Amy Mitani

Dr. Bob Lawrence (00:01.914)
Amy Mitani from Japan. I...

Amy Mitani (00:04.906)
Don't.

Amy Mitani (00:09.814)
Dr. Lawrence and Jazz Piano Skills, my favorite place to be.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (00:15.33)
Oh, thank you, Amy. I cannot believe here we are finally, after all these years, here we are. This is long overdue, long overdue, and I am thrilled to death that you are joining me today on Jazz Panel Skills, because we got a ton to talk about. Yes, we do.

Amy Mitani (00:31.646)
Yes, I'm very honored. Thank you for having me.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (00:36.518)
Oh my gosh, it's like I said, long overdue, Amy. So look, you know, we got so much, like I said, so much to talk about. But you know what I want to talk about first? Because I've known you now for a long time, but there's so much about you that I don't know, right? I do know that you're from Japan. I know you're this awesome professional pianist, classical jazz. I know this kind of information, but I want you to share with me and Jazz Piano Skills listeners

I want you to wind back the clock a little bit, go back to your childhood in Japan, and how I want you to talk about your family life, how you got into music, where your parents musical siblings musical. I'm going to turn the microphone over to you, Amy, and share with us your life. I cannot wait.

Amy Mitani (01:26.638)
Thank you. So I was born in a small town outside of Sendai, Japan, which is a northern part of Japan. And my mom told me there were no kids in our neighborhood. So she signed me up for Yamaha group class for kids. My parents are not musicians. She was just looking for friends for me. So she... Yes.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:45.772)
Okay.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:52.11)
So it was a Yamaha piano class? Okay, great, okay.

Amy Mitani (01:55.542)
group class. I was two years and 10 months old. So I don't remember anything about it. But it seems like it was lots of like rhythm clapping, singing in solfège, playing on electronic, which I haven't seen in the US. But in Asian countries like Yamaha and maybe Kawaii

Amy Mitani (02:25.918)
with one octave of foot keys.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (02:32.226)
Were they like miniature keys? Are they miniature keys for children, like small keys? Or full size? Oh, okay.

Amy Mitani (02:36.35)
It's like a keyboard, two layers, not full side. Two layers, like one layer for right hand, another layer for left hand, and one octave for your left foot to play bass. I don't think we did the bass, but I started with that, and then my parents bought a house in Sendai, so we moved when I was four years old or so.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (02:46.223)
Oh wow.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (02:51.03)
Wow.

Amy Mitani (03:06.73)
So I continued with the Yamaha group class. And when I was turning first grader, they asked me if I wanna go towards piano private lessons or electronic private lessons. So I picked piano and then my grandparents bought me a upright piano. So that and then... Yes.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (03:29.804)
Nice. Grandma and grandpa coming through. Grandma and grandpa. Awesome.

Amy Mitani (03:36.146)
And then my sister is two years younger than me. She did the group class too. And then she didn't wanna compete with me. So she chose electron. And she was playing all the pop music, some jazzy music, improvising, composing, and she won several competitions. So she was doing really good. I was doing a very serious piano lessons.

My brother is five years younger than me, and then he hated the piano group classes. He was crying that he didn't wanna go. He wanted to play baseball. So he quit. So he didn't continue. And then as a third grader, we found a private studio teacher in our neighborhood.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (04:15.118)
Of course.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (04:21.526)
Oh sure, yes.

Amy Mitani (04:34.418)
And then we heard she was very strict and she was preparing students to come to Juilliard in New York. So we switched the teacher. And then as a nine-year-old student, she asked me, Amy, do you wanna major in piano performance when you go to college? And I was like, how the hell I know? I don't know if I wanna go to college or not.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (05:00.491)
You're nine years old.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (05:04.874)
you might want to play baseball

Amy Mitani (05:09.622)
But she said, it's gonna be too late. Like when I'm in high school, if I say I wanna major in piano, and it's gonna be too late. So I'm gonna prepare you anyways. So I had two lessons per week. One was a private lesson, just a regular piano lesson. And another one was a group class with maybe five or six kids. We did lots of rhythmic dictation, melodic dictation.

harmonization like recognizing chords. We sang in suffrage and somehow in German. I don't know why. So we did that. I did that since third grade and until ninth grader.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (05:49.944)
I'm like, what the fuck?

Amy Mitani (05:59.178)
And then in middle school, I was playing volleyball and I thought I could go to Olympics. My piano teacher didn't like it because she thought I was gonna hurt my fingers and they're not good for piano playing. So she asked me to quit volleyball. And at the same time, I was telling her that I wanna play Chopin because I love Chopin music.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (06:07.682)
I love it.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (06:13.995)
Yep, right, sure.

Amy Mitani (06:27.786)
But she said, your technique is not good enough until you finish all the Bach inventions, or all 15 of them, memorize them, and all the symphonies, 15 of them, you are not ready to play Chopin. So I was like, okay, I quit piano. I'm done, I'm gonna play volleyball and quit piano.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (06:49.111)
I'm done!

Dr. Bob Lawrence (06:54.616)
There's a lot more American in you than you think.

Amy Mitani (06:57.538)
Yeah.

Amy Mitani (07:01.334)
So as a ninth grader, I quit piano, but I was playing for fun. I was like, I can play Chopin by myself. I don't need a teacher. And then I continued playing volleyball. I realized I couldn't go to Olympics in high school. Five, one.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (07:10.756)
You... you... you went right...

Dr. Bob Lawrence (07:20.438)
because how tall are you any come on now yeah you're not going to live because i got and i got news for you that it's a great dream but that ain't gonna happen

Amy Mitani (07:27.202)
I'm sorry.

Amy Mitani (07:30.735)
I realized that in high school.

Amy Mitani (07:35.526)
And then in high school, they just started a program like going to America to experience like American high school and real Christmas for three weeks, only for three week program. And somehow I got into the program. They brought me, so that was my very first experience in the US.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (07:35.673)
Oh.

Amy Mitani (08:04.25)
in Sedan, Kansas. Only 200 people population. So I wait there.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (08:13.278)
Oh my goodness gracious. So you come from Japan to Kansas. Oh my gosh.

Amy Mitani (08:18.57)
Yes, but like I enjoyed so much. I couldn't understand English. My English was horrible. I went to high school. I was looking at all the girls wearing makeup in high school, like, and then we, because my host family was Christian, I went to church. They asked me to play piano. So I...

played some hymns and they were so happy, like praised me. And I was, whoa, I want to come back to America someday. And after three weeks, I went to, went back to Japan. I finished high school. I told my parents, I want to go to US. I want to study in the US. They were like, hell no, you're Japanese.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (09:06.686)
You know, I'm getting the kind of, maybe it's just me, but I'm getting the kind of impression here that the Japanese people are pretty direct to the point when they talk, you know? Yes or no, or that's it.

Amy Mitani (09:22.986)
No, my parents didn't say, if you do this maybe, no. They were like, no. No way, no way. So I was like, I was thinking, like, okay, I'm gonna save up money by myself. I don't need my parents' support.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (09:23.479)
Oh

Dr. Bob Lawrence (09:27.562)
No way. It's not up for discussion. You're not going. Well, something happened.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (09:41.058)
So you started making plans to run away from home, is what you're...

