‘Tips From The Top – Volume 2‘, the sixth tutorial DVD I have produced in the Yamaha Club’s ‘Playing Yamaha’ series, is now available.

Released today for sale is my latest tutorial DVD I have produced for the Yamaha Club with Glyn Madden.

Tips from the Top – Volume 1 is a first edition in a new series of DVDs I am creating with the Yamaha Club and Glyn Madden – covering Yamaha keyboards and digital pianos:

Yamaha artist Glyn Madden answers some of the most frequently asked questions in a treasury of hints and tips from the Yamaha Club’s archive – presented as a series of easy to follow mini-workshops and step-by-step demonstrations.

Link: Tips from the Top DVD – Volume 1

In July 2011, Glyn Madden (Editor of the Yamaha Club Magazine) welcomed a contingent of designers from Yamaha’s Japanese team to their home, which included Mr. Eiji Murata (Assistant Manager of EKB Product Development Department) and Ms. Kyoko Ohno. I was also invited to this fact finding meeting due to my years of involvement with Yamaha products including owning an independent enthusiast website and producing related tutorial and promotional DVDs. Discussions took place to share ideas and thoughts regarding Yamaha keyboards and digital pianos.

…James and I (Glyn Madden) are always happy to be invited to take part in these discussions because it gives us an opportunity to pass back to Yamaha feedback about its instruments that we’ve gathered from members – both of Yamaha Club and, until very recently, the YPKO forum.
Glyn Madden – Yamaha Club Magazine August/September 2011 Edition

To view the featured page in the magazine, click the link below to view the PDF:
> Meeting with Yamaha Corporation of Japan – Future Development of Keyboards

Glyn Madden, Editor of the Yamaha Club Magazine has announced that we are both working on a new series of tutorial DVDs for owners of Yamaha keyboards and CVP Clavinova digital pianos. Titled ‘Tips from the Top’, the new DVDs will be released this year hosted by Glyn Madden and produced by myself.

In “Tips from the top”, the latest tutorial DVD from Yamaha Club, Glyn Madden presents a selection of ‘mini-workshops’ based on the wealth of material contributed to Yamaha Club Magazine by top players and teachers over the years. Essentially, this collection of hints and tips provides the answers to several frequently asked questions – with a few extra ‘good ideas’ thrown in for good measure. Our hope is that you’ll find them useful when planning new performances for your Yamaha keyboard or Clavinova.

We have created a little promotional video to introduce the series, which includes a performance by Glyn on the current flagship keyboard by Yamaha – the Tyros4.

After over six years in existence, the website I own and administrated – today sees the announcement of its eventual closure that will be completed in May 2011. This was an incredibly difficult decision as this Yamaha keyboard and digital piano enthusiast website has been a very big part of my life and has evolved over time to become a massive resource for visitors.

Like most things though, everything has a beginning and an end and it became clear that now was the time to let go and reflect on the past six wonderful years of YPKO. It has helped shape my experience in many areas including article writing, podcasting, DVD video creation and much more besides as well as affirming my passion for Yamaha keyboards and digital pianos. It was because of the Yamaha Tyros (1) that I was inspired to create YPKO, however even with this passion for the musical technology that still proves to be an amazing magical experience – the closure of the website just couldn’t realistically be avoided.