Month: February 2012

chamber music for piano, Journal of a Piano Teacher from New York to California, Menachem Pressler, Tanglewood, The Beaux Arts Trio of New York, The Tanglewood Music Festival, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

Menahem Pressler, Mozart, and Masterclasses (Videos)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

There are snips of folkore surrounding this elder statesman of the piano, but aside from slights about his teaching etiquette and temperament, I've always adored Menahem Pressler's artistry. An "old" 1974 recording of the pianist's Mozart's Bb Concerto, K. 450 is an ambrosian delight. The playing is pure singing poetry permeated by impeccable phrasing. An… Continue reading Menahem Pressler, Mozart, and Masterclasses (Videos)

Bay area piano instruction, Beethoven, building piano technique, classissima, classisssima.com, El Cerrito piano instruction, Journal of a Piano Teacher from New York to California, Ludwig Van Beethoven, pianist, piano, piano instruction, piano lesson, piano lessons, Piano Street, piano teaching, piano technique, Piano World, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Sonata Pathetique first movement by Beethoven, Sonatina no. 1 by Latour, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

Building Piano Technique: Extracting passages from pieces to practice

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Instead of playing through laborious Hanon and Czerny exercises to improve aspects of piano technique, a student can cut to the chase, by snatching selected passages from their pieces that magnify a particular technical/musical challenge. As an example, one of my adult students, devoted part of her lesson time to practicing a series of descending… Continue reading Building Piano Technique: Extracting passages from pieces to practice

"Tales of a Musical Journey" by Irina Gorin, Irina Gorin, Journal of a Piano Teacher from New York to California, pianist, piano, piano instruction, piano lessons, piano study, piano teacher, piano teachers, piano teaching, piano teaching repertoire, piano technique and the singing tone, Piano World, piano world-wide, playing duets at the piano, Rina takes piano lessons, Romantic era piano music, Russian piano teacher, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, shirley s kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, shirley smith kirsten blog, teaching piano to children, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

Irina Gorin’s piano students shine again! (Videos)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

It's a never-ending display of piano-playing children nursed along on Tales of a Musical Journey, Irina Gorin's personal creation. A phrase-spinning magic permeates each and every performance, demonstrating a musical sophistication uncommon to the efforts of beginners and beyond. (And many pupils are Carmel, Indiana Arts Council Showcase winners) The teaching material provides a solid… Continue reading Irina Gorin’s piano students shine again! (Videos)

Aiden Cat, Aiden cat dances to the Chopin Waltz in C# minor, Chopin, Chopin Waltz in c# minor Op. 64 no.2, feline, Frederic Chopin, Journal of a Piano Teacher from New York to California, pianist, piano blog, playing piano, Romantic era piano music, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Uncategorized, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

Aiden Cat choreographs the Chopin C# minor Waltz.. seeing is believing

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Watch this amazing cat at the beginning and close of this "foot"-age. If any ballet companies are looking for new talent, this floating feline is up for an audition. In any case, he earned himself a well-deserved catnap after a virtuoso "paw"-formance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v38sPHrPSP0 Notice his graceful balletic form as he sleeps. purrrrr......

Abby Whiteside, Mastering the Chopin Etudes and Other Essays by Abby Whiteside, phrasing at the piano, pianists, piano, piano addict, piano blog, piano blogging, piano blogs, piano instruction, piano instructor, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano playing, piano tutorial, piano world-wide, pianoaddict.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, playing piano, playing piano with expression, playing the piano, Shirley Smith Kirsten, shirley smith kirsten blog, singing tone legato, slow mindful practicing, slow piano practicing, Steinway M grand, studying piano, supple wrist in piano playing, technique, the art of piano playing, The Russian singing tone school of piano teaching, video instruction, video supplementation of piano lessons, video uploading, virtual piano lessons, virtual piano teaching, whole body listening, whole body music listening, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

Abby Whiteside and playing beyond the fingers as a point of departure (Videos)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

From WIKI: Abby Whiteside (1881–1956) was an influential American piano teacher. She challenged the finger-centric approach of much classical piano teaching and instead advocated a holistic attitude in which the arm and torso are the conductors of a musical image conceived first in the mind and soul. This quote is riveting: "Why spend dull hours… Continue reading Abby Whiteside and playing beyond the fingers as a point of departure (Videos)

