Category Archives: piano lesson

Piano lesson: Chopin B minor Waltz, Op. 69, no 2. (bouncing phrases back and forth)

Posted on March 14, 2013 by

Teaching affords the greatest opportunity to listen objectively to students serving up their menu of pieces. It allows ideas to spring forward and bounce back. Today, my Greek student resurrected his Chopin B Minor Waltz in preparation for a forthcoming … Continue reading →

Posted in Chopin Waltz in B minor Op. 69 No. 2, Frederic Chopin, Journal of a Piano Teacher from New York to California, piano blog, piano instruction, piano lesson, piano lesson by Skype, Shirley Kirsten, whole body listening, whole body music listening, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube video, you tube.com, yout tube, youtube.com | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Into the Hills with the Sound of Music –a Baldwin Acrosonic “acoustic” sings

Posted on March 5, 2013 by

The video attached to this writing validates the beauty of music-making on a well-maintained, though 1940s vintage era acoustic piano. Baldwin Acrosonics were the Cadillacs of the spinet and console variety pianos. They had a noticeable innovation compared to their … Continue reading →

Posted in Baldwin Acrosonic piano, Chopin, Chopin pedaling, Chopin Waltz in A minor no. 19, classissima, classissima.com, El Cerrito California, pedaling at the piano, phrasing at the piano, piano addict, piano blogging, piano blogs, piano instrruction, piano instruction, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano lessons in Berkeley California, piano lessons in El Cerrito California, piano studio, piano studio in El Cerrito, piano teachers, piano technique, piano technique and breathing, Piano World, piano world-wide, pianoaddict.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, playing piano, shirley kirsten pianist, shirley s kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, shirley smith kirsten blog, Shirley Smth Kirsten, slow mindful practicing, slow piano practicing, studying piano, The art of phrasing at the piano, the art of piano pedaling, The El Cerrito Hills, whole body listening, whole body music listening, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube video, you tube.com, yout tube, youtube.com | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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 →

Posted in Emanuel Ax, Lillian Freundlich, mindful piano practicing, Mozart, Mozart Sonata no. 9 in D K. 311, ornaments, phrasing at the piano, pianist, pianists, piano, piano addict, piano addict.com, piano blog, piano blogging, piano blogs, piano instruction, piano instructor, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano lessons by Skype, piano lessons for adults, piano lessons in Berkeley California, piano lessons in El Cerrito California, piano pedagogy, piano playing, piano playing and the singing tone, piano practicing, piano teachers, piano teaching, piano teaching philosophy, piano teaching repertoire, piano technique, Shirley Smith Kirsten, shirley smith kirsten blog, Shirley Smth Kirsten, the undulating wrist, the undulating wrist in piano playing, trills, whole body listening, whole body music listening, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube.com, yout tube, youtube.com | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rina, 5, moves right along in her piano studies (Videos)

Posted on July 13, 2012 by

Rina takes to piano like a duck in water. Yesterday, she began her lesson with a five-finger romp through D Major and minor, adding chords to her repertoire. Did I say “chords?” It’s every child’s dream to play more than … Continue reading →

Posted in Diller-Quaille duets, Diller-Quaille piano materials, piano, piano instruction, piano learning, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano pedagogy, piano playing, piano playing and breathing, piano playing and phrasing, piano practicing, piano practicing motivators, teaching piano to children, 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

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 →

Posted in J. C. Bach Prelude in A Minor, J.C. Bach, Major minor and diminished chords, musical phrasing, musical phrasing and breathing, phrasing at the piano, pianist, piano, piano learning, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano pedagogy, piano playing, piano regulation, piano studio, piano studio in El Cerrito, piano study, piano teachers, piano teaching, piano tutorial, Piano World, piano world-wide, pianoaddict.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, playing pentascales, playing piano, playing the piano, playing the piano with a singing tone, POWHOW, POWHOW instruction, practicing piano, publishers marketplace, publishersmarketplace, repertoire for piano students, rolling forward wrist motions in piano playing, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Kirsten on POWHOW, shirley kirsten on POWHOW webcam piano class, shirley s kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, shirley smith kirsten blog, studying piano, teaching piano, teaching piano to adults, The art of phrasing at the piano, the art of piano pedaling, Theory, whole body listening, whole body music listening, word press.com, wordpress, you tube video, yout tube, youtube.com | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Piano Technique: Focusing on Rotation in arpeggios, and building up a scale (Videos)

Posted on May 27, 2012 by

These are two supplementary videos that I created for adult students between lessons. As previously mentioned, they clarify and reinforce the content of our class, and map out ways to practice. I. ROTATION at the turnaround of a B minor … Continue reading →

Posted in adult piano students, arioso7, blog, blogger, blogging, blogging about piano, blogs about piano, Circle of Fifths, classissima, classissima.com, El Cerrito, El Cerrito California, El Cerrito piano lessons, El Cerrito piano studio, finger staccato, fingering and phrasing at the piano, fingering and piano technique, Journey of a Piano Teacher from New York to California, keyboard technique, MTAC, Oberlin, Oberlin Conservatory, pianist, piano, piano blog, piano blogging, piano blogs, piano instruction, piano instructor, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano practicing motivators, piano scales and arpeggios, piano study, piano teacher, piano technique, piano technique and the singing tone, piano warm-ups, Piano World, piano world-wide, pianoaddict.com, playing legato at the piano, playing piano with expression, playing staccato at the piano, playing the piano, playing the piano with long nails, POWHOW, POWHOW instruction, POWHOW piano instruction, POWHOW.com, practicing scales and arpeggios, rotation in piano playing, rotation in piano practicing, whole body listening, whole body music listening, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video, yout tube, youtube.com | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

