Rape, threesomes, and brutal violence, children’s books in Uganda have it all and more. According to the BBC:
The book How Kwezi Got Into Trouble has a picture on the cover of a girl sobbing into a tissue at a school desk. So when I saw it, I thought Kwezi might have got into trouble for handing her homework in late, or perhaps she had been copying somebody else’s exam paper. Then I looked at the text on the back cover and got quite a shock. It read: “At her mother’s funeral, Kwezi is raped by her late father’s best friend.”Kwezi has no-one to tell but her mother lying in the grave. Though she gets Aids, Kwezi is determined to let other pupils know how dangerous Aids is.” It is a surprising storyline for a book aimed at eight-to-10-year-olds.
According to Ugandan President Museveni, “When a lion enters your village, you must raise the alarm loudly.” In the past few years, the HIV rate in Uganda has dropped from 20% to 6.7%.
[E]ven if the desktop software business is ripe for disruption or revival (and I’m not sure that it is), the space is nothing like mobile apps prior to 2008, where distribution was the primary problem. The real issue with the desktop software market is that (unless you’re talking about productivity software) there just isn’t all that much consumers need to buy anymore. The boxed software business didn’t die because of app stores, it died because of an overabundance of great programs that are free, open, or otherwise subsidized that are available through other web or internet services. To put it another way: lately, how often have your parents bought software for their computer (that wasn’t Microsoft Office)?
I’ve watched virtually every episode of The Daily Show for the past 7 years or so, but whenever host Jon Stewart releases a book (once every few years for the last few years), we’ve gotten the unique opportunity to see him go on press tours and talk frankly, not in character and without the faux-formality of his trademark Canali suit. Recently, he went on Larry King Live to share his thoughts on a variety of topics, including the firing of Rick Sanchez:
Should they have fired him? No. With the crap you guys have put on over the past 10 years? What, are you kidding me? Fire somebody if you don’t think they’re doing a good job as a news person. This whole idea…you know they fired a woman for tweeting something on her blog. They fired Sanchez for saying what he said. I think it’s absolute insanity.
Watch a few minutes from the interview below and read the transcript:
Those of you who follow me on Twitter or listen to my audio blogs know that I often try to share snippets of my piano playing with the world. Learning piano can be a tricky proposition. Most people I know (young adults) live in apartments or condos, so even owning a piano or keyboard is a challenge. Then you have to find a teacher who is personable, talented, and skilled at instruction, not to mention easily accessible. The entire process can be extremely daunting.
My mother was a classically trained musician and taught my brother and me when we were little. When high school and college happened, I lost touch with my piano skills. But these past few years, I’ve tried to take it up again, putting in a little bit of practice using various styles every day.
Practicing piano every day is already a challenge, but finding the time to schlep out to piano teacher and fork over $50-100 on a weekly basis made the entire process considerably less appealing to me. I tried using how-to books, but while they can teach you some good blues licks, there’s only so far they can take you before the book simply ends.
I wondered if there was an online solution for this. That’s when I found Willie Myette.
Myette hosts a series of piano lessons at pianowithwillie.com. His lessons appeared to be extensive, and covered both general styles and specific songs. But was his program any good? And was it worth the money that he charged? What follows are my thoughts on learning piano online with Myette.
Interface
You can sign up to have access to a specific lesson or a specific genre’s worth of lessons. With the Gold Complete membership, you are given access to the entire site. Myette’s genres include Jazz, Gospel, Funk, Latin, Blues. Once you’ve chosen a genre, you are given a choice of which lesson you want, sortable by upload date and “type” (e.g. Theory, Improvisation, etc.). Unfortunately, there is no ability to easily sort all lessons by difficulty level.
Once you’ve chosen your first lesson, you’ll probably see something that looks like this:
The video of the lesson appears on the left, while the several “phases” of the lesson appear on the right side in clickable list form. This is an extremely clear and convenient layout to use. You can progress through all the parts of the lessons in one go, or view them one at a time depending on how much time you have. At no point did I feel confused about how Myette was taking me through these lessons.
