Burien School of Music and Art marked the opening of it’s doors on April 24, 2010 with a Sold Out Concert Event held at Bison Creek Pizza, which is a stone’s throw from the new school. Business Owner/Musician/Teacher Ryan Burns along with partner Artist/Teacher Tina Routt organized the event, which featured 4 bands, members of which included Peter DiStefano (Porno For Pyros) and Matt Cameron (Pearl Jam, Soundgarden). Cameron’s jazz trio project HarryBu McCage opened the event, performing Thelonious Monk tunes, originals, and other jazz/rock material. The group closed it’s set with the Deep Purple cover “Highway Star,” with Geoff Harper cranking the upright bass and Ryan Burns on distorted Moog Synthesiser.
Next up was Three Tree Point Blues Band, a classic rock cover group with deep Burien roots. The group heavily featured the vocals of Jamie Phalen and guitar work of Jack Johnston, performing numbers by Santana, Allman Brothers, and others, with guest vocalist/guitarist Glenn Cannon (Windowpane) sitting in on Hendrix’s Voodoo Child with Burns on hammond organ, and bassist Joe DelGreco and drummer Todd Anderson.
Zack Static Sect played 3rd at about 11pm. An original punk/grunge band, their set turned the dance floor into a mosh pit. The group consists of Zack Static (who also hails from Burien) on guitar and vocals, bassist Joe Focault, and drummer Alex Vincent (Green River). The group also brought Burns to the stage to play guitar on their hit single “Pass Me By.”
Headlining the event was Los Angeles-based guitarist/vocalist Peter DiStefano, who performed with The Black Vinyl All-Stars for the first part of their set. DiStefano played Porno For Pyros hit “Pets,” his original “Diminished,” and covers of Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones. DiStefano then gave way to lead singer Mesa (Big High) and Igor Abuladze (Urban Achievers) on lead guitar. Burns played keyboards and guitar throughout, along with bassist Zak Melang (Supersonic Soul Pimps), and drummer Mike Stone (Crack Sabbath). BVA performed more covers by Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and closing with The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”
Keyboardist Ryan Burns’ new group will perform at Tula’s Nightclub in Seattle, Wa Thursday March 11, 2010 in conjunction with Burns’ first electric CD as a leader. The recording “Birds” (2010 OddBird Records) prominently features analog keyboards such as Fender Rhodes, Hammond Organ, and Moog Synthesizer. The recording of all original material also features bassist Geoff Cooke, drummer Jose Martinez, and saxophonist Mark Taylor. An acoustic 1st set starts at 7:30pm, and the 2nd set will be electric, with lots of material from the CD.
GTZB (Goessl/Taylor/Zgonc/Burns) will perform at Tulas Nightclub in Belltown (Seattle) on Monday, February 8, 2010. GTZB debuted at 2009 Bumbershoot Festival of the Arts under the leadership of award-winning saxophonist Mark Taylor (Earshot Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year 2008). The group consists of Jason Goessl, guitar; Mark Taylor, saxophones; Ryan Burns, keyboards and Tom Zgonc, drums. The music is original material with some Mingus, Monk, Bill Evans thrown in. Modern jazz with an edge.
7:30pm; 5 dollars; Tulas Restaurant and Nightclub; 2214 Second Avenue, Seattle, WA 98121; (206) 443-4421
You’ve decided you want to play piano. You’ve chosen a teacher, have a lesson coming up and don’t want to go in cold. Or you’ve tried to learn with books and online tutorials, and decided you need some one on one instruction with a live person. for a beginner, the first lesson almost always entails these three things:
1) Find Middle C: On the piano, look at the black keys. There are 2 black keys, then there are 3 black keys, then there are 2 black keys then there are 3 black keys, and so on… Middle C can be found at the center of the piano, the first white key to the left of the 2 black keys.
2) Moving Your Fingers: With your RIGHT HAND, place your thumb on middle C. Move one finger at a time up to your pinky and back down. C-D-E-F-G ascending, G-F-E-D-C descending. Do this about 20 times. Then try the same thing with the Left Hand, but starting pinky on Middle C. FINGERING #’s: For either hand your teacher will explain Thumb is always the number 1. Pointer Finger = 2, Middle Finger = 3, Ring Finger =4, Pinky = 5. Now you have a handle on each hand moving seperately. The next step is to put BOTH THUMBS on Middle C. Your right hand and left hand fingering will match each other if you play at the same time from Middle C, 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1. Note: I call this the “C Scale.” The full C Major Scale probably comes in lesson 2, as you are still getting used to your hands in one position for now.
3) Play a Chord: A Chord is playing three notes or more all at once. An Arpeggio is playing a chord one note at a time. Go back to your first position of Right Hand thumb on Middle C. To Play a C Chord you will play C, E and G (all White Keys). To find this, play Middle C with your thumb, skip a note (and skip a finger) this is E, skip another note (and another finger) this is G. Your fingering for Right Hand should be 1 – 3 – 5 (C – E – G). Then try the same with your Left Hand pinky starting on Middle C. Your Left Hand fingering should be 5-3-1 (C – E -G). For now, practice playing your C Chord hands separate all at once (Chord), and as an arpeggio ascending and descending (1 – 3 – 5 – 3 – 1, or C – E – G – E – C).
So this should give you a head start, whether you want to jump in and practice before your first lesson, or if you just wanted to know what to expect at your first lesson. Fingerings are very important, especially in the beginning while you are first learning. If you have been trying to learn on your own, I’d recommend paying close attention to fingerings. The best thing you can do is get with a good piano teacher from the start, so you don’t start bad habits that you may not recognize on your own.
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