About me

my mom made me take piano lessons when I was a kid. Then I quit and took guitar instead. This was in the 70’s when John Denver and folk music was popular. Like a lot of others, I was in band and choir all through school. When I was a senior I decided to become a music teacher - just in case I didn’t become a famous singer. So I started taking piano lessons again the summer before going off to college. The lessons continued through college but I never got very good. If only I hadn’t quit way back when. When I started teaching, it was a struggle but I survived. Then there was midi. I could get even the most challenging accompaniment AND the vocal parts recorded onto the synth and have them available in rehearsal. It was so great to be able to mute or solo voice parts and to slow down the tempo when needed. It made my life easier! So I’ve been sequencing midi files for about 30 years and have hundreds of pieces on file. Not all of them are “exemplary” pieces of music, or extremely well edited, but many of them are. There are many selections that I dearly love and have edited to excruciating detail and made as musical as possible.
Now that I’m newly retired from teaching, I would like to share my efforts and share this music with others. I know there are other music teachers like me who suffer from lack of keyboard skills. I’m starting out with about 30 selections that I’ve enjoyed, and will continue to put out more as time goes on.
Please encourage your student accompanists to keep practicing and use them as often as you can! My intention is not to replace them!!! These files are intended to help the singers learn their parts, not to replace the accompanist!! I also highly recommend using Solfege as much as you can in rehearsal! When I started seriously using Solfege in rehearsal and lessons, the musicality and speed of learning of my students skyrocketed!!
I hope these midi files help you and your students make some really great music!

Michael Blair
octavomidi@gmail.com