Amy Mitani (09:44.39)
Yes, exactly.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (09:50.203)
Oh, you're spunky. You're sp-

Amy Mitani (09:51.134)
Why, why are they there? Like I was still playing piano for fun, but I didn't take any lessons.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (09:57.282)
So the game plan was save up a lot of money in the middle of the night, sneak out, get on a plane, come to America. Your parents would wake up, go into your bedroom and you would not be there. Is that correct? Was that the game plan? Okay.

Amy Mitani (10:06.782)
It's very close to that.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (10:11.502)
I'm going to go ahead and turn it off.

Amy Mitani (10:12.566)
So I was working, working. I didn't say much about coming to the US. I was saving up money and then privately. And then at that time, no internet. So I started sending letters to English as a second language schools in the US.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (10:22.03)
privately, secretly.

Amy Mitani (10:36.326)
And then I was accepted. I applied for student visa.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (10:40.746)
women and this is all about your mom and dad knowing right now the

Amy Mitani (10:44.578)
No. I was like sending letters to the US.

Amy Mitani (10:53.112)
And then I think that...

Dr. Bob Lawrence (10:53.118)
uh... did your parents that do your parents know where you are right now

Amy Mitani (11:00.252)
They both passed away so they are up here knowing I'm here.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (11:03.252)
Okay, okay, okay.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (11:09.599)
Oh my goodness gracious.

Amy Mitani (11:11.81)
So I think I told my parents like a month before my departure, like I got airplane tickets, I got student visa, I'm going to Louisville, Idaho. And then my parents are like, what? You don't have money. We are not going to send you money. So I was like, I saved up money. I'm going to go. So I came.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (11:39.458)
Sounds like you sent your parents to an early grave here. I mean, they're all worried about you. You're just, you're just.

Amy Mitani (11:45.062)
Yeah, like they were crying. My dad was like, you are Japanese. You are my daughter. You were born in Japanese family. How come you wanna go to US so much? Like he was crying. But I came and I...

Dr. Bob Lawrence (12:00.144)
Yeah, I imagine.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (12:05.61)
And how old and how old are you at this time you came at how. Wow OK.

Amy Mitani (12:09.339)
23.

And then my English was horrible. I didn't know what teacher was saying, what the homework was, but I was staying in English as a second language school. My goal was to learn English in one year and experience all the events in the US, especially events like Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Christmas. Yeah, all the holidays.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (12:36.594)
Okay, oh wow, all the holidays.

Yes.

Amy Mitani (12:41.906)
And then guess what my first job was in the US. You can't guess.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (12:49.61)
Let me see, your first job, you worked construction.

Amy Mitani (12:57.058)
Ah, good.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (12:58.386)
building houses.

Amy Mitani (13:00.912)
Good guess!

Dr. Bob Lawrence (13:02.962)
Am I close?

Amy Mitani (13:05.296)
Yeah, like I climbed up trees to pick up cherries.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (13:08.459)
Are you kidding?

Dr. Bob Lawrence (13:12.374)
No way. So you.

Amy Mitani (13:16.304)
That was my first jump.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (13:19.214)
climbing up trees to pick cherries. How in the world, okay, wait, how does this even happen? How does this even happen?

Amy Mitani (13:22.428)
Yes, sir!

Amy Mitani (13:29.322)
So I was at the English as a second language school. So there were lots of students from other countries, right? And there were Peruvian boys in the classroom. They asked me, hey, we are gonna go make some money this weekend. Do you wanna come with me? So I was like, yeah, heck yeah. I need to make money. So I rode on the backside of the pickup truck with them.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (13:37.325)
Okay, okay.

Amy Mitani (13:58.258)
And they went to the farm and climbed up the trees and picking cherries.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (14:02.69)
did you know did you know what did you know when they said to come make money did they tell you what you're gonna be doing okay that you're gonna be picking cherries you said okay I'm game I'll do that I'll pick cherries okay

Amy Mitani (14:07.806)
Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yes. Yeah. So that was my first job. And then, so I said.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (14:21.305)
Yeah, usually musicians look for a gig. Picking cherries is not the first thing that comes to mind, but okay, I'm with you so far. I'm loving it.

Amy Mitani (14:31.922)
I didn't know if I was going to be a musician or not. And then my English was getting better. I was like, I want to get a bachelor's degree. And what should I major in? And I was like, I can play piano. Maybe I can get a music degree. So I ended up coming to University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in Chickasha, Oklahoma.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (14:35.28)
Okay

Dr. Bob Lawrence (14:52.233)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (15:03.003)
you're all over the you're all over the you're all over the map a b i can see why your practice i guess you are your parents had concerns you're just all over the

Amy Mitani (15:09.1)
Because they...

I'm gonna go to bed.

Because they gave me scholarships, like they gave me music scholarship, and then I could live in a dorm for free. And I, yeah, I knew my parents wouldn't send me money. So I was like, yeah, that's a good deal. And then they had a very good professors, very friendly, nice people. So I went there. Now I'm a majoring in piano performance. And then I told my professor,

Dr. Bob Lawrence (15:18.018)
Okay?

Dr. Bob Lawrence (15:23.026)
Wow, okay, good deal.

Amy Mitani (15:44.346)
Anne Gibson. She's a professor at TCU right now. And I told her that I love performing, but I don't want to teach. And she was like, Amy, it's very challenging to make a living as a performer. You should learn how to teach. So she assigned me maybe three young students and then she would sit in the same room.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (15:49.068)
Oh wow.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (16:03.949)
Yeah, good advice.

Amy Mitani (16:13.842)
And then she taught me everything, what to say, not to say, how to demonstrate, what to do and everything. So she helped me become a teacher. So that was my how to learn, learn how to teach piano 101. Yeah, it started there. Then at the same time in music theory class,

Dr. Bob Lawrence (16:19.061)
Mmm.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (16:23.752)
Wow.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (16:34.637)
Wow, very good. Excellent.

Amy Mitani (16:42.774)
Dan Hanson was my idol. Like he could play drums, pianos, and he previously he was always playing in a hotel lounge or something. So he played Misty during the music theory class. It was my very first time listening to Misty. I fell in love with the harmony. I didn't know what it was, but like.

Whoa, like it really touched my heart. And then I felt like I really wanna learn how to play like that. And then for graduation, he suggested me to play in a trio. So I was on the piano, Dr. Dan was on drums, and there was a saxophone player who was graduating at the same time. And I had so much fun.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (17:16.226)
Wow.

Amy Mitani (17:41.434)
So much fun. Like piano playing is maybe everybody feels this way. Mostly for classical piano, it's very lonely. You practice by yourself, you perform by yourself, and then you don't get to play with other people.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (17:56.512)
That's right.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (18:02.366)
Yeah, right. It's a different world.

Amy Mitani (18:04.426)
So I was, yeah. So I enjoyed that very much. And then I finished college and I was supposed to go back to Japan. And then my parents are waiting for me to come back. So I stopped by in Europe before I went back to Japan.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (18:27.666)
Oh, here we go. Here we go. Now. Now we're in Europe. Okay.

Amy Mitani (18:33.506)
So I backpacked 11 countries in six weeks. I had a U-rail pass and I stayed at the youth hostels. I didn't book any hotels. Like I hopped on a train, ended up some city. And my, yeah, my goal was to visit.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (18:53.666)
Found a place to sleep.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (18:58.949)
You were already living the life of a jazz musician right now.

