Category Archives: pianist

Piano performance: The moment of creation can be deceiving and how we can learn from video playbacks

Posted on March 29, 2013 by

I was telling a musical friend about the discrepancy between what we think we’re hearing during our own performances and what bears out in a review of our self-made recordings. This is why teaching and learning opportunities abound in comparing … Continue reading →

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Bringing the Keyboard closer to the long distance piano student

Posted on March 8, 2013 by

Yesterday, my Logitech cam was un-clipped from the Big Mac during a lesson to Greece. The pupil, hanging out on the island of Kos, needed a graphic representation of my hands braving a few difficult measures in Bach’s Little Fugue … Continue reading →

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The piano learning process at all levels of study

Posted on March 2, 2013 by

In spite of my having studied piano for decades, each learning experience is filled with challenges that I must approach with a glut of patience. A new composition has its own form, architecture, harmonic rhythm, fingering that requires a big … Continue reading →

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Revisiting an old piano piece learned years earlier

Posted on February 13, 2013 by

I find my current musical journey down memory lane to be joyful and challenging–especially as I cut and paste the Mozart Rondo: Allegro, K. 311 pages to fit comfortably on the piano rack. (Deja Vu, Haydn C Major Hoboken XVI35–Haydn … Continue reading →

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Harmonic Rhythm, melodic twists, and emotional shifts in Chopin’s B Minor Waltz, Op. 69, No. 2 (Video)

Posted on July 15, 2012 by

The harmonic flow of a piece is one ingredient of phrase shaping, along with melodic contouring that springs from the human voice and its natural breath. All have emotional consequence as music pours out of the heart and soul of … Continue reading →

Posted in Chopin B minor Waltz, Chopin B minor Waltz op. 69 No. 2, Chopin Waltzes, Frederic Chopin, Interpreting Chopin's music, pianist, piano, piano instruction, piano lessons, playing piano, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Skype, video exchanges with skype piano students, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube.com, yout tube, youtube.com | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Piano Technique: Rotation, Turnaround, and Curve around of scales, with application to repertoire (Videos)

Posted on July 11, 2012 by

Piano students, by and large, don’t relish playing scales. They would rather eat spinach than practice what they view as tedious, finger-trippers. I have a different perspective. For me, scales are my playground and workout space. They keep me in … Continue reading →

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Phrasing at the piano: Listening to the ends of notes as they flow into others

Posted on June 23, 2012 by

I’ve chosen Burgmuller’s “Tender Flower” as the springboard to explore attentive listening and its relationship to phrasing. At the outset, the right moment to begin a piece is a challenge. The player has to experience the whole dimension of silence … Continue reading →

Posted in attentive listening, Burgmuller Tender Flower, El Cerrito piano studio, Friedrich Burgmuller, Journal of a Piano Teacher from New York to California, Just Being at the Piano by Mildred Portney Chase, phrasing at the piano, pianist, piano, piano study, playing piano, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, whole body listening, whole body music listening, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video, you tube.com, yout tube, youtube.com | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Piano Study: Exploring the full gamut of emotions on the way to mastering a new piece (Videos)

Posted on June 15, 2012 by

Taking piano lessons should be a deep-level growth experience with a metaphorical tie-in to life. This means that pieces studied and technique applied should be interwoven to realize emotions of sadness, happiness, grieving, elation, disappointment and whatever comes to mind … Continue reading →

Posted in Burgmuller, Burgmuller 25 Progressive Pieces, classissima, Do piano lessons have to be fun, Friedrich Burgmuller, pianist, piano, piano instruction, piano lessons, piano teaching, playing piano, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, whole body listening, whole body music listening, William Gillock, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube.com, yout tube, youtube.com | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Piano Instruction: Gershwin Prelude no. 2 in C# minor (Videos)

Posted on June 2, 2012 by

About Prelude #2: Published in 1927, the work was first performed by George Gershwin in a concert at the Hotel Roosevelt in New York City. A challenge to play, it doesn’t fit easily under the fingers because of large note … Continue reading →

Posted in George Gershwin, George Gershwin Prelude no. 2, Gershwin Prelude no. 2, Journal of a Piano Teacher from New York to California, pianist, piano, piano instruction Gershwin Prelude no. 2, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, video piano instruction, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube video, yout tube, youtube.com | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Using piano repertoire as a springboard for a theory lesson: Major, minor and Diminished Chords (Videos)

Posted on May 30, 2012 by

One of my adult students is working on the gorgeous J.C. Bach Prelude in A minor which has a second page full of “Major,” “Minor” and “Diminished” chords. The sonorities progress in sequences, but they also have a secondary dominant … Continue reading →

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