The same sun

Oct 14, 2026

Here on the east side of Hawai‘i Island, the sun rises out of the ocean. By mid-morning a shower has usually passed through, and the light turns soft and silver, sometimes with a rainbow. Dusk comes quickly this close to the equator, and on a clear night the stars make you stop walking.It’s the same sun I’ve lived under my whole life. But seen from a different place, through warm air full of water, it looks completely different.

Two years ago, on October 10, I opened Simple & Beautiful Piano for Adult Beginners. Its five pieces, Dawn, Morning, Noon, Dusk, and Evening, follow a single day.

Since then I’ve heard from students who came to the piano in a season of grief and loss, and even while living with debilitating health conditions. The music didn’t change what they were going through, but it gave them a different light to see by.And many came simply because they had always dreamed of playing the piano one day, and decided that day had come.Whatever brought you, something happens when you begin. When we play music, the brain lights up in many places at once, and when we learn something new, it keeps building connections, at any age. So this anniversary is really a celebration of the students. Thank you.

To mark the anniversary, I wrote five new pieces: In a New Light. First Light, Rising Wind, High Sun, Golden Hour, and Starlight follow the same day as the course, written for the player you become after it. Each comes with an introduction, a score with my teaching notes, a clean score, and recordings.

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The same sun

STAY CONNECTED FOR MORE INSIGHTS AND REFLECTIONS.

STAY CONNECTED
FOR MORE INSIGHTS AND REFLECTIONS.