Amy Mitani (19:02.198)
Hahaha

Amy Mitani (19:06.146)
So I didn't know much about jazz at that time, and all the jazz musicians are in the US. So my goal was to visit all the famous composers, birthplaces, conservatories, the houses they lived, churches they played for. So, still now I'm glad I did that because when I talk to my students, I can talk about the composers.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (19:21.09)
Wow, wow.

Amy Mitani (19:37.083)
a lot.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (19:37.226)
Right, in a much more intimate way, right? I mean, yeah, that's fantastic.

Amy Mitani (19:40.594)
Yes, yes. And it's still, okay, there was no cell phone at that time. So I, maybe once in two weeks or so, I would call my parents from payphone. I'm in Spain, such and such, I don't know where to go next. Ha ha.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (19:59.778)
Did your dad still say, I'm still not sending any money, I don't care where you are, I'm not sending any. You could be in Spain, Oklahoma, Europe, I don't care, I ain't sending no money, come home.

Amy Mitani (20:05.192)
Thank you, dear Alex!

They were screaming at me like that. Just come home, please.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (20:17.649)
Oh my gosh.

Amy Mitani (20:19.153)
So I had a fabulous experience for six weeks. I went back home finally and in my hometown. In Japan, you live with your parents until you get married. So I went back to my parents' house.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (20:34.813)
What age are you now, Amy?

Amy Mitani (20:36.927)
26.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (20:38.698)
And you, okay, so you're 26. You've basically, you got a degree in music, piano performance, you've been a rebel on the road, you know, kind of a hobo, you know, different places at different times. You don't even know where the heck you're gonna sleep. You're just, I don't even know how you're getting where you're getting at this point. You're just getting there. So now you're 26, you're back home and you move back home with mom and dad. Mom and dad must be overjoyed.

Amy Mitani (21:06.113)
Yes.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (21:08.87)
right? Okay. And you're thinking, wait a minute, I'm moving back home. I'm going to be in this house until I get married. So, the next thing you, I'm assuming the next thing you're, I'm assuming the next thing that's coming, you are now putting together a plan to find a husband. You're saving up some money in case he doesn't have any money, right? You're, you're, am I, am I, am I right? I mean, is this the plan now? You're there, you're like, I got, I have to find

Amy Mitani (21:09.128)
Yes.

Amy Mitani (21:16.629)
Yeah.

Amy Mitani (21:31.845)
You make me cry.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (21:38.782)
I'm 26. I ain't staying here, you know. Am I right?

Amy Mitani (21:42.794)
Oh my gosh.

I was not gonna talk about my ex-husband about the yet.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (21:54.586)
Sorry, man. Sorry, Amy, I didn't mean to bring this up, but, you know, this is like a novel. I got to know this. I'm watching a movie here. I got to get all the details. Oh, my gosh. Okay, so what happened? Just spill the beans. What happened? We all want to know.

Amy Mitani (21:58.11)
My students, my listeners.

Amy Mitani (22:06.004)
UGH!

Amy Mitani (22:10.614)
So, okay, okay. So in my hometown, I was teaching piano and English, actually, my English got better, but I was crying in my room that I missed US so much. And then my parents didn't understand why my daughter is crying. She's finally back home. And then like you said, yes, I found a husband.

Who could bring me back to the US?

Dr. Bob Lawrence (22:49.194)
was that the criteria with i was that one of the questions that you asked your future husband who's gonna be recs as man was that one of the questions like are you planning on going to the u.s.

Amy Mitani (22:49.242)
Okay.

Amy Mitani (22:53.631)
Ehh!

Amy Mitani (22:57.078)
Oh, I almost was not going to mention, but at the same time, I started taking jazz piano lessons in Japan.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (23:06.698)
Okay, okay, good, all right.

Amy Mitani (23:08.882)
And then I asked this Mr. Mochi, he taught me so much about life lessons. I asked him, should I get married or I should not get married? And then he said, like in Japan, like we are supposed to, you are supposed to get married before age 25.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (23:31.714)
So you're already like, whoa. Yeah.

Amy Mitani (23:33.658)
Yeah, yeah. So he was like, you may get a divorce, but just get married. He's a jazz pianist.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (23:40.811)
Hahaha

Dr. Bob Lawrence (23:45.006)
He's a jazz pianist. So wait a minute. So wait. So the advice that he gives you, Mr. Jazz Piano Guy, gives you the advice, you know what? Go ahead, get married. Get back to the US. You probably end up in a divorce, but who cares? Go ahead and get married. And you said, yeah, I think that's a good idea. OK.

Amy Mitani (23:47.584)
as an experience.

Amy Mitani (24:00.29)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Amy Mitani (24:05.238)
Yeah.

Amy Mitani (24:09.39)
Okay, then I came back. My goal was to pursue master's degree.

And then I got a divorce.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (24:18.602)
What state? What, what, oh, wait a minute, you got a divorce. Wait a minute, okay, so you get, wait a minute, you just got to the states. I mean, for heaven's sake, well, how long were you married? Three months?

Amy Mitani (24:22.354)
Yeah.

Amy Mitani (24:30.044)
Well, actually four years. Yeah. I don't want to remember that, but yeah. Okay. I was in California and then I visited.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (24:31.978)
Oh, four years! Okay, well that's pretty good.

I'm sorry.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (24:43.938)
So wait a minute, where did you meet ex-husband? Was it ex-husband and he was Japanese?

Amy Mitani (24:49.502)
Yes, he was Japanese.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (24:50.942)
And what did he do? What did he do for a living? If you tell me cherry picking, I'm going to just...

Amy Mitani (24:55.874)
Oh my gosh. Now he's a commercial airline pilot in Japan.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (25:01.202)
Oh, but was he a pilot when you met him? Was he? No. Okay.

Amy Mitani (25:04.858)
Not yet. So he was pursuing his dream. And then he had to arm flight hours. So he was doing that in California.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (25:10.025)
Okay.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (25:17.17)
Okay, so now you come to, you're with Mr. X husband coming to United States of America. Where did you land? What state? I'm curious. Oh, California. Okay, great.

Amy Mitani (25:26.626)
California. Because I had a friend from Idaho period. He was working for like a computer industry in the Bay Area. And he was living in a huge condo medium, which his company provided. And he had like three or four bedroom house. So he was like, come live with me. So we.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (25:44.59)
Okay.

Amy Mitani (25:55.55)
We were in California a little bit. And then my dream was always like to get a master's degree. So I started searching schools. And then I ended up going to Portland, Oregon for my graduate school.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (26:13.258)
Wow. So what school in Portland, what school did you go to? Portland. And so how'd you end up picking Portland State University? Jazz program? Was there a good classical program? Okay.

Amy Mitani (26:15.902)
Portland State University.

Amy Mitani (26:23.526)
Not just yet. So I visited some schools in California and also Portland. And then I talked to the music department, like piano pedagogy teacher that I wanna get my master's degree, but my parents are not gonna send me money. I don't have that much money. How can I get my degree? And then she said.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (26:51.165)
So, okay, wait, back up a second, because I want to hear this, but back up a second. Did mom and dad approve of the ex-husband? When you came home and you said you got a husband, had they met him before? You just came in and said, no, this is my...

