A Piano Lesson in progress: Debussy Arabesque No. 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv1WpPXSQx8 Students find it helpful to revisit parts of their lessons on video. They can pinpoint ways of practicing in baby steps by separating hands, parceling out voices, and shaping phrases. Yesterday, an adult student and I worked on the first section of the Debussy "Arabesque," No. 1, and focused most of our attention on…

Two riveting comments on pay for practicing piano…

Powerful statements worth pondering: "I agree with you totally that it is abhorrent to pay children to practice, and I’m not sure I know quite why. It just seems that there are certain activities that should be done for their own sake, and money shouldn’t enter the picture. (Yes, art for its own sake is…

Highlights from Rina’s 6th piano lesson: Learning and Tapping F’s to music; serenading Aiden cat with C’s

Rina made a significant leap in progress today, tapping accompaniments to her prerecorded C, D and E pieces. This activity took up the greater part of her lesson and was not videotaped since I'm currently highlighting only new lesson material. For the opening relaxation warm-up, Rina soared around the living room like an eagle as…

Paying a child to practice piano?

I was scanning *Piano World's forums and noticed posts about paying children to do their daily practicing. An assortment of contributors thought the idea had merit. My first response, without embroiling myself too deeply in the discussion, was to abhor the "practice" altogether. I saw no value in viewing piano playing as a $$$ rewarded…

Pianists and Injuries

You can't avoid it. Athletics are part of piano playing so if you abuse your hands, arms, wrists, let alone your fingers, you'll end up benched, like an overused relief pitcher. Yesterday, I pushed the envelope, practicing rapid fire repeated notes in Domenico Scarlatti's Toccata in D minor, well into the night. Ample streams of…

A piano student’s milestones and memories in photos and video

Today, September 5th, is Claudia's 11th Birthday! She started lessons with me in 2006 when she had just turned 6 after coming to California from Hawaii. I remember her as a shy but wide-eyed child who had studied piano for a year or so. Students who begin piano lessons at a tender age and stay…

Domenico Scarlatti Toccata in D Minor, K. 141: How to play rapid repeated notes, and make hand cross-overs easier (Videos)

I always return to a composition that never quite ripened into a desired tempo when I first learned it, with the intention of devising new strategies to improve my technique the second time around. In this endeavor I'll often study videos of world class performers to ascertain physical movements that might work for me which…

A Piano Masterclass in a universal language

Into the wee hours of the morning I was mesmerized by a Masterclass conducted by Dimitri Bashkirov at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, Paris, France. The great Russian virtuoso and teacher, a descendant of the Leschetizky era by his student association with the legendary piano master's wife, communicated in Russian with a third-party French…

Practicing triplets against eighth notes in Debussy’s Arabesque no. 1 (Video)

Since a few of my students are studying this composition, I decided to make a video addressing the triplets against eighths dualism. In Debussy's Arabesque No.1 there are measures where triplets in the treble are juxtaposed with eighths in the bass, and in reverse. When practicing the composition, I first disassociate the part each hand…

Sight-reading is an appetizer to main course detailed practicing

I've often met very skilled sight-readers who were not necessarily adept at playing their assigned pieces smoothly with good fingering and well shaped phrases. It's because they viewed the first "read through" as a primary goal. They had gotten so used to a superficial overview of a piece, that to go to the next step,…