Sometimes a piano teacher has no choice but to talk in silly made up syllables while drawing on playground analogies to get a particular piece off the ground.
The Chopin Etude Op. 25 no. 9 in Gb was no exception.
An adult student who revisited this warhorse responded positively to “rollaleedles,” elbow taps, and revolutions of her arm that put a whole new spin on the piece.
“Pogo stick” images also went a long way to ignite the opening motif of 4 notes grouped by twos, ending short and crisp. They bounced across the musical landscape then twirled around in a flourished ending that boosted the student’s confidence.
Recap:
A piano teacher who runs out of ideas to advance a composition along, can enliven the lesson environment with images of pogo sticks, ping pong balls, trampolines, plus a supply of self concocted swinging syllables that include “roll-a-lee-dle,” “swirl-a-lee-dle and “swoosh-a-lee-dle.”
International Online Piano Teacher, blogger, recording artist, composer, piano finder, freelance writer, film maker, story teller: Grad of the NYC H.S. of Performing Arts, Oberlin Conservatory, NYU (Master of Arts) Studies with Lillian Freundlich and Ena Bronstein; Master classes with Murray Perahia and Oxana Yablonskaya. Studios in BERKELEY, California; Member, Music Teachers Assoc. of California, MTAC; Distance learning by Skype and Face Time with supplementary videos: SKYPE ID: shirley kirsten
Contact me at: shirley_kirsten@yahoo.com OR http://www.youtube.com/arioso7 or at FACEBOOK: Shirley Smith Kirsten, http://facebook.com /shirley.kirsten; https://www.facebook.com/skirs.7/ TWITTER: http://twitter.com/arioso7
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Private fundraising for non-profits as pianist--Public Speaking re: piano teaching and creative approaches
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