Exercising the brain and memory as deep older age sets in.
In seven months I have learned piano and relearned guitar which I haven’t played in over 50 years. Between the two I can now play most of the musical catalogue I’ve loved since my youth and more. I wanted to do this in order to increase using both hemispheres of the brain more intentionally as the deep winter of life approaches. Meanwhile Dee, my beloved wife of 51 years, does the same by doing clay sculpture, crochet and she has taken up drawing again. She is remarkable. We do the best we can by at least trying. ♥️.
Triad = 3 notes pressed make the chord. E.g., D chord consists of the notes DFA = D. / E= EGB / C= CEG / F=FCA / G=GBD / B=BDF / A=ACE / …. Just these chords will take one far playing more songs than is initially imagined. Of course like in Chess the playing can soar into high sublime melodies, all the way up to symphonic compositions. But few go that far. It’s as simple or as complex as we wish to go. Benedict XVI was a great pianist, interpreter of Bach and other composers.
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Thank you!
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Hi UM. I began with a tremendous new way of playing piano. If you can get the Chordify App. Keyboards are inexpensive and generally good. I got a Yamaha for less than $200. You’ll only need to memorize the Major piano chords. You can find them all over the Internet. A chord amounts to generally a Triad of notes. E.g The Fab Four wrote almost all their songs in Major simple chords (ABCDEFG…hundreds of incredibly gifted melodies. In many songs they used 3 or 4 chords only). Once you’ve memorized the Chords Cordify will scroll you all your actual favorite songs and chords to play. You’ll have to add your own style or “voicing” as you play. And over time you can memorize more and more. Admittedly that takes more work. But It works. It’s a new way of reading music. And you can do Pop, Rock, Classical or Medieval pieces. Guitar is even easier.
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I admire your and your bride’s artistic disciplines! Before our pianosaurus became a carved bird refuge, I mastered Chopsticks — and even Silent Night, because it was the only tune in the playbook without sharps or flats. I am *that* person (good luck, brain!).
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Wonderful, Steven! The last comment made me laugh. Let’s keep trying! Let’s bring our song into that inevitable mysterious night, the light too bright for our eyes, which “no eye has seen, nor ear heard,” until God’s appointed time and “last trumpet”. Heb. 9:27, 1 Cor. 2:9
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I had the same same thought about preserving my aging brain and have been trying to learn the banjo. I set on my porch with my old golden retriever Maggie who was born missing a paw and practice. So far I can’t play a single tune but I have noticed when I practice banjo on my porch with my three legged dog no one stops over to visit
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