Tonioli Music - Jason Tonioli

Amazing Grace ~ YouTube Tribute Video

2011-12-18T15:30:00.013-07:00

My father worked for the US Forest Service for 36 years. He spent his career training hundreds of men and women to work together to safely fight forest fires. More importantly, he helped these government agencies learn to cooperate, work together and support each other during emergencies.

He unexpectedly passed away on June 27th, 2011. Oftentimes you don’t learn of a person’s impact on others until they are gone.

Over 100 men and women from various fire agencies attended the funeral in uniform. A mixed honor guard of City, County, BLM and Forest Service firefighters participated in a special honor guard to salute and pay tribute to the man who had helped teach them to work together.

At the conclusion of the funeral, nearly 20 firetrucks from all fire agencies escorted our family on an hour and a half drive to the cemetery in Tooele, Utah. At the cemetery we were met by a special mixed honor guard and flag presentation.

Our family was deeply touched by the show of love and support.

I recorded this song to say thank you to all men and women who serve each day and sometimes give their life to make our lives better. Whether they be a member of the US Forest Service, a firefighter, police officer, soldier, or teacher. Thank you.

This song is dedicated to my father and those who set an example for all of us to follow...

The first video is the music video that we filmed in Little Cottonwood Canyon.

This video shows many of the photos and video from the funeral showing the firetrucks, honor guard and flag presentation that was made for my father, Robert Tonioli. It was primarily intended to share with family, friends and others who knew my dad.

Filming My New Music Video From a Helicopter

2011-10-06T21:32:00.006-06:00

So we've been trying to put together a music video as a tribute to my dad. I wrote an arrangement to Amazing Grace a few days after my dad passed away this summer and then recorded it a few weeks after the funeral.

It was a really emotional experience and the song turned out great. In order to pay tribute to my dad and have something that will really amazing to share with others, we've decided to go all out in producing a music video for this song.

My dad worked for the Forest Service for over 35 years and spent over 20 years in the Ogden, Wasatch Cache National forest. So for the music video, we wanted to film part of it out in the forest. However, the weather has been less than cooperative. Each day we've tried to film, we've had crazy weather. It decided to rain when we were going to film and now we have snow on the mountain peaks and it is only October 5th.

We caught a window of opportunity right before the storm came in on Tuesday though.

The plan was to have the piano placed in a meadow and then fly in with a helicopter and get footage from above. We still may do that, but we went out on Tuesday night and took a ride in the helicopter to film the mountains around Ogden. We'll use some of these images and a lot of video footage from this on the final music video. We decided that if we were going to do a music video, we were going to do it right. It will be out soon and I can't wait to share it with everyone.

Until then, here are a few photos that Eric Meyers took during the helicopter flight during the

video.

How I Wrote the Song "Mountain Air"

2011-10-05T00:05:00.007-06:00

One of my favorite things to do is be in a boat floating down a river.

Over the years, I've progressed from floating in a large rubber raft, to a smaller 2 man raft (often called a duckie) to a hard shell kayak.

For many years I always thought that the people in hardshell kayaks were crazy, because they sometimes end up floating down the river with their head underwater, seeking out rocks and other sea life.

About 3 years ago I decided to take a kayak rolling class and see if it

was as scary and hard as it looked. After 3 nights in the swimming pool, I finally felt like I might be able to roll in a river. I found a cheap boat on ksl.com and purchased my first boat, a Dagger RPM, 8 foot 11 inch boat that was made in 1999.

I've never looked back and now own 3 different kayaks and love floating class III and Class IV whitewater every chance I get.

My song Mountain Air was actually written while I was floating down the Snake River, near Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I was just back from my mission and was floating in a 1 man rubber raft. I was with some friends and we had just watched a bald eagle drop down in front of us and scoop up a fish out of the river. It was a gorgeous day.

All of a sudden I had this melody pop in my head. I really liked it, so I started singing it. We came up on some rapids and the song kind of came together like magic as I was weaving in and out of large rapids. I kept singing it over and over again and ended up letting my buddies go ahead of me so they wouldn't think I was losing my mind singing this song out loud to myself.

Luckily I sang it enough times and kept singing it off and on that I was able to remember it the next day when we were finally home.

I've always felt like this is what the mountains sound like, but while I was at a concert in Tooele, Utah a year or so ago, I had another cool experience with this song.

I finished performing the song and hadn't told the audience what I was playing. A burly man with a grey beard asked me who had written that song. He explained that he had heard it many times over the years. I told him that I had written it. He insisted that he had heard it many times while he was hunting and climbing mountains and was sure he had heard the song before and persisted in telling me he had heard it before.

He explained that he had worked for many years as a hunting guide and filmed a hunting TV show and he had heard that tune as he hiked across mountain peaks in Montana and several other places around the country. He gave clear descriptions of the locations he had heard the song and realized each time he had heard it he had been in the mountains. He went into detail about each place and told me that the song should be called the mountain song or Mountain Air... or at least something similar to that.

He had a huge smile on his face when I told him the title to the song was "Mountain Air" and I agreed with him that this is the song that you can hear in special places on mountains, as long as you listen for the music. He loved it when I explained how I had heard the song while floating down the river canyon near Jackson.

Unfortunately, not everyone gets the chance to hear the music that is around us, but its there if you listen closely.