Amy Mitani (27:07.626)
No, yeah, they met him. Yeah, yeah. They didn't like him much, but.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (27:09.266)
Okay, okay, so they knew him. They approved. They liked him.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (27:14.967)
Ha ha!

Dr. Bob Lawrence (27:18.358)
They didn't like you much, but you said, what the heck, I haven't listened to my parents since I was two and a half. Why should I start now, right? Okay, good. All right, okay, so now we're in Portland. Let's get back to Portland.

Amy Mitani (27:18.806)
They couldn't do it.

Amy Mitani (27:23.159)
Yeah

Amy Mitani (27:32.278)
Yes, so I'm alone in Portland. So the piano pedagogy professor said, I'm going to train you to become a teaching assistant so that I didn't have to pay out of state tuition and graduate teaching assistant. So she trained us, me and another girl from Belarus.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (27:50.014)
Yeah, wonderful, like a graduate assistant. Oh, fantastic. Yeah, great idea.

Amy Mitani (28:01.794)
to teach piano class for music majors and music fundamentals class for non-music majors. So she was really good. She videotaped us. She showed me, okay, don't point this way. Look at that way. Say this way. And then I became a teaching assistant. So I did that for two years. And I had a piano performance teacher.

piano private class teacher, Dr. Carol Rich. She was very nice to me. And then she hooked me up with another piano student to form a piano duo team. So that was a lot of fun. And then because she was a pianist for Oregon Ballet, Oregon Symphony, and she had a chamber music performances, I was her.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (28:47.777)
Nice.

Amy Mitani (29:00.854)
Peace, Tuna.

So I would go to her gigs, sit next to her, and then turning pages, watching how she was performing. So I learned a lot.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (29:13.986)
better than picking cherries i'd say that it's better than picking cherries

Amy Mitani (29:17.189)
I think so!

Amy Mitani (29:22.61)
And then I got my master's degree. Then I needed a working visa sponsorship because at that time I was still having student visa. Graduating means I'm gonna lose my student visa. And then the music school in Cupertino, California offered my working visa to teach there. So I moved to Cupertino.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (29:25.581)
Wow.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (29:36.428)
Right.

Amy Mitani (29:52.655)
The music school was on Apple Computer Campus.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (29:57.605)
are you still married at this time or has the pilot flown the coup?

Amy Mitani (29:59.922)
No, no. Before Poland, I'm already divorced.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (30:05.29)
Oh, okay, he's already flown the coop, he's out. Okay.

Amy Mitani (30:10.138)
In California, I was done with him. I moved before.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (30:14.403)
Well, you didn't need him, right? I mean, you got back to America, dumped the extra baggage. All right, so now we're in Cupertino, California.

Amy Mitani (30:18.343)
You're right.

Amy Mitani (30:28.082)
Yes, so I was having, I was thinking how many students I had. So I had like 43 private students and six group classes per week. So I was teaching a lot. Mm-hmm, a lot of teaching. And then at the same time, I was a member of Palo Alto Two Piano Club because I really enjoyed it.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (30:38.882)
Wow.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (30:44.136)
Wow. That's a lot of teaching.

Amy Mitani (30:57.282)
piano duo works. I had three partners I weekly practice with and we had monthly meetings, monthly performances. So I did that. I was a pianist in orchestra pit for palato players, which is a local musical production with local musicians. And then at the same time I was dancing.

salsa and then I was always listening to salsa bands how pianists were playing and then I was okay

Dr. Bob Lawrence (31:35.958)
Wait a minute, back up a second. Dancing salsa, how did the dancing salsa, I don't, I mean, how did that come into, did you meet a dancer or what the heck is the deal here? How did this happen?

Amy Mitani (31:45.746)
Okay, so in Portland, my friend took me to salsa dancing for the very first time in my life. And I fell in love with beat and rhythm. Like you always talk about the rhythm and beat.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (32:00.97)
Yeah, right, right.

Amy Mitani (32:04.33)
And then I felt like I will not learn how to dance. So I was taking classes and then at first for fun, I took salsa dance lessons. So I would go out dancing Saturday night and there is a live band playing and there's a pianist, but they play so differently than classical music.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (32:29.987)
Very.

Amy Mitani (32:31.506)
So in San Francisco, I was watching like five or six different Latin pianists play and I was checking their technique and all the kind of stuff and I picked Maestro Christian Tumalan to give me lessons.

And then my life changed after that. I cannot imagine not being met with Christian. Like my life would be so boring right now. So I started taking lessons for fun. And then Christian was like, Amy, you already know all the scales. You already have technique.

you should start playing with a band. I was like, with a band? No, no, this is just for fun. But he pushed me to become a Latin pianist, little by little. And he even went shopping with me to guitar center to get all the equipments I needed, like keyboard to speaker, monitor, everything.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (33:31.574)
Very good. All right.

Amy Mitani (33:47.418)
And he helped me dealing with all the Latin band situations. So I started playing with the Latin band and then that is my true passion right now.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (33:53.931)
Right, right.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (34:00.446)
Yeah, which you do to this very day you play with Latin bands. And we'll talk about, we'll talk more about that here in a little bit. But yeah, that's fabulous. That's unbelievable.

Amy Mitani (34:04.306)
Uh huh.

Amy Mitani (34:09.562)
Yes. And then later Christian won a Grammy. So he's a Grammy pianist. And then when he formed a big band, Pacific Mambo Orchestra, they were having rehearsals on Monday nights at salsa club in San Francisco. I would go to rehearsals. I would stand next to Christian, watching him play.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (34:15.917)
Wow.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (34:36.59)
Alright.

Amy Mitani (34:37.886)
And the Timbales guy was Santana's Timbales.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (34:41.843)
Oh wow, wow.

Amy Mitani (34:44.306)
And then all good musicians, they gave me advice and they were like, Amy, keep playing, keep trying. You're gonna get better, don't give up. So they really encouraged me. So that was a very huge experience for me.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (35:03.998)
Yeah, well, like you said, life changing. Yeah, right.

Amy Mitani (35:06.534)
Life-changing, yeah. I cannot imagine just playing classical music.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (35:11.474)
Yeah. So you got this whole classical world going on. Now you're salsa dancing and now you're playing in salsa bands, right? This is all in California there. So when did you finish your... Is this after your master's degree? This all took place after your master's degree. Okay. All right. So, okay. So then what? What comes after that? Because I'm curious how you eventually end up in Dallas. So, okay.

Amy Mitani (35:25.247)
Master's. Mm-hmm.

Amy Mitani (35:32.703)
And then...

Amy Mitani (35:37.206)
So I was doing lots of music, like musicals, to Latin bands, to two piano clubs. I was enjoying my life, but I was like, am I gonna die alone? Am I gonna end up in a retirement house by myself? Maybe I should.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (35:50.054)
Oh boy, here we go.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (35:55.734)
Yeah, because there ain't nobody dancing salsa in those retirement house.

Amy Mitani (36:00.522)
Maybe I should find a partner. I met my fabulous husband, current husband, in San Francisco area, and then eventually his job transferred us to Dallas.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (36:04.574)
Uh oh, here we go!

Dr. Bob Lawrence (36:20.978)
Okay, your fabulous husband, what does he do?

Amy Mitani (36:23.094)
Mm-hmm.

