Learning J.S. Bach’s “Sheep May Safely Graze” (Egon Petri piano transcription)

Egon Petri offers a transcription of J.S. Bach's "Sheep May Safely Graze," (based on the Baroque composer's "Birthday" Cantata) and it's drawn a cult of admirers, mostly adult students begging to learn it. The work originally scored for two flutes, soprano and continuo, comes a close second in popularity to "Flight of the Bumblebee," with…

Getting immersed in LEARNING Bach’s F minor Fugue, BWV 881 (Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2)

My journey through the Baroque master's Fugue no. 12 has been a labor of love though the form enshrined by J.S. Bach can be intimidating by its structural nit-pickings. Wikipedia, for example, cites BWV 847 in C minor, (the Fugue) as a model of internal order, with a carefully marked out Subject;  Answer (a fifth…

Piano Lesson summary videos cut to the chase

I used to customarily record segments of lessons in progress that required sensitive editing before I uploaded them to you tube. It was not only a big job, but much of the video time was taken up with students lumbering through difficult passages, needing more settled post-lesson time to sift through teacher corrections, comments. Therefore…

Stay LONGER with a piece for higher levels of learning and awareness

All too often piano students give up on a piece after so many weeks of exposure, thinking the fingering is settled, the beats are well-measured, and the notes have fallen into place. At this juncture, a Big STOP SIGN must impede the restless from plunging into a new musical journey despite their belief that the…

Playing a Bach Invention: Say what you mean, and mean what HE said

My latest awakening occurred during a piano lesson last night with a student who loves Bach and nearly dotes upon his compositions exclusively. And that's fine with me who's a companion traveler sharing a comparable love for the composer and his diversity of keyboard works. Invention 1 in C, BWV 772 is one of my…

A favorite Piano Prelude to play and teach

Randall and Nancy Faber came through with flying colors by including J.C. Bach's Prelude in A minor in their Developing Artist Series Album, Early Intermediate Level. It's definitely a winner with ear-catching appeal! *** In a heart-melting opener to a more cognitive analysis of the composition, I play a series of sonorities that provide a…

Chopin and Bach piano lesson excerpts

Most students welcome recorded recaps of their lessons for practicing reminders and direction. While the editing time is significant, the overall effort results in a fine-tuned clarification of fingering, phrasing, dynamics etc. with a space margin for reconsideration of interpretation. After all, no reading within an artistic frame is set in stone. ** Yesterday, I…

Piano Instruction: Can we over-analyze a Bach fugue?

Little Bach Fugue in C, BWV 952 required insights into its organized structure so I could better teach it. But how much analysis was required and could it be trusted?

Piano Lesson: What I learned from an adult student about Bach Invention 4 in D minor (VIDEOS)

Today was an ear-opener, though I admit to having had a set of preconceived ideas about this Bach composition. (in two-part counterpoint) Just from having studied it myself, parceling out each separate voice in a step-wise, layered approach, I could impart what I learned as a self-delivered lecture. But the ingredient, of adding a student…

My NYC visit with Seymour Bernstein, pianist, teacher, author and composer

Seymour Bernstein is about to add a movie to his list of artistic conquests. A documentary produced and directed by Ethan Hawke is in progress, and who knows, it might land an Oscar. Seymour is so multi-talented that it's difficult to limit a blog about him to one area of his mega creative expression. That's…