The Taubman method and controversial wrist break

On my way home from the Bay area on Amtrak 712, I grabbed a few extra table napkins from the dining car, and let my imagination run wild as I scribbled some notes to myself. "Wild" should be emphasized since I had some pent up frustration related to the Taubman-Golandsky's ban on the "wrist break."…

Ethereal piano playing: Another Irina, with an i in the middle, brings heaven to earth

This is the special month of Irina, Irena, and still another Irina. The latest messenger of beauty via You Tube is Irina Morozova. And as fate would have it, one of my readers, owner of a Knight piano treasure, e-mailed me a sample of her Bach-Siloti, which sent me feverishly finger-tapping the search window for…

Piano Technique: “Butterfly” by Grieg, a revisit (playing and exploring the rolling, rotational motion) videos

I can see the butterfly in my mind's eye in its flight of fancy. But I wish it were as easy to play, as to imagine. Relaxation is the key word here, but not to the point that the 16th-notes become like glissandi--a faint gloss over the keys. First in slow practice tempo you would…

Piano practicing, performance, and gym routines: Always Reach Beyond! (Video, Bach Invention 8 in F)

http://youtu.be/7no8U9pV_SI I take my inspiration from the two Irina/Irena-s, each pronouncing their names slightly differently. Irina Gorin is the ingenious piano teacher from Carmel, Indiana via the Ukraine, and Irena Orlov is from Washington D.C.'s Levine School of Music via Leningrad. They both inspire students to explore and draw out their deepest creative expression. That's…

REACHING BEYOND, a documentary about an inspiring piano teacher

The plentiful gifts of Irina Gorin and her brood of piano students captivated so many after You Tube postings of musical offerings revealed soulful, expressive playing by youngsters as young as 4 to the ripe old age of 14+. A treasured group of pupils gracefully approached a Steinway grand with a finesse and creative uniqueness…

Piano Lesson in Progress: Slow tempo, J.S. Bach Prelude in C minor, BWV847, student, Claudia, age 11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIMmG3OzHhU

Parts one and two, Piano Lesson in progress: Parceling voices in J. S. Bach’s C minor Fugue, BWV 847

Claudia, 11, practiced piecing out the Fugue form today in BWV 847 (three voices). We played through the subject, tonal answer, and counter-subject 1, continuing with a transition that led to statements of the subject and counter-subject. I had her singing and playing various combinations of voices, also noting an inversion of counter-subject I. The…

Playing piano and getting into the spirit (Video with Aiden cat joining in)

It's holiday time, and we're all eating with gusto. In honor of Thanksgiving, we completely let go, pardoning ourselves of any rigid diet that would preclude an all out splurge. So now, enter the piano, as a feast of delights waiting for the player to partake without a hint of holding back. It seems like…

Another Bach Invention 1 added to the list–The Morning After (Video)

I'm in my Bach phase for reasons unknown. A musical flight of fancy can turn in any direction. Since performances of a composition will change as new ideas filter in, one might as well try them out on the You Tube stage, picking the brain and soul about what needs to happen the next time…

When great piano teaching must be recognized

In my four decades of teaching piano, I never had a student recital quite like this one. Reams of Irina Gorin's pupils ascend the stage in Indiana at what looks like a piano store with a recital hall. (The backdrop is the Meridian Music Company's Munger Hall) There's a Steinway for the children to play…