There are a couple of other benefits that this interface offers. First of all, video is easily navigable, via keyboard shortcuts.
These actually come in handy a lot more than I’d originally suspected, given that Myette can often demonstrate something that you’ll want to look at again more closely. Having keyboard shortcuts greatly aids this process.
In addition, Myette provides downloadable sheet music that supplements the lessons (mostly in PDF format). These can easily be printed out and serve as helpful references in the form of specific licks or lead sheets for whichever song you are learning.
My one complaint with the site’s interface is that occasionally, getting to the actual lesson can be a bit tricky. Overall, the interface feels really busy, with countless options to choose, only a few of which will actually lead to something that I’m actually interested in (i.e. the lessons). It feels like it could be simplified dramatically without impacting the user experience.
For example, the top of the site has a “pianowithwillie” overlay bar, but also a separate menu bar underneath that duplicates some of the features of the top bar.
Another potential issue with the site is that physically viewing these lessons can sometimes be a practical challenge. I found that the optimal situation was using a small netbook/laptop positioned on top or near my piano. The only alternative would be run back and forth between your desktop computer and your piano, which would not make for a great music-learning experience.
These lessons would have been absolutely perfect for something like the iPhone, iPad, or another portable device. Unfortunately, many of the older videos are all in flash, so they don’t work on those devices. [Myette does allow you to download one lesson per day as an FLV, mp3, or even M4v sometimes (these lessons are not banked, so you can’t save them up), so it is theoretically possible to transcode them for iPhone use, but this would be an intensely cumbersome process.] I’m not sure what encoding Myette is using for his newer videos but it’s worth pointing out that most of the lessons created within the past year work on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch. This greatly improves the site’s ease-of-use.
[UPDATE: Myette has informed me that he is currently in the process of updating the site so that ALL of the site’s content will be playable on iOS devices. At this point, it is fair to say that most of the site’s content is playable on iOS devices.]
Overall, though, it’s impressive what Myette has been able to do with the interface. It is easy to use, easy to navigate, and demonstrates that a great deal of thought was put into it.
Content
The first thing I noticed about the site’s content is its volume. Myette has been doing this for years, studiously uploading lessons regularly for most of that time. There are easily enough lessons on this site to last a student for years.
Myette’s lessons across all genres can be divided into two broad categories: individual songs and general skills (including theory). Many of his individual song lessons take you through the entire process necessary to master that song. By necessity, they will occasionally repeat some information, or leave some information out, relegating them to other, more skill-oriented lessons.
It’s worth noting that Myette also offers lessons plans for beginning, intermediate, and advanced users.
The plans offer a fairly detailed track for making the most out of your time on the website, and they can be useful for those who are trying to figure out how to make their way through the vast amounts of content on the site.
The only shortcoming I can see with Myette’s lessons is that I believeyou will get the most out of the lessons if you already possess a basic understanding of piano fundamentals. In other words, I think Myette’s lessons are okay for beginners, great for intermediate learners (which I would describe myself as), and probably even better for advanced learners. Myette goes very quickly and many of his intermediate/advanced lessons (i.e. the bulk of all lessons he’s uploaded) will assume a significant amount of piano knowledge.
That being said, it’s probably still possible to pick things up from a beginner’s starting point; you’ll just need to work much harder on building up the fundamentals.
Style
It is a tricky thing, to teach someone from across the internet who you’ve never met. So much of the modern music lessons requires on that indefinable give-and-take between teacher and student, on adaptability, on the recognition of the idiosyncrasies and nuances of each individual. So how does Myette fare as a music teacher?