If you'd like to hear the song, it is the 9th track on my album Life Reflections. You can order the CD at www.tonioli.com or find it on iTunes.

Canada Vacation - The Closest I've Come to Being Killed...

2011-08-15T21:55:00.025-06:00

My family and I spent the past week in Waterton, Canada. Waterton sits on the USA, Canada border and is part of Glacier National Park. We had a wonderful time, but had our fair share of adventures. The one I'll share on this blog post was the closest I have come to losing my life, and I've had several close calls.

My Aunt Bev sent an email to her family after the event and she asked me to add my own words to it. I think her email did a good job of capturing both the onlooker perspective and my perspective of the event.

(Paddling to the end of Cameron Lake.
The glacier cave is barely visible on the far end of the lake in the two white dots.)

Excerpt from Bev's email:

We packed a picnic and went to Cameron Lake. Nellie and Garth came too. Jason brought up his kayaks and had fun with Tyler and Kallie. Even Jean took a turn. Then, he went for a journey on his own.

And, this is when the major miracle and blessing of the day took place. He was at the end of Cameron Lake by the glacier ice cave, the visible entrance of which was roughly 15 feet above the water line and more than 30 feet across. He was taking pictures, and considering going through the cave to see the lake on the other end of the tunnel when he heard something like dynamite or a loud artillery shell exploding in the ice. It was part of glacier which made up the ice cave, the size of a train car, likely bigger, and it was beginning to break off. He had time to back stroke twice before the glacier smashed into the water. He knew he was facing death.

(Above: Approaching the glacier ice cave. Notice the large rock 10 feet to the right of the cave edge.
Below: This is on a wide angle, next to the entrance, right before the ice fell. The lip of the entrance was roughly 15 feet above me.)

The following is an account in his own words...

"I watched as the main piece of the glacier crashed into the water less than 3 feet in front of my boat. My boat was thrown sideways by the water that was displaced and a huge wave crashed into the side of the boat while huge chunks of ice smashed into the water and sides of the boat. I was rolled 3/4ths of the way over and my body was protected by the bottom left underside of the fiberglass Dagger RPM whitewater kayak and likely more than one guardian angel. I was able to quickly roll back up and catch a four to five foot wave of water that surfed me away from the rush of ice chunks and snow that followed behind the crest of the wave. Had I not caught this wave, I likely would have been smashed by hundreds of chunks of rock hard ice that soon covered a 40 x 40 yard area.

When the waves and ice settled and I was able to survey the damage, it revealed a gap in the snow larger than a large box car, at least 15 feet high, 15 feet wide and 50 or more feet across. As the waves settled, two deer walked tentatively across the remaining archway and paused to look at me, I'm sure to shake their head and smile.

The only damage was I was completely soaked and my sunglasses came off when i had rolled in the water. Amazingly, I didn't have a scratch or bruise on my body.

(Above: Paddling back towards the glacier after the ice fell.
Below: Notice the dirt that is now visible, as well as the rock on the far right.)

A canoe and 2-man kayak quickly pulled up to see the damage and asked if I was ok. They said they had seen the entire thing and thought i had been crushed by the ice fall. They said that i completely disappeared and was engulfed by the water, ice and mist spray that followed. They were relieved when they saw I was safe and had reappeared from the water. They were thinking they were going to be part of search and recovery, not a search and rescue. They commented that they thought that at least it would have been quick and I wouldn't have felt much pain from several tons of ice crushing my body.

I paddled back towards the ice cave to see the amount of ice in the water. It covered so large an area, you couldn't get within 40yards of the cave entrance where I had been before, because of the ice in the water. Most of the chunks of ice near the edge were slightly larger than a basketball and were harder than rock. The size of the ice chunks grew larger, the closer it was to the entrance. The ice was so thick that there was no possible way to pass through the ice in the water. The ice was so compact and heavy that I could not lift a basketball sized ice chunk out of the water.

(Above: Notice the massive size of the fall vs. my arms.
Below: This is the zoomed out shot they took with my camera to show the entire hillside.)

I had the people in the boats take several photos of me near the edge of the fallen ice to better understand the size of the ice fall. Without a person in the photo you really can't appreciate the massive size of the glacier that fell."

When Jason got back to shore, Jean asked if he had fun. Jason said, "No! I almost died!" He then gave Stacy a BIG hug, which was touching. This morning he said, "I would have rather fought a bear. I would have had a better chance.". It was a humbling experience for him, which he has relived over and over. Art says that all the times he rowed for Aunt Lou, she never let him take her close to the glaciers.

(Final Photo - The glacier cave was just around the corner from the glacier on the right.
Notice the beautiful waterfall and green vegetation.)

Fun Experience with "Favorite LDS Piano Solos Book 3"

2011-04-11T22:00:00.003-06:00

Here's another fun email I received from a piano teacher who was playing out my new book, Favorite LDS Piano Solos III.

