Simon Reich is a pianist and award-winning composer from Victoria, Australia. He has written several articles published here on the Pianodao site.
Simon’ latest post tells of how he has, in later life, turned to music as a full-time professional, and his experiences training as a media composer. As well as giving a special insight into his own personal journey, the post will be an encouragement to all considering a career in music.
Tag: Simon Reich
Piano: the future of music?
Looking at the crystal ball into the future would have had me shaking my head and not believing what I was seeing…
The ubiquitous guitar is falling out of favour with the new generation of musicians.
Yes, you are reading correctly! Both electric and acoustic sales are dropping through the floor. The big guns of the guitar world, Fender and Gibson are facing hardships. In fact, Gibson, have already begun bankruptcy proceedings.
The six-stringed instrument has been the virtual logo for rock and pop since its inception. No-one ever suggested substituting a piano or keyboard as a sexy alternative to the guitar, but it appears that could now be the case.
And while you’re at it, you may need to add a laptop computer as well. Yes folks, these are the items that are causing a huge drop in guitar sales, MIDI keyboards and music software.
Piano Tuning – What’s Under the Lid?
Guest post by Simon Reich
I have a recurring nightmare. It involves me and a piano…
I see the instrument from the other side of the room and then move stealthily, not too fast mind you, over to sit down on the stool waiting patiently for me. Everything seems like it’s going well up to this point. The horror only kicks in as I press down the notes for that first D minor 7 chord. The piano is totally out of tune with sticking notes I can’t avoid.
I’m sure some of us have also encountered this outside of our sleeping times, me included. Apart from our instrument, a piano tuner is our next most important point on our must have checklist.
With this in mind I decided to interview Nathan Winterbine, a piano tuner (based in Melbourne, Australia) who I only met last year, but instantly warmed to. His prompt service, fixed price and then excellent workmanship cemented him as my “go to” tuner.
I sat down with Nathan and plugged him with questions I wanted answered…
Continue reading Piano Tuning – What’s Under the Lid?
Stories of Recovery
Guest post by Simon Reich
Unless you lived in a humidified bubble, away from sharp objects and potential harmful items, injuries are part of life.
The response to my invitation for stories and anecdotes regarding incidents that may have curtailed your piano playing or ended your musical career altogether was overwhelming. As I was therefore unable to squeeze the material into one blog, I’ve been compelled to write a second part to You Can’t Stop the Music.
Just to reiterate, the injuries were not necessarily musically acquired, but things as simple as falling off a bike, crushing fingers between two bricks or hurting your back slipping down a flight of stairs.
Amazingly, after writing the first article, I found out my mum has some nerve problems in her fingers.
She told me that as children, her siblings would melt wax on their fingertips and when cooled to dry, play the piano as a fun alternative to the standard method! This was the way she described how playing the piano keyboard now felt. It hasn’t stopped her from performing but it’s certainly put a spanner in the works of eliciting dynamics and feeling to her performances.
Continue reading Stories of Recovery
You can’t stop the music
How your creative outlet survives an injury…
Guest Post by Simon Reich
Ouch!!
Putting a brand new blade in a window scraper demanded concentration, as the surgically sharp implement would slice the end of a finger off in a millisecond. Unfortunately I didn’t give my scraper the respect it demanded…
While trying to multitask, taking a mobile phone call (with it wedged between my chin and shoulder), holding the scraper, and attempting to close the back door of my van, I accidentally sliced so deeply into my left hand, that I could see my bones and severed tendons.
Although not feeling pain straight away, the sight of the inner workings of my hand caused me to collapse onto the footpath, holding my skin together to stem the flow of blood.
As I sat in the back of an ambulance, it suddenly dawned on me I may never play piano again.
The paramedics informed me that because the blade was brand new and incredibly sharp, the cut would have made a surgeon proud. Amazingly I was still not feeling pain in my hand, but the thought of losing my musical outlet was causing me enough ache as it was. I knew this situation only too well, as my brother (while serving a cabinetmaking apprenticeship) lost three fingers to an electric wood buzzer. This severely curtailed his drumming career.
Child’s Play: Why do parents send children to music lessons?
Guest Author: Simon Reich
There we sat in the dark. My Mum and I had been looking at the local Church hall for half an hour now and nobody had arrived, the building still in darkness.
I could tell my mum was getting more and more upset as the minutes ticked by. But to understand the full gravity of the situation, we now found ourselves in, we need to go back in time a little bit.
Continue reading Child’s Play: Why do parents send children to music lessons?
Emotions – playing their part.
Guest post by Simon Reich
Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Brian Wilson & Johnny Cash all had things in common. Not only were they gifted musicians and composers, but they managed a depressive side to their lives.
Losing the joy in music?
Guest Post by Simon Reich
After reading a rather sad article by Washington Post author Arianna Warsaw-Fan Rauch, I began discussing the issues raised in the story with other musicians.
Arianna lamented her loss of joy in music due to endless exercises, scales, playing the same pieces ad nauseum and various other musical drills akin to army training, that robbed her of any love she might have had for a life as a musician.
Once I’d read the expose, I wondered about the author’s mental or emotional approach to music. Was it her attitude or the way she interpreted music that was a reason for her eventual dissatisfaction, and could this also affect your own (or if you teach others) students longevity and enjoyment in the art of music?
Does music grow on the family tree?
Guest Post by Simon Reich
I would imagine, many creative and serious musicians, would love their children to follow in the same footsteps? Well interestingly enough, it doesn’t always turn out that way.
Take my own four children for example…
Continue reading Does music grow on the family tree?
Simon Reich on Improvisation: Part 3
Improvisation in Action – A Video!
In this series, I have written many words and imparted knowledge from my experience. But merely in print form.