Pretty damn well, I’d say. Myette’s teaching style is both likable and easy-to-understand. Having worked with several piano teachers in my life, I found Myette to be just as good as any of them, if not better. Myette seems to implicitly exactly what it is that students might want. His lessons offer a way both to re-create a piece exactly as he’s played it, and to figure out how to make your own voicings and improvisations. It’s difficult to account for the vast range of needs that virtual students might have, but I think Myette does so wonderfully.
In other words, I’d have no problems paying Myette for actual lessons in-person. And that’s a good sign for someone you’re going to take virtual lessons from. If you have any doubts, just take a look at the “mini-lessons” that Myette has already posted up on Youtube. He really wants you to know what you’re getting when you sign up for the site.
Pricing
First of all, many of Myette’s individual lessons are available in DVD form, which can be convenient if all you want is to learn how to play one song. The DVDs are priced at $40 each, which sounds high until you consider that this is the low end of what a normal piano lesson costs.
Myette has divided his site into five categories: Jazz, Gospel, Funk, Latin, Blues. You can subscribe to each one of these sections for $29/each/month, or pay $299 for an entire year’s worth of access. The Gold membership, which strikes me as by far the best deal, provides you with access across all lessons/genres on the site for $399/year.
Again, regular piano lessons in the real world can cost up to $100 per hour. Given these prices, you can either pay for a few real life lessons with a local teacher, or get one full year’s worth of dozens of lessons with Willie Myette. In terms of value, Myette certainly takes the prize here.
My only beef with the pricing is that the different sections offer vastly differing amounts of content. Jazz piano lessons is by far the most rich, while Myette only started the Blues section recently. But what makes it a viable option nonetheless is that Myette is constantly adding lessons to these sections and responding to feedback. Thus, the Jazz membership is probably the best value, but if you’re going to spend hundreds of dollars anyway, I’d go with the Gold.
Miscellaneous
There are a few other site features that are worth pointing out. First of all, Myette used to host a once-a-month 30-minute long show that went over a lot of the concepts he discusses in his lessons. These are all now available in mp3 format on the site, and themselves constitute dozens of hours of potential learning material.
Second of all, Myette is actively involved with the site on an ongoing basis. He solicits feedback, asks for suggestions for lessons, and then acts upon those suggestions. The site offers a forum and while it’s not the most thriving community I’ve seen on a website, Myette is active on it. For a site that you’re forking over hundreds of bucks a year to be a part of, his presence is a reassuring one.
Conclusions
Piano lessons with Willie Myette are an excellent way to either start playing piano and an even better way to rekindle one’s passion for it. Myette’s sites are great to use, their pricing is fair, and Myette himself is an excellent teacher. Most importantly, he appears to be one of the few people on the internet who’ve managed to take their skills, make them easily accessible for learners, and figure out how to make money doing it. If you’re reading this review wondering whether or not this guy is the real deal, I’m putting my answer down as a firm “Yes.”
Pros:
Easy-to-use site with great user interface and options
Site pricing (especially Gold membership) is an excellent value
Well-executed lessons with a very understanding, skilled teacher
Lessons cover a wide variety of genres and styles
New lessons constantly added
Lessons are downloadable (one per day)
Site owner is responsive to feedback
Cons:
Different sections are priced uniformly but can carry differing amounts of content
A few interface elements of the site can be confusing
The primary purpose of this list is just to help organize my thoughts. It’s not intended to be taken seriously.
The ordering IS currently accurate, with #1 being my favorite film of the year thus far, and so forth.
I reserve the right to completely alter the list (including relative orderings) by the time we get to our end-of-year top 10s.
1. Animal Kingdom 2. How To Train Your Dragon 3. Mother 4. Fish Tank (Technically 2009, but i didn’t see it until this year) 5. Inception 6. The Kids Are All Right 7. Shutter Island 8. Kick-Ass 9. Toy Story 3 10. Splice
[The following contains spoilers for The Shawshank Redemption]
It sounds cliche to say it, but one of my favorite films of all time is Frank Darabont’s The Shawshank Redemption. The film was criminally neglected at the box office when it was released in theaters in 1994, earning less than $30 million domestically. It was also given a pass by Oscar voters, who gave it seven Oscar nominations but not a single win. When Redemption hit DVD, though, it became virtually a mainstream success, and has gained a huge following in the time since.
