My back was hurting and after being in bed sick for two days, I wanted a massage. I wanted the most painful type of massage a person can get, one of those deep tissue ones. My piano bench might be too high because my back always hurts after I play. I was calling around to see which clinics would book me in a deep tissue…read more
If you repeatedly play a passage the wrong way during piano practice, you are tacking on dead weight. Each time you do it, you are solidifying a mistake you make and it is that much harder to change it down the road. You will get a different answer about how muscle memory works depending if you ask a neurologist or a biologist, but the consensus…read more
I was jogging around the neighbourhood and passed by a piano store. The driveway was uneven and the front of the building with the sign didn’t have a door, so I jogged around the building to find the actual door. The thing about piano stores is that the service you get depends on how rich you look. So I looked like a sweaty homeless puppy…read more
A while ago, I asked Artiden Friends for what movie soundtracks I should play, and someone suggested Interstellar, so I picked it up. Hans Zimmer piano solos almost always sound ethereal. The Interstellar theme builds up to a proper climax in the middle, and of course a buildup is a requirement for any piece that I fall in love with. Here, I am using the…read more
Loneliness is “the discrepancy between actual and desired relationships,” says Dr. Perissinotto, associate chief in geriatrics clinical programs at the University of California San Francisco. After a week in Canada, I remembered what it was like to not be lonely. I say, “I’m going to be back in Canada next week.” “Do you have any work to do at your job?” Kat says. “I figured…read more
Videogame soundtracks can be absolutely beautiful. In the past ten years, video game soundtracks have began winning mainstream awards, and though not all of us are avid gamers, I’m sure we can appreciate the composition the different pieces. An Artiden Friend sent me the collection of Final Fantasy piano solos below and I’m now learning them! There is something to be said about playing well-written,…read more
After scrolling through a hundred therapist ads, I couldn’t tell what help I needed anymore. Pychotherapy? Art therapy? I made a spreadsheet of female therapists who had kind faces. Google says I should ask for a phone consultation, where there are 20 questions you should fire off. The first therapist I speak with on the phone says, “What is the issue you are struggling with?”…read more
“Labels are for cans,” my friend says. But I’m still curious whether I’m autistic. The first doctor’s office said I needed a referral from another doctor. The second doctor’s office said I needed to pay around two thousand dollars to sit with him three times, so he could potentially tell if I had autism by asking questions. I am not good with questions. At my…read more
I analyze each social context when I am the only one confused, which causes a lot of embarrassment, partly because I am now aware that I am the only one who doesn’t understand a situation that I should be able to understand by now. What did that look mean? What did that wink mean? People expect me to understand, or else they wouldn’t be including…read more
Not everyone understands how to play Hanon. There are 60 exercises, but you are not meant to do them all at once. They are tools in your arsenal for each of the different areas you need to improve on. Have you ever heard of the 80/20 rule? 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts, and this is true for a lot of…read more