In the Olympiad era, bespectacled piano teachers and their students are assumed to be lockouts, pouring over eclectic music manuscripts in sheltered studios of higher learning. We're viewed as eternal bench-warmers, leading sedentary lives; practicing archaic music for hours at a time in a monastic rhythm. But these are missperceptions. Most pianists are members of… Continue reading Piano Gym: Routines that build technique (Videos)
Month: August 2012
I’ve slowly but surely come to the conclusion that once per week lessons are insufficient for the very young beginner. Not having taught a fledgling below the age of 7 until 4-year old Rina came along in August, 2011, as my experiment-in-progress, it became crystal clear that short, quality exposures to piano instruction were more valuable than a long 30-minute lesson, spaced by a week.
Even 7 and 8-year old newbies would greatly benefit from twice per week lessons as it provides vital reinforcement of hand position, note reading, and phrasing, allowing good habits to be nursed along in the early phase of learning.
Having exchanged ideas with Irina Gorin, an Indiana-based piano instructor who has had considerable experience teaching students in the 4 to 7-year old range, I concur with her recommendation that starting the very young child of 4, on two-15 minute lessons each week makes sense just…
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The Hillside Club: A Cultural Treasure with Three Lovely Pianos
Winding along a walking path to Berkeley's Arch, I clutched a self-made map as a guide to a posted rental. On Cedar, as I was about to make a left turn, I stopped to investigate a house that had an attractive sign announcing a concert. The neighborhood was new to me though it rekindled ties… Continue reading The Hillside Club: A Cultural Treasure with Three Lovely Pianos
On a rainy Sunday morning I was surfing You Tube in search of a spiritually poignant musical offering. One particular posting had been so inspiring that my index finger ached from so many mouse-clicked replays.
It was ? “Verum”–The one word lingered in my foggy memory, amply retrieved to reap a reward. Out popped Mozart’s “Ave Verum Corpus” sung by the Vienna Boys Choir– a to-die-for performance.
A musician friend used the word “kill” when she described the effect of this music. I agreed that it killed in a way that seared the heart with longing for more…
According to Wiki..
“The hymn’s title means ‘Hail, true body,’ and is based on a poem derived from a 14th-century manuscript found in the Abbey of Reichenau, Lake Constance. The poem is a meditation on the Catholic belief in Jesus’s Real Presence in the sacrament of the Eucharist, and ties it to…
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A NY Times article on landfills of discarded pianos is thought-provoking
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/arts/music/for-more-pianos-last-note-is-thud-in-the-dump.html?pagewanted=2#59;ref=arts&_r=4&adxnnlx=1343746997-So2LFy3bwlbB06xhRqMQ%2FQ I read reams of comments attached to this article, and most who'd posted were emotionally devastated by a graphic slide show of grand piano dismemberment, pulverization and landfill-dumping. It amounted to an unmarked grave, or even worse, since the dust pile would be untraceable over years. A principle at Faust-Harrison, a high-profile piano dealer… Continue reading A NY Times article on landfills of discarded pianos is thought-provoking