As a general matter, I do a lot of self-reflection. And when my birthday rolls around (as it has today), that’s when the figurative, body-length mirror really comes out. This year, I’ve been thinking a lot about the fate of Andy DuFresne (played perfectly by Tim Robbins in the film). If you’ll recall, DuFresne was convicted and sentenced to life in jail for the crime of murdering his wife and her lover. But the thing is, DuFresne was wrongfully convicted; even though he had murderous thoughts, he changed his mind at the last minute. A third party did the deed and DuFresne was given the blame.
While at first, DuFresne felt and appeared utterly defeated by the bleakness of his fate — and who wouldn’t be? — eventually, he accepted his place at Shawshank State Prison and used his resources to help others. From a single act of kindness on top of a hot, tarred roof, DuFresne ended up opening a prison library, educating fellow inmates, and trying to make the world a better place. All the while, he was digging himself out of prison using a foot-long rock hammer. It took him a few decades to finally break free, a metaphor for how long it took him to dig himself out of the emotional hell he found himself in at the beginning of the film.
I think the film is absolutely, 100% brilliant. I wouldn’t change a thing about it. But it only really shows you half of the story.
Towards the end of the film, when DuFresne is at his lowest point and apparently on the edge of suicide, he speaks with Red (Morgan Freeman) about the inescapable circumstance that the both of them have found themselves in:
DuFresne: My wife used to say I’m a hard man to know. Like a closed book. Complained about it all the time. She was beautiful. God, I loved her. I just didn’t know how to show it, that’s all. I killed her, Red. I didn’t pull the trigger, but I drove her away. And that’s why she died, because of me. The way I am.
Red: That don’t make you a murderer. A bad husband, maybe. Feel bad about it if you want to, but you didn’t pull the trigger.
DuFresne: No, I didn’t. Somebody else did. And I wound up in here. Bad luck, I guess. It floats around. It’s gotta land on somebody. It was my turn, that’s all. I was in the path of the tornado. I just didn’t expect the storm would last as long as it has.
These few words give the viewer a window into the years of neglect that happened off screen, before the movie even began. Did DuFresne’s coldness drive his wife into the arms of another man? If DuFresne had been a little bit more loving, a little bit more warm, would the tragedy of his wrongful imprisonment still be a reality? We’ll never know, but it’s not difficult to imagine that the answer to these questions is “Yes.”
We never get to see any of their marriage, nor are we privy to the health of their interactions and as a result, I think our understanding of the fullness of DuFresne’s transformation is limited somewhat. Without seeing the kind of man he was before, it is harder to appreciate the man he ends up becoming. That’s the real transformation that’s the crux of the film — not that of a wrongfully convicted, bitter man, but of an aloof, complacent, and ungrateful one. His metamorphosis is not from the depths of evil to the heights of good. Rather, it begins from a place of banality, of monotony.
Yet it strikes me that the way the movie chooses to depict Andy’s character arc is still the most effective way to do so…to leave DuFresne’s former self to the imagination of the viewer. And so that’s what I’ve envisioned it as: a soulless, sexless marriage, devoid of passion or purpose. In a way, DuFresne’s jail sentence began long before he even arrived at the monolithic, imposing walls of Shawshank, albeit the former was a self-imposed term. His real-life imprisonment became a physical manifestation of what he was already going through.
Note that his crimes aren’t necessarily that severe, and that most would consider his punishment disproportionate. But just as serious crimes such as rape and murder are most frequently committed by those who know the victim and not by some serial rapist/murderer, so the wrongs we inflict on others need not be extreme or newspaper-worthy to be completely devastating.
