I’m making a list of songs I want to learn on drumset and piano. It will keep me focused on projects plus it will be fun to do! I will keep adding to this post and prioritize and also note where I’m getting the source of music.

Drumset:

1. Abyss - Circus Maximus (songsterr)

2. Lost In Myself - Anubis Gate (transcribe myself)

3. Yiri - Anubis Gate

4. The Shattered Fortress - Dream Theater (sheet music or songsterr?)

5. The Count of Tuscany - Dream Theater (sheet music or songsterr?)

6. The Dark Eternal Night - Dream Theater (sheet music or songsterr?)

7. Loved Ones - Circus Maximus (will transcribe myself)

8. Sapphire - Redemption (songsterr? or will transcribe myself)

9. Fates Warning - A Pleasant Shade of Gray (songsterr or will transcribe myself)

10. Fates Warning - Seven Stars (songsterr or will transcribe myself)

11. Fates Warning - From the Rooftops (songsterr or will transcribe myself)

Piano:

1. Lost In Myself - Anubis Gate (chordify)

2. Loved Ones - Circus Maximus (chordify)

3. Sign of the Times - Europe (Europe songbook)

4. Tomorrow - Europe (Europe songbook)

5. Nightwish - Ever Dream (chordify or sheet music if I can find it)

6. Time Has Come - Europe (Europe songbook)

7. White Night Fantasy - Nightwish (chordify)

8. Red Sector A - Rush (Rush songbook or chordify)

9. Lifting Shadows Off a Dream - Dream Theater (Dream Theater songbook or chordify?)

10. Let the River Run - Vanishing Point (chordify)

Piano practice

I’ve also decided to start doing 10 minute practices every day for piano practice. I’m not nearly advanced at piano playing as drum playing so I can’t play for hours on piano like I can on drumset and I do have a pretty full schedule each week but there’s no reason I can’t at least try to get 10 minutes of practice in each day. I think it works for a busy person like me who has a lot of goals and interests. Plus if I only do 10 minutes a day, I can vary what I play each day so I don’t get bored. My background in piano playing is classical, but I really want to learn rock piano and the songs that I love which are mainly rock or metal songs. So I’m trying to vary what I do each day. One day I can do scales, another day a classical song, and another day a rock/metal song. I want to get better at piano so I can write music to the lyrics I’ve written. So far this seems to be working for me. Playing 10 minutes a day is better than trying to play for an hour and not being able to play at all or maybe even for weeks at a time! No excuses, I can do this.

Practice update!

I haven’t had much time lately to reflect on my practice sessions but I think I can spare a few minutes right now. So I have been trying to practice more. I finally finished programming 6 O’ Clock into Cakewalk Sonar so I can start learning it, but when I went through my Metropolis midi’s I realized that I was missing some of them so now I have re-program the ones I couldn’t find from my old computer - ugh!!!! So I will be working on Metropolis and South Side of the Sky by Yes next. Then I’d like to see about getting some drum transcriptions for Circus Maximus songs whether I find them or have to transcribe them myself. I LOVE Circus Maximus! They’re currently my favorite second band right now. I wish I could find some sheet music for them! It’s very difficult, at least as far as drum music is concerned.

Speaking of which, I’m trying to learn “Loved Ones” by them on piano so I can sing and play the song on piano. I love that song soooooo much!!! :D :D :D Such a beautiful song. I realized that the chordify website/app is pretty accurate! I was so excited, I tried playing along with it for “Loved Ones” on piano and the chords it selected totally made sense. My fingers got a real workout playing it lol. So I’m going to try working with it more for some of the other songs I’d like to learn. I wish I had a paid subscription to it, might be worth looking into later on.

At my last practice: I did get to jam out and jammed out for about an hour, jammed out to two Europe albums, my favorite Asia album (Carl Palmer!!!!!), then practiced Heart of the Sunrise. Let me tell you, Bill Bruford stuff is NOT easy to program into a midi file!!!!! I was programming 32nd triplets and had to figure out how to calculate how long each one would last in terms of midi files. I never even had to program those with my midi files for practicing Rush and Neil Peart stuff! Now I’m currently working on 6 0′ Clock by Dream Theater. The grooves in that song are so sweet! Even played at a slow tempo, they sound so awesome! I miss your drumming, Mike Portnoy! But I will strive to continue programming your grooves so I can learn them myself :) :) :) Anyway, this Friday I’m going to have a nice long jam session since I’m finally on vacation - WOOHOO!!!! Can’t wait! Now instead of playing for 2 hours straight, I can play for 3 or 4 hours if I want! When I was younger, I sometimes played for 5 hours straight XD XD XD

Will practice tonight as long as I do not get any translation or transcription projects from the agency that I currently work for. Current plan: jam out for an hour or so to fun songs, then practice more Heart of the Sunrise by Yes and Metropolis by Dream Theater, time permitting

Got the Heart of the Sunrise midis transferred over, now it’s time to work on 6 0’ clock by Dream Theater! Absolutely love the grooves to this song and can’t wait to rock out to them!!!!!

Reminder to self: copy the new Heart of the Sunrise practice midis to your MP3 player so you can go over them in your next drum practice!!!!

I’m going to use this blog to post drumming stuff, but I think I’ll also use it to have a music journal, where I can reflect on both my drumming and piano practice. This is more for me than anyone else, but if anyone reads this blog and has anything positive to say, I won’t complain ;)

Work in progress of Charlie Watts, drummer for The Rolling Stones, who sadly passed away this week.