CHAT

Friday, December 26

Rick & Dorothy play at the Orchard Mesa on Dec. 29 for a group birthday party.

Here are some of the songs that Dorothy and Rick will play at the Orchard Piano room on Dec. 29 at 2 pm.
        

There are several videos of the parties at The Orchard Mesa as well as video tours.

Program

Dorothy's Prelude to show on acoustic piano while Rick sets up 1:30-2:00
Main Show 2-3 with food served at 2:30 - Happy Birthday sung at 2:30
Sound of Music, Edelweiss, Do Re Me, My favorite things, sound of music
Rhapsody in Blue
Rick- Linus and Lucy


Piano - Dorothy, Keyboard - Rick
I could have danced all night
It don't mean a thing
In the mood
At the Hop
New York NY

Old Time Singalongs: Five foot two, Aint's She Sweet, Saints Go Marching in, Hello Dolly, Cabarat, Sunny Side of the Street, Beer Barrel Polka

Happy Birthday, Beatles Birthday, Tequila.

AS Food line up starts, part II
Wonderful World
Route 66, Satin Daoll, Johnny B Goode, Your Mama Don't Dance, All of Me
Honky Tonk Medly: Baby face, California Here I come, Bye Bye Blackbird
Pennies from heaven, surfin USA, Hard Days Night, Saw her standing there, Margartitaville, Old Time Rock and Roll,
Gershwin, Swonderful, Stompin at the Savoy- end.

Thursday, December 25

New York, New York by Rick and Dorothy on keyboard ensemble & piano

Rick and Dorothy will bring the above equipment to your site for corporate or private events along with a 400 watt amplifier. It takes an hour to set up two mics, a voice processor, a keyboard and piano as well as our books. We work from memory as much as possible but we also cart along an airport-type rolling suitcase of some 100 books while planning to go to ipad/tablet equipment in the near future. Your can hire us from here if you've found this site or if you prefer, you can go through Gigmaster or Gigsalad linked above.  



Sample song "Route 66" on portable Casio piano with percussion & 20watt amp for your private party.

Rick is playing the Casio Previa with signal coming through a 20W amp below the camera view sitting on the floor. Rick or Dorothy can bring this piano to your corporate site or private house party easily. With a repertoire of hundreds of songs of all genres between them, Rick and Dorothy can keep your function functioning in good spirits with ambient piano alone or with the rhythmic feel of a band and vocals. Wherever a "live piano" is desired, Rick and Dorothy will take turns on your in house piano or they can bring this Casio with built in functions which they've used successfully in restaurants.

Monday, December 22

Wedding standard "All of Me" by Dorothy Motto in Phoenix AZ


Dorothy Motto will play live piano for your wedding. If a piano is on site at the wedding, she can use that. If there is no piano, she has an up-to-date high quality digital piano by Korg that she can place on site. See our Gigmaster or GigSalad links in the header above for more information or email us rick_potvin@yahoo.com. Here is a list of more "current tunes" in the "romantic piano" genre that Dorothy can play live for your wedding. 

All of Me (John Legend)
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars)
Your Raise Me UP (Josh Grobin)
Just a Kiss (Lady Antebellum)
A Thousand Years
You Look Wonderful Tonight
Bridal March (Standard Entrance)
Wedding March (Standard Exit)

Click below for a 15 minute video demonstrating these tunes played by Dorothy. 

Saturday, December 20

2014-15 Piano Keyboard Vocal Recital for Dorothy's Studio

Live Piano Recitals seem increasingly difficult and costly to organize, especially relative to the power, ease and reach of a Youtube Recital. We used to do them live but lately, we've turned our recitals exclusively into Youtube recordings made one-by-one in our home studio and compiled into Playlists and delivered either by our website address or email to students and their interested relatives. We think it works pretty good. We hope you do too! The playlist that follows will be added to over coming days and weeks to reflect samples of work by some of our students at the end of 2014 and start of 2015. 


List of Performers (to be updated over next few weeks)
Akil and Nikil
Able
Isant, Allan and Nate
Able and Eva
Rick and Dorothy

PREVIOUS YOUTUBE RECITALS
Summer 2014 [Click here]
Spring 2014  [Sam Ash  Students on Stage]


Piano Lessons now include Keyboard "Orchestration", Youtube recordings and Singing.

Student Playlist on Youtube

Thursday, December 18

Birthday Party Set - 1st 1/2 hour - 2014

            
For more information our on piano party service 
email rick_potvin@yahoo.com
phone 602 371 0094
Phoenix Arizona only        .

Saloon Style Piano for Pop Songs of the Late 20th Century.



