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I played my piano for the first time this morning in nearly 7 weeks. YAY!
Off to church now, my third round of Chemo is tomorrow. UGH! However I seem to be tolerating the treatments well and have only the extreme tiredness and mild nausea. No hair loss nosebleeds, cramping, mouth sores, or pukage. Having a pretty good day so far today. Some are bad but most are fair to good. I am blessed for sure.

I haven't posted in a while. Even this post is more about intention than acheivement. I started back on the sheet music for Fire and Rain by James Taylor. I'm starting from the beginning, right hand melody only. As usual with pop songs, I'm going to do my own arrangement, but I have to learn the melody well first to internalize the music.

I watched a couple of Youtube videos about CAGF improvisation (one from the prolific Bill Hilton). Gosh, that simple chord progression sounds good. There is something about appeals to human brains. Perhaps because we have heard it so many times in pop songs, perhaps something even deeper, going back generations, that our ancestors sang folk songs structured that way.

Overall for 2015, my piano activity is way down. Some days only 15 to 20 minutes. 30 minutes is now a good day. It is sad that chronic repetitive stress issues from my days before piano limit what I can attempt.

Ragdoll! So good to hear from you, and glad it's a good day. May there be many more.

Ragdoll - great to hear from you ! I'm sorry you have to have the chemo, but glad you are tolerating it so well! I hope that you don't have many more treatments to deal with -and that they work REALLY well!!!!



Sand Tiger - sorry to hear about your playing restrictions due to stress pains - I know how disappointing that can be.

+1. You're in our prayers.

Ragdoll - It is great to hear from you. I am glad to hear the Chemo is going well, and you were able to play piano again. I wish you the best in your recovery!

@Cheryl, Cathy, Stubbie and Doris

Thanks you so much for your prayers and encouraging words. I truly appreciate all of them...and your friendship as well.

I have lost a lot in my playing but after this round of Chemo maybe I can gain it all back. If so, I'll try to submit something from the GASB in September.

To quote Clint Eastwood (Bridges of Madison County); "I had a lot of dreams when I was young, they didn't all come true, but I'm glad I had `em."

Ragdoll welcome back. I hope you get better soon. I'm very sure you will. In my piano group we had two people had to go through chemo and they all came back and doing well. Both of them resumed piano slowly but in a matter of a few months they came back with full swing. Medical progress is amazing. Also strong were their desire to play... You cannot dismiss the power there.

Ragdoll, so nice to hear from you! I'm so happy you're playing piano again, and I wish you the best in your recovery!

Ragdoll,

Glad to see you back on the AOTW and wishing you a speedy and complete recovery asap. It would be great to hear a GASB entry from you.

PS. really like that Clint Eastwood quote. Assume you know he is a good jazz pianist and loves the gasb tunes.

Ragdoll--I'm glad you felt well enough to play and to attend church. Hang in there; you're a trooper.

Many happy returns Ragdoll, of the daily kind! I know that doing the things that feed your soul really does aid recovery.

My AOTW is to almost have the first two pages of Passepied ( Debussy's Bergamesque) down.It's been frustratingly slow because I've had to fight for practise time, sometimes only 15 mins a day! I started last April and now can really manage the tempo evenly and that left hand staccatto is consistent, and I even no longer think of the 3 against 4 tempo, just feel it. It's all downhill from here and even though it's a long time since I turned past this section I'm not at all worried about it.

@CarlosCC, Malkin,JimF and PalmPirate, Thanks for your encouraging words, your support means much to me.

I survived my 3 round of Chemo today despite the 4 hr. loss of air conditioning in the infusion lab. Outside temp was 100º, about 150º or so in there. I had very good news in that my latest CTs showed my neck tumor has diminished about 25 -30%. And one of 2 small lung lesions marginally about 10%. I will see Dr. again in three weeks. I am blessed to be sure.

Thanks FarmGirl for the encouragement. I have a deep abiding faith in God and besides that, I'm tough as a two dollar steak.

Now we're gettin' somewhere. I got up early showered, ate breakfast and sat the bench.

Determined to play hands separate on the piece I had nearly perfected months ago. <sigh> I was amazed at what I remembered but then the hands together failed miserably. Couldn't seem to concentrate well or focus or ???. So what! I'm on my way. <whine> My arms hurt now. hmpf so what! Hoping to resume lessons within the month>

I think my achievement, and a few weeks back actually, is to realize that I don't need any piano method books anymore. I'm able to select pieces and exercises on my own now.
So, in that respect it seems to me that I have advanced somewhat.

Guess my last AOTW wasn't that much of an achievement although I've done it every day since. I had no idea the very mention of faith in God could empty a room so quickly. I can now play my hands together trying to recover this piece I had learned, it's progressing quite slowly but no mistakes or hesitations now. I'm in love once more with my piano!

That's the trouble with bringing God into the conversation. Half the world thinks you're loopy, most of the rest think you follow the WRONG God. So, not wanting to pick a fight with what seems like a nice person, they shy off!

Whatever. Good luck and best wishes for both your music and your health from me, purely as one human being to anothere. And if you feel you have a secret weapon, use it for all it's worth!

That's the trouble with bringing God into the conversation. Half the world thinks you're loopy, most of the rest think you follow the WRONG God. So, not wanting to pick a fight with what seems like a nice person, they shy off!

Whatever. Good luck and best wishes for both your music and your health from me, purely as one human being to anothere. And if you feel you have a secret weapon, use it for all it's worth!

+1 to what Exalted Wombat sez. Politics, too. If you're on the "wrong" side, look out.