Tag: piano teacher

This blog is about being responsible. In the previous part, I have taken a fictional character named Dillinger and put him in a bad situation. (For more, read Part 1 and 2. It’s good, it’s great, the trip is worth it!) Dillinger was coming to Chicago with stars in his eyes. Then things turned sour.…

  Now let’s stop messing around and go into the heart of it. Here’s a situation I hear about all the time: The person, let’s call him Dillinger, comes to Chicago. He wants to be a pro musician. Only he has no money and Chicago can be an expensive town. So, what to do? First…

Dirty subject, being responsible. Even bloody. That’s one I’ve been putting off for a long time. That area of being a pro musician is full of traps, of half truths, of misconceptions, of nerves and anger.  This is not tender meat. This is a rock concealed in a thick crust of slimy mud. Oh, well,…

So far we have determined that, on this cold Chicago winter, we are broke. But life is still worth living and we need to spend more time practicing our instruments. We have also determined in one swift move that cooking is the answer to this particular situation. Cooking cheap that is. Onward to a few…

Ouch! We are coming out of the holiday season tired, overwhelmed and… broke. December is the month where all the big bills are due: car insurance, renter’s insurance, house insurance, subscription for this service, and that one, bill for the food and the partying that took place with family and friends, and, of course, all…

“- Hello Houston, we are go for 2020, we have the means, we have the tools and we have the energy. Send me the mission statement, please. – Hello Apollo, here’s your mission statement for 2020. You’re going to have to: Make more money. Spend more time with loved ones. Practice your instrument without complaining.…

So there! I put it in the title. The ones who don’t want to read about the little project I got going with my kids, they can just skip over this particular blog. We had a half gig yesterday with The Little G Band (Go on Facebook and follow us!). It was in the Elboroom.…

A Guerillero is a warrior that uses any means to fight: terrain, weather, vegetation, anything. If you expand the word, it becomes someone that has to be quick to adapt to any situation and make the best of it as he goes. In one word: a musician! Every concert we do always has something unpredictable.…

We are all too familiar with the demons of our modern life. There is the phone. That’s a huge distraction. Instead of enjoying the solo of this amazing piano player, we are busy trying to get the performance inside the screen of our phones. Instead of listening to the wind going through the leaves of…

I just made a piece of furniture. I do some woodwork. I am not an expert, by any means, but it doesn’t matter because, sometimes, I am proud of what I accomplish. For example, I was beaming yesterday when I outfitted my daughter’s room with a window seat. I call it a “Lady-reader” because I…