Amy Mitani (36:27.514)
He plays guitar and trumpet for fun. He's not professional, but he, yeah, he had his own band back then. And then his profession was a producer to make like apps. Yeah, so.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (36:32.983)
So he's a musician. Yeah. Oh, OK, there you go.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (36:44.938)
Okay. So he's a no computer thing then with apps and okay, fabulous. So how did you meet him? Through the online. Okay. Very good. So you thought, Okay, I gotta go find I gotta go find a husband. I'm going online. This should this should take about 24 hours.

Amy Mitani (36:48.923)
Mm-hmm. Yes.

Online.

Amy Mitani (37:02.225)
Yeah!

Amy Mitani (37:06.16)
Exactly.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (37:11.186)
I'll devote 24 hours to this and then I'm back to salsa dancing and playing jazz. Right? Okay, got it. All right. So you meet him online, you snag him, and then you guys get married. He's a musician, which is cool. He plays. So and his job brings him to Dallas. So you can, and so there's, that's why you're here. How fabulous is this? Right? So how long you've been in Dallas now?

Amy Mitani (37:14.462)
I'm sorry.

Amy Mitani (37:21.151)
Yeah

Amy Mitani (37:28.738)
What is that?

Amy Mitani (37:35.751)
Yes. Ten years?

Dr. Bob Lawrence (37:39.362)
Fabulous.

Amy Mitani (37:40.81)
Yeah, 11 years.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (37:42.222)
Wow. And now you're a professional classical pianist. You have a thriving studio here in Dallas teaching students of all ages. Talk a little bit about that. Talk about your studio and your students.

Amy Mitani (37:52.326)
Mm-hmm.

Amy Mitani (37:59.51)
So I love working with adults. So I currently have 12 adult students. Everybody uses iRioPro. And then 10 students, younger, like school-age students. They also use iRioPro.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (38:06.631)
Fabulous.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (38:12.898)
Good Amy!

Dr. Bob Lawrence (38:17.962)
Right. So are you teaching them mostly classical piano? But if you got them doing I-Real Pro, you have them doing a lot of jazz stuff, especially like the adults, chords, working on chords, changes. Oh, good for you. Excellent. Awesome. That's fabulous.

Amy Mitani (38:27.945)
Mm-hmm.

Amy Mitani (38:32.738)
So adults usually have specific goals, either like they wanna focus on classical or like one student is working on his compositions.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (38:36.279)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (38:39.777)
right?

Dr. Bob Lawrence (38:43.863)
Oh wow.

Amy Mitani (38:45.83)
and then others mixed up everything. Or I tell them, like I give them all the different styles of music and they will find which ones you are, I mean, their favorite is.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (38:57.738)
Right. Okay, so before we get into your studio, before we get into teaching, playing in your salsa bands and stuff, let, so you meet your husband out in California. Did your parents, did your parents have the privilege of meeting your current husband or no? Did they never have a chance to, they did. Okay, and did they like him?

Amy Mitani (39:18.142)
Yes.

Amy Mitani (39:22.39)
They love him a lot better than my first.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (39:28.578)
Well, you hit a home run then. You hit a home run, Amy. That's awesome. Fabulous. Okay. So now, do you, now your brother and sister, they still living in Japan? Okay. And I'm curious, do they still play music? Well, your brother quit music. He was going to be a baseball guy.

Amy Mitani (39:34.539)
Yes.

Amy Mitani (39:39.082)
Yes.

Amy Mitani (39:45.458)
Yeah, yeah. So my brother quit music long time ago as a seven year old or something, but he has two boys. They are very good pianists. One of them was in your class, Utah. Yeah, middle school. So they play, they are very good piano players.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (40:01.768)
i've met him right

Dr. Bob Lawrence (40:09.426)
Excellent. So we'll good. Excellent. So they're doing well and still living in Japan. And here you are in Dallas. So let's you've been here 10 years. And that's how you and I've met through just, you know, interaction here in the in the Dallas area, you know, mutual friends and such. So let's talk a little bit about your teaching. You're like you said, you have adult students, you have kids, they

Amy Mitani (40:25.587)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (40:37.106)
the adults you're right come with very specific goals. Let's talk a little bit about the students that you're working with regards to specifically jazz piano, okay? Are they coming to you, do they already have musical background or are you starting them from scratch? They've already played piano, they have a classical background, but now they wanna play jazz.

Amy Mitani (40:47.554)
Okay.

Amy Mitani (41:00.086)
So some of them, they took lessons as a kid and they didn't play for a long, long time and they wanna come back to it, so they came back with me. Some, I would say like five or six students from scratch, no experience at all. Adult students.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (41:03.837)
Okay.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (41:09.599)
Okay.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (41:18.206)
adult students from scratch and they're saying to you Amy we want to play contemporary styles we want to play like jazz or pop styles or.

Amy Mitani (41:28.086)
Well, yes, a few of them said that they wanna play pop. Some of them, most of them have no specific, like I wanna learn just jazz or just classical or just pop. Like they wanna be able to understand music, how to read or, yeah.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (41:45.995)
Okay.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (41:51.287)
Yeah. Well, let's talk about that then. So how are you working with your adult students? Because I know we have a lot of jazz, piano skills listeners are adults and are trying to figure out how to play jazz. And I'm curious, your balance, your mix of classical music with jazz music, how do you intertwine those two in working?

with your adult students or do you? Can you talk a little bit about that?

Amy Mitani (42:22.354)
Yes. So the a little bit of theory and technique combined. I always introduce five finger patterns first so that they can learn at least major and minor triads from five finger patterns. And they don't have to read notes yet. So I have a like picture, keyboard picture.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (42:35.955)
Okay?

Dr. Bob Lawrence (42:42.37)
Very good.

Amy Mitani (42:51.166)
Okay, C major, five finger pattern, these five notes. C minor, five finger pattern, these five notes on the piano so they can...

Dr. Bob Lawrence (43:00.711)
And that's kind of where you start them, Amy. I mean, an adult student coming to you, you're gonna start them with like little five finger patterns on the piano. Fantastic.

Amy Mitani (43:09.31)
Yes. I talk about like finger numbers, right? And also quarter note gets one beat kind of stuff.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (43:15.231)
right.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (43:20.37)
Okay, what about, yeah, and then what about chords? Where do the chords come in?

Amy Mitani (43:26.25)
So chords, you mean seventh chords or triads?

Dr. Bob Lawrence (43:29.616)
Either one. Triads. How do you start them?

Amy Mitani (43:31.083)
So I.

So triads is coming from five finger pattern, right? So I would tell them to play like. ["Five Finger Pattern"]

Dr. Bob Lawrence (43:47.351)
There you go.

Amy Mitani (43:48.819)
So in the end they are playing a blocked chord. Before the block they are doing arpeggio broken and they know fine.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (43:55.73)
Right. So you tie in, you get them doing a little like melodic work, you know, linear work with scale, five notes, five finger pattern, scale pattern. You tie the harmony into that scale pattern, that scale, harmony scale relationship. You get the triads going. That's fabulous. And are you finding that they take to that pretty quickly, I would assume, right?

Amy Mitani (44:02.23)
Thank you.

Amen.

Amy Mitani (44:09.39)
Mm-hmm. Yes. Yeah.

