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•     It Had To Be You

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In this section you will find me discussing practice habits quite often as I feel the importance of proper practice cannot be over emphasized.  If you wish to improve your playing you must practice, and you must practice the correct way. 

Remember there is a difference between playing and practicing.  For proper practice the first thing to do is a proper warm up, then when you are sufficiently warmed up the real work begins. 

Always work diligently, methodically, be patient, be persistent, and practice as much as possible.  Count out the rhythms as you play, use a metronome and practice in slow repetitions  Break things down into small sections, get each phrase down before moving on to the next. Then put the two phrases together, and then learn the next phrase, again working in small parts, using slow repetitions. Keep building in this fashion until you have learned the whole piece. If you are struggling with anything slow it down!

Often a player will attempt to practice a tune from start to end without working in phrases. While the player may be able to play the tune, there are usually a few spots where it is a bit rough and sloppy. If you keep practicing the tune as a whole you are going to get real good at playing it sloppy. Slow down. Work the tune out in small sections, one at a time, adding the pieces together until you finally have a cohesive, smooth flowing musical performance.

So remember if you want to be a good player first you must be good at practicing. More time spent practicing the correct way will lead to huge dividends when you play and perform.

After several months of construction the remodeling of the store is finally finished.  while smaller in size than the way it was, the feel is more intimate and personal. 

If you are going back to school and are going to need to change your time please make arrangements as soon as possible to ensure a time slot.

If you are planning a summer vacation and will be missing lessons please try to inform me at least 2 weeks in advance if possible.

If you are planning a wedding reception it can be a daunting task that can intimidate even the best party planner.  However with a little creativity and imagination you will be able to create a one of kind reception. 

Do you have a formal dinner or a buffet?  Do you have a receiving line or not?  What about a band, DJ, or other entertainment?  How do you make such important decisions for such an important event?  Draw upon who you and your spouse are.  Your likes, passions, and personality will lead you to the answers to these and many other questions that will sure to come up. Try to make the reception personal and romantic to the both of you, after all the reception is as much for you as your guests.

When planning your event try to break it down into different elements such as location, decorations, food and beverages, music, and dancing. Thinking about each element will make the task less daunting and allow you to focus on small details that might other wise be over looked. Remember to allow plenty of time for the reception, 4-6 hours at least.

You can do some simple things to make your reception stand out and have a special feel. You might think about having waiters circulate with the appetizers. You may want to have something fanciful like a cotton candy machine, a cappuccino and espresso bar, or maybe even an ice cream sundae bar. To add a touch of class and really make the event fell extra special have the waiters pass out champagne as the guests arrive. Another idea is to turn your wedding favors into place tags. You can have the guests name printed on a label and put those on your wedding favors then leave those out for place tags. This will also make the wedding favors seem more personal to the guests.

If you want your guests to mingle more you may consider having different food stations set up around the room, this will force people to get up and move around. Of course this idea is mainly for buffets. If you are serving alcohol be sure to offer some non-alcoholic beverages as well. Also if there will be children there give some thought to where they will be seated, and be sure to have different food for the children than what is being served to the adults.

Remember to feed the band, photographer, wedding planner, and anyone else who is helping to put on the event. You do not have to feed them the same as what you feed your guests, maybe have a small sandwich bar set up for them. Keep it simple, but remember the help when you are planning your reception.

With some thought, imagination, and creativity you can plan a wedding reception that people will not soon forget.

If you would like information on having Terry perform at your event click here

Here are the links to this months puzzles. You must have Adobe Reader or other pdf viewer to view and print the files.

August crossword puzzle                      August wordsearch puzzle

Check back next month for the solutions

July crossword solution                        July wordsearch solution

April 2008

May 2008

June 2008

July 2008