Sight-Reading on Steel Pan

Got my pan out for what feels like the first time in over a year. I say "feels like" because I can't actually remember the last time I played pan. There was some kind of goo on the bottom of the case. Anyway, I wanted to read a set of music that I bought from Paul Ross called Five Miniatures.

These five varied works for solo tenor steel pan really captured my attention at PASIC when I visited Paul and his Pan Press booth. They are not easy but really interesting. Fortunately, my pan skills have not let me down.

I could only play through these works today because I spent so much time working on scales (even G-Sharp minor, which Paul uses in his Waltz). Coming back to the instrument after a year and finding all the notes (of course they aren't marked!) would be impossible.

So kids: practice all your scales. I'm glad I did.

I'll post more about these pieces and maybe some recordings once they start to gel.