"Noodle, Poodle, Doodle"

So ... here it is 4:26am and the cat won't leave me alone!

Really - TC ('Theater Cat') has definately gotten over his fear of strange sounds and keeps parking himself either over the keys or inside the piano at exactly the most critical moments in the recording process.

Aside from the problems with the cat - this piece is a killer!

Now that I am on the other side of 50, my fingers just don't flex like they used to! What was I thinking when I wrote this? What are my neighbors thinking when I start banging on the piano at 3:30 in the morning? Is the center of the universe really a giant Tootsie-Roll?

So ... here is "Noodle,Poodle,Doodle." (Yes, I know the title stinks. Again.)

Somewhere in my damaged brain I decided that "Yankee Doodle" and the 11th century church chant "Dies Irae" went together. (Death to the Yankee? Some of my Southern in-laws might agree!)

Actually, to tell you the truth - it feels great to be challenged like this. The piece is chock full of lots of technical problems for the pianist to solve - tricky and odd-placed grace-notes, flying scales and (my favorite) alternating cascading chords in fourths. (Somehow my hands just do those chords. As a pianist I always found those easy to do. I stumbled over scales for years, but flying chords and octaves I could do all day long - although I do have a tendency to rip off the fingernails of my pinkies. Must learn to judge distances on the keys better!)

I even managed to get "Shave and a Hair Cut" in at the end.

As hard as it was to play - I really loved doing this piece!

Again, many thanks to all who dropped by this blog to listen. It is much appreciated. If you are interested, the print versions of these pieces are available at http://www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html.

I hope that you enjoy it!

Robert Ian Winstin
www.robertianwinstin.com
www.numusicdirect.com

robert@robertianwinstin.com