Monthly Archives: December 2016

Piano Technique: Soft staccato scales with projection, springboard energy, resilience, and shape

Posted on December 26, 2016 by

One of the biggest weaknesses that present in soft dynamic range staccato scales, is a lack of projection. Students often snuff out notes, play them in a whisper without a tenacious spring UP character, or a necessary rebound effect from … Continue reading →

Posted in piano, piano blog, piano blogging, playing scales in staccato, Shirley Kirsten, staccato, staccato scales | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Murray Perahia’s earliest piano teacher and her influence on him

Posted on December 18, 2016 by

Jeannette Haien is rarely recognized for her role in Murray Perahia’s musical development, though it’s clear through her own words, (rekindled posthumously) that she must have had a profound effect on him. (She was Perahia’s mentor from age 4 to … Continue reading →

Posted in Jeannette Haien, Murray Perahia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Learning a new and challenging piece along with a student

Posted on December 13, 2016 by

It’s easy for piano teachers to inhabit a comfortable space, teaching mainly repertoire that they’ve well learned, put away and brought back for review. It can perpetuate a stale process of retreading “old” pieces without posing a refreshing self-made challenge … Continue reading →

Posted in Bach French Suites, J.S. Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach, piano | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Piano Technique: Working with the character of rhythms

Posted on December 6, 2016 by

It’s easy to assess a student’s difficulty with navigating scales in progressive tempo framings from quarters to 8th notes to 16ths, etc. as being the result of shortcomings in rhythmic perception, when a larger cosmos of awareness is lacking. I … Continue reading →

Posted in eurhythmics, piano, piano blog, piano blogging, piano instruction, piano technique | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments