Life gets in the way of blogs. We have completed "Theory" and "Charting a Song." This week, we are on to Congregational Accompaniment. A great class! You're going to love it. And between my old (young) piano teacher and me, we will be embelishing and enhancing the course. Can't wait. See you Thursday and Saturday!

Class #2 - Looking Back

We have successfully completed week 2 of The Church Pianist's course. Minus a web hiccup here and there, it seems to me to be going very well! I think perhaps one of the most important things to remember if you are joining us online would be to completely shut down your computer and restart before joining the webinar. I am finding that because the platform is such a power horse, it needs every bit of juice your computer can offer. At least on my laptop if I don't clear it's overwhelmed little "brain" before we get started, it acts like I've required it to climb Everest or swim the Atlantic. I thought I would share this blog post by Greg Howlett. I find many of his posts inspire and motivate me to continue to better my skills. http://www.greghowlett.com/blog/free-lessons/042212.aspx.

Glitches

Glitch: A glitch is a short-lived fault in a system. It is often used to describe a transient fault that corrects itself, and is therefore difficult to troubleshoot.

Thank you, Widipedia.

I worked hard to make the first night smooth as silk. I had my house clean, chocolates on the table for local attendees, and my laptop and my large monitor hooked up and ready to go at 5:30. I tried loading the video one more time just for peace of mind. It wouldn't load. It's sort of an important element to our class time. I tried again. Nothing. I shut the meeting down and restarted it. Load video. Nothing.

Someone logs on. I try the video again. Nothing. I call customer service.

"Oh, it must be a glitch." (see above definition)

Ya think? That's an awesome technical term if I ever heard one. What am I going to do with a "glitch?" (see below definition)

"Oh, you'll have to shut the meeting down and restart it."

"Did that."

"Well, you'll have to upload the content again. When does your meeting start?"

"Five minutes ago." (video takes about an hour to upload)

"Oh. Well, I think it's a glitch. You will want to start everything over again." (see above and below definitions)

"Ya think? I'll file that away. Good bye." (under my breath...thanks for NOTHING)

Anyhow, I did indeed delete the file from my content on the webinar. I loaded it again today. And vwalla! No more glitches!! I practiced with a viewer and it's working like a charm. Of course it was working like a charm earlier this week, too. So I'll test it a couple of hours before our webinar tomorrow to be sure the "glitch" hasn't returned.

Glitch: a web-based massively-multiplayer game which takes place inside the minds of eleven peculiarly imaginative Giants.

I'll say...

Class Time Clarification

I sometimes meet myself coming and going, but typically, other people meet me coming and going before I meet me. I've been announcing the start of class at 6 but I originally posted the start time at 6:30. We're sticking with 6:30. I'm very sorry about the confusion. So, I will actually start the online meeting at 6:00 so everyone can get logged on and comfortable with the webinar before class begins. Again - I apolologize for the timing glitch.

Meet & Greet Tonight!

If you have registered for the class, you should have received an e-mail from me (and FuzeMeeting.com) about our upcoming "meet and greet" tonight via FuzeMeeting. It should give you all the information you need to login tonight at 8 p.m. so we can do a quick walkthrough on the webinar and become more familiar with our new "classroom." :) Sorry - you have to bring your own refreshments to the virtual classroom. I can't offer a vending machine.

This is just a test...

I'd like to have a "meet and greet" for a few minutes on Monday night around 8 CST. If you have registered, I will send you the link via e-mail to join us so we can all say hi and get used to the webinar before class on Thursday night. If you would like to join and cannot on Monday at 8, I will schedule another time for you to join me and get used to the platform.

In other news, I attended a storm spotter's class last night! Can't wait for the storms to roll in! I'm a photographer (in my other life) and I am dying to get some good storm pictures. And just to see a tornado would be a dream come true. Call me crazy, but I've seriously drooled over the idea of being face-to-face with a tornado since childhood. They've always fascinated me. We had a close shave with one in 2008...but that's another story for another day. And I have an appointment 5 minutes ago. Yes, you heard me right. :)

Crunch Time

We are getting down to the wire! I'm so excited for class to begin. I am certain that you will love the course as much as I do. I sent out e-mails and facebook messages to those I know are interested in the course. If you did not receive that information, please let me know.

Our first class will begin at 6:00 p.m. (CST) on Thursday, April 5 and 6:00 p.m. Saturday, April 7. These two classes contain the same information, providing two opportunities for you to take the class. Our next class will follow two weeks later on Thur/Sat evenings.