Amy Mitani (44:19.434)
Some of them, yes.

I always tell them like this is the very basic stuff you will need this forever. You wanna master this first. And then, yeah, there you are.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (44:30.07)
Right? Yes, right.

So do you have, okay, so do you have, you know, one of the things we talked about before we started our interview time together, I'm curious, you know, with adult students, do you intentionally, do you have a game plan where you're actually having them play some classical literature as they're learning, or are you sticking strictly with?

the jazz stuff and if you are bringing in classical literature, what types of classical literature would you use or would you recommend for a jazz pianist to use in developing their skills? That would be beneficial. Or do you?

Amy Mitani (45:10.338)
So in the beginning, I use, it depends on the student, but for adult students or kids, I use method books to introduce like quarter note, half note, whole note, how to read rhythm and then.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (45:22.839)
Yeah.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (45:28.744)
Right.

all the nomenclature readings the musical staff reading the right okay got it right.

Amy Mitani (45:34.71)
Mm-hmm. Note names and all the keys, after five finger pattern scales and stuff. Um, so I don't use same books for everybody. Everyone has different ones. Some students start playing lead sheets quicker than the others.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (45:49.154)
Good. That's right. Good.

Amy Mitani (46:01.314)
Um, so it's totally depends on how they are learning and how they are responding to what I'm suggesting.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (46:05.122)
the student.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (46:09.642)
Yeah. Well, personally speaking, you know, you have such a fabulous background because you're trained as a professional classical pianist. You got into jazz, you got into salsa, and so you've got this incredible range of pianistic skills. So I'm curious, what challenges did you find coming from a traditional classical background, even from a childhood in Japan?

Classical background in your undergraduate school, in your graduate school. Here you are then playing, what was the challenges, you know, getting those two worlds to coexist?

Amy Mitani (46:53.506)
So I thought I had a very good sense of rhythm when I was playing classical only. When I started playing with salsa bands, very good ones in San Francisco, like they would, like singers would look at me when I'm a split second late.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (47:14.168)
Oh well.

Amy Mitani (47:16.282)
I was so scared. I cried so many times because they scared me. But I was like, whoa, I gotta be on time. And then Christian told me piano is a percussion instrument. I never thought of that when I was playing solo piano. So as a percussionist, I have to be always on time. Like you always tell us, like I need to know where the beat one is.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (47:30.911)
Right.

Correct. Yeah, right.

Amy Mitani (47:45.638)
always I cannot get lost. So that is one of the challenging stuff.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (47:47.863)
Right.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (47:52.51)
Right. Yeah, and it's funny that you bring up that's such great advice, you know, piano is a percussion instrument. I think most people don't think of it that way. Most pianists don't think of it that way. And quite honestly, I got to be honest here, I think the jazz pianists that I enjoy listening to the most are pianists that it's obvious that they treat their instrument percussively. It's a very percussive instrument. And those are the pianists that are the most exciting to me.

Amy Mitani (48:01.905)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (48:21.478)
And I can tell, and I'm sure you can too, I can tell when somebody's playing the piano and they don't think of it as a percussion instrument, I actually can, I hear that, I can tell, right? So that's really good advice. So that's a huge challenge, right? Because coming from the classical world, you would not think of your, you would not be conditioned or trained to think of your instrument as a percussive instrument. Yeah.

Amy Mitani (48:21.651)
Mm-hmm.

Amy Mitani (48:43.994)
Yes. And as a solo pianist, you can take time or you can speed up as you like. Easier sections I may play a little faster. Challenging sections I may do really taro dando to play slower or something. But playing in a band, you have to be always on time.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (48:48.962)
Right?

Correct. Right.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (48:57.346)
Yeah, right.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (49:02.09)
Right, right, right.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (49:09.879)
Yeah. What about the challenge of actually thinking harmonically, too? When I was doing my undergraduate degree in classical piano performance, I'm not sure, I wasn't really aware of, I was more concerned about what notes I was playing and where do they fall in rhythmically,

Amy Mitani (49:32.396)
Mmhmm.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (49:36.666)
I wasn't really aware of or thinking of harmonic movement or shapes like chords. I didn't see necessarily chords. Was that difficult for you to all of a sudden be thinking like, wow, all these chords and

Amy Mitani (49:52.546)
So now I see that a lot more. Even when I'm looking at classical pieces, I see that, oh, this is what Dr. Barber is talking about, this chord progression in classical music. From the lead sheets you are giving us every week, like thinking of function was very challenging.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (49:55.479)
Oh, absolutely.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (50:05.966)
You're right.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (50:16.642)
Right.

Amy Mitani (50:19.414)
For me, still challenging, it's getting much easier now.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (50:19.787)
Right.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (50:23.39)
Right, right. Well, and you got good ears, so that should get easier and easier as you think. Condition yourself to think that way, because we're not typically taught to think that way when we take piano lessons, right? You know, I was gonna say on the chord stuff, the classical music, it's funny. I have adult students that will come that wanna study classical piano, and I tell them,

Oh, well, that's fabulous. Then what we'll do is we'll start with jazz. And they go, what?

What? And I said, well, if you really want to be a great classical pianist, study jazz. Because you're going to learn all these harmonic shapes. You're going to understand chord scale relationships. Right? You're going to see harmonic function. You're going to learn how to see all this within the classical literature that you're playing. And now when you look at your classical music, you'll see it totally different than seeing it as a series of autonomous notes placed side by side.

So I actually believe, I actually think if you really want to be a really great classical pianist, you should spend some time studying jazz piano. What are your thoughts on that?

Amy Mitani (51:40.135)
Yeah, I agree.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (51:42.09)
Yeah, it changes everything.

Amy Mitani (51:45.402)
Like, I, as you know, I took music theory classes in college and graduate school. I knew basic stuff, but since I started listening to your podcast, like every single time, whoa, do you think this way? Whoa, do you see this way? Like mind blowing stuff one after another.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (52:13.098)
Well, that's where you're doing fantastic. You are doing fantastic. I'm always impressed with everything you do musically, you know, so it's and I'm gonna have to get out and check out. I know you're doing these salsa bands and these salsa gigs and I gotta I gotta come out and check it out. Yeah, this upcoming Saturday. Okay. Yeah. And did you did you already send me the information on that? Because I think you sent me or was that last weekend that you were playing? I think it was

Amy Mitani (52:28.542)
It's coming Saturday.

Amy Mitani (52:33.436)
Legacy Hall.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (52:41.886)
Anyway, I'll check my email, but if it's coming Saturday, that's open to the public, right? Okay, well, you might see a friendly face in the audience.

Amy Mitani (52:42.143)
Maybe it was cosmic.

Amy Mitani (52:48.033)
Yes.

Amy Mitani (52:52.018)
I'm always using your two-handed voicing.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (52:56.922)
Okay, oh that's awesome. So okay, so now when you sit down to practice jazz, let's talk about that. Here you are, Miss Hotshot, salsa pianist, Hotshot, classical pianist. When you sit down to practice jazz right now, what are the things you're focusing on? What are the things that you're devoting your time to and attention to when practicing jazz styles?

Amy Mitani (53:18.806)
So listening to your podcast many times, and then I play along with you. So when you demonstrate something, like exercises something, I listen to what you play. And when you are resting, I play, I copy your style.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (53:28.52)
Oh, great.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (53:40.838)
Oh, very good. Yeah, yeah.

