Category: authorsden

antique pianos, Ashburnham, authorsden, Clinkscale's Makers of the Piano, Connell York, Fresno, Fresno California, humor, J. Fritz piano, Lillian Freundlich, Massachussetts, music history, musicology, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, ornaments, Patricia Frederick, photos, pianist, piano, piano finding, piano instruction, piano lesson, piano society, Piano Street, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, satire, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Steinway and Sons, talkclassical.com, The Frederick Collection, The Piano Book, uk-piano-forums, Uncategorized, used piano, used pianos, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

The Ghost of Fritz? Was I Dreaming?

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I had to pinch myself when I discovered a Craig’s List ad that featured “an antique baby grand piano selling for $1500.” Staring at me was a larger-than-life “Johann Fritz” that seemed to closely resemble the heart-breaker with the same surname formerly housed at a local American Cancer Society Discovery thrift store! It looked like… Continue reading The Ghost of Fritz? Was I Dreaming?

American Cancer Society Discovery Shop, antique pianos, appraisal piano, Ashburnham, authorsden, cd baby, Chopin, Clinkscale's Makers of the Piano, Connell York, Fresno, Fresno California, humor, Lillian Freundlich, Massachusetts, Massacusetts, memoir, music, music history, musicology, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, old upright, Patricia Frederick, piano finding, piano finding adventure, piano instruction, piano lesson, Schumann, Uncategorized, Wieser upright piano

Patricia Frederick’s text is provided in full where it had some missing parts in the Fritz Blog.

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Due to margin mechanics problems, part of Patricia Frederick's text was missing in today's blog on the Fritz piano, so here are the entire paragraphs which have relevance to the discussion. Patricia Frederick http://www.frederickcollection.org/ "What I particularly like about Viennese actions such as the Fritz, is that the single escapement gives such a direct sense of being in… Continue reading Patricia Frederick’s text is provided in full where it had some missing parts in the Fritz Blog.

antique pianos, appraisal piano, authorsden, Clinkscale's Makers of the Piano, Fresno, Fresno California, humor, J. Fritz piano, Massachusetts, Massachussetts, memoir, Mr. York, music history, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, old upright, Patricia Frederick, photos, pianist, piano, piano finding, piano finding adventure, piano restoration, piano society, Piano Street, piano student, piano teacher, piano technician, piano technician's guild, piano technique, piano tuner, piano tuning, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, satire, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Steinway and Sons, Steinway grand piano, Steinway M grand piano, Steinway piano, Steinway studio upright, talkclassical.com, The Frederick Collection, uk-piano-forums, Uncategorized, used piano, used pianos, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

The Fritz Piano of Vienna: A Romantic Era Reborn

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

On a wind swept day in March, while I was shopping in a busy Northwest Fresno plaza, I spotted a curvaceous baby grand piano through the open door of the American Cancer Society Discovery Shop. Its sunbathed, feminine profile and polished wood exterior drew me to it with the force of a magnet. Decades before, I… Continue reading The Fritz Piano of Vienna: A Romantic Era Reborn

athletic coaching, athletic training, authorsden, boxing, boxing lessons, casio privia 110, Cato, Fresno, Guitar Center, humor, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, piano, piano finding, piano finding adventure, piano instruction, piano lesson, piano pedagogoy, piano society, Piano Street, piano student, piano teacher, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, Roland digital, Steinway and Sons, Steinway piano, Teach Street, Uncategorized, Yamaha Disclavier, Yamaha Disklavier, you tube, you tube video

Cato, his Killer Keyboard, and a round of piano lessons!

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Ralph Cato had been scheduled to come for his first piano lesson soon after we had a chance meeting at the Guitar Center in Fresno a few years ago. At the time, he was combing the store in search of a “killer” digital keyboard, as he described it, for his 10 year old daughter. Christmas… Continue reading Cato, his Killer Keyboard, and a round of piano lessons!

authorsden, Baldwin piano, Carol Burnett, Clavinova, CVP509, dgbI, digital pianos, Fresno, Fresno miniseries, Fresno Piano Store, Guitar Center, humor, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Paderewski, pianist, piano, piano finding adventure, piano society, Piano Street, piano student, piano teacher, piano technician, piano technician's guild, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, Roland digital, satire, Shirley Kirsten, Steinway and Sons, uk-piano-forums, Uncategorized, Vladimir Horowitz, word press, wordpress.com, Yamaha Disclavier, Yamaha Disklavier, you tube, you tube video

Is the Acoustic Piano Culture at Risk?

