Group piano class in Zoom

Introducing my group piano class online: Group Piano Class in Zoom. The first series of seven weekly one-hour class started in June 2021. The second (continuation of the first) started in October 2021 at alternating weeks, until end of December (seven sessions). The third series of 16 consecutive weeks started at the beginning of 2022. The fourth series will start in mid-May 2022 for 8 consecutive weeks. These sessions are highly interactive and custom tailored to the participants, who are encouraged to submit video recordings for feedback.

Three Chord Thursdays

Since lockdowns cascaded across Europe and America, I have been hosting an online, interactive song session called “Three Chord Thursdays.” Each Thursday, we ukulele enthusiasts (whether vocalists or instrumentalists) meet for an hour to share songs of a particular theme, category, or era. It’s entirely free to join by registering in advance for the login/password details. Volunteers submit their requests to perform in advance. We aim to fit up to 10 songs for the hour-long session in Zoom.

We welcome everybody everywhere in the world. Restated, that’s anybody anywhere in the world.

Online course about social media for educators

I’ve attended webinars. I’ve even organized online conferences and moderated presentations. But I’ve never participated as a student in an online class until yesterday evening. I’ve heard my colleagues talk about the challenges of giving an online class, but as a student, it was dead easy to participate.

…. please visit the new blog about this course at WED628  — as we meet Wednesdays from 6 to 8 pm HST !!

Being online is a full-time job

I think twice about switching on my Mac powerbook and going online. There are several reasons for this hesitation. The biggest one is that it’s hard to switch off. Before long, I am online the entire day.

Take today, for instance.

Just after 3 pm, I turned on the computer to get the addresses of the two enthusiastic fans who wanted to order signed copies of our new duo CD. I logged into Naxos CD Online so I could listen to Albeniz’ Tango which I played yesterday. I wanted to hear someone else’s interpretation.

While online, I decided to check my Concertblog statistics to see if it would hit 13,000 visitors today. Seeing that it was getting very close, I thought of writing a blog about yesterday’s meeting with an American singer/songwriter and his wife. When I tweeted the resultant blog, I saw a few things on Twitter that lured me to click and read on.

I went into Facebook to see if my tweets propagated. I thanked the friend who introduced me to the singer/songwriter. I thanked her friend and told the short story of how one thing led to another. This is about the Netherlands, Utah, Seattle, and 28 years ago in Okinawa.

I learned a thing or two about social media strategies for musicians and planning recitals, thanks to the clarinettist and blogger that I follow on Twitter. His blog links led me to new websites about how to succeed in the music business, a subject I find wondrously fascinating and remarkably mesmerising.

Many e-mails and several blogs later, it’s 11:28 pm.

There was just a short cycle ride to post one package of CDs to Virginia, a break for noodles and ice cream, and no time to practise the piano.