Jon Schmidt

Last night we went to a Jon Schmidt concert in Rexburg. Jaydn went with us because he is becoming quite the pianist. Jaydn remembers the music from his entire opera that he put on with his class, and he has plucked it all out on the piano now. So he really enjoyed Jon Schmidt's piano playing.

I used to have no appreciation for "ear players." "Why can't they just learn how to read music?" I thought. Plus, usually their music all sounds the same. Same beat, same set of chords, etc.

I'm not saying that Jon Schmidt can't read music. I'm sure he can. But when you come from a music reading background, it's hard to appreciate ear players.

But Jon Schmidt is amazing. He plays the piano with absolutely no hesitation. His music is quite fun. I hadn't heard much of his stuff before the concert, but I really enjoyed it.

He is also the ultimate entertainer. His antics on the piano add to the fun.

The coolest part of the concert was when he asked for someone in the audience to yell out the blues notes (is that what they're called??). A guy, who I'm guessing was a BYU-I student, jumped up and yelled them all out. So Jon called the guy up and told him to play blues on the piano alongside him. Totally unstaged. For the next few minutes they both rocked out on the piano. It was pretty neat.

Anyway, I'm not a pianist, so I can't explain how fun the concert was. But I have put some of Jon Schmidt's music on the blog, so check it out.

Jaydn is now plucking out on the piano the notes to "Waterfall" (see below).