Jason,
I am a piano teacher and have lots of LDS piano students. I have 32 students living in several different wards and stakes. I use your hymn arrangements for my students to perform in their sacrament meetings. I just have to keep track of who is in what ward, and which hymns have already been done in each ward. I love that your hymns are beautifully simple and not over done. I have a student that is doing Green Hill and My Redeemer lives, back to back, for Easter. Keep up the good work! We love you, Carrie Allen

True Story:

So I get asked to perform and accompany choirs or play at baptisms. I was playing for a private baptism for a little boy, Tanner. After he was baptized and we were waiting for him to get dressed, I played Kolob, I Know That My Redeemer Lives and Be Still My Soul. He came in, was confirmed, closing song and prayer..........As soon as the Amen was said, 30 people came up to the piano to ask me what song was that???? (Kolob) Where did I get the beautiful arrangements, etc? I had to remind everyone that maybe they should go congratulate Carter on his baptism and not to be distracted by the beautiful music.

New Song Arrangement - Be Thou My Vision / Take Time to Be Holy

2011-04-11T21:53:00.003-06:00

This was a fun email I received in response to my new arrangement of "Be Thou My Vision/Take Time to Be Holy". It's these kind of emails that keep me writing and sharing my music.

I now have a piano solo arrangement of this song, as well as a flute/piano duet for the song. We've also finished full string orchestra to accompany the piano on the song. There will still be a few changes on that version, but it will be available soon.

Email Received: 4/10/2011

"I am overwhelmed! This is so beautiful, and the melodic changes in the 4 “verse” are stunning. I wondered how it would translate into piano from the flute part, and it is truly breathtaking. I had no idea that you would pick this up and run with it as you did. I can tell you have enjoyed this melody as much I do. I hope your family is also enjoying it. It should be shared.

May I make a confession? I just couldn’t help myself (which may give you an indication of how well this will sell). I got 15 pieces of music on Wednesday night at midnight for a violinist and Thursday night I got another 13 pieces for a flautist, both of whom were to play Saturday for 1 hour each at the Temple open house. It wasn’t easy music, I had very little time to rehearse, and am only able to practice after 7:00p because of my business. I went to a member’s house to practice on a “real” piano (don’t ask), and as part of my “gift” to them for having to endure 2.25 hours of unrecognizable accompaniment music, I gave them a peaceful departure and played 15 minutes of some of the music I will perform on the 23^rd in my solo time slot. As part of that gift I included what I knew to be her absolute favorite hymn, Be Thou My Vision (your version), as the closing number. When I finished, the house was quiet and peaceful, just as I hoped it would be. That was this past Friday. Yesterday I ran into her at the open house (she was an usher) and she told me when she heard that song she told her husband to let her listen and enjoy. She could feel the spirit wash over her as she listened to your beautiful music. Here is the confession…I felt “compelled” (moved by the spirit is more like it) to play it for the open house. It was our stake’s “day” to run the open house, and knowing it was a favorite to those who surrounded me, the flautist joined in and we played a stunning duet that nearly quieted an otherwise noisy tent full of visitors that was 85 degrees. It was the piece that hushed the soul, brought the spirit to us all, and stopped a crowd in their tracks. One woman ran over to see what it was, and I told her it wasn’t published yet, to which she replied, “That’s a shame. That’s the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard.”

I hope you’re not mad at me for taking the opportunity to share so much of what I felt in my heart with the members of our Stake and the community who came to see the Atlanta Temple. You are a remarkable artist with a talent to give life to music; a life that allows the spirit to touch the souls of those who are blessed to be within the range of such melodic notes. This is Elder Giddens favorite piece of music and I will be playing it for him on Easter Sunday. THANK YOU! You will never know how much this means to any of us who are blessed enough to play or hear it."

Linda P - Georgia

Great Note

2011-03-25T15:42:00.002-06:00

I received this really nice note the other day that I thought was worth sharing. It made my day...

"I am sitting here listening to your CD - Simple Gifts. In your note you said that it makes you feel calm and peaceful, and that is exactly how I am feeling right now. I put it on this morning as I was trying to get my house cleaned and doing some laundry. The morning has gone so much better than usual. It is amazing how, by just having it play in the background it can invite the Spirit and make me feel so good. Thank you so much!"

Kathy N

Nauvoo, Illinois

Preparing to Become an Instrument in the Lord’s Hands

2010-05-16T00:25:00.005-06:00

At a stake conference, a returned missionary spoke on the subject of preparing for missionary service. He used the analogy of a father saying to his son, “I will be happy when you play in your first basketball game so you can learn to dribble and shoot the basketball.” The young man compared that example to a father saying to his son, “I will be happy when you go on your mission so you can learn to be a good person and learn and teach the gospel.”[1]

In 2006, Brother Daryl Garn of the seventy told the following story in General Conference.

When Bro Garn was a young boy, his greatest desire was to play basketball. Fortunately, he had a father who was anxious to see that his son’s desire was met. His Dad would practice the basics of passing and dribbling the basketball hour after hour in their small kitchen. He would listen to college basketball games on the radio and dream of playing college ball someday. Serving a mission was far from his mind at that time; he spent very little effort in missionary preparation. In an attempt to ensure some balance in his life, his dad—who had not held a Church calling in many years—accepted the call to serve as his Scoutmaster. Due to his father’s diligence, Brother Garn and some of his friends became Eagle Scouts. Brother Garn mentions that he now realizes that Scouting is great preparation for a mission.