Additional Songs Dorothy Plays In Saloon Style

Cabaret from Broadway Show Cabaret
Mame from the Broadway Show
Country Roads
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head (Bacharach)
Johnny B. Goode (Chuck Berry)
Blueberry Hill (Fats Domino)
More Elvis Presley Songs
Beatles Songs
Georgia (Ray Charles)
Saints Go Marching In
Basin Street Blue
Birth of the Blue
King of the Road (Country)
Anytime
Your Cheating Heart
Deep in the Heart of Texas
Down Yonder
Your Mama Don't Dance
Old Time Rock and Roll
Buddy Holly Songs
Can't Smile Without You (Manilow)
Song Sung Blue (Neil Diamond)
Hey Soul Sister
Kansas City
I Fall To Pieces
Crazy
Singing in the Rain
It Had to Be You
You Made Me Love You
Wonderful World
On Top fo Old Smokey
All Singalong songs
Leroy Brown
Muaic Music

Dorothy Motto has a larger repertoire of songs of the 20's, 30's, 40's and beyond, including current decade songs of the 2000's. Songs will be learned and played live on request with advance notice.
Email rick_potvin@yahoo.com or phone us in Phoenix at 602 371 0094. 

Senior Singalong - 2 piano with lyrics by Rick and Dorothy


Tuesday, December 16

Jolly Old St. Nicholas - a time tested favorite tune - is this week's lesson.



As a piano student, you should be able to understand the notes and the key signature in the following well known tune about Saint Nicholas (later better known as Santa (meaning Saint, in Italian) and Clause (a contraction of NiCoLAS). If you're reading this in your email, click on the title above or the "posted by Rick to PianoLessonsEtc.com" line at the bottom to view the video.



Whenever anyone jokes about whether they "believe in Santa Clause" or not, after watching the following video you can tell that person that not only do you believe in Santa but that you know where he's buried too-- because Santa in real life was Saint Nicholas in the year 200 in Turkey, near Constantinople-- which became the new capital of the Eastern Byzantine surviving HALF of the Roman Empire. If you're reading this in your email, click on the title above or the "posted by Rick to PianoLessonsEtc.com" line at the bottom to view the video.



We're going to learn more about this tune and other Saint Nicholas and Santa Clause tunes in upcoming weeks-- at least until the "big day"-- the 25th. To stay up to date on this topic, bookmark the following discussion thread. SAINT NICHOLAS - Santa Clause - Real history
If you're reading this in your email, click on the title above or the "posted by Rick to PianoLessonsEtc.com" line at the bottom to view the video.



Monday, December 15

Rick Potvin's answer to the "smartphone" and "tv" is the "neo-neurophone".

TV has essentially been a failure since it was invented. It's not used in school classrooms because it doesn't help anyone learn anything. Similarly, the "smartphone" has caused people to walk aimlessly around, into traffic and people, not knowing where they're going. Neither of these inventions raised conscious awareness-- although that was the implied promise. Now, here comes the N.E.O. or Neuro Electronic Optimizer otherwise known as the "neurophone".  It seems to me that this will be useful in music lesson as well as performance-- not to mention general areas of life. There is a new version about to be released after 50 years of development, the first decade of development of which I was personally aware as it happened. I'm amazed to present to you this latest incarnation of what used to be called the bone phone but which is now using ultrasonic music.... the N.E.O. neurophone.



Discussion
http://www.network54.com/Forum/233819/message/1418640766/NEUROPHONE+for+learning+faster+and+better+using+ultrasonic+sound+%28music%29

Saturday, December 6

Saloon Style Piano Demoreel played by Dorothy Motto -

Christmas 2014 Piano/Keyboard Demo Reel by Rick Potvin & Dorothy Motto for Senior Community Activity Directors in Phoenix AZ



We will bring the equipment seen above and set up at your community hall. Our Christmas songs run from 1-2 hours and include many singalongs. A complete list will be posted in the next day or two. We'll need a location near an outlet and we'll use a power bar. Volume levels can be adjusted to suit the client of course. See our ads at Gigmasters and GigSalad above for further details on ordering or services. 

Thursday, December 4

Dorothy Motto's Demo Reel for the Old West Saloon Style Piano Music



Honky Tonk Saloon Western Songs - 8 minute demoreel 
(Dorothy has enough material to cover a 4 hour situation. For a complete list of updated songs, please email rick_potvin@yahoo.com)

There is a Tavern in the Town
Camptown Races
Oh Suzanna
Silver Dollar 
Frankie and Johnny
A Good Man is Hard to Find 
Clementine
Piano Roll Blues
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

Tuesday, December 2

Rick& Dorothy play Medical Center Santa Clause Get Together

A local medical center has a piano in their front entrance hall-- a big brand new hall with a grand piano in it. We were contacted through Gigsalad.com to play Christmas songs for their Santa Clause party for staff and patients and we had a great time doing that. Everyone enjoyed themselves. See the 5 minute Youtube compilation below. We're available throughout the holiday season-- other than for booked times-- for private parties or public events in the Phoenix Arizona area and can play existing pianos or we can bring out own equipment consisting of a portable piano, a backup keyboard with bass, percussion and other instruments-- microphones and sing along books-- and now a 400 watt amplifier/mixer for a full band sound in small venues and larger ones. We can be booked through [Gigmasters] or [GigSalad] (links above in masthead). We can often be available within a few hours for those spontaneous parties where someone has an impulse to find someone to play that piano that often just sits there. A few people asked about lessons-- and of course we're always teaching-- now with added emphasis on the importance of vocals and equipment for everyone from age 5 to those still young at heart.