Once you have registered and payed for at least the first class (should you choose to pay per class), I will shortly follow up your registration/payment with a pdf printout and the login information for our upcoming webinar.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions that I have not answered here. Be checking back here every couple of days for updates!

First Day of Class

Someone informed me recently that I do not have dates on my blog for the class start up. How I missed that I'm not sure, but I guess that would be a question on every one's mind.

First Class
- Thursday, April 5 at 6:30 p.m. CST
- Saturday, April 7 at .....TBD

I have found that I hate making executive decisions. Maybe it's not the decision making process as much as wanting to please all people at all times and without the input of everyone involved, I'd rather punt than take the plunge and call it. Being a people pleaser is so overrated.

In this situation, I've made a compromise. I pulled the trigger and made the executive decision of Thursday's time. Now will you help me out on Saturday's time frame? I'd prefer to do late morning or early evening (say 9:00 a.m. or around 5:00 p.m.). Keeping in mind that the class will last 2 hours, can I get a show of hands on morning vs. night on Saturday? I know many pianists are involved in the ministry and have Saturday duties, which usually happen during morning hours. That being said, maybe those involved in Saturday ministries will prefer the Thur night class anyhow. My preference would be Sat a.m. but I aim to please, so I'm open to morning or evening. (At least I narrowed it down...that right there, my friends, is accomplishment)

On another note (no pun intended), our family is spending a few days in the Denver area at a Home Missions Conference (essentially the equivalent of a church planting conference) at First Baptist Church of Englewood, CO. Doug and I attended the for first time 2 years ago and knew then we'd be returning as often as possible. Last year was out of the question with the looming building project we faced last summer. But we had to be here this year and already, just after one service, the preaching, testimonies of church planters, music and fellowship have been epic! My D.H. will be giving a testimony tomorrow, particularly discussing our remodeling process last year. He'll be sharing with upcoming church planters some of the hoops and red tape we had to dodge (or didn't dodge) with the city. Anyhow, he'll be mentioning my CD, a congregational CD I've made for church planters without a pianist to use, and our upcoming course. We'll see if we yield any more classmates as a result. :)

Two years ago during the second day of preaching, I wasn't feeling quite right. I spent that night praying to the porcelain god, but I was fine the next day. One of our kids seemed a little ill for one evening after service, but then all seemed well. After arriving home on Friday, a volcanic eruption overtook my poor tummy. This time it was a stomach bug on steroids and little by little, the rest of the Ertsons dropped like flies. Funny how I can't shake this feeling that a deja vu moment is going to overtake me tomorrow night...

CD Now Available for Purchase

Look under the "Pricing & Payment" page if you are interested in buying my new CD, Were It Not for Grace. The introductory price of $12 will end March 19th. Which, ironically enough, is my birthday. :) I accept gift cards, the green stuff, paypal gifts, and anything peanut butter for my birthday week. 

It's my first "professional" CD ever. Recording was a terrific experience at Faith Music Missions. David Chamberlain is a musical magician! And the Russ's are some of the kindest, most gracious people you could ever hope to know. I'm hoping it's not my last CD. In fact, I'm mulling over the idea of creating a piano CD, complete with an arrangement book. But, with all of the irons I have in the fire right now, that might be a next year project. I'm wondering if the technology is advanced enough to allow my sister in Germany to sing a duet with me in the States? Mr. Chamberlain (which also ironically is my maiden name) is truly a miracle worker, so I'm certain he can manage a long distance recording.

I know the pricing and payment page is a little sloppy at the moment, but the links work. I have the misfortune of html ignorance. Other than copy and pasting and throwing in a page break now and then, I can't even understand "html for dummies." If anyone knows how to clean it up and wants to take on the task, by all means send me an email and I'll get you on the admin side of this hopeless page.

It's official

The "new" music blog is complete! After a few hiccups with some hip-hop templates, I went with old faithful. No bells and whistles. Just plain, simple blogspot.com. But over the past few years of blogging, I have to say that blogspot has improved enormously. I can even add a paypal button for payments! Oh the novelty...

I'll have a "new" payment button for our "new" music course soon. I will also be including a "listen" button if I can figure it out on my blog (thank you Google) for my "new" CD, Were It Not for Grace. Our "new" church website should be launched soon, and you will also be able to listen there until I can find a way to include a "listen" link here. I'll post that info when it's available.

Did you hear all of those "new" events in the last few sentences? New church website, music course, blog, payment options, CD? It's been busy around here. Learning all of this "new" technology, equipment, and information makes my brain hurt.

Back atcha with more information as soon as I finish my bubble bath and bon bons it becomes available!