El Cerrito “Sushi” cat is a match for Aiden (Videos)

Posted on May 24, 2012 by

Aiden took the prize for his mini-choreography of Chopin’s C# minor Waltz, but “Sushi” outdistanced him with an impressive break dance routine on the kitchen floor. “Sushi,” the house cat in El Cerrito, is always on the move–resistant to stay … Continue reading →

Posted in Aiden Cat, Aiden the Cat, feline, felines, pianist, piano, piano blog, piano blogging, piano blogs, piano lesson, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, shirley smith kirsten blog, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube video, youtube.com | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Growing piano technique in baby steps: Rina, 5, advances to hands together five-finger positions (adding in 10ths)

Posted on May 10, 2012 by

Rina may not know the words “pentascales” and “tenths,” but she has the intelligence to notice when her fingers move up and down together, playing the same notes an “octave” apart. With a sound knowledge of the music alphabet in … Continue reading →

Posted in "Tales of a Musical Journey" by Irina Gorin, acoustic piano, arioso 7, blog, blogger, blogging, blogging about piano, blogs about piano, children's music, El Cerrito, El Cerrito California, El Cerrito piano instruction, El Cerrito piano studio, emotion in music, fingering and phrasing at the piano, fingering and piano technique, five finger positions at the piano, five finger warm-ups, Irina Gorin, Journal of a Piano Teacher from New York to California, Just Being at the Piano by Mildred Portney-Chase, legato playing at the piano, mental imagery, mindful piano practicing, mindful practicing, molto cantabile, MTAC, MTAC.org, New York City, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Oberlin, Oberlin Conservatory, pentascales, phrasing at the piano, pianist, piano, piano addict, piano blog, piano blogging, piano blogs, piano instruction, piano instructor, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano playing, piano playing and relaxation, piano practicing, piano studio in El Cerrito, piano study, piano teacher, piano teachers, piano teaching, piano world-wide, pianoaddict.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, playing five-finger positions, playing legato at the piano, playing piano, playing staccato, playing staccato at the piano, playing the piano, POWHOW, POWHOW instruction, POWHOW piano instruction, POWHOW.com, practicing a piece in 7 different emotions, practicing arpeggios, practicing piano, practicing piano with relaxation, publishers marketplace, publishersmarketplace, Rina, Rina 4 takes piano lessons, Rina takes piano lessons, rotation in piano playing, scales, shirley kirsten piano teacher in El Cerrito, Shirley Kirsten teaches classes at POWHOW, shirley s kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Skype a piano lesson to Australia, Skype piano lessons, slow mindful practicing, slow piano practicing, teaching piano to young children, teaching Rina piano, teachinig piano to young children, technique, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video, youtube.com | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Piano Technique: Practicing dip/roll motions, and dead weight fat lady to skinny dipper for diminuendo (Videos)

Posted on May 1, 2012 by

I show my 13-year old student, Albertina how to dip/roll the last measures of Burgmuller’s frenzied Ballade, while applying weight control to taper a phrase. (diminuendo) We’re on the final lap of preparation for Saturday’s Spring Recital! ONLINE Webcam piano … Continue reading →

Posted in phrasing at the piano, pianist, piano, piano blog, piano blogging, piano blogs, piano instrruction, piano instruction, piano lesson, piano lesson dropouts, piano lessons, piano studio, Piano World, piano world-wide, pianoaddict.com, playing piano, POWHOW, POWHOW instruction, POWHOW piano instruction, POWHOW webcam online piano class, practicing piano, practicing piano with relaxation, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Kirsten certified piano instructor at POWHOW, Shirley Kirsten on POWHOW, Shirley Kirsten teaches classes at POWHOW, shirley s kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, shirley smith kirsten blog, slow mindful practicing, studying piano, technique, undulating wrist in piano playing, videotaped instruction, videotaped piano instruction, whole body listening, whole body music listening, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, Yeti microphone, you tube video, yout tube, youtube.com | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Teaching piano to Rina, 5, with a supplementary video for mom that outlines our lesson plan and goals

Posted on April 12, 2012 by

Rina’s mother attends her daughter’s lessons, takes notes, and receives a follow-up assignment. Today, I sent her a video that summarized what we had accomplished yesterday along with a goal-setting outline. *** The child has been working on her legato … Continue reading →

Posted in "Tales of a Musical Journey" by Irina Gorin, Journal of a Piano Teacher from New York to California, Minuet by Reinagle, phrasing at the piano, pianist, piano, piano addict, piano blog, piano blogging, piano blogs, piano instruction, piano instructor, piano keyboard, piano lesson, piano lessons and parental support, piano lessson, piano playing, piano playing and breathing, piano playing and phrasing, piano playing and relaxation, piano playing and the singing tone, piano student, piano studio in El Cerrito, piano study, piano teacher, piano teaching, piano technique, Piano World, piano world-wide, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, playing piano, playing the piano, playing the piano with a singing tone, practicing piano, practicing piano with relaxation, practicing the left hand at the piano, teaching piano, teaching piano to children, whole body listening, whole body music listening, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube video, yout tube | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment