Pandemic Positivity #4: A little silhouetto of a man/A Little Bit Alexis

What did I do yesterday? Did yesterday happen? Sometimes it’s hard to remember these days. Um, I went to the grocery store, I know that, and I can’t say it brought too many smiles to my face. But some things did, most of which are piano-centric. We got this old piano about a month ago because we thought the boys would enjoy it, and they have. But I’ve had a ton of fun with it, too. While I’ve played guitar most of my life, I’d never really tried another instrument before this.

• “Linus and Lucy” made me smile: This is actually what that familiar Peanuts theme is called. You know the one. It’s in your head right now. You’re picturing Snoopy dancing. I’ve always thought it would be cool to play it, and now here I am playing it. I’ve taught Liam how to play it, too. So last night I had him playing it on piano while I played the bass part on guitar. Thus was born The Wilson Family Band!
• Jamming with Liam made me smile: The Wilson Family Band cranked out a good old-fashioned blues jam, too. I’ve taught the boys the 12-bar blues on guitar, so I thought I’d try it with Liam on piano and me on guitar. I don’t know enough about piano chords yet, so I just had him banging out quarter-note octaves (two of the same note at the same time) on A-D-E, while I wailed away on some tasty blues licks.
• “Bohemian Rhapsody” made me smile: I’ve been plugging away trying to learn bits of this Queen classic and yesterday I finally started to nail a part that had been wiping the smile off my face. Believe it or not, the trick was to close my eyes. Honestly, I never imagined I’d be doing all the hand crossover business that this song requires, but there I am doing it. (You can see Freddy Mercury doing this a bit starting around the 0:57 mark of the video, with his left hand crossing over his right.)

• “A Little Bit Alexis” made me smile: Carrie is rewatching Schitt’s Creek these days, so I’m seeing a lot of the episodes for the third time, and yesterday she landed on this classic bit that really needs no introduction. It just cracks me up every time. Feel free to sing along if you know the words. Laaa la la la la la la…

Advertisement