His boyhood dream came true when he made the basketball team at Utah State University. During his second year at Utah State, a returned missionary befriended him. Because of this friend’s example Bro Garn began looking at his friends at school, including those on the basketball team, and realized that the people he most wanted to be like, were those who had served missions. With the kind and loving mentoring of his good friend—and, as a result of his mother’s prayers and good example—Brother Garn’s desires changed. After his 2nd year at Utah State, he was called to serve in the Western Canadian Mission.

Three months into his mission, a new missionary from Idaho was assigned to be his companion. They had been together only a few days when he realized something very significant: his new companion knew the gospel, while Elder Garn only knew the discussions. He wished that he had prepared to be a missionary as hard as he had prepared to be a basketball player… His companion had prepared for his mission throughout his life and was immediately a valuable member of the team. How important it is for fathers and sons to work together on “the basics” in preparing for a mission.

I believe it is appropriate to compare the game of basketball or other sports to missionary work. The game of basketball or any other sport includes not only the time you compete in games with another team on the court, but also the hours of practice and training. Saving souls is not limited to the two years that you serve a mission but, rather, requires (1) years of righteous living and (2) preparation in order to meet the standard for full-time missionary service.

Elder Sanford – The Secret Weapon

Just over 10 years ago, I served in the jungles of Northern Argentina. Elder Sanford was my first junior companion. When he came to me he was struggling with the language and struggled in social situations. He was very tall and skinny with large glasses. He had been in a very difficult companionship prior to coming to my area. For the first week we were together, he would respond to any conversation I tried to make with him with a shrug of the shoulders, and if I was lucky I could get a 1-2 word response to a question. He had given up. He was seriously considering going home. He wouldn’t participate in discussions with others and would sit quietly while I talked with people in the town where we served.

Over the next few weeks he began to open up and talk more. As weeks passed, he gained confidence and began to actively participate in discussions with investigators. I soon learned he had taken missionary preparation very seriously. Maybe too seriously…

One year prior to leaving for his mission, he moved his bedroom out to the shed in his parent’s back yard to have the opportunity to study the scriptures, Ensigns and anything he could get his hands on about the church for hours each day without interruptions. While he may have lacked some social skills, he was a wealth of knowledge, and he KNEW the gospel.

When in a teaching situation he was able to draw on his knowledge and examples to touch others. He could always find answers to questions posed by investigators in the scriptures. He was the secret weapon every missionary wants to have as a companion. By the end of his mission, this Elder who was on the brink of giving up and going home, had become a district leader and an extremely effective and successful missionary.

Music Insturments – Becoming an Instrument in Lord's Hands

I've found the word instrument in the scriptures in 121 locations.

I was able to find 31 references to “instruments” and “hands” together, most of which refer to being an “instrument in His hands” or "an instrument in the Lord’s hands."

One dictionary definition defines an instrument as “a means by which something of value is transferred, held or accomplished.”

Some synonyms or words used to describe the word instrument are: a tool, utensil, device, or musical instrument.

Over the years, I’ve learned to love music. Learning to play a musical instrument can be applied to the gospel, a mission or even our own lives.

When someone has worked, practiced and invested hours of time into learning to play a musical instrument, they can do great things with the instrument. However, as the bishop knows, if a guitar string is out of tune or broken, it doesn’t matter how great the guitar player is, the music won’t come out right. It’s the same with a piano. If Beethoven were to perform on an out of tune piano, it wouldn’t be “great”. It could be downright bad. The musician can only do so much without a good, in tune instrument.

No amount of practice or preparation will make up for an out of tune instrument.

A few of my favorite scriptures about instruments are:

Mosiah 23:10 (Alma driven into wilderness by the people of King Noah)
"Nevertheless, after much tribulation, the Lord did hear my cries, and did answer my prayers, and has made me an instrument in his hands in bringing so many of you to a knowledge of his truth."

Alma 17:11 (Sons of Mosiah as they were leaving on their missions)
"And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth among the Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls."

Alma 2:30 (Alma – The son of Alma)
"And it came to pass that Alma, being a man of God, being exercised with much faith, cried, saying: O Lord, have mercy and spare my life, that I may be an instrument in thy hands to save and preserve this people."

When the scriptures make reference to being an “instrument in the Lord’s hands”, I want you to think of your favorite musical instrument. Christ is the “Master Musician”, the “Virtuoso”, or "Greatest Piano Player”. We’re his musical instruments. We’re His piano or His guitar. If we’re in tune, prepared and willing to allow the Lord to guide us, he can do great things with us.

If our instrument has strings that aren’t in tune, there are limits to what he can do with us as an “instrument in his hands.”

Whether you are preparing for a mission or just trying to be a little better each day, I encourage you to make sure your own spiritual instrument is well tuned. We never know when the Lord will need to use us. Don’t miss out on an opportunity to be an instrument in the Lord’s hands.

Letter from Jared Hancock Prior to Leaving on my Mission

My friend, Jared Hancock, wrote a letter to me before I left for the MTC that had a profound impact on the way I approached my mission. He compared a mission to being a soldier in the military. He went on to explain that our work as soldier’s in God’s army was the most important battle ever to be fought and for two years, we’re given the opportunity as missionaries to serve and be on the front line.

For those of you reading this…. don’t miss your opportunity to serve on the front line.

