Everyone knows that elite athletes use mental imagery and relaxation techniques to enhance performance. The same applies to pianists. (And they don’t have to be entering the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition to practice refining staccato at varying intensity.)
I favor sports metaphors in the lesson environment.
Simply bounce a basketball using forearm impetus to produce a big, robust effect, and then substitute a ping pong ball to garner the lighter, but still lively rebound motion.
Regardless of dynamic level (loud or soft) the player must funnel energy through relaxed arms and supple wrists to PROJECT his staccato and make it worth the effort.
(A low impact bounce is always preferable to a clunk!)
The following Skype lesson-in-progress (Berkeley CA to Greece) demonstrates:
International Online Piano Teacher, blogger, recording artist, composer, piano finder, freelance writer, film maker, story teller: Grad of the NYC H.S. of Performing Arts, Oberlin Conservatory, NYU (Master of Arts) Studies with Lillian Freundlich and Ena Bronstein; Master classes with Murray Perahia and Oxana Yablonskaya. Studios in BERKELEY, California; Member, Music Teachers Assoc. of California, MTAC; Distance learning by Skype and Face Time with supplementary videos: SKYPE ID: shirley kirsten
Contact me at: shirley_kirsten@yahoo.com OR http://www.youtube.com/arioso7 or at FACEBOOK: Shirley Smith Kirsten, http://facebook.com /shirley.kirsten; https://www.facebook.com/skirs.7/ TWITTER: http://twitter.com/arioso7
Wordpress Blog: https://arioso7.wordpress.com
Private fundraising for non-profits as pianist--Public Speaking re: piano teaching and creative approaches
View all posts by arioso7: Shirley Kirsten
