Il jazz secondo Gianni Basso. Cronache di un caposcuola (Gianni Basso’s take on jazz. Chronicles of a leading figure) is a book by Sandra Scagliotti and Fulvio Albano, published by Azzurra Publishing in 2014, five years after the death of the great Piedmontese saxophonist. Gianni Basso was one of the greatest Italian jazz musicians, and…Continue readingGianni Basso’s take on jazz. Chronicles of a leading figure
[Monday Notes No. 183] Fryderyk Chopin’s Prelude Op. 28 No. 4 in E minor is one of the most played pieces by the Polish composer, not least because it is one of the few that does not require an advanced piano technique. Chopin did not write music specifically for didactics, this not too difficult piece…Continue readingF.Chopin Prelude op.28 no.4, how to create tension with melody and harmony
[Monday Notes No. 182] La Foule is one of the best known songs by French singer Edith Piaf. The song sounds typically French, but in fact its origin is in South America, in a Peruvian waltz. Here, then, is the story of La Foule and some notes on the song.Continue readingEdith Piaf, La Foule. A Peruvian waltz turned French
In this lesson, I want to tell you how to start studying piano, starting with the choice of an instrument and a music teacher, and then moving on to your first piano lesson. Although taking piano lessons is absolutely recommended, I also want to give some tips for those who want to try to do…Continue readingStarting to study piano, complete guide and first lesson
In this article I will try to analyse what are the advantages and disadvantages of using an app to learn to play the piano, in particular I downloaded and tried for a few days Simply Piano, one of the most popular. So here are the advantages and disadvantages of Simply Piano and of piano-playing apps…Continue readingReview of Simply Piano, app for learning to play the piano
[Monday Notes No. 181] La nevicata del ‘56 is a song written in the 1970s by Carla Vistarini and Luigi Lopez, but remained unused for a long time. Only in 1990 did it find a great interpreter in Mia Martini at the Sanremo Festival. That same year, the song was also interpreted by Franco Califano,…Continue readingMia Martini, a song about nostalgia
I have selected one hundred unforgettable jazz pieces that have made the history of this music. The aim of this list is to suggest a few listens to those who do not know jazz music at all, or have only listened to some of it and are curious about new periods or genres. I have…Continue readingAn Introduction to Jazz: One Hundred Tunes to Discover Jazz
[Monday Notes No. 180] Denny Zeitlin is an American pianist who has performed since the 1960s in solo piano or trio with double bass and drums. He is a very fascinating musician also because of an unusual detail: despite a career in music at the highest level, he practised in parallel as a psychiatrist at…Continue readingQuiet Now, a Denny Zeitlin piece that Bill Evans loved
[Monday Notes No. 179] Por una cabeza is a tango composed by Argentine musician Carlos Gardel for the 1935 film Tango Bar. The lyrics of the song refer to horse racing, when a horse wins ‘by a head’, i.e. with very little gap. In Italian, a similar expression is used, winning ‘di corto muso’ (with…Continue readingPor una cabeza, the adventurous life of Carlos Gardel
[Monday Notes No. 178] Vuelvo al sur is a song composed by the Argentinian musician Astor Piazzolla as the soundtrack for the film Sur, directed by Fernando Ezequiel Solanas. The 1988 film is about the return home of a former prisoner, but it also contains a severe critique of the Argentinian dictatorship, which had fallen…Continue readingVuelvo al Sur, the Argentinian tango of Astor Piazzolla