It’s not easy. At times I’m sure it’s a lot like serving in the army. There are a lot of rules. You have to work hard. Sometimes you’ll be hungry and thirsty. Sometimes your body will hurt and you’ll feel so tired you’ll want to sleep for a week. You might spend Christmas Eve sleeping on a bench in the chapel. You may even spend a few nights in Northern Argentina sleeping on a hard, freezing cold cement floor with your scriptures as your pillow, while large bugs crawling around you.

But I can tell you from personal experience it’s worth it.

Don’t miss your opportunity to serve on the front line… and once you are on your mission, don’t waste time. Work hard, and squeeze the most out of each minute, of each day… because before you know it, your mission will be over. Make sure you have no regrets when you come home, and remember it’s the Lord’s time, not “your” time.

And once you return from your church mission, live life with the same urgency and hard work, and squeeze the most out of each minute, of each day, because before we know it, our mission here in life will also, be over.

Prepare now so that when the time comes that the Lord needs a well tuned instrument, you KNOW the gospel, and can BE, the “secret weapon” every mission companion, every spouse, or every family needs to win.

Make sure your own personal, spiritual instrument is well tuned and the Lord will be able to, and will do great things with you.

[1] Daryl H. Garn, “Preparing for Missionary Service,” Ensign, May 2003, 46

Recording Studio - Night #1

2010-04-01T22:50:00.002-06:00

I spent the evening in Sandy at the recording studio. I arrived just after 7:00 PM at Big Idea Studios. By 7:30 everything was ready to go and we began recording. I was able to lay down a record 9 tracks in 3 hours. When we wrapped up there was a total of 2 hours of actual recording.

I wish I could say that all of the songs were perfect when I played them, but there were small mistakes that we will clean up at the next session. Luckily technology makes it pretty easy to fix a mistake. It certainly makes you appreciate the recordings that were done 20+ years ago before everything went digital!

Copying Beethoven and our Soundtrack

2010-02-26T23:27:00.002-07:00

Several months ago I had the opportunity to see a movie called Copying Beethoven. It tells the story of Beethoven and his female assistant/music copyist that worked with him during the latter part of his life. It was very interesting to see how he was portrayed in the film, especially as he lost his hearing.

There were several parts of the movie that had a profound impact on me and made me think of music in a new way.

In one scene as he was talking to his assistant, he tells her that as he lost his hearing he was able to hear the music around him with more clarity. It alluded to the fact that the music is always there, but most people never take time to listen and hear the music that surrounds us. He went on to say that God is whispering in his ear and playing the music that he writes.

What a profound statement! I’ve always felt like the music we write comes from a divine source, and at moments I’ve had the opportunity to have a magical moment when the entire song just “comes together” with practically no effort because I’ve been able to hear with amazing clarity the song the way it should be written.

I firmly believe that each one of us has a divine music soundtrack to our life that most of the time we are not able to hear. Some of us our fortunate enough to hear and capture that soundtrack at times throughout our lives. If you haven’t experienced it yet, I hope you have the opportunity at some time in your life.

Some may call this a 6th sense. Others may call it God whispering to us. Yet others may call it the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit. No matter what you call it, from experience, I can tell it is very real. If we can learn to relax, focus and listen, you can hear promptings, whisperings and sometimes even music.

Whether you hear your soundtrack, or just receive promptings of what to do, the key is to listen… and listen often.

I am certain this world would be a much better place if we could all learn to and remember to listen frequently to these promptings that can guide and give us direction in our lives!

Finishing the 5th Book

2010-02-26T23:19:00.003-07:00

Who would have thought that within a week and a half I'd be putting together a final draft for my newest book. As always, the hardest part is putting together artwork and doing all of the "non music" parts.

I'm still struggling with a title for the book but have been encouraged by several music stores to keep it simple so that it is easy to remember. Hopefully I'll have all of this figured out by the time the weekend is finished.

I'm really excited to share the new songs with everyone!

I still have the goal of having books in hand by March 15th.

Standard Examiner Photo

2010-02-20T21:00:00.005-07:00

I had the opportunity to perform at the annual Ogden chamber of commerce dinner this past week. It's always fun to perform for people. The photo on the left was taken at the event and published in the Ogden Standard Examiner Newspaper.

Fake Books and Lead Sheets

2010-02-08T18:06:00.002-07:00

One of the things I think many people never learn to do is play from a fake book or lead sheet. I often see people playing by ear and trying to "figure out" songs on their own. While this is a good skill to learn, I've found that you can speed up the learning curve by teaching yourself to play from a fake book and then a lead sheet. Lead sheets are typically used by Jazz musicians, but for some reason the classical piano students never learn or hear about this type of written music.

What's a Fake Book?
A fake book typically gives you a one line melody of a song along with lyrics. It's basically like going back to your first 1-2 years of piano because all you have is one note to play in the right hand. Along with the melody line, you will find chord names above the measure. These chord names tell you what you need to be doing in the left hand. When you start to play from this type of book, you start out basic and then get more and more creative.

There are several good "How to" books on the market that can be purchased online or at a local music store. I would recommend starting with this type of book and also purchasing a fake book that includes several songs you would like to learn to play. One of my favorites has over 1,000 songs in it and is the size of a phone book.

If you are an intermediate/advanced piano player, invest the time and money into learning to play from a fake book and a whole new world will be opened up to you.

