I’m taking piano lessons again! I haven’t taken lessons for 20 years, but this is something I’ve been thinking about for some time now. I have definitely reached the point where I *know* I can be doing more with my playing, especially my weekly playing for our church’s contemporary morning service. Through a collegue at work, I’ve found a great teacher, from whom I’ll be learning technique and style in both classical and jazz, some theory, and eventually composition (he writes jazz). I’ve had two lessons so far, and it’s been great. I think a large part of what I needed was the accountability to practice every day. Taking (and paying for) lessons is really great for that!

So now all I need is a piano. I’ve been using my CME controller and my Alesis NanoPiano module, which is OK (the CME has 76 notes and semi-weighted keys), but not great. I would really love to buy an accoustic (a baby grand if we’re really dreaming, but even a good upright would be nice), and I’ve started to look around, but I think realistically, I’ll probably be buying a digital for now. Not that it’s all bad, either. There’s a new Yamaha I’ve been playing in a music store I frequent, and it’s really nice. Hammer action, ok speakers, good sounds (samples) MIDI, USB – all the bells and whistles – for a decent price. I’ll let you know what I end up with.