The way I fell spared me: Kaiser Orthopedics

Dr. Gon, a veteran fracture and soft tissue injury specialist, showed me my x-rays today, officially ruling out fractures of my right hand, wrist, arm and elbow, while he explained how my whole arm bruised at three critical junctures, caused the intense pain I experienced from the initial trauma of my fall. He tested my…

Joining the league of left-handers by an accident of fate!

All it took was a miss-step to catapult me into unfamiliar left hand territory. Or more accurately, a crater in the sidewalk bordering a busy downtown Berkeley intersection snagged my sole and forced me down with death-defying impact, tearing skin off my chin and knees while shoving my body weight on a tucked under right…

Centering the beat for cohesion in scale playing

"...No matter what the mood to be conveyed, or how sensitive the playing, it is the rhythm that binds the expression." Mildred Portney Chase, Just Being at the Piano Most students, including myself, sometimes find ourselves running away from our initially centered, fundamental beat through scales, which causes an uncomfortable disruption of the phrase. And…

Our Global-wide Skype Music Sharing: Triumph over Tragedy

I posted the following on my Facebook page after my adult students played for their peers yesterday over Skype. Their performances were beamed from London, England; Sydney, Australia; near Asheville, North Carolina; Prospect, Kentucky; Chico, California, and Berkeley, home of the esteemed university. "Heartfelt music sharing in the wake of a tragic loss of Parisian…

Imagination fuels expressive piano playing

As my local and Online piano students gear up for their bi-annual music sharing this coming Saturday over Skype, a commonly expressed concern is how to harness the imagination to feed a musical journey right from the opening measure of a piece to its final cadence. The challenge for everyone embodies a centered period of…

Would Mozart believe he was “banned” worldwide?!

I thought it would never happen! An instant banishment from cyber-space! Mozart's beloved Andante from Sonata K. 283 was the victim of pure and simple tyranny by the you tube police! The stand-in argonaut imperialist Hyperion, a recording company whose reach extended above and beyond PUBLIC DOMAIN, wrenched my upload from its earthly existence with…

Patience reminders for impatient adult piano students

I was about to lose patience with a student this past week who lost patience with himself in the early practicing phase of a Bach Prelude. It was a common circumstance. An expectation was built into the adult psyche over decades that an overnight conquest of a piece was the only desirable outcome, leaving virtually…