Lead Sheets
After I had played from fake books for a few months and felt comfortable improvising with them, I started to try playing from lead sheets. This typically includes lyrics and chords above the lyrics. There is usually no melody line to help you along. One of my favorite sites for looking up songs is: www.ultimate-guitar.com. It has thousands of guitar chord tabs posted by musicians along with the lyrics. The only drawback from this site is that it is pretty heavy on the advertising, but the database is great. You can find several versions of almost any song, searchable by band name or song name.

Some of my favorite lead sheets that are fairly easy are:

Home - Michael Buble

When September Ends - Green Day

Love Story - Taylor Swift

If you're looking for a way to have more fun with the piano, this is one of the best ways that I know of to do it. Give it a try! What do you have to lose?

Writing Music?

2010-01-25T18:18:00.004-07:00

Why write music?

1. Music in many ways is a window to a 6th sense. Not everyone has the ability to tap into this gift, but it's amazing when the connection is there and the music is able to come.

2. It has the ability to touch others and change someone. There's nothing more rewarding than having someone tell you that your song touched them or helped them through a difficult time.

3. Music is a gift. Even after you are gone, it can be passed on, shared and have an impact on others. No one lives forever, but your music can.

Tips for Recording your first CD

2010-01-25T17:59:00.002-07:00

One of my goals with the next album is to provide tips on how to record a CD. This past week I've worked several hours late at night putting together the details for the next album. However, I haven't touched the piano a single time yet.

Have a Plan
The most important thing I found with working in a studio is to use your time wisely. Studio prices can vary but for a good studio, you can expect to pay at least $75-$150 per hour, if not more. When you step foot in the studio, make sure you have a plan and know how you are going to spend your time.

Stick to your Plan
As you begin recording, you'll have ideas and things you want to change. Make sure that your budget allows for creativity, but these is an easy place to run over budget. Stick to your plan and if a song is taking to long, skip it and move on. You can always come back to it and try something new another night.

Be Prepared. Practice, Practice, Practice.
Your first step once you are in studio is to start tracking your songs. That basically means you play your music and the sound engineer hits the record button. You can always fix notes and mistakes but it takes time to do this. It's always better to play it right and not have to fix it. You have your instrument at home. If you're on a budget, practice your guts out before you go into the studio so that you can lay down 2-3 tracks of a song and move on. I've heard stories of people spending days on a single song. In my opinion, the studio is not the place to practice... unless you have money burning a hole in your pocket. Be ready when you get there and your performance and final product will likely be much better.

Editing and Mixing
If you've laid down a solid take or two, this should be easy. Software today is amazing and you can fix small mistakes, but big mistakes are harder to cover up. It's kind of like a small cut and a wound that requires stitches. A small cut heals and likely doesn't leave a scar. Stitches are going to leave a scar. Keep your mistakes and required edits small and it's likely that no one will notice. I've found that it works great to have your sound engineer piece together a draft track and take care of the major edits. After that, it is helpful to sit with the engineer and make work with them on the small edits. After doing this on a few songs, they start to understand what you like and they'll make fixes to those things on the next few songs.

The next steps include Mastering and most important of all, artwork and marketing. If you can't sell your CD you won't ever make your money back. I'll cover these items in an future post.

Jason
www.tonioli.com

2010-01-18T18:20:00.002-07:00

"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep the streets even as Michelangelo painted por Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.'"

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Whatever you do, be great at it.

The CD is Finished!

2009-10-16T00:20:00.002-06:00

Wow! It's been a whirlwind 2 months. I just sent final approval for artwork on the album and it should officially be printing sometime tomorrow. I'm hoping to have CD's in hand and ready to ship within the next 10 days or so. Thank you to everyone who has sent comments or pre-ordered the CD!

The final record includes Orchestral samples from the Vienna Symphonic Library and vocals from LOKO (Hiroko Araki) who is an amazing vocalist from Japan. We were able to record her thanks to David Stroud and speechlevelsinging. He helped facilitate her coming from Japan to record while she was in LA this September.

I hope you'll take a few minutes and listen to some of the tracks I've posted on my website. If you like what you hear, please share it with your friends!

What's New?

2009-07-06T23:35:00.003-06:00

Thank you again to everyone who took the survey! The feedback has been extremely helpful!

I'm in the middle of putting together songlists for two albums. On July 20th I'll also be recording in studio with Elizabeth Urie. She is putting together an album with various artists and arrangements targeted at the Christian market. Two of my songs will be featured on her album. Eventide and Goin Home.

I've arranged both songs for a piano/flute duet and can't wait to hear the result. Her CD should be out early this fall. I'm planning on posting both of the pdf arrangements on my site in the next few weeks.

Survey Results

2009-06-14T22:01:00.002-06:00

Thank you to everyone who took the survey. It was extremely helpful.

Here's a rundown of the results:

Survey question #1. How likely would you be to purchase the following?
The highest percentage of people said they would be likely to buy a CD of LDS Piano Solos.

However, nearly the same amount of people said they would also buy a Christmas or original composition CD as well, so the message is basically that people will buy a CD.

Many people responded that they would also buy mp3 files of my music, but about 40% of you said you would prefer a CD over mp3.

Solution, I'll offer both.

