Piano Technique: Teaching a 9-year old Staccato and weight application–Think bouncing a basketball vs. ping pong ball tapping (Videos)

Ilyana has been studying piano for two years. Currently, she's working on various weight applications for staccato. I found that imaging a basketball being bounced vs. a ping pong ball being tapped, helped the student with her overall physical approach. The short video below illustrates. We ended up playing 8th notes, not being overly ambitious…

Our Family’s Cultural Tradition: The last remnant of my NYC trip (Photos) with an update on the history of Russian piano factories

I scanned the memory card of NYC pics stored in my Sony digital camera and came across my mother, (on the extreme Left) and a few other key family members seated around a decorative party table. We were celebrating mom's 97th birthday at her "baby" sister, Leepie's regal and spacious Greenwich Village apartment off Fifth…

Trills and Domenico Scarlatti (Video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyXvet9KrLc In a separate writing about crossed hands, large leaps, and other keyboard acrobatics, I'd discussed trills which permeate Domenico Scarlatti's music. Perhaps these precious ornaments evoked the gypsy wails in the surrounding Madrid countryside, or they were part of the performance practice of the Baroque period. I would hedge my bets that hunting horns,…

Piano Technique: Forearm and finger emphasized staccato (Videos)

More often than not, pianists acquire insights about piano technique through self-exploration and analysis. (trial and error attempts) Others have had mentors who demonstrated physical approaches to the piano that paved a learning path for the next generation of students. And finally, pupils, themselves have always provided a window for teachers to clarify their own…

Piano Lesson: Working with Rina, age 4, on the supple wrist, singing tone approach to individual notes (Video)

Today was Rina's 11th piano lesson. To date we've identified and played the seven notes of the musical alphabet using fingers, 2, 3, and 4 of each hand in various registers. Our follow-up practice focused on how to produce a singing tone in non legato (dropping individual notes one finger at a time) without yet…

Piano Technique: Avoiding pencil point playing

One of the biggest challenges for piano students of all levels is to produce a lovely singing tone. And the most significant physical impediment to molto cantabile (very singable) playing is having a taut wrist. Without its being supple or flexible, the descent of the finger onto the key is the equivalent of landing stiffly…

My New York City weekend excerpts: The Marble Hill Projects, Park Terrace Gardens, a reunion with my Sohmer upright, and a nostalgic walk along Riverside Drive

When I arrived in Newark Airport this past Friday evening at 10 p.m. I sped off in a spiffy air train on the arm of my protective brother. (He took a snapshot of me in my newly purchased, Calvin Klein leather coat) Surprisingly, most passengers on my plane, bound for Tel Aviv were flip-flopping around,…

Aglow with creative fire: My NYC visit with harpsichordist, Elaine Comparone

The centerpiece of my trip back East this past weekend was meeting up with Elaine Comparone in her acoustically magnificent West Side apartment. Two splendid harpsichords of incomparable beauty, a custom made Dowd and Hubbard, graced a divinely resonant space with a cathedral high ceiling. And with a snap of my fingers I ignited a…

Teaching a young beginning piano student how to play expressively (Video)

I'm a firm believer in teaching beautiful phrasing and musical expression from the very start of piano lessons. Taking individual notes, and producing a singing tone is a goal in itself which requires attentive listening, as well as sensitivity to the physical and mental aspects of playing. In this video, that unfortunately has some video/audio…

Feeling like an “Out of Towner,” going back to hometown New York

I’m soon to embark for NYC to attend a Memorial service for my beloved aunt. Only this time around, I’ll be flying out of the San Francisco Airport. (I relocated to Berkeley, California in September 2012 following a 30-year death sentence in Fresno) Two years ago, a movie-threaded narrative plotted all possible outcomes of my…