, other than the guitar I hope to make from part of the slab, but I think you folks will enjoy what this old man is still capable of doing.

Merry Christmas,

Gary

Actually it was 6 degrees here this morning as well. When they said Georgia was turning "blue", I didn't know THIS is what they meant .

chas

Santa got us a snowblower last month and it has paid off royally.

Jim, when I was a few years younger, I used a 8-HP snow blower on my driveway, which is the length of a football field, plus 128-feet of sidewalk. Now, I pay someone else do it for me - I'm too old for this s**t!



Ironically, I had to create a 200-foot path from beneath my deck where the snow blower was stored to the end of the driveway. Then, after 5 hours of snow blowing, you still have to shovel the snow from the cars in order to get out of the driveway. I just love it when someone, such as UD, tells me they love the change of seasons. The daytime temperature was just 10 degrees f when I shot the videos.



Merry Christmas,

Gary

I found a used Genos in mint condition with stand and speakers for $3,000.00. Loving it. Happy Christmas present to me.

Nice, Solomon! Enjoy… 🎹🎅🏻

I'm not a gambling man but I'm gonna guess you made the purchase from an elderly gent in Port Richey.

Hi, I got my Xmas present early. PA5x. No way that was staying boxed up for a few weeks. Haha. Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

No. An elderly lady in North Ft. Myers.

Geeze, I thought you may have purchased that Genos from an old guy in New Jersey - he sells a lot of keyboards.

Merry Christmas,

Gary

I got it from a sweet 81 year old lady named Bonnie in N. Ft. Myers. She also had a late model Clavinova. She was not an advanced player. She recently lost her husband and needed money. A sad way to get a keyboard, but she seem to be very happy to get the money.

Thanks Chas, that’s just what I needed! I’m always trying to improve, and those rhythm changes voicings and melodic material should keep me busy for awhile!
I notated at all the exercises presented in the video while I had a delay at the airport….. I’m home now with my new baby grand and did some of the exercises going through all keys. Adam and Peter at Open Studio put out some great material for sure!