Survey Question #2: Please select the following based on your likelihood of buying one of the following albums with Jason's music:

69% of respondents said they would definately buy a new LDS Solo book #3
Just over 50% of respondents said they would buy CD's
Over 40% said they would buy a new book of original compositions.
75% of you said that you would buy or would consider buying a book of arrangements of pop songs.

What next? Well, I'm half way finished with a new LDS Book #3, and I hope to have that go to the printer this fall. It's coming along well. I'm currently talking with several studios to find out more about recording an album and should definately have something together in early fall. I'm hoping to do a mini Christmas album that people can use as gifts that is $5-7 for an album as well as an LDS album.

Survey Question #3: What do you feel would be a fair price (that you would be willing to pay) for one of Jason's CD's?
The majority of people voted for the $12.99-$14.99 price point on this one. Thank you to those of you who were willing to pay $16.99 or more for a CD. When I finish the album, I'll gladly accept that amount as well, but it looks like I'll have a lot more buyers if I keep it around $14.

Survey Question #4: The following list includes songs from Jason's two published LDS Piano Solo Books as well as songs that will be in a third LDS Solo Book to come out at a future date. He is considering several songs for an upcoming LDS Piano CD Album. Please choose your favorite 6 songs that you feel should be on Jason's album in order of importance.

Top votes were:
31 = Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
26 = I Need thee Every Hour
21 = Praise to the Man/Called to Serve
21 = The Spirit of God
21 = I Know That My Redeemer Lives
20 = Till We Meet Again/I'll Go Where You Want me to Go
19 = Joseph's First Prayer Medley
18 = Abide with Me
18 = Sweet Hour of Prayer (Medley)
17 = Beautiful Savior
16 = We Thank Thee O God For A Prophet

Survey Question #7: Would you be interested in having Jason come to perform in concert, do a workshop or fireside in your area?

Over 53% of you said that you would like me to come and do a concert or fireside in your area. I'm more than happy to do a concert and enjoy performing. If you have a small group and would like a workshop, I do that to. If it's a long ways from Ogden, UT, all I'd ask is that you cover my travel expenses and then the fee would vary depending on what you are looking to have me do. Typically I charge between $100-250 for a workshop or concert depending on the amount of time. I also am happy to play at weddings.

If you would like me to come to your area, email me and let's talk. I'd love to start performing more!

Survey Question #8: Would you like Jason to play for a private concert, special event, FHE, fireside or family party?
Again, just email me and ask. I'm already booking dates to perform for small family gatherings around the holidays and don't mind doing smaller events. If you have something you'd like me to come to, let's talk and see if we can work something out.

Thanks again to everyone who took the survey!

2009-06-05T23:35:00.002-06:00

I sent out a survey to my fan email list earlier this week trying to decide where to focus my music. As of tonight 58 people have taken the survey. The answers are all over the place, but it's looking more and more like I should focus on producing an LDS Piano Solo Album on a CD and make it available as an mp3 download as well. A huge group of fans also wants me to focus on publishing a 3rd LDS Piano solo book.

So, I have my work cut out for me. I'm going to try and get into a studio in the next few months to record a few songs and hopefully I'll have a new book ready to hit stores early this fall.

I still need more feedback, so if you'd like to,
Click Here to take survey

I'm going to try and post more results from the survey later next week. I'm planning to post the results on my blog and keep everyone updated as the two projects progress.

2009-03-09T22:41:00.002-06:00

I received this email from Becky Carter and I wish I could have been there to see the performance. I know that I have a note on my arrangement of Called to Serve that says the arrangement is not appropriate for Sacrement meeting, but I suppose if you have Primary kids singing to it in Stake Conference, it might be all right!

Thank you Becky for sharing! If any of you have other fun stories like this, please share them!

Hi Jason,
I just wanted to tell you what I did yesterday. Hope it's OK .......I'm the Stake Primary Music Leader and I was asked to have all the Primary children sing in stake conference. Well it was yesterday. I put together an arrangement that started with your "Called to Serve" accompaniment to the children singing the first verse of that hymn. It then went into "Holding Hands Around the World" and then finished with "Armies of Helaman" and I added parts of your "Called to Serve" at the end and also intertwined the other two songs. It was just the COOLEST thing you have ever heard!! All those little Primary kids standing tall and "rocking out" to "Called to Serve". I was complimented over and over about how wonderful the arrangement was and of course I told them it was all from YOU....and of course the help of Heavenly Father. But it was just amazing. You'll have to hear it sometime.
Thanks for sharing your talent!!
Becky Carter
Kaysville, UT

Do you deserve it?

2009-02-20T21:50:00.003-07:00

Here's another great thought I think is worth sharing. It is from Seth Godin. If you haven't heard of him, it's definately worth your time to check out his blog. He has some great books he has published as well.

Do you deserve it?

Do you deserve the luck you've been handed? The place you were born, the education you were given, the job you've got? Do you deserve your tribe, your customer base, your brand?

Not at all. “Deserve” is such a loaded word. Most of us don’t deserve the great opportunities we have, or the lucky breaks that got us here.

The question shouldn’t be, “do you deserve it.” I think it should be, “what are you going to do with it now that you've got it?"

2009-02-20T21:41:00.002-07:00

I ran across the following story on SAMBA blog. Here's an excerpt of a story from Zig Ziglar today. I love the message.

