Pianomania! is an apt title for a documentary about Stefan Knupfer, Steinway piano technician, who gallops upstairs and downstairs in a premier "Vienna concert haus," trying to meet the needs of performing pianists, recording artists, et al. They demand the kind of perfection in voicing, tuning, aesthetics that's often beyond human capability. One classic example… Continue reading Piano Mania! and the Bezerkeley arrival of Steinway 1098!
Month: February 2013
I was reminded by a reader of my post titled, “When love for the piano dies..” and in that particular writing I focused on situations where certain pressures brought by parents and/or the piano teacher can trigger practicing avoidance, leading to the obvious, piano lesson termination. In these scenarios, mom or dad may live through the successes of their children, and make the process of learning another test driven arena. The child, in particular, just starting a musical adventure, will worry about “wrong notes” that have acquired a negative association, causing her to tighten up to avoid them, when in reality, it’s the opposite– a relaxed flow of energy is needed to play the correct ones on the page. Musical study, otherwise, becomes just another tense universe to prove a child’s worth that leads to a downward spiral, with lots of learning resistance and an eventual sensory turn-off.
This original…
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A sentimental journey taken with Mozart
Musical memories rekindled
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 the piano gym club, training day in and day out to master complex motor movements and feats of coordination that rival the rigorous prep of elite Olympic athletes.
For example, try playing a perfectly smooth and sculpted A Major Scale in crisp soft staccato, without a note popping out among 64 ascending and descending in rapid speed.
Mental image assist: the “trampoline effect.”
Maybe it’s not the same as climbing a ski slope, and then heading downhill at 150 miles an hour, but just the same, tackling a scale or arpeggio at max tempo, can…
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Piano Lesson: Teaching “GAME” by Kabalevsky, Op. 39 Children’s Pieces (Videos)
Vibrant musical miniatures are learning enticements for piano students. In this spirit, Dimitry Kabalevsky, a Twentieth Century Russian composer, shines in his collection of Children's Pieces (Op.39) that run the gamut of emotions, from sad expressions of human nature, "Waltz" (in d minor) to ebullient centerpieces, such as "Clowns," and "Galop." (spelled with one L)… Continue reading Piano Lesson: Teaching “GAME” by Kabalevsky, Op. 39 Children’s Pieces (Videos)
Film art and great pianism fuse in a Richter documentary (The Enigma – Bruno Monsaingeon -1998- Parts I and 2)
A tribute to Richter in his own words, interspersed with examples of his great artistry
