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Arioso7's Blog (Shirley Kirsten)

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 on, and a second piano that I’m assuming is the same judging by its timbre.

A 4-year old boy leads the troupe, playing a Russian folk melody that comes straight from a Tschaikovsky Symphony. The child has been studying piano for just 4 months and already he’s at ONE with the instrument. His relaxed arms, supple wrists flow in and out of phrases, communicating a primordial connection to the music. He’s well on his way.

Another child performs a concerto movement by Peskanov as the teacher plays the tutti, orchestra part at the second…

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Two musical Eulogies for Newtown’s fallen

Two musical offerings are grief-filled expressions of enduring loss in Newtown, Connecticut.

A pre-dawn digital piano work-out (Yamaha Arius 141)

Digital pianos can be a nice adjunct to practicing on an acoustic.

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Arioso7's Blog (Shirley Kirsten)

While the study of two musical instruments is time-consuming, it can reap benefits in widening a student’s horizons.

If a pupil plays only piano for years on end he may deny himself the rich experience of participating in an orchestra or small ensemble. And while it’s true that some pianists manage to grab a score in Junior High with a token part in the midst of blaring brass, or heaving saxophones, it’s not enough. Keeping rhythm but being muted into the background does not equal a thoughtful interaction of voices in a group music setting.

Too often, piano players are in a slush pile of extras, waiting for a chorus line call that never comes.

Where a pianist can be on a more equal footing in a jazz combo, or as a vital part of a classical trio or quartet, then the work required will be more substantial and the…

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The Haydn Piano Sonata in C, UNPINNED, and matters of Memorization

Pianists are expected to perform on stage without music. It's a controversial area worth probing.

The C Major Scale universe: metric and muscle memory; shaping and tapering

The C Major scale is more than meets the "I," if you're the one practicing it!

No Skimming the surface in piano warm-ups and a Chopin exchange with a sixth-grader

Lucy started piano about four years ago in El Cerrito, a short Bart ride from Berkeley, my current residence. A transfer student, she'd been immersed in Bastien primers and hand-outs of various patriotic pieces. Note-reading skills were minimal. Over time, as our musical relationship unfolded, Lucy played scales, arpeggios, and through her patient efforts performed…

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It’s usually a covert, top secret undertaking!

Arioso7's Blog (Shirley Kirsten)

If I survive this blog with any students remaining in my studio, I will live to tell another hair-raising story. In the meantime, it’s a pertinent moment to expose pupil-snatching for what it is.

While we know about kidnappings of children, human trafficking, elephant poaching for ivory, and the rest, nobody bothers to examine the less conspicuous turnover of piano students that has tentacles of suspicion surrounding it.

A pupil snatch is just one of those events that can happen out of the blue or be meticulously planned.

And the way it plays out, has variations in and around piano studios throughout the country.

A few confidential e-mails sent my way from colleagues confirmed the worst. For some teacher victims, the snatch would have taken place out in the open at a local music competition.

Real case scenario #1
Backdrop:

The piano teacher has taught the student for at least…

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From Pop to Bach, A 9-yr old makes it over easy

Fritz, a sparkling kid who loves football, soccer, and video games especially where he's devising offensive field strategies, comes to the piano with bundles of energy. These can be channeled into a piece he's gung ho to learn, like "Hall of Fame" by Sheehan, O'Dononghue, Adams, and Barry. As it played out, Fritz's mom, downloaded…

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A student captures the vibrant energies of an E Major scale!

Arioso7's Blog (Shirley Kirsten)

Scale practicing examples:

***
The Backdrop:

As a young piano student living in New York City, I remember my reluctance to prepare a mandatory scale each week for my lesson. In fact my first teacher had so many students, she always seemed to forget the scale she had assigned to me, so I remained happily in the key of C for most of the year. (Played on all white keys) Little did I know that C Major was a lot more challenging to practice than the keys of B, F# and C# Major that had nice, regular patterns of double and triple black notes that fit the longer fingers perfectly, with the thumbs meeting in between.

Frederic Chopin was known to teach these three black-key scales before all others. Think about how much easier it would have been for a sightless person to play these step-wise passages with braille-like elevated…

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