Give them what they want (Hint: They want the best)

I was amazed to find the story of "Gloomy Gus" the shoeshine man in Zig Ziglar's "Secrets."

Seeing Zig approach the shoeshine station, Gloomy Gus asks "Well, I suppose you want the regular shine?" (as opposed to the "Best shine" or "Spit shine" etc.)

Zig-(incredulously) "I can't believe you said that! Why would you offer me the Regular instead of the Best?"

Gloomy- "People don't pay for the Best on rainy days because their shoes get muddied up later."

Zig- "It seems to me that if the Best shine gives the best protection and your business is down on rainy days, you would work awfully hard to increase the sales of your Best shine."

It sinks in a little for Gloomy. Zig gives him a few words that improve his sales pitch and Gloomy feels better.

The lesson behind the story woke me up. Why do we sell (or pitch, or talk about) anything less than the best for our clients and consumers? Why do we assume they don't want the best for themselves?

I think it's because we're scared. We're scared that we're not delivering the best and that consumers know it. We stretch to sell (reluctantly) because we don't believe we're delivering value to the customer.

What if we switched our framework slightly? What if we realized it's about confidence, yes, but also about the inherent belief that we're delivering something of value to the person; that we're helping them acquire something they need. That we're not only selling them something, we're helping them by selling them something.

Gloomy's assumption that people wouldn't want to pay for the Best shine undermined his profession, his respect for himself, and the respect for the customers. He should have understood that people want the best for themselves and they're willing to pay for it. Why undermine it when they aren't?

When you think about it this way, it feels lovely to want to sell. To want to get the other's permission and give them what they want.

How often have we sold to people with a lackadaisical attitude, a less-than-enthusiastic pitch, not believing what we're saying? How many times have we decreased our chances because we assume someone wouldn't want the best for themselves?

Tonioli Music

2009-02-19T22:17:00.001-07:00

Dust off that Keyboard

2009-02-19T22:09:00.002-07:00

Over the last month and a half we have been working to finish our basement. It's been very difficult to find any time to sit down and write any music. It seems like I have spent most of my weekends working on framing, wiring and laying tile.

I finally got a chance to sit down and play through a few songs the other day and couldn't believe how much dust builds up when you do drywall. Anyway, I hope to start writing more music again. I have about 4 songs completed for my next LDS Piano Solo book. I hope to send a few demo songs to all of my fans soon. I love getting feedback from all of you, please keep the comments coming in! And please tell your friends about my music!

Thanksgiving Day

2008-11-27T13:15:00.002-07:00

I have many things to be thankful for, but more than anything I am thankful for my family. I have an amazing wife who puts up with a third kid in the house and always does it with a smile. I have two kids that help us remember what is most important in life. They have taught me more than I think I’ll ever teach them. It’s hard to believe that Kallie was born two years ago and continues to learn and grow more each day. Tyler continues to grow into a "little man" and constantly amazes me with his excitement for learning and the maturity he usually shows by taking care of his little sister.

I am also thankful for such wonderful parents and in laws who are close by and always willing to help watch the kids.

I am grateful for the good health we have all enjoyed over the past year, for a job that I love and the opportunity it gives me each day to help many people.

I am also grateful for the freedom and safety which we enjoy in our country. I am thankful for the opportunity to worship as we please and for the chance we have to all be together again as a family in the next life if we make good choices and decisions.

New Blog Created

2008-11-23T12:01:00.000-07:00

11/13/08 10:45 PM
View Original Post
New Website Launched
My sister and webmaster Jennifer worked extremely hard and was able to launch my new website late last night. She did a great job and there are now mp3s available to listen to on the site. We are working hard so that you will also be able to download some of the mp3s as well. In addition to the new site, 2 days ago I started running advertisements on facebook to increase traffic to the site. The internet is amazing... Right now I am bringing in about 40 people to my site per day that have never heard of my music In just 2 days of running ads, I have had two requests to do concerts and book orders continue to come in. I am adding new stores almost daily, which is awesome! If you know of music stores that should carry my books, please email me the name of the store so that I can call them. Jason

10/27/08 11:45 PM
View Original Post
The New Book is Here!
My new book Favorite LDS Piano Solos by Jason Tonioli is now available to purchase at www.tonioli.com. The first day I was able to ship over $1,700 in books to music stores across the country. This wouldn't have been possible without the help of friends, family and fans. Thank you! I'd love to hear any feedback you have about the new book!

9/18/08 1:49 AM
View Original Post
Original CD release now available for download
I just finished uploading all of the original songs from my first recorded album, Wedding Day. This album was burned on my home computer back in 2000 and I sold around 100 copies. When I recorded most of these songs, I did it through a tape recorder and old stereo so the sound quality isn't great, but its not awful. I thought it would be fun to share them with everyone and make them free. When I come up with the $5,000 or so needed to record a new album in the studio, and have a quality recording to share, then I might consider charging. Until then, enjoy the music I've posted and feel free to share it with your friends and family. Jason

9/13/08 10:52 PM
View Original Post
Book #4 Going to the Printer this week!
I'm sending book #4 to the printer this week. It's been a long time coming! If you'd like to preorder the book, I'm selling it at a discount until the books arrive.