A Piano Teacher’s Hodgepodge Life with its ups and downs!

Today I was greeted by a rare Piano Ped. Forum Facebook post that celebrated a positive private teaching day. Teacher C. reported that all students had arrived on time for lessons, paid their fees pronto, and actually practiced. Bravo! Reams of peers LIKED the morsel of good tidings, except for one who JOKINGLY remarked, "Thanks…

Piano Study: Tempo shifts from Childhood to Adulthood

Turning back the clock to my early years as a piano student, I regarded ANDANTE as the slowest tempo marking in the musical universe. So did all my friends who foot dragged their pedal and stumbled through the doldrums of any piece that had the "A" for power down the pace and lower volume while…

Piano Instruction: C Major Scale Mapping

Most students think of C Major as the easiest scale around the BLOCK. But in fact, it's not nearly as patterned or symmetrical as the double and triple black note content scales, B, F# and C# Major (Or their equivalent in FLATS, Db, Gb and Cb) With the ebony laden ones, you can easily place…

Sustain pedaling by Webcam

Sometimes shuffling three Logitechs can be an art, especially when a cyber piano student needs a particular view to assist practicing. Last night, I lucked out, angling my elevated cam so it captured the sustain pedal and keyboard in perfect visual/auditory harmony. I was subsequently able to RECORD a demonstration on Quicktime MOVIE, which is…

The Adult Piano Student Rhythmic Quagmire

It's practically a universal problem area for adult students in the beginner to intermediate range. Keeping a steady pulse in scale playing, and then making transitions to double speed, as from 16ths to 32nds is a big challenge for them. Most pupils can handle 32nds alone, and play them evenly. (I set a quarter note…

Top FIVE Piano Lesson by SKYPE Interruptions! (Videos)

Group web cam lessons on Bow-wow ( Iowa, Michigan, and Minnesota) Top Notch Tone Tutorial Class 1) out-take http://youtu.be/fONbHGw8zXM 2) out-take http://youtu.be/Fy-6SkVFqMQ 3) Cat jumps out the window (United Kingdom) http://youtu.be/df7Pfg0Fcnc 4) 5 month-old Baby on lap (Alaska) http://youtu.be/D1HDoNAI75A 5) Earthquake! (Brazil) http://youtu.be/I-dbDgapMmA

Piano Technique: Focusing on Rotation in arpeggios, and building up a scale (Videos)

These are two supplementary videos that I created for adult students between lessons. As previously mentioned, they clarify and reinforce the content of our class, and map out ways to practice. I. ROTATION at the turnaround of a B minor Arpeggio Exploring the curve at the very top of the figure with an energy boost…

Burgmuller’s “The Return”–like a light opera, with interspersed drama (videos)

"The Return" from the composer's Twenty-Five Progressive Pieces, Op. 100, is ear-catching. Like an Offenbach opera replete with an Overture, it delights in a set of lighthearted staccato chords that spill into a passionate MINOR sequenced interlude, setting the heart afire. Extinguished by the revisit of Eb Major punctuations, the music drifts off by authentic…

When sight-reading is not enough: Learning a new piano piece from the ground up so we can teach it to our students (Videos)

I'm reminded of a quote attributed to Sviatoslav Richter when asked how he approached a challenging new composition of virtuoso proportion: His reply-- "I read a new piece and then start practicing the place that irritates me the most. After learning that one I move to the next irritation, etc." Well, most of us would…

The very first lesson with a new Intermediate or advanced piano student: thinking creatively on your feet

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet a new adult piano student who had studied for a few years. Besides having this basic, preliminary information, I had no other tangible clues about her level of playing. The suspense of not knowing what music she would bring was lifted when two contrasting era works…