Amy Mitani (53:42.65)
Yeah, and then when you are soloing, this morning I was just doing the current episode of Days of Wine and Roses, improvisation episode. So when you were soloing, I was comping you.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (53:53.28)
One rose.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (54:00.046)
Oh, very good, using the two-handed voicings and comping. Oh, very good, excellent. Yeah, that's great. That's great. And so you use, I noticed earlier you said you have all your students using iReal Pro. So that's great. You have them using an app that helps them place musical concepts into context, right? And are they all doing that? Are they all using it? Like...

Amy Mitani (54:03.004)
Mm-hmm.

Amy Mitani (54:07.406)
and

Amy Mitani (54:13.015)
Thank you.

Amy Mitani (54:19.322)
Mm-hmm.

Yes, even my younger ones.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (54:24.742)
Oh, fantastic. So how are you, how are you having them? Are you are they playing like lead sheets through I real pro like chord changes or exercise specific exercise? Okay. Do you have them doing exercises through I real pro like, you know, where you've set up like a C major sound and they're playing their C major scales?

Amy Mitani (54:34.015)
Some of them.

Amy Mitani (54:38.26)
Yes.

Amy Mitani (54:44.866)
So I create the chart by myself to send out to students. So like primary code progression. And also there is actually a scale book showing like triads of major scale, triads of minor scale. So I do the seventh course of major scale, seventh course of minor scale.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (54:50.632)
Oh great.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (55:07.266)
fantastic. Yeah.

Amy Mitani (55:08.77)
So, and then I have them like improvise, like right hand with broken chords, different inversions for some.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (55:15.626)
Oh, fantastic. Yeah. Yeah, so you're teaching them, they're starting to see the harmonic relationship to the scale relationship, seeing all the, how that fits together and, oh, let's trim it.

Amy Mitani (55:24.254)
Mm-hmm.

Yes, so even like fifth grader, he can tell all 571 in the classical piece, like he can tell.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (55:35.354)
See, that makes me really jealous because like what did you say, a seventh grader did you say or a fifth grader? I would have loved to have fifth grade learning that, right? How tremendous is that? Holy cow. It's fantastic. Really good. So,

Amy Mitani (55:42.027)
Fifth grader.

Amy Mitani (55:49.589)
Mm-hmm.

Amy Mitani (55:54.038)
So you always give me great ideas. Oh, I can use this tool to teach my students. Yeah.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (56:00.686)
Great. That's fabulous. So how many students you said you have now? You have how many adult students? 12 adult students, huh? Yeah, and how many?

Amy Mitani (56:05.89)
12 adults, 10 younger students.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (56:11.703)
Wow. So your studio, you have a pretty packed studio.

Amy Mitani (56:16.075)
I feel like I should reduce teaching hours so that I can practice more for jazz piano skills.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (56:22.634)
I'm glad to hear you say that because I don't want any of my students currently thinking, you know what, I'm going to leave Bob and go to Amy. I think she'd be more fun. So if you're listening and you're thinking you're going to switch, just know she's going to reduce hours. She has no time for you. So you're stuck with me.

Amy Mitani (56:36.85)
Yeah, yeah. Yes. No time.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (56:43.958)
Well, let's talk about your practicing, because I know you are very dedicated. Even as a professional pianist, professional gigging pianist, professional educator, you are very dedicated to practicing. You practice consi... How do you do that? How do you work in the consistent practice time? Because honestly, you make... I'm jealous. I'm totally jealous. Okay. I do not believe that.

Amy Mitani (57:03.376)
To be honest with you, I am very lazy. I get lazy. My husband would say, I haven't heard you practice. Just like parents saying to kids.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (57:14.655)
HAHAHAHA

Dr. Bob Lawrence (57:18.41)
Hey, you know what you need to say to him? When he starts getting on, you say, hey, you know what happened to the first guy?

Dr. Bob Lawrence (57:26.986)
You know what happened to the first guy, so just back off. Ha ha ha.

Amy Mitani (57:32.614)
You know, I would say most Japanese husbands wouldn't like me when if I go out playing gigs, come home 2 a.m., 3 a.m. My husband never ever complains. He's always supportive. I'm very thankful.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (57:51.182)
very supportive. I can tell. Yeah, I can tell. Yeah. Yeah, that's really awesome. And maybe that's because he's got that music blood in him himself, right? He's a musician. And so he understands.

Amy Mitani (58:00.63)
Mm-hmm. He really appreciates music. So, yeah. So to answer your original question, when I have a gig, yes, I feel like, oh, I got to practice for this gig or this performance. So I do that. I do like six to eight hours a day when I'm not teaching. For jazz stuff, I have passion in me,

Dr. Bob Lawrence (58:04.682)
Yeah, that's fantastic.

Amy Mitani (58:29.99)
I really wanna get better. I don't wanna die thinking I should have practiced more. I could have been a better pianist. So sometimes I feel lazy. I wanna sit on a couch, watch TV shows, but I feel like, no, I gotta practice. And then I do make myself practice.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (58:53.442)
Right, right, yeah. Yeah, we always kind of feel guilty, don't we, as musicians, when we don't feel like we practice enough? There's always that little guilt, like, oh, I should be practicing, right?

Amy Mitani (59:06.122)
I do a lot of illustration exercises. So when I don't feel like sitting at the piano, I just do that.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (59:08.983)
That's it.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (59:14.95)
Amy, I talk about that all the time with students, right? Piano practicing doesn't necessarily mean that you're sitting on the piano bench pushing keys all the time. You know, that kind of paper practice, that conceptual practice where you're sketching things out, diagramming things, writing, spelling things, that pays huge dividends when you go to the piano. I mean, right? You're sorting through all that information away from the instrument so that when you get to the instrument, you can actually process it and be productive, right?

Amy Mitani (59:22.625)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (59:43.114)
So I think that's great. I can't stress that enough to students. Right? And I think the other thing that I stress, and you've probably experienced this as you've matured as a musician over the years, that if you have a specific agenda, you have a specific objective when you go to the piano.

Amy Mitani (59:48.074)
Yes.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:00:04.978)
You know, I always try to define an objective before I even sit down. What is it that I want to accomplish? What skill am I going to work on? Before I even sit on the bench. And then once I get to the bench, I have that objective in mind. I sit on the bench. And so even if it's only a 10 minute session of practice or a 15 minute session of practice, because it's so laser focused, it's focusing on a single objective, I find that in that 15, 20 minutes,

I can be very productive, even more so than if I just kind of went scattered brained to the piano and sat there for an hour and a half. What are your thoughts on that?

Amy Mitani (01:00:41.59)
I agree and I learned that from you. I never thought about just one single objective.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:00:48.462)
You're right. Right.

Amy Mitani (01:00:50.674)
I feel like, oh, I should practice for one hour, but I don't have one hour. So I don't practice versus like sit at the piano for 15 minutes to focus on something.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:01:04.098)
Right. And it's so easy. Adults as adult learners, I think adult learners fall into that trap very easily. They're thinking if I don't have an hour of uninterrupted time, then I shouldn't sit down and practice, which is not the case at all. Right. So, yeah, I'm a big believer in the little, you know, single objective and short spurts of productive practice. I'm a big believer in the payoff for that. So.

