My Mother's Music Room / Alex's Visit

Song:  O Grande Amor

Aritst:  Zhang Zhi Yong  (Bass Flute)

My mother's piano was supposed to come last Friday...

however, it was delayed.

It arrived this afternoon.

I had arrived at my mother's in the morning...

as I didn't know the time of delivery.

So...

in the meantime...

for breakfast...

I butter sautéed scallops...

fire roasted shishito...

and made rice and miso soup.

I use 1/3 a stick of butter...

and melt it before adding the defrosted scallops.

This was my plate.

My mother loved the meal.

She exclaimed how delicious the meal was.

In the early afternoon...

her Yamaha 143 R arrived.

She had first honors at sitting down at her new piano.

The keys are weighted and the sound...is just like the Yamaha Grand Piano.

I wanted her to redevelop her ear...

and her touch, to a realistic playing and sounding piano.

It also has 50 pre-recorded piano music pieces...

so she may listen to them for hours on end.

There is also a hookup for headphones...

so we may practice different pieces without disturbing each other

during our daily music practice...

unless we are performing a duet.

I set up a daily routine for us.

I go to her home in the late afternoon.

I will then cook supper...

and we will then practice for 3 - 5 hours everyday.

I will then have her exercise and take a hot shower...

and I will then put on the TV...

usually a good Korean Drama or a movie...

and I will set the TV timer to shut it off after a few hours.

I will then depart to allow her to fall asleep as she pleases.

Once a week...

I will be taking her to a nearby residence for private piano lessons.

My mother hasn't played the piano for decades.

I wanted her to redevelop her passion for music.

With me practicing in the same room with her...

I can get her into an established routine...

and with us playing duets in the future...

she will feel motivated to practice a lot.

My mother was like a child on her new piano.

I took Alex to visit his grandmother to see her music room.

I also had Alex try my bass flute.

It has been several decades for me since I had played the concert flute with any regularity.

I am also starting out from the beginning once more...

only this time...

it will be on the bass flute.

I am finding myself picking it up fairly easily...

as the fingering is essentially the same.

With our practice schedule...

we should both advance without too much trouble.

It is only recently that I could devote myself to music...

as Alex (my son) is almost off to full time university...

and he is really very independent now.

This is the perfect time for my mother and I to develop our old passions...

and to really enjoy playing music once again.

This is where I will be practicing everyday.

Last night...

I had practiced for 3.5 hours.

I will build up to practicing for 5 or so hours.

I will have to build my mother up to practicing for the same amount of time daily.

With this routine of supper...

music practice...

and finally, exercise, and a hot shower...

she will be engaging life and experiencing it...

instead of passively watching it.

With comfortable surroundings to practice in...

and with each other's company...

my mother will become much happier...

while developing a passion which gives so much in return.

I wanted to show the set up.

Hana loves listening to us play.

She will fall asleep in her bed as we practice.

After our practice...

my mother's exercise and hot shower...

we will then sometimes just listen to some music on the pictured iPod and speaker system...

as I scent the air with the joss stick incense (Japanese).

I had moved around the chairs to accommodate the piano.

After many hours of practicing the bass flute...

my back and shoulders crave a good massage on this massage chair.

After today's quick visit from Alex...

I took him back home.

I will soon be going back to practice some more...

and tonight is pizza and movie night...after our practice.

My mother is very much looking forwards to tonight.

My mother is so much happier with our new schedule.

With music stimulating her mind and her passions...

and with exercise and a hot shower fully relaxing her...

she will then experience much more sound sleep.

She is looking forwards to our daily routine...

and to improving her piano skills...

from the beginning, once more.

Later on (much)...

I will record some of our duets...

and play them on this blog.