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MUSIC MEMOIR
My Dad, Our Piano, and the Boogie Woogie
A Boogie Woogie beat resonates on a deep level
It has been seventeen years since my father died, and I miss him. However, life and death have a harmonious relationship that bonds the living to the memories of the deceased.
When I was young, my dad taught me to play Boogie Woogie music on the family piano. His teaching was intense enough that, sixty years later, I still play what he taught: an upbeat, fun, and complicated Boogie Woogie piece.
When I hear Boogie Woogie, I imagine sitting next to him on the piano bench, watching and listening. He always had a cigarette hanging from his mouth and an occasional glass of whiskey; he was my version of the original piano man.
The sounds he created were riddled with music history stretching back to the early 1900s.
His sounds were slow initially, with a rhythmic bass; his left hand set the stage for his right hand to round out the swing sound he wanted. His left hand's speed picked up when ready, while his right hand glided over the keys, establishing a melody. His hands were coordinated to perfection. He would spend hours improvising as if it were 1935.