Play this while reading this post for maximum impact 🙂
But that’s why the movie is so uplifting: because DuFresne does ultimately find his (drum roll please) redemption. The film offers hope in the fact that no matter what crimes you’ve committed, no matter who you’ve wronged or what you’ve done, you can still find salvation, even in the unlikeliest of places.
The life of Andy DuFresne does not map perfectly, or even somewhat, onto my own life. But I see myself as somewhere on the timeline of his character arc, constantly reaching for the ever-elusive light, waiting to emerge from a mile-long sewer pipe full of shit that I put myself in.
What Shawshank says to me is that it’s only when you’re put in a situation of utter hopelessness and desolation that the process of reconstituting yourself can begin. It is only when your circumstances are dire enough to destroy you that you really appreciate the heart-swelling goodness that life holds. Then, with this knowledge imparted, you act accordingly. You treat your friends and fellow man with dignity, decency, and kindness. You look to their joy as reward enough. You look to brighten the lives of others before you are gone. And you find peace in these things.
When my boss at /Film, Peter Sciretta, wished me a happy birthday last year, he re-affirmed his well-wishes by saying, “This year will be better than the last.” Having experienced this past year, I can’t really say that that’s been the case. But I can say that I like that message of hope and optimism. No matter what has happened in your past life, the sun will still rise tomorrow, and you will still have a chance to turn it around.
In the year that comes, I will endeavor to learn from my past, but not to dwell on it. To look into the future with hope. To understand that darkness comes before dawn, and that the process of becoming a better person doesn’t happen just in a few months or in a year. It might be decades. It is probably a lifetime.
Over the course of my life I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to perform in a variety of settings. There’s nothing I love more than playing for an audience, and no situation in which I feel more alive.
Recently, I’ve been taken with blues piano. I was classically trained as a kid and was looking for a different way to apply my skills. The blues can be vital and energizing, but also convey profound sadness when necessary. I think it sounds more pleasing to the ear than jazz, yet the fact that it’s improv-ed is something I find intensely appealing; no two performances can ever be exactly alike!
I’ve tried taking lessons but have found it difficult to get the right instructor. Usually the problems are logistical. Some weeks I don’t have enough time to practice, while other weeks I have too much (and end up longing for more assignments). Sometimes I just don’t have the time to drive to the instructor’s place, and other weeks I find I’ve gotten to the end of a lesson only to question why I’m forking over $X for it. I understand that nothing can replace 1-on-1 lessons with a skilled instructor, and I hope to eventually return to that arrangement at some point. It’s just not what will work for me right now.
So I sought out other means of learning. Specifically, I invested in a few piano books, including David Cohen’s series of blues piano books. I found them to be decent-to-good, but the biggest problem with any book system: it will only take you so far. Books obviously have a finite number of pages, and even the thickets ones can’t take you any further than what is contained inside the book. You can often exhaust the lessons within in a matter of weeks or months.
Enter Willie Myette, whose piano lesson websites I discovered while browsing the internet.
At first glance, Myette’s system of learning piano appears to offer several advantages:
1) They lessons are incredibly detailed, and allow you to recreate the pieces Myette plays precisely, down to the note. 2) The lessons are relatively cheap (Current prices are about $300 for a year of unlimited access to all sites. Getting a piano lesson with a real-life instructor can often cost as much as $100 per lesson, especially if you live in the Boston area, which has been blessed with some amazing music schools. 3) The lessons are full-featured, in the sense that they come with sheet music and lesson plans. 4) Most importantly: Myette continuously updates the site, with new lessons every week. This last point is crucial, as it replicates one of the most appealing elements of having a real-life teacher at only a fraction of the cost.
In the next few months, I will be going through some lessons on Myette’s website and seeing how I can improve my very, very limited blues abilities. I made a recent recording of myself just playing around so you can get an idea of where I’m starting at. Please note I don’t consider the following to be performance-ready by any means. It is just a recording of me randomly improvising (poorly):
Can Willie Myette make me a better piano player? I’m eager to find out. Watch this blog for future entries tracking my progress.