Fur Elise by Beethoven, pianists, piano, piano addict, piano blog, piano blogging, piano blogs, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano lessson, piano pedagogy, piano playing and breathing, piano playing and phrasing, piano playing and relaxation, piano repertoire, piano student, piano teacher, piano teachers, piano teaching, piano technique, piano tutorial, piano virtuosos, piano warm-ups, Piano World, piano world-wide, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, playing piano, playing piano with expression, playing the piano, playing the piano with a singing tone, practicing difficult piano passages, practicing piano with relaxation, practicing the left hand at the piano, producing a singing tone legato at the piano, relaxed arms in piano playing, rotation in piano playing, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, shirley s kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, shirley smith kirsten blog, sight-singing, slow mindful practicing, slow piano practicing, Steinway M grand piano, Steinway piano, studying piano, teaching Beethoven Fur Elise, teaching piano, teaching piano to adult students, technique, the art of piano playing, video instruction, video performances, video supplementation of piano lessons, videotaping at piano lessons, whole body listening, whole body music listening, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

Piano Lesson: An adult student continues her Beethoven “Fur Elise” learning process (Video)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

These are excerpts from today's lesson where we covered: 1. Broken chord blocking; refreshing inversions of the Tonic as applied to practicing Fur Elise. 2. Voice balancing: fleshing out the treble (soprano) melody, on page 2 (F Major section) Using supple wrist and hand rotation; relaxation of arms. 3. C section--with repeated bass notes, alternating… Continue reading Piano Lesson: An adult student continues her Beethoven “Fur Elise” learning process (Video)

Uncategorized
arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I thought this writing might be helpful. It also ties in with sight-reading skill development.

Arioso7's Blog (Shirley Kirsten)

Memorization should be a natural outflow of consistent, thoughtful practicing. Thoughtful is underscored because it’s the most important ingredient in the process of playing a studied piece without music. It means having mental assists that relate to mapping out a particular composition without chance reliance on intuition or instinct. So if you suddenly find yourself lost in a piece without having your music propped up on the rack, your mapped sense of it, should re-orient you.

What do you map during practice sessions?

1) Start by knowing what key the piece is in. (this presupposes an understanding of how scales move on the Circle of Fifths, acquiring Sharps in Clock-wise motion, and Flats in Counter-clockwise motion)

But even if your knowledge of the Circle is scant, you can still “know” that your Sonatina, Prelude, or popular music are in individual keys with so many sharps or flats. (You would have…

View original post 1,254 more words

AT and T, Chopin Waltz in c# minor Op. 64 no.2, Comcast, Frederic Chopin, pianist, piano, playing piano, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, shirley s kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, shirley smith kirsten blog, Skype, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

Hitting new lows with SKYPE/Comcast: How one Chopin Waltz was eternally hexed! (Videos)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Last night was a first. This time it wasn't Aiden cat who short-circuited my re-recording of the Chopin C# minor Waltz. It was a Communications giant that was somehow to blame. Aiden was off the hook: Two belches into measure 66, (one 6 short of the Devil's doing) and my performance was corrupted. A few… Continue reading Hitting new lows with SKYPE/Comcast: How one Chopin Waltz was eternally hexed! (Videos)

arioso 7, arpeggios for the piano, classissima.com, Journal of a Piano Teacher from New York to California, phrasing at the piano, pianist, pianists, piano, piano addict, piano blog, piano blogging, piano blogs, piano instruction, piano instructor, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano lessson, piano pedagogoy, piano playing, piano playing and breathing, piano playing and phrasing, piano playing and the singing tone, piano practicing, piano study, piano teacher, piano teachers, piano teaching, piano technique, piano technique and the singing tone, piano tutorial, piano warm-ups, Piano World, piano world-wide, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, scales for the piano, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, video instruction, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

The complete WEIGHT VARIED, WEIGHT CONTROLLED Piano workout with Cardio benefit (Video)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Here it is! The latest approach to building a full-bodied piano technique without taking Protein supplements, or gagging on raw eggs. You might even shed a few pounds if you're committed to the regimen. But don't run scared when you see me going into fast forward. That's the AFTER, not the BEFORE. I did my… Continue reading The complete WEIGHT VARIED, WEIGHT CONTROLLED Piano workout with Cardio benefit (Video)

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J.S. Bach Fugue/Piano Lesson in Progress, (BWV 847 in C minor) plus Aiden Cat begs for affection, feeling left out (Videos)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Claudia, 11, continued practicing Bach's Fugue in C minor, (Well-Tempered Clavier) following a break for the Baroque Festival. We had intensified study of the Prelude in preparation for this event. For today's lesson, our work encompassed the Fugue opening through measure 20. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W55yctLJcWw The manuscript below incorporates the theoretical mapping of Jose Rodriguez Alvira http://www.teoria.com/articulos/analysis/BWV847/index.htm… Continue reading J.S. Bach Fugue/Piano Lesson in Progress, (BWV 847 in C minor) plus Aiden Cat begs for affection, feeling left out (Videos)