Month: October 2010

cat, cats, Kawai, piano, piano teacher, Uncategorized

The Big day for Claudia M. and others, minus Aiden the Cat

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Saturday was the culmination of little Claudia's practicing. She was scheduled to play on a musical program without Aiden the cat beside her on the piano bench. As a second banana, I would replace my adorable feline as the duet partner of my pint size 8 year old student on the stage at the Fresno… Continue reading The Big day for Claudia M. and others, minus Aiden the Cat

cat, cats, feline, felines, piano, piano teacher, Uncategorized

A musical match made in heaven, Aiden cat and Claudia in purrr-fect harmony

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

This evening Aiden decided to share star billing with 8 year old Claudia. It was an encore of sorts, since my student had just completed her lesson and was packing up her music books. Out of  nowhere my angel cat made a soft landing on the piano bench and beckoned Claudia with his serene expression… Continue reading A musical match made in heaven, Aiden cat and Claudia in purrr-fect harmony

digital keyboards at Guitar Center, Guitar Center El Cerrito

The Good, Bad and Ugly: Shopping at Guitar Center in El Cerrito

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I rarely go public with my comments on customer service because I'm not inclined to "yelp!" Yelp.com is an Internet site for consumers to yell or qvell (Yiddish for rave positively) about every kind of store imaginable; to rate physicians, lawyers, vets, pet groomers, and every ethnic restaurant known to mankind. You just type in… Continue reading The Good, Bad and Ugly: Shopping at Guitar Center in El Cerrito

Amazon, cat, cats, cd baby, feline, felines, Liz on Top of the World, music, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, piano, piano teacher, Uncategorized

Aiden, the Cat Rules!

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Aiden rules! He steals my attention at the top of each day. At the peep of dawn he scratches the frig door for his scoop of Solid Gold wet food and he meows incessantly until I traipse out of my bedroom to feed him. Aiden prefers his genetically unaltered lamb served 6 seconds out of… Continue reading Aiden, the Cat Rules!

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Teens, popular music then and now, Taylor Swift, throw in Five for Fighting “100 Years”

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Today was by no means a first for me, a long-haired musician raised on Bach, Beethoven and Brahms teaching a teen some pop tunes by John Ondrasik and Taylor Swift while I sailed through the universe of "Liz on Top of the World" with another student. Videotaping portions of piano lessons was the natural result… Continue reading Teens, popular music then and now, Taylor Swift, throw in Five for Fighting “100 Years”

Uncategorized

Near heart failure, but Ilyana saved the day!

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I nearly had heart failure early this morning after seven gut wrenching hours of writing, tweaking, inserting photos, editing, and refining my new post, "After the Fall." Suddenly, to my horror, it had completely vanished! I had no warning and I don't recall accidentally deleting it. I hadn't moved this last blog to the trash… Continue reading Near heart failure, but Ilyana saved the day!

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After the Fall

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

It was easy to predict that I would have violated my own ban on making more you tubes. My cold turkey withdrawal was just an overnight phenomenon eclipsed by my hankering to tweak the tripod, move the camera in all sorts of directions, and get a better angle of the piano for the next posting.… Continue reading After the Fall

Uncategorized

Aiden, the cat

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Sunday was a You Tube free day. No tripod to trip me up on the way to the kitchen, or in the opposite direction, back to the piano. All in all, I survived my first day of camcorder related withdrawal without any serious side effects. **** Coming into the piano room, the ground floor teaching… Continue reading Aiden, the cat

Bach Invention, Bach Inventions, Bach Two Part Inventions, California, classissima.com, counterpoint, Craigs List, Creative Fresno, Facebook, Fresno California, Fresno Famous, fresno filmmakers alliance, humor, J.S. Bach, J.S. Bach two part Inventions, music, music teachers association of california, my space, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Oberlin Conservatory, Old Fig Garden in Fresno, pianist, piano, piano addict, piano instruction, piano lesson, piano room, Piano World, Pianostreet.com, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Steinway and Sons, Steinway grand piano, Steinway M grand piano, Steinway piano, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, Uncategorized, video performances, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

Full Blown You Tube Addiction!

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

My struggle to grapple with You Tube demons and completely eradicate them!