As a podcast host, I think it’s important to constantly pay attention to the exciting things that other talented people are doing in this space. I listen to dozens of podcasts, so many that it’s impossible to get to an episode of every single podcast I subscribe to on a weekly basis. Usually I save up a bunch of episodes, then take them all in with one fell swoop (i.e. when I’m waiting for a plane, or taking a very long drive).
There are a few podcast out there, however, that I must have a weekly dose of, lest I become moody and unpleasant. These are the conversations I feel I must be privy to, whose hosts I want to get to know more each week. These are the podcasts that I can’t wait to download, load onto my iPhone, and listen to on my way to/from work. These are the podcasts with whom I am most grateful to regularly share my time with.
I wouldn’t necessarily say these are my “favorite” or “the best” on my playlist. For example, you won’t find This American Life, Filmspotting, The Bugle, Weekend Confirmed, Giant Bombcast, or tons of others that I listen to, even though I love these podcasts and find them all superlative. Those will have to wait for a separate post.
But there’s something about the following podcasts…The comforting way their hosts interact. The creativity and gusto with which they execute their premises. The kismet that brought them to the place they are today. Anyway, without further ado, here are the podcasts I can’t live without:
The IFC News Podcast – Matt Singer and Alison Willmore analyze a movie trope and then discuss how it’s been deployed in movies throughout history. In my opinion, this podcast is a movie geek’s dream come true, with tons of thoughtful references to movies past and present. But while the show’s premise is great, I live for the moments when Matt will break into some bizarre, hilarious impression, or Alison will drop some obscure film knowledge that leaves me in awe of her wisdom. Add in some of the best listener feedback I’ve ever heard, plus a clever IMDB keyword game (with weekly prizes!), and this podcast becomes an absolute must-listen. Also, I’m pretty sure I have a crush on Alison Willmore. [iTunes] [Website]
KCRW’s The Business – Kim Masters takes the most important entertainment news and talks to the people involved to get an inside perspective. I don’t think this podcast gets enough credit for creativity with which it addresses its topics. For example, a recent episode was devoted to what behavior is acceptable in the writer’s room, vs. what constitutes sexual harassment. To tackle this issue, Masters invited on a lawyer who has filed lawsuits against studios, and had him duke things out with a lawyer who has defended studios in the past. It was as informative a discussion as you could get on the topic, while still being entertaining.
Other recent episodes have included an inside look at how the Oscars were produced, and how the script for Battlefield Earth went wrong. For those interested in the industry (and for those like myself who cover it), The Business also features a short “Hollywood news banter” at the top of the show, which is a really good way to stay on top of the latest developments. At a scant 30 minutes long, you have to search hard to find a good reason NOT to listen to The Business. [iTunes] [Website]
On The Media – This is less a podcast about the stuff the media covers, and more a podcast about how the media covers it. For a news junkie like me, it’s a goldmine of interesting factoids and fascinating reflections on the nature and the state of journalism in the U.S. and around the world. Recent episodes have included coverage of the history of the term “baby-killer” and how Google plans on creating a universal translator. Fascinating stuff. [iTunes] [Website]
Battleship Pretension – Each week, the Battleship Pretension podcast chooses a theme and tries to explore it to its logical conclusion, often with a fascinating and/or humorous guest. Tyler Smith and David Bax, two film school graduates, aren’t necessarily the most dynamic podcast personalities out there, but what this podcasts lacks in bombast, it makes up for in intelligent discussion. Both hosts are incredibly articulate and careful in their locution, in a way that people who listen to my inane ramblings will probably find refreshing. But more than any of that, sometimes it’s just fun to hear people who are good friends banter back and forth about random topics in a way that is not obnoxious. Also, I find both of their voices incredibly soothing. I think you will too. [iTunes] [Website]