So, okay, so when you're practicing though, you're hitting, what, scales hard, you're hitting voicings hard, you're hitting improvisation hard. So when you practice improvisation, what do you do to practice improvisation?

Amy Mitani (01:01:43.446)
So like you've been teaching us, I did this morning, I did just using one note per chord to improvise and then using only chord tones. So last weekend I had a gig in Fort Worth and then I had a solo improvisation.

somebody recorded it, somebody in a band recorded it, I listened to myself, I hated myself. And then like, how can I play better? So now I'm thinking including half step approach to those chords, different rhythmic patterns.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:02:19.828)
Right?

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:02:25.783)
Right.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:02:30.646)
right? Well, we just talked about that, right? I you know, in this last podcast episode, and we talked about it in the masterclass that, you know, when it comes down to, you know, being able to see those block shapes, melodically, the block chords melodically, and then and being able to add half step approachments to those shapes, right? So vitally important that, you know, I'm of the belief that golly, if you're having trouble,

if you're having difficulty improvising, it's a clear indicator that skill, seeing those block shapes melodically, and then being able to add half-step approachments to those primary chord tones for tension, it's an indicator that those aren't as solid as they should be, right? That's the foundation. And I think without that, it's kind of difficult to move on. Would you not agree? Right? Yeah. Very, very, very tough. So yeah. You know.

Amy Mitani (01:03:21.627)
Mm-hmm, I agree.

Amy Mitani (01:03:26.598)
And like you said, we need to know the original melody so that when we improvise, we still hear the original melody.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:03:33.339)
Oh.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:03:38.998)
Well, that's right, right? I tend to think of improvisation as the melodic line being embellished with decorative motifs and ideas that we play, right? It's the melodic line that's being enhanced or decorated, right? I don't think of it as some crazy improvisational idea with some reference to the melody once in a while. I actually think of it as the other way around. And I use this expression a lot with students. When you're improvising, you should

you should be hugging the melody, hug the melody of the tune, right? And then work from there. So really important. So what about isolating sound? You isolate sound, I talk about that a lot. I love, I like to come in the morning and say, you know, what sound do I wanna work on? Oh, I wanna work on half diminished. Okay, what half diminished? G half diminished. Okay, fabulous. Well, then I'll set up an exercise based on the G half diminished sound.

And then I'll practice my scale movement over that G half diminished, my arpeggiated movement over that G half diminished, improvising over that G half diminished, voicings over that G half diminished. I'm kind of taking all these different scales, and I'm applying it to that sound. And I'll do that for 10, 15 minutes, and then I'll get my cup of coffee and go to work. I find that to be very productive as well. I pick a sound, I pick a chord, and then I go to work.

Amy Mitani (01:04:58.53)
I should do that a lot more.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:05:08.214)
You know, so, well, what big advice could you give? What big advice could you give to jazz piano skills listeners, folks that are out there getting, whether they're getting acclimated to introduce to jazz for the very first time or they've been playing jazz for many years now, what words of encouragement or advice could you give to jazz piano skills listeners to get them fired up, to get them pumped up and motivated to continue their jazz studies?

Amy Mitani (01:05:39.33)
Number one, be patient.

to yourself because I see a lot of adult students, they wanna get to this level or this goal so quickly that they wanna skip the steps and then they just wanna get there. But you have to be very patient. We have to practice step by step, little by little to get to the goal.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:05:45.858)
Right?

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:05:54.882)
Right.

Right?

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:06:10.922)
Yeah, like the old saying goes, no longer way to get anywhere than a shortcut. So you can't, you can't, there aren't any shortcuts, correct.

Amy Mitani (01:06:15.995)
Yeah, no shortcut.

and then do not give up because sometimes I feel like, oh, I'm not getting any better. Or how come like when I'm practicing, sometimes I'm screaming at myself like, are you stupid? Why can't you do this? So, yeah.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:06:37.598)
right? Yeah, we all do it. Yeah. Don't give up. And I think too today, I think another great tip would be and I think you do this. It's painful as it can be, right? Take your phone, hit the record button and record yourself playing scales or record yourself playing an arpeggio or record yourself improvising over a sound or progression or a tune. It can be very painful. Yes, right? Because we, we

Amy Mitani (01:06:55.151)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:07:06.83)
cringe at hearing ourselves at times, but not everything is bad, not everything is ugly that you'll find in recording that there is good. And so we record, we hear good, we hear bad, we hear ugly, but what happens is that starts to give us an accurate picture of our sound, of what we're doing, how we're playing, so that we can make adjustments. We can literally make adjustments and improve. And I think more so than ever with the technology today, grabbing your cell phone,

Amy Mitani (01:07:26.151)
Okay.

Amy Mitani (01:07:31.894)
Okay.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:07:36.822)
hit and record button if you're not doing that uh... you're missing out on a huge benefit

Amy Mitani (01:07:44.61)
I agree, yes, 100%.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:07:48.611)
Yeah, yeah. Which wasn't always that easy to do when I grew up. We didn't always have recorders, a way to record in our back pocket. Now we do. So I would certainly encourage folks to do that as well. What else, Amy? Any other parting shots here? Words of wisdom, pearls of wisdom that you'd like to share?

Amy Mitani (01:07:54.813)
Mm-hmm.

Amy Mitani (01:08:13.078)
Don't be so serious, just have fun. And then I feel a lot of fun from jazz people than classical people.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:08:17.582)
Correct.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:08:28.088)
Jazz people are fun. Jazz people are... They're...

Amy Mitani (01:08:31.402)
Sometimes in a classical world, I feel like I can't breathe, like too serious. Like, are you having fun playing music or you are focusing on, I have to play correct notes or fingering or whatever.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:08:37.96)
Right.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:08:42.67)
That's right.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:08:48.426)
Right, right. So yeah, well, Amy, I tell you, this has been I've learned a lot about you today young lady.

Amy Mitani (01:08:58.102)
Hehehehe

Amy Mitani (01:09:03.067)
Uh oh.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:09:06.022)
I am so glad we did this. And I just want to say what a joy it is to have you as a friend and our friendship over the years. And it's always a joy to see you in the master class every week at Jazz Piano Skills. And so you're a blessing to me. I know you're a blessing to your husband and so many other folks as well. But I just wanted to go on record to say how thankful I am for our friendship. Thank you for being such a. Oh, wow.

Amy Mitani (01:09:28.898)
I am very thankful for you as well. Thank you.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:09:33.55)
awesome so Amy this has been great fun I you know I know you've been here for ten years but I know there's more excite excitement in your life coming ahead I don't know where you're gonna move to next but I'm sure it's somewhere I don't know I don't know where you're gonna end up next but I can't wait to find out all right Amy on behalf of all the jazz piano skills listeners thank you so much for taking time today

Amy Mitani (01:09:47.827)
I'm sorry.

Amy Mitani (01:09:52.867)
Ha ha ha!

Amy Mitani (01:10:00.298)
Thank you for having me. Thank you. It was a...

Dr. Bob Lawrence (01:10:02.106)
off. It's been a joy. Well, and I'm going to have you back on. I promise. We're going to have round two of this. So, all right, Amy. Thanks so much.

Amy Mitani (01:10:11.35)
Thank you.