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I'm worried. I drove over to Fresno Piano on Ashlan this afternoon after my return from the Bay area. With an instant camera tucked in my pocket, I would prove my point that acoustic pianos were on their way out and digitals were fast taking over the marketplace. Even before I reached my destination, I… Continue reading Is the Acoustic Piano Culture at Risk?

authorsden, pianist, piano, piano instruction, piano lesson, piano pedagogoy, piano society, piano teacher, pyrotechnical exercises, scales, Shirley Kirsten, talkclassical.com, uk-piano-forums, Uncategorized, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

Practicing a C Major scale in thirds, tenths, and sixths (Video embedded)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I've chosen the C Major scale to demonstrate/practice in thirds, tenths, and sixths. The best preliminary of course, is to review the scale in its root position and it doesn't have to be a parallel motion run through. (i.e. fingers going up and down in the same direction) You can start with a contrary motion… Continue reading Practicing a C Major scale in thirds, tenths, and sixths (Video embedded)

authorsden, Bay area, California, children's music, Children's pieces, Creative Fresno, El Cerrito, El Cerrito California, five finger positions, five finger warm-ups, Fresno, Fresno California, gymnastics, humor, Internet, Kawai piano, memoir, music, music teachers association of california, Music Teachers Asssociation of California, musicology, Musictogether.com, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, pianist, piano, piano lesson, piano maintenance, piano pedagogy, piano room, Piano Street, piano student, piano teacher, piano technician, piano technician's guild, piano tutorial, piano warm-ups, Piano World, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, ping pong, ping pong balls, publishers marketplace, publishersmarketplace.com, Randall Faber, satire, scales, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, sports, Steinway and Sons, Teach Street, technique, Theory, uk-piano-forums, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

A Piano Teacher’s Worst Nightmare!

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

In a routine Yahoo e mail search for a Kawai USA technician I had spoken with a year ago, I stumbled upon a document that I had drafted out of sheer desperation. It related to the decline of my sustain pedal which had been mercilessly pounded by a student who had serious impulse control problems.… Continue reading A Piano Teacher’s Worst Nightmare!

100 years, 6 degrees of separation, 77 Sunset Strip, arpeggios, authorsden, Bay area, Bill Haley and the Comets, Bob Dylan, Bronx, Bronx dialect, California, cd baby, cdbaby, Classical era, Creative Fresno, Dario Marianelli, dream piano, Edith Piaf, El Cerrito, El Cerrito California, El Cerrito piano studio, Elvis Presley, Facebook, Featherbed Lane, five finger positions, five finger warm-ups, Five for Fighting, Forever and Always, Fresno, Fresno California, Fresno Famous, gymnastics, humor, J.S. Bach, Jane Austen, Johnny Mathis, JS Bach, keyboard technique, Liz on Top of the World, Major and minor scales, memoir, music, music appreciation classes, music history, music teachers association of california, Music Teachers Asssociation of California, Music Together, my space, New York, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Northwest Bronx, Northwest Fresno, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Old Fig Garden in Fresno, Pete Seeger, Peter Paul and Mary, pianist, piano, piano addict, piano instruction, piano lesson, piano room, piano sale, Piano Street, piano student, piano teacher, piano teaching repertoire, piano technique, piano warm-ups, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, popular music, Pride and Prejudice, Romantic era music, satire, scales, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Sohmer upright, sports, Steinway and Sons, Steinway grand piano, Steinway M grand piano, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, teaching piano to teenagers, technique, tennis, The Beatles, Twenty five Progressive pieces by Burgmuller, used piano, used pianos, Van Cliburn, Well Tempered Clavier, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

Teens, popular music then and now, Taylor Swift, throw in Five for Fighting “100 Years”

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Today was by no means a first for me, a long-haired musician raised on Bach, Beethoven and Brahms teaching a teen some pop tunes by John Ondrasik and Taylor Swift while I sailed through the universe of "Liz on Top of the World" with another student. Videotaping portions of piano lessons was the natural result… Continue reading Teens, popular music then and now, Taylor Swift, throw in Five for Fighting “100 Years”

Apple iPhone, authorsden, Bay area, California, children's music, Children's pieces, Classical era, classical music, Classical sonatina, Clowns by Kabalevsky, counterpoint, Creative Fresno, diminished 7th arpeggios, diminished 7th chords, diminished chords, El Cerrito, El Cerrito California, El Cerrito piano studio, Faber Primer Piano Adventures, Fig Garden Village, five finger positions, five finger warm-ups, Fresno, Fresno California, great pianists, humor, Internet, iPhone, Kabalevsky, Kabalevsky Op. 39 Children's pieces, keyboard technique, Latour, Lillian Freundlich, MTAC, music, music and heart, music teachers association of california, Music Teachers Asssociation of California, musicology, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Northwest Fresno, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, pianist, piano, piano addict, piano lesson, piano maintenance, piano pedagogy, piano scales, piano society, Piano Street, piano student, piano teacher, piano teaching repertoire, piano technique, piano tutorial, piano warm-ups, Piano World, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, publishers marketplace, publishersmarketplace.com, scales, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, sonatina, Steinway M grand piano, Steinway piano, talkclassical.com, technique, uk-piano-forums, video performances, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

A Day in El Cerrito and my return to Fresno

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

To El Cerrito and back, and what happens in between, in greater detail.