It's beginning to look a lot like.....

[Tom]

Have you been practicing your Christmas music?  Or do you have such a good memory or facility that you don't need to?  Or will play from music?

What songs will you play, anything out of the ordinary?

I'll do mostly old fashioned stuff and the required ones like Jingle Bells and We Wish You but will mix in some fun ones like Blue Christmas and I Saw Mommy, as well as the one requisite Italian, Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle.

Btw, while I'm here......  I have a lot of accordion groups in my facebook feed, and I have it set to play them silently.   It's uncanny, but I can tell just by watching them play whether I will like the video.  Really, really fast fingers is generally a no.  Your experience?

 

[losthobos]

Ha ha Tom.. I find the hat is often the deciding feature as to whether to switch the sound on or not....

 

[Tom]

Yeah, I've been meaning to re-record without the hat, thanks for reminding me Lost!

 

[wirralaccordion]

Btw, while I'm here......  I have a lot of accordion groups in my facebook feed, and I have it set to play them silently.   It's uncanny, but I can tell just by watching them play whether I will like the video.  Really, really fast fingers is generally a no.  Your experience?

Can you give us a link please to your facebook feed?

---

What songs will you play, anything out of the ordinary?

For me, I like to play songs that are neither easy nor difficult.
 
For example, easy would be Jingle Bells. The first Noel, etc, i.e. songs playable using only 2 or 3 major chords.

Difficult would be Sleigh Bells ( Leroy Anderson ) with perhaps up to 10 major and minor chords and including some huge jumps, plus some diminished.

Inbetween there are songs such as I'm walking in the air and Winter Wonderland which require a few additional chords, cannot be simplified, and to which you can add a couple of walking bass lines of your own which you have already mastered. These two examples also have "middle sections" which make them more interesting and good for busking.

In other words I don't attempt those songs outside my skill set but those which I believe I can achieve with a little practice whilst the easy ones are always there as "fill-ins".

 

[Tom]

Thanks Wirral!  I agree, it's good to have the easy songs for ease of performance but also have some challenges to make things interesting and keep you on your toes.  See pm.

 

[JerryPH]

Now that I am back to work, my work schedule is again 4:00AM wake times to arrival back at home at 6:30 (14.5 ours a day 5-6 times a week... I must be nuts), so the last thing I am feeling I want to do is practice accordion, however I know that I am likely going to be doing a Christmas gig at a retirement home for my cousin's friend, so I need to find the strength and motivation to play several times a week.

UGH.

 

[Tom]

You can do it, Jerry!  Good Luck, sounds like he easy ones for you.....

 

[Dingo40]

Now that I am back to work, my work schedule is again 4:00AM wake times to arrival back at home at 6:30 (14.5 ours a day 5-6 times a week... I must be nuts), ...

UGH.

What line of work are you in Jerry?

 

[jozz]

I'll just whip out the old tablet and load up some christmas collection ABC file and off we go

 

[JerryPH]

Have you been practicing your Christmas music? 

Are you kidding?  Its NOVEMBER... lol
Well, I suppose I could dust off the old Xmas book and look at a couple of pieces, maybe convert them a bit to work on the 8X.  Ill likely post some vid a little closer to the holiday season. 

---

Btw, while Im here......  I have a lot of accordion groups in my facebook feed, and I have it set to play them silently.   Its uncanny, but I can tell just by watching them play whether I will like the video.  Really, really fast fingers is generally a no.  Your experience?

Oh no, there is for me no way to tell if I like it or not based on finger speed... I love the slow and the faster, and the super fast, if nothing else, fascinates me. 

[video=youtube]

 

[Tom]

You guys are way ahead of me, I'm pretty dense on the reading and memories.   Talented, Jerry but not my cuppa tea.....

 

[knobby]

Have you been practicing your Christmas music?  Or do you have such a good memory or facility that you don't need to?  Or will play from music?

Shame on you! It should be against the law to mention the "C" word before December 1st 

Bah Humbug!

 

[Tom]

Sorry.....

 

[Glug]

Apparently youre supposed to start practising in September, in the USA anyway:

https://shelialee.wordpress.com/christmas-music/

 

[JerryPH]

You guys are way ahead of me, I'm pretty dense on the reading and memories.   Talented, Jerry but not my cuppa tea.....

It's an acquired taste for sure. 

Now back to Christmas music.  I am going through the list to see which one I would want to take the time to make a video with to present here, but in all fairness since I had the surgery 2 months ago, I've played... maybe... twice or three times?  Good thing that most Christmas music is easy, but most of these songs need words... I wish I could sing without breaking every glass in the kitchen... lol

 

[losthobos]

You work too hard Jerry... No wonder you're lookibg forward to Christmas... Chill a bit.... You won't miss the cash as much as others will miss you if you burn out... Just saying... On the xmas shizz i dig playing Let it Snow and Winter Wonderland... I'll skip the rest and hang for spring... Stay healthy bro

 

[JerryPH]

Now that I am back to work, my work schedule is again 4:00AM wake times to arrival back at home at 6:30 (14.5 ours a day 5-6 times a week... I must be nuts), ...

UGH.

What line of work are you in Jerry?

Long story... lol

Previously I owned and ran my own IT consulting and education company for over 30 years (Microsoft, Cisco, Linux/Unix with specialization in network design and implementation for companies from 10 and up.  Biggest implementation I designed and rolled out was an entire school commission... 2200 servers, 16,000 workstations.  I used to carry full certifications for everything Microsoft and up to CCIE in Cisco).  To this day, there are still over 2800 networks across Canada that bear my stamp.

In 2012 my dad was diagnosed with Alzheimers/Dimentia.  I first sold off the consulting end of the business and 2 months later closed off the training/educational side of the business to be available full time to take care of my father.  June 2016  My father passed away.

After my father passed, I changed gears looking for different challenges and something more people and less computer oriented.  That and the fact that the IT and educational economy took a huge dive in Montreal dropping from 35 Microsoft educational centers down to 3 over the 4 years that I took care of my father.  I had no desire to spend 1-2 years training and recapturing all the certifications that expired in the 4 years that I was taking care of family.

Today am a supervisor, operations manager and trainer at an international call center here in Montreal.  Definitely a super high pressure job that never stops 24/7.  I work with a lot of good people, and that makes a difference.  At 59 years old, though, I am not sure how much longer I want to be getting up at 4:00am and coming home at 6:30pm 6 days a week. 

 

[Tom]

That's very impressive and I wish you well with it all, Jerry.

Again, back to Christmas music and why we might need to start so soon. Last few years I played off music I collected from random sources. But, like all other songs I want play I almost never find an arrangement I like and end up making my own. Hence, this year I am making my own arrangements which is tedious but necessary. Four down, how many to go?......

 

[JerryPH]

Tom, I know what you mean, I rarely play a song 100% as written, unless it was something classical. Christmas songs were made to be played just as you feel that moment... and it's awesome that you have the skills to do the arranging and playing too. Looking forward to hearing a rendition or two of yours here.

 

[Dingo40]

Jerry,
Thanks for responding. It is always interesting and instructive to hear about others’ life journeys.
Actually, I was wondering if you may have been a shift worker or a long distance commuter.
Thanks again!