How do we make decisions about the time frame reference of Bach's music?
Month: November 2012
The joy of working on Chopin’s phrasing with an adult student (Waltz in A minor, No. 19, Op. Posth.) Videos
A teacher/student musical collaboration is a uniquely poetic experience..
An adult student and I worked on relaxation techniques that applied to her warm-ups. We practiced preparation for starting notes of broken chords and scales.
I recommended a slow and deep ingestion of air before the release of a stream, that has a perfect moment to create an opening sound or tone. Music and the synchronized breath are at ONE.
Most students will fall hard on an opening note, sending it down stream, without the necessary spring forward energy to perpetuate the flow of a phrase. A poke, jab, or premature gesture, can cause entrapment of a note that has only given birth to itself without relation to others.
Pianists must be singers, with a generous flow of circulating breath to feed phrases. We are otherwise, separated from strings inside the piano, unable to directly pluck them or draw a bow over their surface. Our challenge is to bridge a…
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Playing the piano expressively with a full gamut of emotions (Blogged from Mo’ Joe’s Cafe in southwest Berkeley)
Today I attended a well-promoted "Shut Up and Write Meet-up." The environment: An easy jazz backdrop with companion coffee mocha, whip cream swirl. No cell phone ring-tones or e-mail heart-song alerts. Just a noisy backdrop--children, adults, plates, forks, your order's ready, name calling. My project: I was riveted to a post at Facebook's The Art… Continue reading Playing the piano expressively with a full gamut of emotions (Blogged from Mo’ Joe’s Cafe in southwest Berkeley)
The business of copying the piano teacher: Who has the final say or PLAY?
The latest provocative teacher exchange is taking place on Facebook at the "Art of Piano Pedagogy" which has now become a private forum. When it comes to teaching philosophies, many are intensely opinionated. From my perspective, I passionately believe in sharing my ground-up musical insights with students to justify my presence at the lesson in… Continue reading The business of copying the piano teacher: Who has the final say or PLAY?
Angela Hewitt, pianist, plays J.S. Bach beautifully on a Fazioli
I must admit that when I journeyed to Piedmont Pianos before it moved out of downtown San Francisco, I wasn't taken by a huge, 10-foot plus Italian piano with extra keys that was the featured attraction. (The Giraffe piano at Peninsula in Palo Alto upstaged it) And the older, re-built Steinways on the S.F. premises… Continue reading Angela Hewitt, pianist, plays J.S. Bach beautifully on a Fazioli
How things have changed since I took piano …
Let's be honest. There are climate changes in the piano lesson environment.
Skype Lesson- in-Progress: It works!
Skyped piano lessons are the wave of the future.
Braving the Berkeley apartment terrain and coming out a You Tube survivor!
Recording and apartment living can be at odds with each other...