I have mentioned a few times though, that you need to dip your foot in the pool and go for it yourself. That got me thinking about videoing myself noodling around until I “found” something that constituted a tune.
I’ve never done this before, so it was quite interesting for me as well. I put my phone on a shoe box and started taping in my music room. I only did one take and had never consciously heard this tune before.
Simon Reich on Improvisation: Part 2
Improvisation – Jump In!
Guest post by Simon Reich (pictured)
The amazing thing about improvisation, in my experience, is the fact that inspiration and output can come no matter how I am feeling.
In fact, some of the best tunes I have composed have been when I am feeling down and compromised. The flip side to this is that when I am happy, the creative juices still flow! So in essence, nothing need hold you back from a productive improvisation.
As mentioned in the previous article, armed with your skills of scale and chord understanding it’s always the right time to start noodling around the keyboard and find a gem waiting to be unearthed. Sometimes it starts with a chord progression, other times a melody.
When I was quite young, I remember hearing certain tunes and feeling a funny tingling sensation in my stomach. This became my yardstick for great chord progressions. If I could make myself feel those “butterflies in my tummy”, I’d done it!
You are your own best guide to what sound good, so trust your intuition.
“Everything you want is on the other side of fear” – Jack Canfield
Simon Reich on Improvisation: Part 1
Improvisation – Can it be learnt?
Guest post by Simon Reich (pictured)
People ask me, “can you learn to improvise”, and my answer is, “YES, the majority of musicians can be taught”.
If you have only ever played from printed scores, then surely at times you have heard music in your head? It’s just a matter of coaxing that out via the instrument.
Improvisation – A natural high
Guest post by Simon Reich
Launching a new series on improvisation…
There are many natural highs to be enjoyed in life.
Society’s obsession with alcohol, drugs, nicotine and artificial stimulants misses the serotonin release available from activities that occur all around us. In my case, consuming great tasting food, stimulating conversation with friends, daredevil acts – like riding a roller coaster or jumping from high platforms into water, romancing my partner, winning competitive games and (for the focus of this article), playing a musical instrument.
Confessions 8: The Final Scene
Guest Author: Simon Reich “Confessions Series”
Following on from his warmly received guest post “Confessions of a Piano Student“, Simon Reich invited teachers from around the world to answer 8 Questions.
In this series he shares their answers…
Question 8
Although movies can’t always finish with a happy ending, I thought we’d round up this series with a question that could give teachers a chance to give a positive finale.
“I have a few secondary school teachers as friends. They often remark how they hardly ever hear from former students. So as the last question, Have you ever had a response from a past student, years down the track? Something that really warmed your heart?”
Confessions 7: How wide are piano teacher’s job descriptions?
Guest Author: Simon Reich “Confessions Series”
Following on from his warmly received guest post “Confessions of a Piano Student”, Simon Reich invited teachers from around the world to answer 8 Questions.
In this series he shares their answers…
Question 7
How wide are piano teachers job descriptions?
Continue reading Confessions 7: How wide are piano teacher’s job descriptions?
Confessions 6: Are Exams helpful?
Guest Author: Simon Reich “Confessions Series”
Following on from his warmly received guest post “Confessions of a Piano Student“, Simon Reich invited teachers from around the world to answer 8 Questions.
In this series he shares their answers…
Question 6
This controversial question needed to be asked.
“Do you feel the current system of testing and grading of students is helpful to budding creative musicians? If not, what would you consider as an alternative?”
Confessions 5: Student listening tastes
Guest Author: Simon Reich “Confessions Series”
Following on from his warmly received guest post “Confessions of a Piano Student“, Simon Reich invited teachers from around the world to answer 8 Questions. In this series he shares their answers…
Question 5
This question was born from an ugly personal experience I had as a child. At a local monthly musical society concert, a classical guitar teacher had found out his most gifted pupil had bought an electric guitar and was dabbling with it in his own time. Admittedly the guitar teacher was an older man, but he publicly tore strips off his prized student and humiliated him in front of the whole crowd. He then banished his pupil and told him not to return to lessons until he’d given up the electric guitar.
It’s in this context, I asked the following question.
“What would be your reaction to a student confessing they played synthesizers in a simple dance music style of playing? How would you feel about them listening to electronic music or heavy metal style genres?”
Confessions 4: Choosing music with each student
Guest Author: Simon Reich “Confessions Series”
Following on from his warmly received guest post “Confessions of a Piano Student“, Simon Reich invited teachers from around the world to answer 8 Questions.
In this series he shares their answers…
Question 4
When I had lessons as a young man, my teacher had a set, worn path of selected pieces, so the answers to this question interested me no end.
“Are the selection of music to be learnt, important to maintaining the interest of a student? Do you tailor the music to each student?”
Continue reading Confessions 4: Choosing music with each student
Confessions 3: Naturally gifted students?
Guest Author: Simon Reich “Confessions Series”
Following on from his warmly received guest post “Confessions of a Piano Student”, Simon Reich invited teachers from around the world to answer 8 Questions. In this series he shares their answers…
Question 3
Being someone who had a natural ear for music and could play back most things I heard, this was a question I was keen to hear the answers to –
“Do you feel some students have a natural gift in music? How does that manifest?”
Confessions 2: Are teenagers difficult to teach?
Guest Author: Simon Reich “Confessions Series”
Following on from his warmly received guest post “Confessions of a Piano Student”, Simon Reich invited teachers from around the world to answer 8 Questions…
In this series he shares their answers…
Question 2
This question was born of my own frustration as a teenager, and seeing the skill level I wanted to be at and the skill level I was achieving.
“Are mid to late teens a difficult age bracket to teach? Why?”
Continue reading Confessions 2: Are teenagers difficult to teach?
