Topic: "Theory and practice of the stir-fry"

[Peripatetic Phil]

Having just acquired a first-ever keyboard/synthesiser/whatever (a Yamaha PSR 400), and finding that, at the age of 65, my fingers just can't cope with the idea of striking n notes at distinct and different times, I set out to try to find some guidance as to whether one can indeed hope to learn the piano (or similar) at such an advanced age.  After a few scam hits, which almost put me off, I came across what /looked/ very much like a come-on : two chapters and the prelims on-line, the rest (presumably) available at exorbitant cost.  You can therefore imagine my joy and disbelief when I found that the author, Chuan C. Chang, has put all 260++ pages online, free of charge, in a single, unprotected, downloadable PDF.  Scarcely able to believe my good luck, I read further and found that not only does he write on ways to learn and practice piano, he also writes on a great deal of other topics as well.  Sadly much of his work is currently unavailable, for reasons that are not yet clear, but his paper on the "Theory and Practice of the Stir-fry" is still online, and well worth a read.  I shall be skimming his online piano manual for a while, and if it seems as good as the critiques suggest, probably investing in a printed-and-bound version as well.  His other (manifold) interests are documented (in part) in his "Wisdom World".

** Phil.