Michael Beling Music

09/30/2026

After a certain point, guys… seriously… maybe the transcriber would have benefited from less music school?

09/24/2026

Catch me with vocalist/ drummer Chas Lester at Mountain Top Music Center's Majestic Cafe! This Friday 7-9:30 pm in Conway, NH. Jazz, neo-soul and funk tunes— originals and covers. Tickets link in comments.

08/22/2026

“Are you a Blues Brother?”
“No, ma’am— just an ordinary citizen doing his job.”

I’m getting excited about the fall: excellent hiking weather, and the opportunity to teach a number of new piano students. I still have some openings left. These days I’m teaching about 2/3 adults, and 1/3 kids, between the ages of 12 and 82. All styles of music, all levels of experience.

08/01/2026

PSA for hearing protection. A lot of people don’t realize how unbelievably permanently damaging high decibel levels can be in very brief amount of time. Virtually all pop and rock concerts are too loud. Even a good number of jazz concerts, and movies.

I went to an electronic concert last night where the bass was consistently peeking above 120 dB. Which is comparable to being fairly close to a jet engine. Without hearing protection, it can cause permanent damage in 12 seconds. Even with 25 dB reduction custom molded musician earplugs, my ears are very sensitive and my hearing is muted today, meaning that I definitely suffered some permanent hearing loss. Hopefully not too bad. I already have some tinnitus.

One of the problems with bass frequencies, is that at a certain level of intensity, they can literally vibrate your bones and go straight to your ear canal regardless of whether you were wearing hearing protection or not. And hearing protection is often less effective against such low frequencies. Live and learn I suppose.

Back to my gig. I have to wear hearing protection tonight, because my hearing feels so sensitive even to acoustic piano tonight. I’m sure it will ease up in the coming days. 

07/03/2026

This summer, my lovely wife, Crystal Adams, is very excited that her wonderful organization, The Intercultural Community Center, is partnering with Walker Memorial Library to offer an ESL tutoring program for drop-in sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays until July 23rd. In addition, she is offering online tutoring sessions on Wednesdays from until July 22nd. Please feel free to share these flyers with your community!

06/04/2026

I truly appreciate the variety of students I am lucky enough to teach. New students this week:

—Student in her early 70’s, looking to take her jazz piano to the next level.

—Student about my age with limited piano background eager to learn rock piano.

—High school student in his first year of piano, very excited to begin his journey.

Even within one student, there can be a lot of range. A student I had yesterday is working on an arrangement of Gershwin’s “But not For Me.” We are developing ways to embellish the arrangement— to enrich the harmony and to add fills where it feels empty. We also have been working on dynamics, balance between the hands, and interpretation of a Chopin waltz, and Debussy’s Clair De Lune.

06/02/2026

Happy pride month! I’m proudly and openly q***r, but I often just tell people I'm “bi” because I don’t want to explain it, and it fits closely enough. “Queer” is a nuanced umbrella term that can mean different things different people.

I am a cisgender man (I identify with the s*x I was assigned at birth) who has mostly dated cisgender and transgender women, and gone on a couple of dates with men and non-binary people. I am generally much more likely to be romantically attracted to feminine people.

I feel comfortable identifying as a man, although I contemplated my place on the gender spectrum at one point because I don’t identify with the dominant cultural norms of masculinity, or think about my gender very much, except in the expectations of society, or others when I was dating. I am married to a wonderful person who is currently exploring their gender identity.

This photo, taken in Pride Month 2022 (who can name the NH trail?) is a representation of the feeling of joy, relief, and hope I had when I was just starting my journey of coming out in June 2016— and it IS a journey— not an event. And I still feel uncomfortable at times with letting people know— and there are certain situations where I legitimately choose the safety of keeping it to myself. I am lucky that I can blend in very well in straight society (in addition to being a white, middle-class man, the world is much, much safer for me).

But I hope for a day when humans won't have to "come out," because assumptions won't be made about people's s*xualities and identities at birth— and perhaps, more importantly— people won't fear rejection, discrimination and violence for taking the courageous step to show their true selves. We may not understand why our neighbors love who they do, the way they identify, the particulars of their religious beliefs or cultural practices. But we need to build acceptance and tolerance of differences between us to have any hope of a more functional, peaceful world.

05/08/2026

Great article on the benefits and joys of learning an instrument as an adult. About 2/3 of my students are adults!

https://www.facebook.com/share/1BDTaw1TNJ/

Few adults play musical instruments, and even fewer do so in a group, Caroline Mimbs Nyce wrote in 2024. What health benefits might they be giving up? https://theatln.tc/oglkQfzJ

“Kids receive plenty of music education, but as people get older, they fall out of practice. Many stop picking up their instrument,” Nyce writes. “This is unfortunate, in part because plenty of research shows that adults could benefit from playing music.”

Playing music helps build larger brain networks and new pathways. “Musicians tend to have better attention than nonmusicians,” Nyce continues. “Banging on a drum or tooting a horn can also relieve stress, reduce burnout, and help with anxiety and depression. For older people specifically, research has shown potential cognitive benefits along with a possible decrease in dementia risk.”

Adults may be skipping out in part because music education is associated with childhood and coursework. And after people grow out of music education in their childhood, they tend to think that music is a special talent, Nyce writes, not something that just anybody can learn.

“Of course, people are busy; they simply may not have the luxury of sitting down to study Bach once a week, much less the money to pay for an instrument or private lessons,” Nyce writes.

Playing music in groups has additional benefits, such as allowing adults to feel more trusting of and connected to one another, and to the world in general. But while it’s easy to go to a park or gym and pull together a game of pickup basketball, “piecing together people at the same skill level to play a concerto or even just jam in a garage is another matter.”

Nyce herself recently began to play the recorder. “I plan to keep learning,” she writes, “not because it strengthens my neuropathways per se (though I certainly don’t mind that), but because making music, even when it’s silly—perhaps especially when it’s silly—is just a whole lot of fun.” https://theatln.tc/oglkQfzJ

📸: Photo Media / ClassicStock / Getty

04/07/2026

They said it couldn’t be done... 1,100 mind-boggling feet of elevation gain into the thin air of Pleasant Mountain, “Maine’s K2”. . While I didn’t reach the main summit due to the deaths of my entire hiking party, and my need to go to work, to quote MacArthur: I shall return.

04/06/2026

Having fun playing with some zany 70s/80s funk tones.

Synth bass and strings (you’re hearing Tricerachorus in addition to the on-board modulation) I programmed on two Behringer Pro-800’s and lead synth on the Roland SE-02. External reverb added.

Organ and Wurlitzer from the Viscount Legend One. That is the absolute limit of my setup… pedal bass, electric piano, organ, synth strings, lead synth… I don’t have any more limbs! 😂